SOMEHOW STILL CHEAPER THAN AIRPODS MAX
How Can The Sonos Ace Headphones Possibly Be Worth $450?
Sonos has been a big name in home audio for years, but they're only now dipping their toes into the wireless headphones market with a new high-end model called Ace.
While reviewers haven't had enough time to test every single aspect of these upcoming headphones, countless critics have released their hands-on impressions of these beefy cans earlier today. With that in mind, we can already get a sense of how they'll stand up for listeners when they ship early next month.
Broadly speaking, the response has been positive. If you happen to have a Sonos soundbar, that offers some handy additional features. For a first outing these seem like solid devices, but is it really enough to convince high-end consumers to switch away from the likes of the AirPods Max? Let's dig in.
The soundbar integration rules, but support is limited
Right now, the one big Sonos-y trick of the Ace is their ability to receive audio from the company's soundbars for private listening. (Only the flagship Arc will support this feature at launch, with the Beam Gen 2, Beam, and Ray coming later.) You hold down the "content key" — that's the metal slider that also controls volume and play/pause — and within a couple seconds, the soundbar beams over Dolby Atmos audio to the headphones, complete with spatial audio head tracking.
This works for any input device running through the soundbar. Streaming boxes? Sure. Gaming consoles? Check. You can walk around the house and keep listening to a sports game in the background as you clean up or focus on other things. TV Audio Swap will be exclusively available to people with iOS devices at launch, with Android support for this major feature coming "soon." So Android users can take advantage of better Bluetooth audio (thanks to aptX), while the iOS side gets to enjoy the headlining home theater trick.
It doesn't sound bad, considering the price tag
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.
[CNET]
Fit and finish aside, the Sonos Ace sound superb. The company claims that they're tuned specifically to highlight vocals and spatial audio and the demos I experienced put both front and center. The midrange reproduction is excellent, whether it was Billie Eilish crooning in "What I Was Made For" or a snippet of a historical podcast. Bass is good but not overwhelming, and it was easy to pick out the individual instruments in every song Sonos provided as well as where it was located. Not exactly the same as sitting front row at a live performance, but there was a sense of verticality that I haven't experienced on any other pair of headphones to date.
They feel better on your head than the AirPods Max
Compared to the AirPods Max, the Sonos Ace headphones are lighter weight and don't exert as much pressure on the side of the head. Sonos designed the ear cups from a soft memory foam that's wrapped in vegan leather, and the cups are designed to create a seal around the ears without catching on hair.
When I donned the Sonos Ace, I found them to be very comfortable. I didn't feel any pressure on the top of my head, and things were evenly distributed around my ears. That said, at 11 ounces, the Sonos Ace are heavier than the Bose QC Ultra and Sony XM5's, which both weigh around 8.9 ounces. The AirPods Max are even heavier at 13.6 ounces.
The battery should last more than a day with noise-canceling turned on
As for battery life, Sonos claims 30 hours on a full charge with ANC and "25 percent more than that" with ANC off.
[Gizmodo]
Battery life is estimated to be around 30 hours with normal use (ANC on), though if you use the headphones with the Arc soundbar that's likely to drop but Sonos weren't keen on providing specific numbers in this context. The wear detection (which worked very efficiently) can also help give the battery a rest by knowing when you're wearing the headphones and pausing music in response.
TL;DR
If you have Sonos speakers and soundbars at home, purchasing the Ace headphones should fulfill the missing piece to your Sonos ecosystem.
[ZDNet]
The Sonos Ace is available for pre-order, but won't ship until June 5, 2024.
[Image credit: Sonos]
