During a media briefing in Sydney, Sonos staff repeatedly said that headphones have been its "most requested product ever", a tagline that the company also used ahead of today to hype up the announcement of the Sonos Ace. The Sonos Ace are the audio manufacturer's first attempt at over-ear headphones, and the feature set very much suggests the brand is directly targeting the existing customers who've been asking for them.
Sonos products are designed to be better together, and that's perhaps the most interesting part of the Sonos Ace pitch. Customers who have a Sonos Arc soundbar can pipe the audio from their TV to their headphones for a personal listening experience. At launch, this feature will be limited to iPhone users and the Arc, but will be expanded to Android, the Beam (both first and second-generation models), and the entry-level Ray "soon".
What sets this functionality apart is another impending feature, that Sonos calls TrueCinema. TrueCinema - using your sound bar and headphones - maps the audio profile of the room you're watching TV in. This then remixes the audio playing through the Sonos Ace using your room's acoustics, in attempt to make it feel like you're not wearing headphones. This works in conjunction with head tracking, to pin the audio source as your TV.
I may have sworn with excitement when I tried this in an early demo. While I only got to test the feature for a few minutes, it was genuinely convincing, and something I'm excited to test in more detail over a longer period. There's no time frame for when this feature will launch, other than later this year.
The Sonos Ace will only work with Sonos soundbars - they won't connect to any other products in the Sonos portfolio, and they're primarily designed to be used as a Bluetooth product.
Otherwise, the Sonos Ace have the types of specs you'd expect from high-end headphones. Active noise-cancelling, spatial audio, lossless audio support, and beam-forming microphones for phone calls are all accounted for. There's no IP rating, but Sonos says the "vegan leather" used for them is easy to wipe clean. Sonos promises up to 30 hours of battery per charge, and a three-minute top-up can provide as much as three hours of playtime.
In a brief hands-on, both the sound quality and noise cancelling were impressive, delivering the kind of audio experience you'd expect from a premium brand. I've been obsessively listening to post metal band Glassing lately, and their new single "Defacer" sounded absolutely massive on the Sonos Ace, without losing any clarity. In a controlled demo, Sonos filled the room with brown noise, which the Ace effortlessly cancelled out. While, once again, I'd need more time for a final verdict, I walked away eager for another opportunity to try the Sonos Ace.
The Sonos Ace are also lovely on the design front, almost like a hybrid of Sony's WH-1000XM5s, and Apple's AirPod Max. They have aluminium sliders and hidden hinges like the AirPods Max, but use high-end plastic for the cups and headbang, similar to the XM5s. They weigh 314 grams, putting them in the middle of the two pairs. While the AirPods Max can feel heavy over time, I didn't get that feeling from the Sonos Ace.
There's a bespoke button Sonos calls the "Content Key" sitting on the right cup. It's a tiny slider that acts as both a volume rocker and control button. Sliding it up and down adjusts volume in a satisfying way, while clicking it in is used for pausing or resuming playback. There's a nice tactility to it, and much like the digital crown on the AirPods Max, it's a novel solution to implementing physical controls.
The Sonos Ace will be available from June 5, come in a choice of black or white, and you can pre-order them now. They'll set you back $699 which puts them between the XM5s which now retail for around $549 and the AirPods Max at $899.
$699 is definitely on the higher end for premium headphones - especially for a first attempt. That kind of asking price could definitely turn away consumers who aren't familiar with the brand, while the faithful who've allegedly been clamouring for Sonos-made headphones might not blink an eye.
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Alex Choros
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