Sonos Ace hands-on: First impressions of Sonos' first headphones
At long last, Sonos has finally unveiled a pair of noise-canceling headphones. But, even with a pedigree as distinguished as Sonos, how do you compete with some well-established cans from the likes of Sony, Apple, and Bose?
With the Sonos Ace, it's all about integrating with Sonos' ecosystem of soundbars, to let you seamlessly transition from listening to music or a movie with everyone to making it a more personal experience. With a starting price of $449, the Sonos Ace are somewhat pricey, but they look to be quite competitive with some of the best noise-canceling headphones around.
We had a chance to get a demo of the Sonos Ace. Here are my initial impressions of Sonos' first headphones.
Sonos Ace: Price and availability
The Sonos Ace go on sale June 5 for $449/GBP £449/EUR €499/AUD $699, but can be prordered starting today (May 21). You can get them in all black, or in white with stainless steel accents.
That places them in the same tier as some of the other top noise-canceling headphones, such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra ($429) and the Apple AirPods Max (currently $449). The Sony WH-1000XM5 are a good deal cheaper, though, at $324.
Sonos Ace: Design and fit
The Sonos Ace have a very elegant, minimalist design. The cups have a rounded, oval shape, and are attached to the headband with a very slim metal connector; the hinges are all hidden within the cups themselves, which not only gives it a sleek look, but helps prevent hair from catching in the mechanism, according to Sonos.
Only the right cup has Sonos' logo, which is subtly etched into the outside. Sonos says this is to give the wearer a physical cue as to how to place them on your head. Also on the right cup towards the back is a button to turn active noise cancellation on and off, as well as a multifunction slider to change the volume and tracks.
Sonos Ace: Specs
Drivers: Two 40mm
Microphones: 8
Active noise cancellation: Yes
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4
Lossless audio support: AptX Lossless and Apple Lossless
Battery life: 30 hours (ANC on)
Size: 7.52 x 6.3 x 3.35 inches
Weight: 11 ounces
The left can has a single button on the bottom to turn the headphones on and off, which sits next to a USB-C port.
And that's it. Sonos said that it went with physical controls — and a bare minimum at that — to keep things simple, and so that you wouldn't have to remember where to press or tap, as is the case with touch controls.
The Sonos Ace's cups can be rotated 90 degrees to to fit inside a travel case, but the cups can't be folded within the arc of the headband. Still, at just over 3 inches high, they have a pretty slim profile.
When I donned the Sonos Ace, I found them to be very comfortable. I didn't feel any pressure on the top of my head, and things were evenly distributed around my ears. That said, at 11 ounces, the Sonos Ace are heavier than the Bose QC Ultra and Sony XM5's, which both weigh around 8.9 ounces. The AirPods Max are even heavier at 13.6 ounces.
Sonos Ace: Audio
The Sonos Ace supports lossless audio when the headphones are connected via USB-C, or via Bluetooth with an Android phone that supports Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound AptX Lossless.
As I watched a clip of a nature program with David Attenborough, it sounded as if the narrator was sitting in front of me, while raindrops cascaded all around, and birds flew from one side to the other.
While the Ace have Wi-Fi, it's only used to establish a connection between the headphones and a Sonos soundbar; otherwise, you're using Bluetooth.
The Ace's singular feature is its integration with Sonos' soundbars. Once the Ace is paired with your soundbar, you can press a button on the headphones to instantly transfer audio from the soundbar to the headphones. That way, if you're watching a movie, but your partner decides they want to go to bed, you can continue listening without disturbing them. In my hands-on session, this feature worked seamlessly.
Sonos said that thes Home Theater Swap feature will work at launch with the Sonos Arc, but would be rolled out to its other soundbars (Beam, Beam Gen 2, and Ray) in the near future.
Another feature enabled by the pairing of a Sonos soundbar and the Ace is TrueCinema; similar to the company's TrueAudio, this creates an acoustic map of your room and adapts the audio coming out of the headphones accordingly to create a 7.1.4 surround sound system in your ears.
The effect really turns up the listening experience to one that's much more immersive. As I watched a clip of a nature program with David Attenborough, it sounded as if the narrator was sitting in front of me, while raindrops cascaded all around, and birds flew from one side to the other.
Additionally, the headphones have head-tracking technology, so that when this feature is turned on, audio will always appear to be coming directly from the TV, even if you move your head to the left or right. (Motion tracking will automatically turn off if you get up to go to the kitchen, though.)
Sonos Ace: Battery life
Sonos says that the Ace should last up to 30 hours on a charge while using both Bluetooth and ANC. That's the same as the Sony WH-1000XM5, and better than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (24 hours) and the Apple AirPods Max (20 hours).
You can also top off the Sonos Ace quickly; a 3-minute charge will give you three hours of juice.
Sonos Ace: Outlook
Sonos said that its fans have been clamoring for a set of headphones for a decade, and it looks like the company has delivered. It remains to be seen how good the sound is when compared to the best noise-canceling headphones so stay tuned for our full review. But the Ace's integration with the rest of Sonos' soundbars is something that differentiates it from competing models, and could give it an advantage for those already in the company's ecosystem.
