Your Sonos speakers will be treated to biggest upgrade in years, as US brand attempts its comeback

Thank you for subscribing!

After its last major app update cost Sonos over $500 million, it's ready to try again

Sonos just introduced a colossal shake-up to its app. Dubbed Sonos 27, the next version of its platform promises support for multiple Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistants and agents, new ways to move sound around your home, and a more intuitive experience in the iPhone and Android app.

The announcement is a comeback for the US audio brand, which has had a gruelling few years.

If you need the potted history: Sonos launched a top-to-bottom redesign of its app back in early 2024 that promised to modernise the platform and support new functionality and products. It was rolled out to smartphones worldwide ahead of the release of the Sonos Ace noise-cancelling headphones, despite the new software lacking most of the functionality found in the app it superseded, like the ability to queue up tracks.

Disgruntled Sonos speaker owners reported bugs, degraded performance from their multi-room Sonos systems, and accessibility issues. The crisis dragged on for months, wiping as much as $500 million off its valuation — an almost 40% decline in stock value following the release of the reworked app. CEO Patrick Spence stepped down, while board member Tom Conrad was installed as interim chief before later becoming permanent Chief Executive.

Under Conrad, Sonos reorganised teams, cut staff, and prioritised repairing the software platform. The award-winning brand delayed or cancelled projects — including a planned streaming set-top box — and rowed back on plans to aggressively expand into new product categories, focusing instead on restoring reliability and performance.

And now, two years after its app redesign dented confidence and wiped millions off its valuation, Sonos is trying again with its new Sonos 27 platform.

Sonos Chief Executive Tom Conrad said: "Twenty years ago, we made a bet that the rest of the industry is only now arriving at - a home deserves an audio operating system made just for it. We built our system around a shared love of music and the belief that nothing sets the mood like great sound.

"Sonos 27 takes that further, bringing acoustic engineering, adaptable software, intelligence and design together in a way only Sonos can. This is just the start of what our audio operating system can do."

Sonos added support for Amazon's Alexa assistant almost a decade ago, with Google Assistant following in May 2019. With Sonos 27, it's handing you the ability to control your entire system with any AI you like. Within the app, you'll be able to connect any outside AI assistant or agent to your system, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, thanks to a new feature called Sonos 27mcp.

If you're not deeply invested in any particular AI chatbot, Sonos is introducing Sonos 27voice, its own assistant built for music and mood curation.

Next year, Sonos will introduce Sonos Custom Agents, which lets you create up to 10 of your own AI agents, each with its own model, persona and voice. For example, you could have a grizzled detective read out the morning headlines, a motivational coach wake you up, or a local radio DJ announce the next track queued in your playlist.

Product lead for ChatGPT Voice at OpenAI, Atty Eleti, said: "With this Sonos integration, people can ask ChatGPT to play music anywhere in their home from their phone or computer, without leaving the conversation they’re having. It’s a simple way to stay in the moment, and we’re excited to bring it to Sonos listeners around the world."

When it comes to the new design of the Sonos app, the US company is keen to stress that everything was "shaped and tested by the Sonos community," which should avoid any of the problems from two years ago. Sonos has added a row of shortcuts at the bottom of the screen for Home, System, and Search. It's also added a virtual volume knob that you turn with a two-finger gesture, like the real-world for a bit of extra character.

Next up, Sonos 27 brings a clever new system called Sonos Fabric, which is what the Californian company calls the ability for each Sonos speaker to sense each other and adapt to the moment. For the first time, if you move either of its portable speakers — Sonos Move 2 or Sonos Play — behind your sofa, they'll automatically pair with the Sonos soundbar beneath your telly to become rear surround sound speakers.

There's no need to dive into the settings on your Sonos app — it all happens automatically thanks to a high-frequency sound used by the speaker to sense its location and change its role within the system based on that.

If you own a pair of Sonos headphones, you'll now be able to move whatever is playing in your cans between nearby speakers. The system senses the closest speaker and will pass the audio automatically. You should be able to walk into the house and have your podcasts, playlist, or audiobook seamlessly pick up on your nearest speaker when you take off the headphones. Of course, we'll need to test this to see whether it works in the real-world.

Sonos 27 will become available through a software update to all Sonos speakers that support the current app, though some features are only available on certain products. The refreshed app rolls out on September 8, 2026.

Aside from the new software, Sonos announced two new speakers — the Sonos Beam Ultra is a mid-size soundbar that promises true 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos, bringing a more immersive home theatre experience from a smaller form factor. Until now, Sonos only offered this top-end Dolby Audio experience from its larger Sonos Arc Ultra.

Sonos Beam Ultra is available in either Black or White and costs £699. It's available to preorder now, with the first soundbars due to ship on September 29, 2026.

Finally, the Sonos Ace Ultra arrive with newly custom-designed 40mm drivers and 10 microphones for noise control; that's two more than the original Sonos Ace headphones. Sonos claims its new headphones offer 2x better Active Noise-Cancellation (ANC) than its predecessors.

Battery life has been bolstered by five hours compared to last time around, with Sonos Ace Ultra offering up to 35 hours of listening with ANC on. Fast charging via USB-C can top up the battery with three hours of listening time in just three minutes.

Sonos Ace Ultra costs £399 and ships in a choice of Black, Soft White, Agave, or Sand colourways. The premium headphones are available to preorder now, with Sonos expecting to start deliveries from September 29, 2026.

The original Sonos Ace headphones are still available in the lineup, with a price drop to £299.