Effectively-constructed construct may be very snug
Sonos’ signature sound is unmatched
Film-watching is three-dimensional and immersive
Cons
ANC might be stronger contemplating the worth
Headlining options are unavailable to some till an unspecified date
extra shopping for decisions
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Sonos Ace are each the audio market’s worst-kept secret and probably the most anticipated pair of headphones since Apple debuted the AirPods Max in 2020. For years now, audio fanatics and informal listeners have been anticipating a recent, new addition to the premium headphones area, and the Sonos Ace are positioned to compete instantly with Sony, Apple, and Bose, every infamous for his or her devoted person bases.
Whereas the Sonos Ace largely ship a wealthy and premium listening expertise, some customers might not be capable of overlook its flaws, such because the inferior lively noise cancellation (ANC) when in comparison with different headphones. In any other case, the headphones ship on the small particulars and fiercely compete with its friends within the consolation, sound, and design departments.
At $449, the Sonos Ace are barely overpriced. To be honest, I shared the identical sentiment about Sony, Apple, and Bose’s premium headphones. At any time when you could find any of those cans for a reduced value, that is when you should purchase them. Given the Ace’s technical blemishes and their preliminary incompatibility with each Sonos soundbar mannequin, it is best to give the headphones a while to be refined earlier than placing down any cash.
I wore the Sonos Ace every single day for every week to guage their noise-canceling efficiency, consolation, sound high quality, and compatibility with the Sonos Arc. After I took the Ace to native espresso outlets and grocery shops, I might convey the Bose QuietComfort Extremely headphones — my favourite headphones of 2023 — alongside to check the 2.
Throughout the workday, I wore the Ace at my desk whereas carrying glasses to check their consolation. I listened to my Apple Music playlists in Dolby Atmos with Sonos Clever Movement Processing and Dolby Atmos Head Monitoring toggled on to gauge spatial audio efficiency and sound high quality. I took the Ace to my lounge within the evenings to look at motion pictures and TV reveals in Dolby Atmos with the Ace and Arc duo. Naturally, I spent loads of time utilizing the redesigned Sonos app to find out how dependent the merchandise had been on the app’s performance.
Lastly, I needed to guage how effectively the Ace carried out with out syncing them to the Arc soundbar. One in every of Sonos’ main promoting factors is that the Ace and the Arc work collectively to create a non-public, three-dimensional movie-watching expertise. Nevertheless, I discovered that you may nonetheless obtain a few of that immersion with out the Arc. Extra under.
What are the Sonos Ace’s finest options?
The Sonos Ace’s Content material Secret is liable for a lot of the headphones’ controls.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
Premium headphones with bodily buttons? Depend me in: Headphone producers normally separate their price range and mid-range headphones from their premium headphones with buttons and contact controls; Decrease-cost headphones obtain bodily buttons, and higher-end ones get tap-and-swipe controls. I am sometimes not a fan of the latter, as one improper swipe or faucet, one rogue hair strand, or an excessive amount of moisture within the air can set off taking part in, pausing, or skipping a monitor.
After I spoke with Sonos about this actual ache level, I used to be informed that buyers want tangible buttons that give the person tactile affirmation. This prepare of thought is what led Sonos to create the Content material Key. You may slide the Content material Key up or down to manage quantity, press it as soon as to play or pause audio, or push it a number of instances to skip or rewind tracks. The Content material Key acts equally to the AirPods Max’s Digital Crown, besides it is in an easier-to-reach location the place urgent or sliding it will not unintentionally reposition the headphones whereas in your head.
There are two different buttons on the Ace: one for energy and managing Bluetooth connections and one for toggling between audio modes. The Ace headphones even have put on detection, so they are going to pause your audio if you take them off your head and resume if you put them again on.
The Sonos Ace’s headband hinges lie contained in the ear cups, giving them a simplistic and elevated look.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
Sonos Arc house owners are in for a deal with: Sonos’ soundbars are well-known for his or her wealthy, room-filling sound, however they are not the simplest to get pleasure from when everybody else in your house is winding down for the evening. Sonos’ largest magic trick with the Ace is that you may long-press the Content material Key, and your TV audio from the Arc rapidly transfers to the Ace with minimal interruption. After spending the higher half of an hour twiddling with the new Sonos app, I related my Arc soundbar to the Ace headphones and swapped Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Manufacturing facility” backwards and forwards with ease. It is as magical because the film.
