A$699 Already Has the GST In It: What Australia's Ace Ultra Adds Over the A$599 Ace

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In this guide

THE SHORT VERSION

A$699 already carries the GST. Sonos Australia's Terms of Sale say every web shop price includes it, so the figure on the product page is what reaches the checkout, with delivery free on top.

The same store lists the older Sonos Ace at A$599 on the same day, so the step to the Ultra is A$100 on A$599. Black, Soft White, Agave and Sand are all orderable at the one price, and the black unit is ACEULWW1BLK, the code also used in Britain, rather than the ACEULUS1 pair of the North American stores. Under the listing Sonos prints 'Free delivery' as one service line and '30-day returns' as another, and the terms give a one (1) year full warranty.

What that A$100 does not buy is the television handoff. Sonos's own listing for the A$599 Ace already advertises TV Audio Swap, so a household after a quiet film has it for a hundred dollars less. The extra money goes to a longer rated day, a cell Sonos sells as an A$39 kit, and a system link still being built. Whether any of that is worth A$100 depends on what is already in your Sonos system.

Our verdict

At A$699, GST included, the Ace Ultra earns the A$100 step only when your Sonos system already has a product on the headphone-linking list; the A$599 Ace handles TV Audio Swap and a quiet commute as it is.

A good fit for: An Australian home whose Sonos system has a speaker or soundbar on the linking list, wanting music to move between it and the headphones, and a worn cell changed rather than the pair.
We would skip it if: Skip it if nothing on the linking list is in your Sonos system, or when the job is simply a hushed pair for a long flight; keep the A$599 Ace and the A$100.

Reasons to consider it

A$699 on the Australian store on 2026-11-09, GST already inside that figure, with Black, Soft White, Agave and Sand all orderable at the one price and no end-dated discount printed beside it.
The local terms give a one (1) year full warranty on top of the Australian Consumer Law guarantees, which they say cannot be excluded, and the page prints 'Free delivery' alongside '30-day returns'.
Battery life with ANC engaged is quoted at up to 35 hours at moderate volume against the older Ace's 30, with three minutes on the charger buying back up to three hours of playback.

The compromises

The A$599 Ace carries TV Audio Swap on Sonos's own listing, so the A$100 does not purchase that trick.
When two headphones share a TV session, dynamic head tracking is switched off until one of them disconnects; the handoff also needs the television on and playing through a Wi-Fi-enabled bar.
The case for the step rests on a system link still in Early Access: users have to opt in, it comes as-is, and the compatible-headphones list holds a single model, so Sonos can still alter or restrict it while development continues.

What we have not verified: There is no date for headphone linking to leave Early Access, and nothing read says Sonos will widen a supported-headphones list that currently holds one entry. No measurement puts the A$599 Ace and the Ultra in the same room. The A$39 battery kit needs disassembly and tools, and the warranty exclusions cover products whose housings have been opened; nothing read says whether fitting Sonos's own kit counts, so its effect on the one-year cover is unsettled, though the Australian Consumer Law guarantees still apply.

The things in this guide

A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.

Buy the A$699 Ace Ultra if your Sonos system has a product on the linking list; otherwise the A$599 Ace does the job

Sonos Ace Ultra

The Australian store lists it at A$699 on 2026-11-09 with GST already inside that figure, four colourways orderable, the black unit ACEULWW1BLK. The A$100 over the older A$599 Ace pays for up to 35 hours of quoted ANC listening instead of 30, ten microphones against eight, Bluetooth 6.0 against 5.4, a replaceable cell sold as an A$39 kit, and a system link still under construction.

Before you buy: TV Audio Swap is on the older Ace's page too; the system link has to be opted into and can still be altered or paused, works only with the Ace Ultra, and a second pair on the same film turns dynamic head tracking off. Replacement cushions are A$59 a set and the battery kit A$39, a disassembly job.

$699 at Sonos

Price checked 9 November 2026. Retailer prices can change.

A$699 already has the GST in it

Sonos Australia prints two sentences that settle the tax before an order is placed: 'All prices mentioned in the web shop include goods and services tax (“GST”)' and 'All prices displayed on the Sonos website are inclusive of GST.' The A$699 on the product page is a tax-paid figure, not a number waiting for a GST line at checkout.

