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The Sonos Ace are both the audio market's worst-kept secret and the most anticipated pair of headphones since Apple debuted the AirPods Max in 2020. For years now, audio fanatics and casual listeners have been eager for a fresh, new addition to the premium headphones space, and the Sonos Ace are positioned to compete directly with Sony, Apple, and Bose, each notorious for their dedicated user bases.
While the Sonos Ace mostly deliver a rich and premium listening experience, some consumers may not be able to overlook its flaws, such as the inferior active noise cancellation (ANC) when compared to other headphones. Otherwise, the headphones deliver on the small details and fiercely compete with its peers in the comfort, sound, and design departments.
At $449, the Sonos Ace are slightly overpriced. To be fair, I shared the same sentiment about Sony, Apple, and Bose's premium headphones. Whenever you can find any of these cans for a discounted price, that's when you should buy them. Given the Ace's technical blemishes and their initial incompatibility with every Sonos soundbar model, you should give the headphones some time to be refined before putting down any money.
I wore the Sonos Ace every day for a week to evaluate their noise-canceling performance, comfort, sound quality, and compatibility with the Sonos Arc. When I took the Ace to local coffee shops and grocery stores, I'd bring the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones -- my favorite headphones of 2023 -- along to compare the two.
During the workday, I wore the Ace at my desk while wearing glasses to test their comfort. I listened to my Apple Music playlists in Dolby Atmos with Sonos Intelligent Motion Processing and Dolby Atmos Head Tracking toggled on to gauge spatial audio performance and sound quality. I took the Ace to my living room in the evenings to watch movies and TV shows in Dolby Atmos with the Ace and Arc duo. Naturally, I spent plenty of time using the redesigned Sonos app to determine how dependent the products were on the app's functionality.
Finally, I wanted to judge how well the Ace performed without syncing them to the Arc soundbar. One of Sonos' major selling points is that the Ace and the Arc work together to create a private, three-dimensional movie-watching experience. However, I found that you can still achieve some of that immersion without the Arc. More below.
What are the Sonos Ace's best features?
The Sonos Ace's Content Key is responsible for most of the headphones' controls.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
Premium headphones with physical buttons? Count me in: Headphone manufacturers usually separate their budget and mid-range headphones from their premium headphones with buttons and touch controls; Lower-cost headphones receive physical buttons, and higher-end ones get tap-and-swipe controls. I'm typically not a fan of the latter, as one wrong swipe or tap, one rogue hair strand, or too much moisture in the air can trigger playing, pausing, or skipping a track.
When I spoke with Sonos about this exact pain point, I was told that consumers prefer tangible buttons that give the user tactile confirmation. This train of thought is what led Sonos to create the Content Key. You can slide the Content Key up or down to control volume, press it once to play or pause audio, or push it multiple times to skip or rewind tracks. The Content Key acts similarly to the AirPods Max's Digital Crown, except it's in an easier-to-reach location where pressing or sliding it won't unintentionally reposition the headphones while on your head.
There are two other buttons on the Ace: one for power and managing Bluetooth connections and one for toggling between audio modes. The Ace headphones also have wear detection, so they will pause your audio when you take them off your head and resume when you put them back on.
The Sonos Ace's headband hinges lie inside the ear cups, giving them a simplistic and elevated look.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
Sonos Arc owners are in for a treat: Sonos' soundbars are well-known for their rich, room-filling sound, but they're not the easiest to enjoy when everyone else in your home is winding down for the night. Sonos' biggest magic trick with the Ace is that you can long-press the Content Key, and your TV audio from the Arc quickly transfers to the Ace with minimal interruption. After spending the better half of an hour fiddling with the new Sonos app, I connected my Arc soundbar to the Ace headphones and swapped Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" back and forth with ease. It's as magical as the movie.
The Ace and Arc connect via Wi-Fi -- not Bluetooth -- so you can get up and walk around as long as you stay within your Arc's network range, which isn't very far. Many rumors about the Ace speculated they could transmit lossless audio over Wi-Fi, but that's unfortunately not true. When you engage the Ace in home theater mode with the Arc, the audio is automatically played in spatial audio with head tracking enabled. I noticed Sonos added only light touches when digitally altering the audio, so it shouldn't irritate those who prefer standard stereo audio.
The design screams function, style, and simplicity: The Sonos Ace comes in two colors: Soft White and Black. Each color sports a matte coating with silver metallic accents on the headband extenders, the Content Key, and the microphone houses on the bottom and side of the ear cups. The Ace's design is simplistic and reminiscent of the AirPods Max's straightforward but stylish design. Yet, when you turn the Ace to reveal their angled, oval ear cups, they begin to look like Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones but less utilitarian and bulky.
The Ace's ear cups are coated with a fingerprint-resistant finish, which I desperately tried to soil but to no avail. The plushy, memory foam earpads are fitted with polyurethane leather, and the headband is a firmer material that's still comfortable to wear for hours. The headband hinges are stashed inside the ear cups, giving the Ace an elegant look.
The right speaker's mesh cover is colored green to give you a visual cue of which ear cup goes on which ear, so you don't have to look for the "L" and "R" labels on the headphones. Strong magnets hold the earpads and ear cups together, so they're detachable (and replaceable) and require a firm tug to pull them off.