The Ace and Arc join by way of Wi-Fi — not Bluetooth — so you’ll be able to stand up and stroll round so long as you keep inside your Arc’s community vary, which is not very far. Many rumors in regards to the Ace speculated they might transmit lossless audio over Wi-Fi, however that is sadly not true. While you interact the Ace in house theater mode with the Arc, the audio is mechanically performed in spatial audio with head monitoring enabled. I observed Sonos added solely gentle touches when digitally altering the audio, so it should not irritate those that want customary stereo audio.
The design screams perform, model, and ease: The Sonos Ace is available in two colours: Smooth White and Black. Every coloration sports activities a matte coating with silver metallic accents on the scarf extenders, the Content material Key, and the microphone homes on the underside and aspect of the ear cups. The Ace’s design is simplistic and paying homage to the AirPods Max’s simple however trendy design. But, if you flip the Ace to disclose their angled, oval ear cups, they start to appear like Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones however much less utilitarian and ponderous.
The Ace’s ear cups are coated with a fingerprint-resistant end, which I desperately tried to soil however to no avail. The plushy, reminiscence foam earpads are fitted with polyurethane leather-based, and the scarf is a firmer materials that is nonetheless snug to put on for hours. The scarf hinges are stashed contained in the ear cups, giving the Ace a chic look.
The correct speaker’s mesh cowl is coloured inexperienced to offer you a visible cue of which ear cup goes on which ear, so you do not have to search for the “L” and “R” labels on the headphones. Sturdy magnets maintain the earpads and ear cups collectively, so that they’re removable (and replaceable) and require a agency tug to tug them off.
The correct ear cup is inexperienced to offer you a visible cue of which ear cup goes on which ear.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
That sound: Sonos’ Bluetooth audio system and residential audio tools have at all times been extremely regarded, however you’ve got by no means been capable of expertise that sound as intimately as you’ll be able to with the Ace. Closed-back Bluetooth headphones aren’t recognized for reproducing a spacious, ethereal, and open sound. But, Sonos created headphones with a surprisingly broad soundstage, even with out Dolby Atmos enabled, including a degree of immersion that provides the listener the notion that they are within the room with the artist(s).
The Sonos Ace even have distinctive audio imaging, as I have been capable of decide aside each instrument, voice, and melodic concord in varied tracks. Sultry pop like Britney Spears’ Poisonous sounded thrilling and electrifying. The tune’s iconic high-pitched violin chord got here via the Ace’s 40mm custom-designed dynamic drivers easily and clearly, removed from piercing my eardrums. Melodic rap like Gunna’s 200 ForLunch provided bass that by no means acquired muddy or too overpowering and vocals that remained clear and middle stage always.
What I might wish to see within the subsequent mannequin
The Ace’s carrying case’s felt materials is created from 75% recycled plastic bottles, giving it a novel feel and look.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
Stronger ANC and higher transparency modes: Bose and Apple’s premium headphones are flat-out higher than the Sonos Ace in terms of ANC. Though noise-canceling headphones should not wholly block exterior noises round you, I count on a pair of headphones at this value to have simpler ANC. From listening in espresso outlets and grocery shops, I discovered the Ace’s ANC to be on par with higher mid-range headphones; I might nonetheless hear different individuals’s conversations and a number of the music taking part in on overhead audio system.
At house, the Ace did a strong job of minimizing the mid-to-lower pitch noises from my mini fridge and my neighbor’s lawnmower. The upper pitches of those droning noises had been a battle, although. Moreover, the transparency mode is just not as natural-sounding as Sonos’ rivals, specifically Apple and Bose.
Most (if not all) options must be out there at launch: The Sonos Ace’s headlining characteristic is its compatibility with the Sonos Arc soundbar. Sadly, TV audio swap between the 2 gadgets is just out there to iOS customers at launch. It is unknown when Android customers with a Sonos Arc may have entry to Sonos Ace’s most vital and progressive characteristic, and it is disappointing that a big portion of Sonos followers are excluded from the enjoyable (for now).
