Sonos Unveils New Bluetooth ACE Headphones - An In-Depth Review by an Expert User

Key Takeaways

• The Sonos Ace headphones feature premium sound and comfort but lack standout features compared to competitors.
• Bluetooth-driven Ace headphones may appeal to Sonos soundbar owners the most at launch.
• Sonos aims to provide uncomplicated, high-quality headphones based on consumer demand, avoiding complex or unfamiliar features.

In the minds of Sonos executives, creating a pair of over-the-ear headphones was inevitable. Customers were constantly asking for them. Now Sonos Ace headphones are here, and the longtime speaker company is a newcomer that needs to convince consumers to pick their expensive headphones over ones from Bose, Sony, and Apple.

Sonos Ace Headphones: All of the Details

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

First, the raw facts. Sonos Ace will be available June 5th, 2024, at a retail price of $449. They come in soft white and black colors.

The Bluetooth headphones feature 40mm dynamic drivers and can do lossless audio over a 3.5mm cable or wirelessly from Android devices with Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound AptX.

Ace headphones include active noise-canceling and transparency capabilities. There are eight microphones across the device to accomplish that with the mics also being used for making calls.

The headphones will have around 30 hours of battery life (with ANC on) and can fast charge, providing 3 hours of use if plugged in for 3 minutes.

Close

You’re not imagining anything if those specs sound familiar. Out of the box, there’s not really a revolutionary feature present. Even the spatial audio Dolby Atmos support that’s found on the Ace is increasingly common on high-end models today. Save for snubbing touch controls in favor of physical buttons, the headphones are rather ordinary.

One small trick the Ace are capable of, however, is what the company calls TV Audio Swap. If you have a Sonos Arc soundbar, at launch, you can long-press the Content Key button and bring your TV’s audio into your headphones.

This feature will extend to the whole range of current Sonos soundbars and the first-generation Beam in the future. I was assured that even the entry-level Ray would be up to the task. Also coming later is TrueCinema, where the Ace headphones will map your room’s audio characteristics to render a personal surround sound system for you while linked to one of the company’s soundbars.

Why Headphones From a Speaker Company?

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

After at least three years of actively working on the Ace headphones, Sonos is just delivering Bluetooth headphones—like all the other ones on the market. They aren’t Wi-Fi-driven, and they don’t group with other speakers like the Era 100 .

(To get technical, some point-to-point Wi-Fi stuff is going on with TV Audio Swap, but it’s limited and not consumer-facing.)

For its part, Sonos does have a multifaceted answer to why it’s getting into the headphones business. It thinks it can deliver top-notch comfort, brilliant sound, and a convenient home theater solution for existing Sonos soundbar owners.

I had a chance to try the headphones during a press event, and after my brief hands-on, I was impressed with the results. (I’ll have a more in-depth full review coming for the product’s release.)

If those limited goals are how the company is grading itself, then it has probably succeeded with the Ace. The sound was sparkling, with tight, powerful bass emphasizing crystal clear mids.

Close

In terms of comfort, the headphones were off the charts. They felt fantastic. Again, I didn’t spend hours wearing the Ace during my first introduction to them, but each time I slipped them on, I was delighted by the spacious ear cups and memory foam padding. The headphones achieve this comfort without being overly bulky and even hide their hinges from sight. At 11 ounces (312 g), they’re heavier than the latest headphones from Sony and Bose. I didn’t notice that weight and wouldn’t have guessed they were around 50 grams heavier.

The Sonos Ace headphones look and feel oddly similar to the other headphones they’ll be competing with. From the shape and weight to the padding. Maybe they’ll seem more unique once I’ve spent more time with them on my head, but the Ace were instantly familiar, that’s for sure.

The biggest surprise for me is that Sonos didn’t attempt to break any molds with its first pair of headphones. The company played it safe. When I talked to people at the company, they kept reiterating that they found in consumer testing that people just wanted traditional Bluetooth headphones. A product that wouldn’t easily work outside the house or had a weird pairing method would have caused too much confusion. Bluetooth might have its problems, but people understand how to pair and use modern headphones.

I have a gut feeling about how current Sonos owners and tech enthusiasts will take to the Ace headphones, but I’m more curious to see how typical consumers respond. Will word spread quickly about these new premium headphones? Will we begin to see athletes showing up to games wearing them soon? Do the headphones ultimately become a halo product for the speaker company? A lot of money is riding on those open-ended questions.

Sonos Ace

Maximize your immersion with lossless streaming, spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, and world-class Active Noise Cancellation. Hear what’s going around you with Aware mode. Enjoy up to 30 hours of battery life, exceptional comfort, and flawlessly clear calls. Connect to your devices wirelessly via Bluetooth, or use the included USB-C and 3.5 mm cables.

$449 at Sonos