Sonos’s First-Ever Headphones Sound Amazing. That’s Not Their Best Feature

The Sonos Ace is the company’s first pair of noise-canceling headphones. However, their most exciting attribute goes beyond sound quality.

By Tucker Bowe

Published May 21, 2024

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Updated May 21, 2024

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It’s official. Sonos finally announced its first-ever headphones, the Sonos Ace. These are wireless over-ear noise-canceling headphones positioned to compete with the likes of Apple’s AirPods Max, the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Bose Quietcomfort Ultra.

Sonos Ace

Sonos Ace

Specs

Drivers	Custom 40mm dynamic drivers
Battery Life	30 hours
Colors	Black, soft white

$449 at Sonos

When they officially go on sale on June 5 — they’re up for preorder now — the Sonos Ace headphones will cost $449. They’ll be available in two finishes, black or soft white, similar to most Sonos soundbars and speakers.

Ahead of the release, I was invited to New York to get hands on with the Ace headphones. I felt them, listened to them and experienced the most “Sonos-y” thing about them firsthand. Here were some of my key takeaways.

The new kings of comfort

The thing that immediately stood out about the Sonos Ace headphones wasn’t how they sounded. It’s how they felt — which was really, really comfortable.

The Ace is a mix of lightweight plastic and premium materials (vegan leather and stainless steel). They weigh 312 grams — which falls between the AirPods Max (385 grams) and the Sony WH-100XM5 (250 grams) or Bose QuietComfort Ultra (249 grams) — but they feel considerably lighter than they are.

Sonos designed the Ace with “pillowy soft” memory foam earcups and a headband with very minimal clamp force. After just 15 minutes of wear-time, it became clear: these might just be the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn.

The Sonos Ace only stream audio over Bluetooth

With the Ace, Sonos aims to deliver the high-quality sound that the company is known for.

The headphones pack custom 40mm dynamic drivers that render each “frequency with impeccable precision and clarity,” Sonos says. They also support spatial audio with Dolby Atmos or Sony 360 Reality Audio if you’re streaming from Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal or Deezer.

Unlike their Roam and Move portable speakers, however, the Ace can only stream audio over Bluetooth. If you’re looking to play lossless audio, the Ace headphones can do this via a wired connection, and each pair comes with USB-C to USB-C and USB-C to 3.5mm cables. (Android users can stream lossless audio over Bluetooth if their device supports Snapdragon Sound AptX.)

As far as active noise-cancellation and transparency (or “Aware”) modes, the Sonos Ace headphones support both. The headphones have eight beam-forming microphones used for both modes, as well as voice for phone calls.

To get the full Ace experience, you need a Sonos soundbar

The thing that makes the Ace feel uniquely Sonos is a feature called TV Audio Swap — but you need a Sonos soundbar to experience it.

Essentially, you press a side button (called the Content Key) on the headphones and the audio from your nearest Sonos soundbar will quickly switch to the Ace. This way you can have a private listening session and not disturb other people in your home.

When using the Ace with your home theater, the Ace will utilize a new proprietary technology called TrueCinema. This allows the Ace to create a precise 3D map of your room and then render a completely immersive surround sound.

TrueCinema takes advantage of the Aces’ dynamic head tracking, too, so the audio adjusts with your head movements. According to Sonos, this creates a “listening experience so realistic you’ll forget you’re wearing headphones.” (Unfortunately, TrueCinema will not be available on the Ace at launch, but it will roll out with a firmware update “later this year,” Sonos says.)

There are a few disclaimers with TV Audio Swap, however. First, it only works with one Ace at a time. That means if you and your partner both have Ace headphones, you won’t both be able to listen to the same TV content.

At launch, TV Audio Swap on the Ace will only be compatible with Arc soundbars. Sonos says it will roll out support for Beam (Gen 2 and Gen 1) and Ray “soon.”

Easy, intuitive controls

As you’d probably expect, the Sonos Ace headphones have a lot of convenient features that have become commonplace in today’s premium ANC headphones space.

They have wear detection, so audio will automatically play and pause when you put them on and take them off. They have physical buttons — no capacitive controls like tapping and swiping — including a dedicated power button. And they have a pretty decent 30-hour battery life, while supporting fast-charging, to boot.

As for the Sonos App, you can use it to adjust things like EQ settings, spatial audio and some button functionalities. However, you don’t absolutely need to use the Sonos app, even for setup.

Basically, if you’re somebody who wants simple noise-canceling headphones that don’t force you to use an app or have a huge learning curve, the Sonos Ace check both those boxes and more.

Stay tuned for our full review. The Sonos Ace goes on sale June 5.

Sonos Ace

The Sonos Ace is the company’s first pair of wireless over-ear noise-canceling headphones. For those who have a Sonos soundbar, you can quickly swap your TV’s audio to these headphones for a private listening session.