Past working system limitations, Sonos says the Sonos Beam, Beam Gen 2, and Ray may even help TV audio swap sooner or later however stays imprecise about when. The corporate additionally marketed a brand new characteristic referred to as TrueCinema that may map your room to create a customized encompass sound system, nevertheless it’s unclear when it will likely be out there.
Do I want a Sonos soundbar to make use of the Sonos Ace?
Nearly as good because the ecosystem characteristic is, you do not want a Sonos soundbar to benefit from the Ace headphones. Here is why.
To check the Ace’s movie-watching efficiency with out the Arc, I related the Ace by way of Bluetooth to the Amazon Hearth Stick plugged into my TV. Connecting the 2 was simple and fast. I watched the scene in Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Manufacturing facility,” the place Violet Beauregarde chews a stick of gum that turns her right into a blueberry. With out the Arc, I might nonetheless allow spatial audio with head monitoring. I heard the entire scene’s elaborate audio particulars, right down to the effervescent of Willy Wonka’s sweet equipment, which sounded prefer it was behind my left shoulder.
The Sonos Ace and Arc work collectively to swap your TV’s audio seamlessly.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
For comparability, I watched the identical scene with my Bose QuietComfort Extremely headphones. To maintain my testing constant, I turned on Bose’s proprietary spatial audio characteristic, Immersive Audio. The audio was tinnier, and Immersive Audio struggled to put the scene’s extra delicate sound results. I had a tougher time listening to the sweet equipment bubble, and the dialogue had much less depth than with the Ace.
My verdict: even with out the Arc, the Ace are splendidly tuned for movie-watching.
Conversely, having the Arc soundbar permits you to hear with immense readability and in Dolby Atmos via any of your TV’s outputs. The standout characteristic right here is the comfort when switching between gadgets. By holding down the Content material Key, the Arc and Ace intelligently swap audio, saving you from exiting your film to attach your headphones to a different system.
My recommendation: If you have already got a Sonos Arc, love Sonos’ distinct sound profile, and need to purchase new premium headphones, strongly think about the Sonos Ace. If you do not have a appropriate Sonos soundbar, you need not spend $1,000+ on Sonos merchandise to benefit from the Ace headphones.
Are the Sonos Ace higher than the AirPods Max?
The reply to this query relies on your private preferences, however let’s break down the most important variations between the 2. Sound high quality is a extremely subjective metric, so I encourage you to go to a retailer providing each headphones and check out them your self.
Design: The AirPods Max are heavier and bulkier than the Sonos Ace. The Ace headphones sport slim, oval ear cups, whereas the AirPods Max have outsized ear cups that take a extra sq. form. Additionally, the Sonos Ace have an influence button and a carrying case, whereas the AirPods Max preserve energy by coming into sleep mode if you take them off and slot into the included holster. Lastly, the Sonos Ace have a USB-C port for charging and lossless audio, whereas the AirPods Max have a Lightning port.
Machineecosystem: Apple merchandise work finest with different Apple merchandise, very similar to how Sonos merchandise work finest with different Sonos merchandise. With the AirPods Max, you may solely be capable of reap all of its advantages if you happen to personal an iPhone and have an Apple Music subscription. With the Sonos Ace, you may desire a Sonos soundbar for one of the best audio expertise, although, as I’ve already identified, it isn’t as huge of a dealbreaker if you happen to do not.
Noise-canceling: Sonos’s noise-canceling expertise trails Apple’s. If you happen to want headphones with stronger noise-canceling capabilities, the AirPods Max will do a greater job.
Last thought
I like to recommend the Sonos Ace to those that need top-tier sound high quality, whether or not they’re listening to music or watching a film, as these headphones are basically a Sonos soundbar in headphone kind. The Ace headphones’ weaker noise-canceling properties do not make them very best for the hustle and bustle of day by day life. As an alternative, they are often most appreciated in a relaxed atmosphere, when you’ve got time to sit down again, calm down, and absolutely immerse your self in no matter you are listening to.
