An FCC filing suggests Sonos is preparing to launch a successor to its Ace headphones, potentially named the Sonos Ace Ultra, following hints from CEO Tom Conrad during a recent earnings call. The move matters because the original Ace, released over two years ago, was undermined by a troubled app relaunch and fell short of rivals like the Sony WH-1000XM5, so a refreshed model could signal a stronger comeback for Sonos in the headphones market.

The FCC documents, first reported by What Hi-Fi?, list the model number S52A and show a diagram referencing the "Sonos Ace Ultra" name, echoing the naming pattern used for the firm's Arc and Arc Ultra soundbars. Five new colour options are named — greige, shadow black, agave, blush and sand — alongside evidence of testing on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, which could enable Wi-Fi music streaming in addition to the existing TV-swapping feature. Sonos has since recovered from its earlier app troubles with well-received products such as the Arc Ultra soundbar, fuelling expectations that new headphones could arrive within the coming weeks or months.