The company’s long-awaited headphones offer exceptional sound, extended battery life, superior comfort, and an impressive home-cinema feature
Sonos, known for its Wi-Fi hi-fi systems, has finally launched its much-anticipated first set of headphones, the Ace. These headphones combine the best features from high-end rivals like Bose and Apple, offering supreme comfort, sleek design, and a standout feature for owners of the company’s soundbars.
Priced at £449 (€499/$449/A$699), these advanced noise-cancelling headphones compete with top-tier models such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, Sennheiser Momentum 4, and Apple AirPods Max.
The Ace headphones have a smooth and understated design with plush yet slim ear cups that don’t protrude much. The headband features two types of foam, with a softer section at the top to reduce pressure on the crown of your head, similar to the Sennheiser design.
Sonos, known for its Wi-Fi hi-fi systems, has finally launched its much-anticipated first set of headphones, the Ace. These headphones combine the best features from high-end rivals like Bose and Apple, offering supreme comfort, sleek design, and a standout feature for owners of the company’s soundbars.
Priced at £449 (€499/$449/A$699), these advanced noise-cancelling headphones compete with top-tier models such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, Sennheiser Momentum 4, and Apple AirPods Max.
The Ace headphones have a smooth and understated design with plush yet slim ear cups that don’t protrude much. The headband features two types of foam, with a softer section at the top to reduce pressure on the crown of your head, similar to the Sennheiser design.
The left ear cup features a power button and a USB-C port, used for both charging and wired listening with the included USB-C to 3.5mm cable. On the right ear cup, there’s a noise-cancelling control button and a convenient sliding button for volume and playback controls.
During testing, the battery life exceeded the rated 30 hours when using Bluetooth with noise cancelling, lasting about 14.5 hours when connected to the Arc soundbar. This is ample for most users. A full charge takes approximately three hours, with a rapid 10% charge in just three minutes providing up to three hours of playback.
Specifications
Weight: 312 grams
Dimensions: 191 x 160 x 85 millimeters
Drivers: 40 millimeters
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4 with multipoint, Wi-Fi, USB-C audio, and charging
Bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive with Lossless
Battery life: Over 30 hours with ANC over Bluetooth
Bluetooth, wifi or USB-C listening
The Ace features Bluetooth 5.4 and supports the standard SBC and AAC audio formats, as well as the higher-quality aptX Adaptive, which is compatible with many Android and Windows devices. Additionally, they support lossless aptX playback for devices that support it.
These headphones can connect to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously, allowing for seamless switching between them, such as taking calls on a phone while watching movies on a tablet. They can also play lossless music via USB-C for the highest quality sound from Androids, iPhones, tablets, computers, and other devices, charging while playing.
The Ace is equipped with Wi-Fi to connect directly to one of Sonos’s soundbars for a personal cinema sound experience. However, they cannot be grouped with the company’s other speakers to stream music around the home via Wi-Fi.
Quality sound from any source
No matter how you connect them, the Ace headphones offer exceptional sound quality, providing a level of audio detail that can reveal new nuances in your favorite tracks. They deliver a well-balanced audio profile similar to Sonos’s best speakers, offering deep bass, warm mids, and detailed highs that showcase the nuances of various music genres, as expected at this price point.
While the Sonos app’s equalizer can adjust bass, treble, and balance, those seeking exceptionally strong bass may need to consider other options.
Additionally, the Ace headphones support Dolby’s spatial audio technology, which creates a surround sound experience with head-tracking, enhancing stereo music to add depth without sounding hollow. This feature is particularly noticeable when watching films and TV shows with Atmos soundtracks.
Unlike many competitors, this technology functions with any device or content, creating a surround sound effect that feels like the speakers are fixed in space around you, even as you turn your head. The system automatically re-centers itself if you face a particular direction for approximately seven seconds. It is also intelligent enough to pause the head tracking when you are moving around significantly, such as when walking.
TV swap
Sonos’s standout feature is the ability to stream audio from its soundbars to the headphones instantly using a feature called “TV swap.”
The soundbar processes the TV audio from its HDMI port before sending it to the headphones via wifi, all at the push of a button. This functionality allows it to work with any device connected to your TV, including movies, TV shows, set-top boxes like Sky Stream, or gaming consoles.
The system performed flawlessly, delivering one of the best surround sound experiences with head tracking. It’s the perfect solution for anyone with a Sonos soundbar who wants to enjoy a powerful movie soundtrack without disturbing others.
However, there are a few limitations to consider. Firstly, only one pair of headphones can be connected to each soundbar simultaneously. Secondly, the feature is currently only compatible with the controversial new Sonos app for iPhone or iPad, meaning Android users are unable to set it up at this time. Additionally, it requires the high-end Arc soundbar to function initially, but support for the company’s more affordable soundbars is expected to be added soon. Sonos has also promised a feature that can replicate the acoustics of your physical room, providing an incredibly realistic home cinema experience.
Noise cancelling
The Ace also features excellent noise cancellation, which is available across all listening modes and competes with the industry-leading Bose headphones in its ability to reduce sounds from your commute or office. It effectively suppresses low-frequency sounds like rumbles and roars, while also reducing higher-frequency sounds such as chatter or keyboard taps better than many of its competitors. The awareness mode is exceptional, second only to the AirPods Max in terms of natural sound. However, some high-frequency sounds like keys jangling or the rubbing of a waterproof jacket may come through louder than in reality.
Call quality is very good, delivering natural-sounding audio in both quiet and loud environments, with only a small amount of background noise occasionally leaking through to the other end of the call. However, wind noise was noticeable. The onboard microphones can be used for wired listening with a USB-C cable as well as for Bluetooth connections.
Sustainability
The Ace headphones are typically repairable by Sonos. The company pledges a minimum of five years of software support for feature updates after it discontinues a product, but often provides support for much longer, including bug fixes and security updates for its older products. The battery is expected to last for at least 500 full charge cycles and can be replaced through an out-of-warranty service.
The headphones contain 17% recycled plastic. Sonos also offers trade-in and product recycling programs and publishes reports on the environmental impact of its products.
Price
The Sonos Ace is priced at £449 (€499/$449/A$699).
In comparison, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra is priced at £450, the Beats Studio Pro at £350, Sony WH-1000XM5 at £279, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 at £309.99, and the Apple AirPods Max at £499.
Verdict
Sonos’s inaugural headphones, the Ace, have been a long time coming, but the wait has been worth it. Drawing insights from competitors, Sonos has crafted an exceptional set of wireless headphones.
The Ace headphones are sleek, slim, and incredibly comfortable. They offer multiple connectivity options including Bluetooth, USB, or a wired headphones cable. They boast noise cancelling akin to Bose’s standard, sound quality comparable to Sennheiser’s, extended battery life, intuitive controls, and immersive audio that works across various platforms.
A standout feature for Sonos soundbar owners is the “TV swap” function. This feature provides a full private cinema experience at the press of a button, all without disturbing others in the household. However, this feature is currently limited to use with Sonos’s top-of-the-line Arc soundbar and the iPhone or iPad app, leaving Android users out in the cold for now, though Sonos plans to address this issue soon.
With easily detachable ear cushions and a replaceable battery, these headphones are built to last with proper care. However, they come at a premium price, matching the highest-priced competitors. Additionally, they do not fold up for travel and are approximately 60g heavier than the lightest options available.