The older Ace sits at A$599 in the same store on the same day, in Black and Soft White, so the step is A$100 on A$599. All four Ultra colourways are orderable at one price with no end-dated discount beside them, and the black unit carries ACEULWW1BLK against ACEULWW1 for white. The terms give a one (1) year full warranty from shipment or the original purchase from an Authorised Sonos Dealer, and add that 'Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law', which sit beside that year rather than inside it.

The television handoff is not part of that A$100

Sonos's page for the older Ace advertises 'Instantly swap TV audio from Sonos Arc Ultra, Arc, Beam, or Ray to Sonos Ace', and its spec block explains the mechanism: a press of the Content Key hands a compatible soundbar's audio to one or two of the older headphones. The A$599 pair covers that use already. The Ultra did not introduce it.

The support article keeps the list of eligible home theatre speakers short and adds conditions: Wi-Fi switched on at the bar, and the television already playing through it when you switch. A bar from another maker, or a Sonos product outside that list, leaves the feature idle.

Thirty-five hours, ten microphones and a part number for the battery

Sonos quotes up to 35 hours with ANC running, at moderate volume, against 30 on the older Ace, and says three minutes of charging from empty yields up to three hours of playback. Eight microphones become ten on the new page; the wireless radio steps from Bluetooth 5.4 to 6.0. The page footnotes its 2x ANC claim to frequencies up to 65 Hz, so the doubling belongs to low bass. Dynamic head tracking and TrueCinema appear on both pages, so they are not part of the step.

The Ultra's page lists both the cushions and the cell as replaceable parts; the older page stops at the cushions. Sonos prices them at A$59 for a set of cushions and A$39 for the battery kit, and the kit page warns that the swap 'requires disassembly and tools, plus some time and patience', pointing to Sonos Support for service options. That is what the pages show, not a published list of every change. The 0.322 kg weight and 193 mm height are worth weighing against a full working day on your head.

Linking stays opt-in and unfinished

Linking is the one function absent from the older Ace's page, and the caveats around it run longer than the description. Sonos files it under Early Access: the user has to opt in, the feature is supplied as-is, and the guide warns it may be changed, restricted or switched off temporarily while work continues. Wi-Fi, the Sonos app and at least one listed product are required — speakers such as Era 100, Roam 2 and Move 2 count as well as the bars — and the only headphone Sonos names as supported is the Ace Ultra.

Two details are easy to miss. A long press of the Content Key pulls audio off the nearest Sonos product that is playing, and Sonos says the handover may take up to five seconds. Vocal guidance, the spoken battery and Bluetooth announcements, is English only for now. Leave the pair untouched for half an hour and wear detection cuts the power; lift them off during a call and the audio moves to the phone's speaker.

Two pairs on one film lose the head tracking

A single TV Audio Swap session allows two Sonos headphones together, the obvious case for two people watching the same film together. Sonos's support note says the head-tracked effect is turned off whenever both units are connected, and comes back only after one user drops out. Two viewers on headphones therefore give up that effect; a solo viewer keeps it.

That sits oddly beside the product page, which describes dynamic head tracking and TrueCinema as part of the television experience. Sonos documents that condition in the support article and leaves it out of the sales copy.

Check your Sonos system before paying the extra A$100

If nothing on the headphone-linking list is part of your Sonos system, do not pay the A$100. Linking stays inert until one of those products is on the system, and TV Audio Swap, the part that needs no opt-in, already comes with the A$599 Ace. With nothing on the list, the Ultra is simply the dearer Bluetooth pair in the same shop, at A$699 against A$599.

If the job is only noise cancelling on a long flight, the case is weaker still. A few extra hours on the spec sheet and a newer wireless radio do not, by themselves, justify buying into a Sonos system, and the swappable cell only earns its keep once the original has worn out. The Australian terms do remove one worry: A$699 is GST-inclusive, delivery is free, returns run 30 days and a one-year warranty sits behind it. Check the products in your Sonos app against the linking list first; for TV Audio Swap the bar has to be an Arc, Arc SL, Arc Ultra, either Beam generation, Beam Ultra or Ray with Wi-Fi enabled.

How we put this together

Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.

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