There’s so much going on with the new $450 Sonos Ace headphones. As demand for the company’s speakers and soundbars has cooled since the pandemic boom, Sonos could use a hit product — or at least a strong debut in a huge product category. The Ace certainly could be, but these headphones are overshadowed by Sonos’ recent app redesign, which has angered many customers who were missing many features after the update.
Sonos has vowed to restore these software features in the coming weeks, but the whole situation – and the unshakable feeling that the app’s overhaul was rushed – has shaken trust between the audio brand and some of its most loyal customers. That is not where Sonos wanted to be in advance of what CEO Patrick Spence has called the most requested new device ever. But here we are now, as the Ace headphones are available to pre-order ahead of their release on June 5th.
Last week, the company hosted members of the media in New York City for a first look at the Sonos Ace. I was able to test the noise-canceling headphones – not long enough to form a serious opinion on the sound quality – and experience their main feature, which is the ability to instantly stream TV audio from a Sonos soundbar to the headphones with the press of a button Button. The Ace headphones support spatial audio and head tracking, providing a private, cinema-like listening experience when you might otherwise need the quiet in the TV room. (Spatial Audio can also be used when listening to regular music.)
During the briefing, I sat down with Spence to discuss the headphones, which he said were requested by “tens of thousands” of customers. Rumors about Sonos entering this area have been circulating for many years. There were many prototypes, but the Ace hardware you see here took around two years of development. And they certainly adopt some ideas from their contemporaries.
These look like what you’d get if you put Sony’s WH-1000XM5 and Apple’s AirPods Max in a blender. The leatherette earpads are magnetic and easily removable, although Sonos throws in some thoughtful touches; The inside pages are color coded so you can easily see what goes on which page. There’s a fingerprint-resistant coating on the outside of the headphones to prevent smudges – particularly helpful for the black pair. And the memory foam headband has varying levels of padding to avoid putting too much strain on any part of your head.
Thankfully, the Ace are much lighter than the AirPods Max. While there isn’t quite as much metal, the overall feel is still very good. And on my ears, they felt wonderfully comfortable. “We’ve put more work into this product than anyone else in the industry to make sure it fits a variety of different heads and ears – both men and women – and I think this will be the most comfortable premium headphone yet,” Spence told the media.
Try as I might, I couldn’t find any obvious hardware flaws with the first generation in my short time with them. Maybe they’ll reveal themselves when I test the Ace, but at first glance it’s clear that Sonos has paid attention to the little details. (Another example: In the fabric carrying bag there is a pocket for the USB-C and headphone cables Also attaches magnetically.) The controls are also done right, with physical buttons for everything and no taps or swipes to remember.
However, if you were expecting the Sonos Ace to offer the same features as the company’s home audio speakers, you’ll be disappointed. These do not play music over WiFi. The best you get is aptX Adaptive on modern Android devices for higher bitrate Bluetooth streaming from compatible music services. You can’t group the Ace with Sonos speakers or set the headphones as their own “zone” in the app – yes, you need the separating new app to change settings or adjust EQ – and although I’ve long dreamed of one Intelligent automatic handover between headphones and speakers when you get home is also missing.
The Ace’s only big Sonos trick right now is its ability to receive audio from the company’s soundbars for private listening. (Only the flagship Arc supports this feature at launch, with Beam Gen 2, Beam and Ray coming later.) You hold down the “content button” — that’s the metal slider that also controls volume and play/pause — and within a few seconds the soundbar sends audio to the headphones via Dolby Atmos, complete with spatial audio head tracking.
This works for any input device that runs through the soundbar. Streaming boxes? Secure. Game consoles? Check. You can walk around the house and listen to a sports game in the background while you clean up or concentrate on other things. TV Audio Swap will be available exclusively to users with iOS devices at launch, with Android support for this important feature coming “soon.” So Android users can benefit from better Bluetooth audio (thanks to aptX), while the iOS side can enjoy the groundbreaking home theater trick.
Stereo content is upmixed by default in Home Theater mode, but you can always turn spatial audio off if you’d rather hear true stereo without any magic. Sonos’ sound guru Giles Martin told me the company is “cautious” about how aggressively it virtualizes stereo. The head tracking effect is pretty subtle because, as Martin noted, if it’s too obvious or intrusive, people will probably just turn it off. The headphones can detect when you have stood up to get something from the fridge, and in such situations head tracking will be temporarily disabled until you stand still again.
All the intensive audio processing and binaural encoding is done on the soundbar side, but here’s something interesting: Sonos Is Use WiFi to stream audio to the headphones in this home theater mode. However, it is not lossless. One of the company’s engineers told me that it is 345 Kbps and also confirmed that this Wi-Fi streaming affects battery life, which is usually around 30 hours (with ANC turned on). But Sonos doesn’t disclose battery estimates for home theater playback – in part because the headphones support fast charging should you ever drain them.
Private listening between TVs (or streaming devices) and headphones is by no means a new concept; You can listen to Apple TV with Apple’s AirPods. Roku has had a headphone jack in many of its remote controls for years. And you can pair Bluetooth earbuds with any number of Google TVs.
But Sonos believes the Ace can increase immersion to levels far beyond its competitors, and that’s in part because of a new feature the company calls TrueCinema. Your soundbar performs a calibration of the acoustic qualities of the room – similar to TruePlay – while the microphones on the headphones help determine your seating position and tailor the spatial sound to your individual room. In theory, this data makes 3D spatial audio surround sound feel all the more convincing, as if you weren’t wearing headphones at all. I need more hands-on time to find out if TrueCinema really makes a difference. As it is, the feature won’t be rolling out until later this year.
Can Sonos really keep up with Bose and Sony when it comes to active noise cancellation? Will the Ace’s awareness/transparency mode prove to be as natural as the AirPods Max, which remains unbeaten in this regard? And how will the sound quality develop after a long period of listening?
Stay tuned for our full review of the Sonos Ace in the coming days, and if you’re curious about anything in particular, don’t hesitate to leave a comment.
Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge