After months of rumors, Sonos has just officially unveiled its first pair of wireless headphones. Today's (May 21) Sonos Ace wireless headphones announcement outlines specifications, price, and release date, with the all-new model expected to go on sale in a few week's time.
Sonos is an audio brand synonymous with multiroom speaker systems through its line of interconnected speaker models including home speakers, portable speaker and soundbars. Many of its models rank among the best smart speakers thanks to a strong combination of reliable connectivity over its ecosystem and the robust Sonos control app — which got an update recently with a new layout, improved personalization and new product support ahead of the Sonos Ace headphones arrival.
As Sonos' most requested product, its first pair of noise-canceling headphones integrates with its ecosystem similar to the company's speaker models. Users will be able to seamlessly swap the TV audio from a Sonos Arc soundbar to listen to what's on screen for a personalized home cinema experience with dynamic head-tracking, while True Cinema tunes the headphone's 40mm dynamic drivers to match the acoustical presentation characteristics of your own listening room. Sonos says it expects to make this facility available when connecting the Ace headphones to other Sonos soundbars via future firmware updates.
Although I've yet to experience the new headphones myself, a review sample is expected to arrive for full testing soon. In the meantime, my colleague Mike Prospero was lucky enough to get a Sonos Ace hands-on.
Keep scrolling to discover everything we know about Sonos' first-ever headphones.
Sonos Ace: Price & availability
The Sonos Ace headphones go on sale on June 5, 2024 in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Australia, New Zealand, Eastern Europe, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, India, Japan and China. South Africa and Chile to follow.
Prices are expected to be USD $449 / GBP £449 / EUR €499 / AUD $699.
Sonos Ace: Design
Available in black and soft white matte finish color options with metal accents, the Sonos Ace headphones are a fold-flat design with a slim profile. Although there was no mention of the overall weight on the spec sheet I've seen so far, Sonos says the Ace headphones are a lightweight design that features pillowy soft memory foam ear cushions for all-day comfort.
Rather than adding touch controls to the Ace headphones, Sonos has opted for physical buttons on the earcups with play/pause, volume up/volume down, and noise control modes.
The Sonos Ace headphones come supplied with a carry case.
Sonos Ace: Feature highlights
Noise canceling
As the company's first pair of noise-canceling headphones, the Sonos Ace uses 8 microphones (four on each earcup with 3x internal and 1x out) to neutralize external sounds. Aware mode lets in ambient sounds so you can hear what’s going on around you.
Sonos says the beam-forming external mics are geared for high call quality at both ends of the conversation.
Battery life
The Sonos Ace can be charged via a universally accepted USB-C port. Battery life is expected to give up to 30 hours with ANC on, while a 3-minute quick charge is expected to result in a 3-hour playback top-up.
Audio and connectivity
Sonos says that the new Ace headphones use a ported acoustic architecture to deliver exceptional bass depth and an ultra-wide soundstage, while remaining incredibly clear. They have a 40mm dynamic driver fitted into each earcup, and the Ace's sound tuning has undergone 1,000 hours of testing by music creators.
The Ace's sound tuning has undergone 1,000 hours of testing by music creators.
Wireless connectivity runs on Bluetooth 5.4 with SBC, AAC codec support and aptX Lossless when connected to compatible playback devices. That gives the headphones near-CD-quality audio capabilities over Bluetooth with the right playback device and the best music streaming services, but there's no true lossless or hi-res support over wireless. Additionally, there was no mention of Auracast audio-sharing support at the time of writing.
As with many wireless headphones, the Ace headphones can also be connected via a USB-C-to-3.5mm audio cable, enabling wearers to make a wired connection to compatible playback devices for listening to lossless and hi-res audio.
True Cinema mode captures the acoustics of your room when the Sonos Ace headphones are integrated with a Sonos Arc soundbar over Wi-Fi for personalized home theater listening without disrupting the rest of the household.
Sonos Ace: Outlook
The Sonos Ace headphones have been a long time coming. The best headphones space is extremely competitive with top-ranking models from established headphone makers, so it'll be interesting to see how Sonos' experience in making some of the world's best soundbars and wireless speakers translates to headphones.
Can Sonos deliver the balance of sound quality and slick app integration that it's known for while introducing new tech to compete with the best noise-canceling headphones in the world? Find out in my full Sonos Ace review coming soon.
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