Two decades into making speakers, Sonos has now come up with its first headphones – the Sonos Ace. The headphones are also similar to any out there and sport shades of black and soft white. However, a nice thing with the Sonos Ace is that the ear cups are completely removable. This makes it easier to clean and maintain the headphones. These new headphones will be great for high quality music from Tidal, Apple Music and high bit-rate audiobooks.
A trade-off with such a design is that there aren’t any touch controls onboard the headphones. Instead, there is the lone physical button on the right cup which you can use to toggle between ANC and Aware mode while a long-press on it will invoke the phone’s voice assistant. Then there is the Content Key slider button which you can use to control volume settings as well as playback, and phone calls.
The headphones are wireless enabled but also come with a USB-C port as well. Sonos also provides a USB-C-to-USB-C and a USB-C-to-3.5mm cable which means there are a lot of wired listening options if you wish to enjoy high-quality hi-res tunes. That is not all as the headphones are also compliant with Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound via its aptX Lossless Bluetooth codec which should suffice for those who’d prefer a hi-res sound output via a wireless setting. This also makes the Ace the first Sonos unit to support a hi-res Bluetooth codec.
The headphones otherwise feature 40mm dynamic drivers and four mics on each cup. Sonos said the quad array mic system allows for better and more efficient ANC as well as an Aware mode that is more crisp and clear. Sonos said this is achieved with the use of beamforming mics that cancel out the background noise so that you get to hear the sound that matters with far better clarity than would have otherwise been possible.
The Ace headphones are also Dolby Atmos enabled and are designed to stream spatial audio content from supported services. Sonos further stated the headphones will offer ‘TrueCinema’ effect later in 2024. The technology serves to create a virtual map of the room you are in and will then create a virtual surround sound system that matches the internal dynamics of the room.
Also, a nice feature of the headphones is that they come with integrated wear sensors. This way, the headphones get into auto-pause mode once the sensor detects you have removed the headphones and will start again on its own once you have worn it back on. There is also the accompanying Sonos app which you will need to opt for a custom EQ setting or connect to a compatible Sonos speaker. The company also stated that the headphones will initially only connect with the Sonos Arc soundbar before other soundbars such as Beam, Beam 2, and Ray are added to the list.
Coming to battery life, it’s a respectable 30 hours with ANC on. Sonos also stated just three minutes of charging via the USB-C port will allow for three hours of video playback time. Pre-orders for the headphones are currently being accepted with shipping slated to start June 5 onwards. The Ace headphones come with a price tag of $449.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.