Why You Can Trust CNET Sonos Ace Headphones Hands-On: Swanky Design, AirPods Max-Like Price
After a series of leaks, Sonos announced its much-anticipated Ace headphones and they're predictably pricey.
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The Ace headphones are available in white and black.
Sonos' long-rumored and much-anticipated Sonos Ace headphones have finally been unveiled. Although many details about them have leaked over the last several weeks, there are a few surprises.
For starters, the Ace headphones cost a little more than the rumors suggested: $449 (£449, AU$699) instead of $429. And although they're equipped with a Wi-Fi chip, they're not really Wi-Fi headphones. Unlike Sonos' Roam and Move 2 speakers, which stream music over Wi-Fi on your Sonos multiroom system and double as Bluetooth speakers off your home network, the Sonos Ace are first and foremost noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones. In fact, they use only Wi-Fi to tap into your Sonos soundbar to create a personal home-theater experience.
I tried the new Ace headphones at Sonos' launch event for the product. While I can't write my full review yet (that would be hard given the limited amount of time I had with them), I'm allowed to impart some early impressions in advance of the headphones' June 5 ship date.
Read more: Best Noise-Canceling Headphones of 2024
Sonos Ace design
Yes, $449 is a lot to spend on a pair of headphones (with tax, the price is well over $450, of course). You'd therefore expect the Ace to have a premium design that's on par with other headphones in this price class, such as Sony's WH-1000XM5 ($400 list), Bose's QuietComfort Ultra ($429 list) and Apple's AirPods Max, which are $549 but currently on sale for $449. And they do.
The Ace headphones weigh in at 11 ounces, or 312 grams. They're not as light as the Sony (250 grams) or the Bose (253 grams), but they're considerably lighter than the AirPods Max (385 grams).
In my short time with the headphones, they were quite comfortable to wear -- they have cushy memory foam ear pads covered in high-end faux leather -- and their chrome metal yoke allows the headphones to swivel in multiple directions (the hinge is hidden). I also appreciated that there was a relatively small gap between the headband and my head. The headphones hug your head nicely with just the right amount of clamping for the ear pads to create a good acoustic seal.
The headphones are constructed out of both metal and plastic.
Like with the AirPods Max, the ear pads magnetically attach and are replaceable. I liked how the control buttons are implemented, with the main button being a slider that moves up and down to control volume as well as a universal control button that you press once to pause and play audio and double tap to advance tracks forward, with additional control options available. A smaller button on the right ear cup toggles between noise canceling and transparency modes. (Sonos calls it an Aware mode.)
As far as accessories go, the felt carrying case, which Sonos says is made out 75% recycled plastic bottles, is relatively lightweight yet protective. In the case is a USB-C-to-USB-C cable and a USB-C-to-3.5mm cable.
Close-up of the Ace's buttons and microphones. They are well-designed and well-positioned.
Sonos Ace features
The Ace headphones are fairly loaded with features. As I said, they are noise-canceling headphones (Sonos says they have "world-class" noise cancellation) and also feature a transparency mode that allows you to hear the outside world.
They're equipped with Bluetooth 5.4 and support AAC and Qualcomm's AptX Adaptive audio codec (there's support for AptX Lossless if you have a capable device, like certain Android smartphones).
If you want to go the wired route, you can simply connect your USB-C smartphone with the included USB-C cable to get a digital lossless connection. You can also connect to a headphone port using the included USB-C-to-3.5mm cable (that's the cable you'd use on a plane). Using that 3.5mm cable, you can also listen to lossless music on a device like a computer or music player.
The ear pads adhere magnetically and are replaceable.
The Ace has wear-detection sensors that automatically pause your music when you take the headphones off your head and resume playback when you put them back on. And there is an equalizer in the Sonos app that allows tweaking the sound profile.
Not to be outdone by the AirPods Max, the Ace has a spatial audio feature that Sonos says delivers a "hyper-realistic three-dimensional sound, including an industry-leading Dolby Atmos experience and dynamic head-tracking, from supported services and devices."
One of the key selling points for Sonos users will be the TV Audio Swap feature. At launch, Sonos says it will work only with its high-end Arc sound bar, but it's coming to all its Beam and Ray soundbars. (The Beam 2 will be the first speaker to get it after the Arc.) It's really designed for folks who want to watch something on their TV at night and don't want to disturb others in their household who might be asleep. Instead of using your soundbar for sound, you hit a button in the app and the sound is switched from the soundbar to the headphones (the soundbar decodes the Dolby Atmos stream).
The TV Audio Swap feature is accessed through the Sonos app.
The result is similar to watching a movie using Apple's spatial audio feature, with dialog fixed to the middle of the screen in front of you even when you move your head. The headphones' home theater experience will get even better with time. "Coming later this year, Sonos' all-new TrueCinema technology precisely maps your space then renders a complete surround sound system for a listening experience so realistic you'll forget you're wearing headphones," the company says.
Finally, the headphones have eight beam-forming microphones for "noise control and voice targeting." I didn't get a chance to make any calls, but hopefully, the voice-calling performance is top-notch. The Sony WH-1000XM5 currently offers the best voice-calling performance in a consumer headphone that I've tested.
Sonos Ace sound quality
I only listened to a few sample tracks on an iPad, but I was generally impressed with what I heard. The headphones have custom-designed 40mm dynamic drivers (Sonos didn't go into any more detail on the drivers), and my initial impression is the Ace's sound measured up well against those other premium headphones I mentioned earlier, expressing good detail and clarity along with punchy bass and a wide sound stage. I didn't have those competing models with me, so I can't make a true comparison. That'll have to wait until my full review.
The same goes for the noise-canceling performance. It seemed quite good, but I didn't have the Bose or Sony on hand to make a real comparison.
The headphones have 40mm dynamic drivers.
Sonos Ace battery life
Sonos says the Ace headphones are rated for up to 30 hours of use on a single charge at moderate volume levels with noise canceling on. That's solid (the Sony WH-1000XM5 is also rated for 30 hours, while the AirPods Max are rated for up to 20 hours). A quick-charge feature gets you 3 hours of playback time from a 3-minute charge, and the headphones require about 2 hours to fully charge.
The headphones in their felt carrying case. A compartment stores the two included cables.
Sonos Ace final thoughts
I was a little surprised that the Ace wasn't more of a Wi-Fi headphone. I really thought you'd be able to put them on your Sonos network and play audio to them like any Sonos speaker on your network. However, Sonos reps told me that listening to music over Wi-Fi would greatly reduce the headphone's battery life, so Sonos opted to leave that feature off.
The TV Audio Swap feature does make a lot of sense, and people will appreciate it. But not everyone owns a Sonos Arc soundbar, so I'm curious to see how the feature goes over with Sonos users at launch. I have a feeling that, like Sonos' new revamped app, the headphones might have a few kinks to work out, especially when it comes to the TV Audio Swap feature. But I'll be able to dig into all that in a lot more depth in my full review next week.