Sonos's $449 Ace Ultra can pull music off any Sonos speaker over Wi-Fi

Someone in a Sonos house has music on in the living room and wants it on headphones instead ^[2]. On the Ace Ultra, a press of the Content Key slider moves it over Wi-Fi ^[18][4]. The Verge's reviewer sometimes had to press a couple of times before the transfer happened ^[10].

The trip back is clumsier. Sent back, the music goes to the closest speaker, not to whichever speaker or group was playing before, and rejoining a group has to be done in the Sonos app ^[12]. "I suppose the thinking is, if you're listening to music on your headphones you don't need it also playing from your speakers," the reviewer wrote of the rule against grouping the headphones with speakers ^[17][13]. That guess describes a listener who only goes one way. What the review records for a group listener is the return trip: music on one speaker, then a visit to the app to rebuild the group ^[12].

TV audio swap from a soundbar is on both models, with its launch limits since fixed ^[8][9][18]. Pulling music from the rest of a Sonos system is the Ultra's addition, because the original could not stream music from it ^[8][2]. The price gap between the two is $100 ^[19].

Sonos's own explainer on Wi-Fi versus Bluetooth says Wi-Fi's higher bandwidth allows hi-res and lossless audio ^[14]. The case Sonos makes for Wi-Fi is fidelity, and what the Ultra does with Wi-Fi today is move the music ^[14][2]. During early access, linked audio is lossy, and Sonos has not said how long that period lasts ^[15].

The hardware changes are small. Weight goes from 0.69 to 0.71 pounds ^[16]. Replacement ear cups cost $39 a pair and a battery kit costs $25 ^[6]. Sonos's kit listing warns that "swapping out the battery requires disassembly and tools, plus some time and patience" ^[7].

The first question is whether the Sonos in the house is a soundbar used for TV or a set of speakers playing music in several rooms. The second is whether the buyer accepts linking as it ships in early access, lossy and without grouping ^[15][13]. A soundbar household lands on the $349 Ace either way, because TV audio swap is the feature it will use and both models have it ^[1][8][18]. If a multi-room household accepts the limits, it is the Ultra's buyer. If not, it can take the $349 Ace for TV and hold off on the Ultra until Sonos says when early access ends ^[1][15]. I'd buy the Ultra only for the multi-room household that accepts the limits, and the tradeoff is paying $100 now for a feature Sonos itself calls early access ^[19][2].