Sonos has officially announced the Sonos Ace headphones, marking its first entry into the over-ear headphones market. Known for its wireless home speaker solutions and ecosystem, especially Apple products, Sonos aims to deliver the same value, quality and ease of use in its new premium Ace headphones. Sonos customers have long wondered when the company would create its own headset, and it's finally here. We were lucky enough to get our first exclusive look at these new headphones, and they didn't disappoint. Here's everything you need to know!
Table of Contents
- Sonos Ace Specifications:
- Specification Definitions
- Build Quality
- Sound Quality
- Ecosystem Features
- Other Notes
- Prices & availability
Characteristics of Sonos Ace:
- Special 40mm drivers in each earphone.
- Eight microphones for noise-canceling and clear calls.
- Supports spatial audio and Dolby Atmos.
- Active noise reduction and audio enhancement. Aware mode
- Lossless audio via Bluetooth and wired USB-C connection
- Customizable equalizer in the Sonos app
- Magnetically removable earpads
- Up to 30 hours of battery life with ANC/Aware modes enabled.
- Supports fast charging, 3 hours of music playback with a 3-minute charge.
- Bluetooth 5.4.
- Physical and tactile controls
- 2 different colors: black & Soft white
li>
The Sonos Ace's robust spec list immediately puts it ahead of competitors like the Bose QC Ultra, Sony WH1000XM5, and AirPods Max. The feature set, build materials, and integration with the Sonos ecosystem are what truly sets the Ace headphones apart from others in this category.
Defining Features
I was lucky enough to get a little hands-on with the product, so this is by no means a full review (stay tuned for updates in early June). But I wanted to share some of my initial impressions of the Sonos Ace. I particularly liked three main aspects of the headphones.
Build quality
During my hands- Over time, I became well aware of the size, weight and choice of materials chosen for the Sonos Ace. They've found a great balance between keeping them light enough and adding quality materials like stainless steel to make them look as premium as possible. The Sonos Ace weighs just 312g, which is about 70g lighter than the AirPods Max, and fits comfortably on your head thanks to the memory foam ear cups and headband.
Sonos has also opted to use true haptic controls on the earbuds so that users can easily interact with the headphones without looking at them. I'm a big fan of tactile buttons over touch capacitive buttons. Finally, they have added a modular design to these headphones with removable ear pads that can be easily replaced if necessary.
Sound Quality
My first reaction to the sound coming out of these headphones was total immersion. Again, this is after a quick 10-minute demo tailored for headphones, but it sounded great nonetheless. The ANC was top notch coupled with head tracking to create an epic listening experience. The volume is also quite loud, which is great for bass-heavy tracks. I will definitely listen to a variety of music, podcasts and other media to see how far I can take this.
The only thing I couldn't test were the microphones for phone calls and Zoom meetings. I want to see how the microphones perform in different scenarios, such as making phone calls in a quiet room or on a busy city sidewalk.
Ecosystem Features
I think Sonos has an advantage here. Sonos has been building its ecosystem for years with products like the Sonos One, Arc soundbar, Move 2, and more. So, if you have something like the Sonos Arc, you can take full advantage of features like switching TV audio from the soundbar to headphones and a new feature called TrueCinema. We received a demo of TrueCinema and it was a unique experience. You can stream audio from your Arc to an Ace, which will simulate a multi-channel home theater setup and do it very well.
Best comment from Brandon Levasseur
I've been waiting for this product for a while, but due to the lack of Wi-Fi and the new Sonos app, this is a no-buy for me.
Simply put, the company has shown disrespect for its customer base and is completely out of touch with reality. At this time they will not receive any money for me outside of my existing acoustic echo system.
They have not even formally apologized to existing customers yet…
View all comments
Combine Sonos Arc with Sonos Ace and HDMI eARC to create an amazing home theater system. I'll be able to use the Sonos Ace to listen to movies in amazing quality without disturbing anyone, and I'll also be able to use them with my Xbox, which is also connected to my Arc.
Other notes
There are other aspects of the Sonos Ace to note:
- There is no official IP rating. I think it will hold up to some rain or sweat, but I wouldn't call them waterproof. I'll test them in the gym to see if they stay warm and fit snug enough for that scenario.
- As for TrueCinema, it will be available upon launch via an update to the Sonos app. It will appear first on Sonos Arc, and then on Beam Gen 1 and Beam Gen 1 & 2 and Ray.
- Unlike most Sonos audio products, the Sonos Ace connects via Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi.
- Each Sonos Ace has a flat, color-matched design. carrying case, USB-C to USB-C cable and 3.5mm jack adapter.
Prices & Availability
The Sonos Ace is available for pre-order today on Sonos and Amazon for $449. As I mentioned above, they come in two color options: black and soft white (personally I prefer soft white). The package includes a color-matched flat hard case, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter. The Sonos Ace goes on sale June 5.
Tell us what you think. Will you be purchasing the paid new Sonos Ace headphones? Already a Sonos customer? What excites you most? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our full review when it comes out!
