Sonos Ace pros v cons
PROS: Sleek and comfortable design • Excellent sound performance • Good features and battery life
CONS: Could have more Sonos features • Expensive • Limited colour options
Sonos Ace review
Sonos' entry into the headphone market has been anticipated for years - around five if you were counting - but the launch of the Sonos Ace headphones in late May finally marked the company's move beyond its highly-regarded multi-room audio systems. The Ace headphones are positioned to compete with premium rivals such as the Apple AirPods Max and Sony's excellent WH-1000MX5s, meaning they come with a price, but do they do enough to compete?
We've been using them on planes, trains, at home and out and about for the last few weeks to see whether the Sonos Ace headphones meet the high expectations set by Sonos' speakers, and if they are worth considering if you’re in the market for high-end over-ear headphones. Here's our full Sonos Ace review.
Design and comfort
When it comes to design, the Sonos Ace headphones are lovely. They have a minimalist and sophisticated look, just like the rest of the Sonos portfolio, with clean lines and an understated elegance. Put them on and they are nice and subtle, allowing you to blend into a crowd rather than stick out like a sore thumb, with the only Sonos branding found in the colour-matched logo on the right ear cup.
There’s a slim profile with “racetrack” shaped ear cups, quite similar to the Apple AirPods Max, and there are stainless steel arms that contribute to a premium feel whilst allowing for a good range of adjustment for a secure fit. Unlike the heavier aluminium and mesh combination in the AirPods Max however, the Ace headphones are quite a bit lighter (319g), using plastic with a smooth matte finish and Vegan leather, along with a hidden hinge within the cups for a more streamlined result.
A good design means nothing without comfort in headphones though and luckily, the soft memory foam in the ear cushions, along with the firmer foam in the headband make the Ace headphones a very comfortable set of cans. The Vegan leather is supple and smooth, avoiding the sticky sensation that can occur with leather in warm weather. The headband meanwhile, cradled our head gently, making the Sonos Ace headphones barely noticeable even when we wore them for several hours.
Control is nice and simple too. The Sonos Ace headphones have a sliding button that Sonos calls the Content Key, which allows for pausing and playing audio, answering and rejecting calls, skipping tracks and going back a track, as well as a feature called TV Audio Swap - more on that in one second. A button to switch between noise models - Off, Noise Cancellation and Aware - sits beneath the Content Key, while the left ear cup has the power and Bluetooth pairing button.
Sound Performance
In terms of sound performance, the Sonos Ace headphones were excellent. They support spatial audio and Dolby Atmos, complete with head tracking, providing an immersive listening experience that keeps you at the centre of the action no matter how much you move around. This is especially good when using the TV Audio Swap feature, which as its name suggests, enables seamless audio transfer between Sonos soundbars and the Ace headphones. It only works with the top-of-the-range £899 Sonos Arc at the moment but support for Sonos Beam (Gen 2) and the Sonos Ray is coming.
Sound is balanced with clear vocals, detailed mid-range, and a satisfying bass response, which many Sonos fans will expect. We listened to a range of music from Space Ghost “Coast to Coast,” which is great for testing bass, to Billie Eilish “What Was I Made For” that is a great track for vocals with superb detail coming through. Everything sounded brilliant, and that included podcasts and audiobooks, as well as calls and TV audio. Watch a Dolby Atmos film and you'll feel like you're in the middle of the action in your own private cinema surrounded by amazing sound.
The noise cancellation on the Sonos Ace headphones is excellent too, providing a pleasant listening experience without the feeling of suction that some ANC headphones create. They didn't completely eliminate loud noises like those very chatty passengers on a plane, but in our experience (yes we did take them on a plane), they significantly muffle them and they were very effective at drowning out background and engine noise. We directly compared them with the AirPods Max and they had a similar level of noise cancellation performance, which is a testament to the quality of the Ace headphones.
Features and app integration
The Sonos Ace headphones can be used without the Sonos app, but the app enhances the Ace headphones functionality so we would recommend downloading it. Through the app, you can adjust EQ settings, toggle head tracking on or off - it's not everyone's cup of tea, and switch between noise control modes (Noise Cancelling, Aware Mode, and Off).
Additionally, the app offers settings for Wear Detection, allowing the headphones to pause content when removed and resume when put back on, along with a separate setting for calls. You'll need the app to set up TV Audio Swap and you can use the app to swap between the soundbar and headphones, but using the Content Key is easier.
We'd like to have seen some more colour options, like the Sonos Roam and Sonos Move offer and more integration with the broader Sonos system in terms of features would have been welcomed too. The Sonos Roam’s Sound Swap feature allows users to transfer audio to the nearest Sonos speaker for example, which would have made sense for the Ace to offer too rather than only the TV Audio Swap.
Conclusion
Overall, the Sonos Ace are a superb choice for those seeking over-ear headphones with excellent sound quality, noise cancellation, and a comfortable design. They come with a high price tag and limited Sonos ecosystem integration, but they stand out with their performance and ease of use, plus the TV Audio Swap feature is great even if it could be expanded a little. If you're in the market for premium over-ear headphones, the Sonos Ace headphones are a brilliant option, you’ll just need to be prepared to dig deep into that wallet.
MIRROR RATING: 4.5 out of 5
Sonos Ace Specifications
Drivers: 40mm dynamic drivers
Weight: 319 grams
Dimensions: 191mm height, 160mm width, 85mm depth
Bluetooth: 5.4 with AptX Lossless and Apple Lossless Audio codecs
Battery Life: 30 hours with ANC on
Microphones: 8 microphones for noise cancellation and clear calls
Colours: Black and Soft White