The right ear cup is green to give you a visual cue of which ear cup goes on which ear.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
That sound: Sonos' Bluetooth speakers and home audio equipment have always been highly regarded, but you've never been able to experience that sound as intimately as you can with the Ace. Closed-back Bluetooth headphones aren't known for reproducing a spacious, airy, and open sound. Yet, Sonos created headphones with a surprisingly wide soundstage, even without Dolby Atmos enabled, adding a level of immersion that gives the listener the perception that they're in the room with the artist(s).
The Sonos Ace also have exceptional audio imaging, as I've been able to pick apart every instrument, voice, and melodic harmony in various tracks. Sultry pop like Britney Spears' Toxic sounded exciting and electrifying. The song's iconic high-pitched violin chord came through the Ace's 40mm custom-designed dynamic drivers smoothly and clearly, far from piercing my eardrums. Melodic rap like Gunna's 200 ForLunch offered bass that never got muddy or too overpowering and vocals that remained clear and center stage at all times.
What I'd like to see in the next model
The Ace's carrying case's felt material is made from 75% recycled plastic bottles, giving it a unique look and feel.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
Stronger ANC and better transparency modes: Bose and Apple's premium headphones are flat-out better than the Sonos Ace when it comes to ANC. Although noise-canceling headphones shouldn't wholly block external noises around you, I expect a pair of headphones at this price to have more effective ANC. From listening in coffee shops and grocery stores, I found the Ace's ANC to be on par with upper mid-range headphones; I could still hear other people's conversations and some of the music playing on overhead speakers.
At home, the Ace did a solid job of minimizing the mid-to-lower pitch noises from my mini fridge and my neighbor's lawnmower. The higher pitches of these droning noises were a struggle, though. Additionally, the transparency mode is not as natural-sounding as Sonos' competitors, namely Apple and Bose.
Most (if not all) features should be available at launch: The Sonos Ace's headlining feature is its compatibility with the Sonos Arc soundbar. Unfortunately, TV audio swap between the two devices is only available to iOS users at launch. It's unknown when Android users with a Sonos Arc will have access to Sonos Ace's most significant and innovative feature, and it's disappointing that a large portion of Sonos fans are excluded from the fun (for now).
Beyond operating system limitations, Sonos says the Sonos Beam, Beam Gen 2, and Ray will also support TV audio swap in the future but remains vague about when. The company also advertised a new feature called TrueCinema that can map your room to create a personalized surround sound system, but it's unclear when it will be available.
Do I need a Sonos soundbar to use the Sonos Ace?
As good as the ecosystem feature is, you don't need a Sonos soundbar to enjoy the Ace headphones. Here's why.
To test the Ace's movie-watching performance without the Arc, I connected the Ace via Bluetooth to the Amazon Fire Stick plugged into my TV. Connecting the two was easy and quick. I watched the scene in Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," where Violet Beauregarde chews a stick of gum that turns her into a blueberry. Without the Arc, I could still enable spatial audio with head tracking. I heard all of the scene's elaborate audio details, down to the bubbling of Willy Wonka's candy machinery, which sounded like it was behind my left shoulder.
The Sonos Ace and Arc work together to swap your TV's audio seamlessly.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
For comparison, I watched the same scene with my Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones. To keep my testing consistent, I turned on Bose's proprietary spatial audio feature, Immersive Audio. The audio was tinnier, and Immersive Audio struggled to place the scene's more subtle sound effects. I had a harder time hearing the candy machinery bubble, and the dialogue had less depth than with the Ace.
My verdict: even without the Arc, the Ace are wonderfully tuned for movie-watching.
Conversely, having the Arc soundbar allows you to listen with immense clarity and in Dolby Atmos through any of your TV's outputs. The standout feature here is the convenience when switching between devices. By holding down the Content Key, the Arc and Ace intelligently swap audio, saving you from exiting your movie to connect your headphones to another device.
My advice: If you already have a Sonos Arc, love Sonos' distinct sound profile, and are looking to buy new premium headphones, strongly consider the Sonos Ace. If you don't have a compatible Sonos soundbar, you don't need to spend $1,000+ on Sonos products to enjoy the Ace headphones.
Are the Sonos Ace better than the AirPods Max?
The answer to this question depends on your personal preferences, but let's break down the biggest differences between the two. Sound quality is a highly subjective metric, so I encourage you to visit a retailer offering both headphones and try them yourself.
Design: The AirPods Max are heavier and bulkier than the Sonos Ace. The Ace headphones sport slim, oval ear cups, while the AirPods Max have oversized ear cups that take a more square shape. Also, the Sonos Ace have a power button and a carrying case, whereas the AirPods Max conserve power by entering sleep mode when you take them off and slot into the included holster. Finally, the Sonos Ace have a USB-C port for charging and lossless audio, while the AirPods Max have a Lightning port.
Deviceecosystem: Apple products work best with other Apple products, much like how Sonos products work best with other Sonos products. With the AirPods Max, you'll only be able to reap all of its benefits if you own an iPhone and have an Apple Music subscription. With the Sonos Ace, you'll want a Sonos soundbar for the best audio experience, though, as I've already pointed out, it's not as big of a dealbreaker if you don't.
Noise-canceling: Sonos's noise-canceling technology trails Apple's. If you need headphones with stronger noise-canceling capabilities, the AirPods Max will do a better job.
Final thought
I recommend the Sonos Ace to those who want top-tier sound quality, whether they're listening to music or watching a movie, as these headphones are essentially a Sonos soundbar in headphone form. The Ace headphones' weaker noise-canceling properties don't make them ideal for the hustle and bustle of daily life. Instead, they can be most appreciated in a calm environment, when you have time to sit back, relax, and fully immerse yourself in whatever you're listening to.
