Two years ago, Sonos made the leap from wireless speakers to over-ear headphones. Now it sounds like Sonos is preparing a more premium, AI-infused encore.

Chris Welch reports for Bloomberg that Sonos is developing the Sonos Ace Ultra, a higher-end follow-up to its 2024 Ace headphones. 

An FCC filing spotted Monday names the product and points to as many as five color options, up from the black and white finishes offered on the original model.

Sonos has a September product launch planned, and the timing of the filing suggests the Ace Ultra could be part of that event.

The filing also contains technical clues that the new headphones may support voice commands. 

Bloomberg reports that CEO Tom Conrad has acknowledged that the original headphones arrived without enough whole-home integration or differentiation in a crowded category.

This time, Sonos appears to be tying the hardware more directly to its broader AI ambitions. 

Conrad has described the company’s opportunity as conversational computing and predictive intelligence in the home, with Sonos devices serving as hardware that can work across rooms and understand how a household lives.

The company has already expanded Sonos Voice Control with Philips Hue and Lutron Caseta controls.

Meanwhile, Apple’s upgraded AirPods Max 2 arrived in March with the H2 chip, stronger noise cancellation, and Live Translation. Siri AI will extend to AirPods as part of iOS 27 as well.

For more on the upcoming Sonos Ace Ultra headphones, check out the Bloomberg report in full here.

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