Blog

Sonos has officially announced the Sonos Ace headphones, marking its first foray into the in-ear headphone market. Best known for its wireless home speaker solutions and ecosystem, particularly Apple products, Sonos aims to bring the same value, quality and ease of use to its new premium Ace headphones. Sonos customers have long wondered when the company would create its own headphones, and it’s finally here. We were lucky enough to get an exclusive first look at these new headphones and they did not disappoint. Here’s everything you need to know!

• Custom 40mm drivers in each ear cup
• Eight microphones for noise cancellation and clear phone calls
• Supports spatial audio and Dolby Atmos
• Active noise cancellation and awareness mode
• Lossless audio via Bluetooth and wired USB-C connection
• Adjustable EQ in the Sonos app
• Magnetic removable ear cushions
• Up to 30 hours of battery life with ANC/Aware modes on
• Supports fast charging, get 3 hours of listening time with a 3-minute charge
• Bluetooth 5.4
• Physical and tactile controls
• 2 different colors: black and soft white

The robust list of specifications that the Sonos Ace supports immediately puts it on top of competitors like the Bose QC Ultra, Sony WH1000XM5 and AirPods Max. The feature set, build materials, and integration of the Sonos ecosystem are what will really set the Ace headphones apart from others in this category.

Defining characteristics

I was lucky enough to get a quick introduction to the product, so this is by no means a complete review (stay tuned for that in early June). But I wanted to share some of my initial impressions of the Sonos Ace. Three main aspects of the headset really stood out to me.

Build quality

During my hands-on time, I got a good feel for the size, weight, and material choices made for the Sonos Ace. They struck a great balance between keeping them relatively light and adding some quality materials like stainless steel to make them as premium as possible. The Sonos Ace weighs just 312g, which is around 70g lighter than the AirPods Max, and sits comfortably on your head with its earcups and memory foam headband.

Sonos also decided to use actual tactile controls on the earcups so that users can easily interact with the headphones without having to look at them. I’m a big fan of tactile buttons vs touch capacitive buttons. Finally, they added a modular aspect to these headphones with removable ear cushions for easy replacement when needed.

Sound quality

My initial reaction to the sound coming out of these headphones was one of personal immersion. Again, this is after a quick 10-minute demo tailored to the headphones, but it sounded great nonetheless. The ANC was top-notch, combined with head-tracking to create an epic listening experience. The volume also got really loud which was great for those bass heavy tracks. I will make sure to listen to a wide range of music, podcasts and other media to see how far they can go.

One thing I couldn’t test was the microphones for phone calls and Zoom meetings. I want to see how the mics hold up in different scenarios, like phone conversations in a quiet room versus a busy city sidewalk.

Ecosystem characteristics

This is where I think Sonos has an edge. Sonos has been building its ecosystem for years with products like the Sonos One, the Arc soundbar, the 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 the headphones and a new feature called TrueCinema. We got a demo of TrueCinema and it was a unique experience. You can transfer the audio from your Arc to the Ace, which will mimic a multi-channel home theater setup and do it extremely well.

Combining the Sonos Arc with the Sonos Ace and HDMI eARC will create an amazing home theater setup. I’ll be able to use my Sonos Ace to listen to my 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 some other aspects of the Sonos Ace to consider:

• There is no official IP rating. I think it will hold up to a light rain or sweat, but I wouldn’t consider them waterproof. I will be testing them out in the gym to see if they get warm or comfortable enough for this scenario.
• For the TrueCinema experience, it will be available after launch via an update to the Sonos app. It will first appear with the Sonos Arc, eventually moving to Beam Gen 1 & 2 and Ray.
• Unlike most Sonos audio products, the Sonos Ace connects via Bluetooth and not Wi-Fi.
• Each Sonos Ace comes with a color-matched flat carrying case, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a 3.5mm jack adapter.

Prices and availability

The Sonos Ace is available for pre-order from Sonos and Amazon starting today for $449 USD. As I mentioned above, they come in two different color options: black and soft white (I personally prefer soft white). Included in the box, you’ll get a matching colored flat hard carrying case, a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter. The Sonos Ace will be fully available for purchase on June 5.

Let us know what you think. Will you be getting paid from the new Sonos Ace headphones? Are you a current Sonos customer? What are you most excited about? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our full review when they’re released!