Sonos is a brand synonymous with audio. Specifically, the company is known for its line of interconnected home speakers. However, it looks like the company intends to branch out, as the upcoming Sonos Ace wireless headphones just leaked in full. And from the looks of things, they will compete directly with Apple's beloved AirPods Max.
The leak comes from Sonos parts dealer Schuurman, who prematurely posted plenty of photos of the yet-unannounced headphones. The listing shows the new Sonos headphones as having a €403.58 price, which is around $430. The prevailing rumor suggests these headphones would go against the AirPods Max, and that price tag definitely puts Sonos' offering in the same range.
On the headphones, you can see lots of buttons on both ear cups, along with a switch. While it's hard to get a feel for the quality of the headphones, they do look premium (and the leaked price certainly points towards high-end). Hopefully, they're built with the same level of quality we've come to expect from Sonos speakers.
Reddit users on the Sonos subreddit dug a little deeper, finding an early mention of the "Sonos Ace" on the company’s website. There's a search bar message about pre-ordering them, so it seems that Sonos is gearing up to put the headphones on sale very soon.
Another sign pointing toward the Sonos Ace coming along swiftly is the company appears to own sonosace.com, as the URL redirects to the main Sonos homepage.
As you might expect, the Ace headphones are reported to work with the rest of the Sonos ecosystem. For example, owners of Sonos soundbars will be able to listen to TV audio on the headphones seamlessly, which sounds convenient.
The headphone space is competitive, with several of the best headphones coming from established brands like Apple, Sony, Bose, and others. It'll be interesting to see if Sonos's brand power from years of making speakers translates to headphones or if the company is entering the market a little too late. Can the company deliver on overall sound quality and high-quality active noise cancellation? Hopefully, we won't have to wait long to find out.