After years of rumours the Sonos Ace headphones have not only finally launched, they've also been given the review treatment by What Hi-Fi?'s team of audio and home cinema experts.
Here's what you need to know about the new wireless headphones.
What are the Sonos Ace?
The Sonos Ace were announced on 21st May. They mark Sonos' entry into the highly competitive world of wireless headphones, bearing some similarities (and a fair few differences, it has to be said) with premium pairs like the Sony WH-1000XM5, Apple AirPods Max and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones.
It's a bold move. Sony has a long and storied history of making Award-winning headphones, as does Bose (which invented noise-cancelling technology). Apple, meanwhile, was able to put its learnings from its huge-selling AirPods earbuds range into its first pair of over-ear headphones, to great success.
Sadly, the Ace didn't replicate the AirPods or Sony's success, with our reviewers finding they couldn't match the stellar standards set by their rivals in key metrics including audio quality and ANC performance. That's why they currently carry a three-star rating in our Sonos Ace review.
Sonos Ace headphones: release date
As rumoured, the Sonos Ace launched on Tuesday 21st May and are set to go on sale on Wednesday 5th June.
They've been a long time coming. They were first rumoured back in 2021, while Sonos has reportedly been working on them since 2019. Safe to say that Sonos went back to the drawing board a fair few times during the five-year development.
Sonos Ace headphones: price
The Sonos Ace cost £449 / $449 / AU$699. This makes them a little pricier than the Sony WH-1000XM5 (£380 / $399 / AU$550) but cheaper than the Apple AirPods Max (£549 / $549 / AU$899). They're closest in price to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (£450 / $429 / AU$649).
Though bear in mind that all of these rival pairs are older and are quite often discounted. Whereas Sonos devices don't often go on sale, even if they are no longer new.
Sonos Ace headphones: design
Imagine a Sonos speaker ported to the form factor of an over-ear headphone, and you'd be pretty close to the Ace. Their minimalist look is very on-brand for Sonos, right down to the company logo being the same colour as the headphones themselves (the same can be seen on the new Roam 2 portable speaker). This makes the logo nice and subtle, but then it shimmers when it catches the light.
An anti-fingerprint coating fends off your dabs, keeping the earcups looking fresh and clean. The earpads and headband are cushioned with memory foam coated in vegan leather, while stainless steel yokes makes adjusting the headband nice and smooth. The earcups themselves are smaller than the AirPods Max's and protrude less than the Sony XM5's, but are still big enough to cover our ears.
The concealed hinges and joints are reminiscent of Sony's 'noiseless' design that premiered with the XM5. As well as looking nice and sleek, it means you don't catch your hair. Like the XM5, the earcups swivel flat but don't fold, so the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (which do fold) are still the most portable of the premium pairs we've tested.
The Ace's earpads are replaceable, and fix in place using strong magnets.
You control the headphones using physical buttons, which should be more reliable than capacitive touch controls. Like many Sonos devices, the Ace come in Black or Soft White. There's one more nice touch – the earcup mesh differs in colour to differentiate between left and right, so you don't put them on the wrong way around. Sometimes it's the little touches that make the biggest difference...
Sonos Ace headphones: features
The Ace have features aplenty. Bluetooth 5.4 (the latest version) comes as standard, and lossless audio is supported via Snapdragon Sound’s aptX Lossless and Apple’s ALAC codecs. Lossless audio should work over wireless and wired playback, according to Sonos.
The big news is there's no wi-fi. Or at least, there is for connecting to a Sonos soundbar for certain features (more on those later), but not for integrating the Ace into your whole Sonos multi-room system. Which seems a shame. Sonos has built its reputation on a killer multi-room set-up that's open and easy to use, so it seems like a missed opportunity to omit its newest product. But Sonos isn't ruling it out for a future pair of headphones.
Battery life matches the Sony WH-1000XM5 at 30 hours, with ANC and Bluetooth activated. They pause playback when you take them off and restart it when you put them on again, and spatial audio with dynamic headtracking is available with Dolby Atmos content (including movies, and music from Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Deezer).
So what about these Sonos-exclusive features? TV Audio Swap sees the Ace play the audio from your Sonos soundbar through them for private viewing. It's activated with one button press (either in the app or by holding down a button on the Ace's earcup). TV Audio Swap works with the Sonos Arc at launch and will come to other current Sonos soundbars soon (but not older models).
Then there's TrueCinema calibration, which is basically TruePlay for headphones. It analyses your room and aims to give you a more immersive, spatial audio feel through the cans, so it sounds as if you're listening via a full surround sound system. It will arrive later in the year.
Sonos Ace headphones: noise cancellation
You toggle between full active noise cancellation (ANC) and Aware mode (which lets in ambient sound) using a button on the right earcup. To turn ANC off, you'll need to use the Sonos app. Eight mics (four in each earcup) are used for ANC and for voice calls.
You can get a detailed breakdown how the headphones ANC performed in our dedicated Sonos Ace review, but the cliff notes is, not as well as rivals.
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