Sonos Ace full-size wireless headphones review

Sonos has established itself as a manufacturer of excellent soundbars, multi-room systems, home and portable speakers. Naturally, the company decided to expand its range with wireless headphones. This is how Sonos Ace appeared, rumored back in 2021. These are full-size headphones with 40 mm dynamic drivers, active noise cancellation, and a number of additional features. Sonos Ace is positioned in the primo segment and competes with the top Sony, Bose, and Bowers & Wilkins. Today we will tell you how successful the debut was.

Specifications of Sonos Ace

Package contents

Sonos Ace is packaged in a light box of the standard size for full-size models. It is made of recycled materials, as more and more manufacturers have been doing recently. The box contains all the basic information and a picture of the model.

Inside there are headphones in a case and a small booklet with two USB Type-C to USB Type-C cables for charging, a USB Type-C to 3.5 mm cable for wired connection, and documentation.

The bundled case turned out to be quite interesting. It is rigid, also made of recycled materials, and has a felt coating. Inside, in addition to a place for headphones, there is a small cable case with a magnet.

Design and usability

In terms of appearance, the engineers of Sonos Ace followed the same path as Sony, Sennheiser or Apple: minimalism and futurism. Smooth lines, a minimum of individual parts and monolithic cups. The right one has the Sonos logo on it.

But at its core, the design of Sonos Ace is quite familiar: large cups with soft ear cushions and a flexible headband with a soft interior. The internal frame is metal, and the headband adjustment mechanism is smooth, without cutoffs. The body is mostly made of matte black plastic. And all the soft parts are foam filler and artificial leather on the outside. In summer, they are a bit hot.

The cups are medium-sized and do not look too massive. How comfortable their size is is a matter of individual preference and should be measured before buying. My not too big ears fit inside without any problems. The design allows the cups to be rotated 90° for a more comfortable position around the neck and transportation in a case.

The ear cushions are magnetically attached and can be removed quite easily, along with the internal mesh of different colors, which are marked left and right. Among the functional elements inside the cups are sensors that detect whether Sonos Ace is on your head. Thanks to them, the auto-pause and auto-answer functions work.

Both earbuds have two zones with mesh, under which there are microphones for talking and active noise reduction. There are four for each headphone. For control, only mechanical controls are used. On the left, there is only a power and connection button, LED, and Type-C.

The right earbud has a small button on the back to switch between active noise canceling and transparency modes. There's also a three-position Content Key slider for everything else.

Weighing 312 g, these are not the lightest headphones in the class. For example, Sony WH-1000XM5 weighs only 250 g. But this is not critical, Sonos Ace is comfortable to use and they do not weigh you down after a few hours of listening. There is no protection against moisture.

Management

The Sonos Ace is controlled by the Content Key and the noise reduction mode button. The Content Key slider lets you control the volume by sliding it up and down and control playback. A single click pauses and plays, a double click skips to the next track, and a triple click goes to the previous track.

A long press is responsible for the TV Audio Swap function, which we will describe later. The Noise Control button is responsible for switching between active noise reduction and transparency mode by default. You can add a mode where both functions are inactive in the proprietary application.

You cannot customize the control scheme in the Sonos app. Only the aforementioned functions of the Noise Control button, as well as the functions of the sensors in the headphones cups. Namely: automatic pause when the headphones are removed and auto-answer when you put on headphones.

The app itself is quite simple and not very advanced on Android. It did not see Sonos Ace using standard methods. He had to turn Bluetooth off and on on his smartphone, and add them in the app not through the obvious function of adding headphones, but through the function of adding speaker components.

Connectivity and functionality

You can connect Sonos Ace to a source using Bluetooth or Type-C. You can use either a Type-C to Type-C or Type-C to 3.5 mm cable. But in any case, the headphones do not work in passive mode. So there is minimal practical use. Unless you want to connect it to a player or other sound source that doesn't have a Bluetooth module.

Sonos Ace is equipped with a Bluetooth 5.4 module, the connection with a smartphone is stable, there were no breaks during use. In addition to basic codecs, there is support for aptX Lossless and LC3. The headphones support Auracast. The feature allows a source device to broadcast audio to multiple compatible audio devices nearby. Auracast is said to work at a distance of up to 100 meters.

The proprietary app displays all connected Sonos devices. The functionality is not very wide. There is an indication of the battery, the current ANC or transparency mode. In the Sound section, there is an equalizer, in which you can adjust only bass and treble, balance, and enable the sound amplification function. The second function in the Sound section is head position tracking. It can be interesting when watching movies with virtual Dolby Atmos surround sound: the sound will change depending on the position of your head.

Below are the sections Noise Control, Wear Detection, which we have already talked about. Multipoint (connecting to two sources at the same time) software update and TV Audio Swap. The idea is that you can quickly switch the sound from your Sonos soundbar to your headphones. Owners of Sonos products may find this feature useful.

Sound and noise reduction

The sound of Sonos Ace can be generally aimed at the masses. It would be very strange if the developers tried to be analytical. The sound is smooth, without sharp corners, with a warm presentation, accentuated low frequencies and the lower part of high frequencies. High frequencies are presented in a good amount and have good detail. They add the necessary spark and air to the sound, but the upper part was smoothed out to avoid too bright harsh sound.

The midrange sounds melodic and pleasant, but it is a little bit relegated to the background. Detail is also not the strongest point. Therefore, live instrumental music on Sonos Ace sounds less interesting than electronic and bass-heavy styles. The clarity and readability of live instruments is a bit lacking. As for the low frequencies, everything is fine: there are a lot of them, they are massive, elastic and deep. There is quite a lot of sub-bass and it creates a good foundation. The bass does not merge into a buzz, the parts are readable, although the speed and control are at an average level. The imaginary scene is average both in depth and width, but the separation of instruments is quite good.

In general, for a first attempt, it turned out well. And my impressions of the sound were positive. But still, you expect a little more from headphones at this price. Sonos Ace sounds great with electronica, pop music and other simpler styles, as well as movies (no wonder the company makes great soundbars). Live music, jazz, or heavy styles are a little less well handled by the headphones. Sound is a very individual thing. I liked the sound of the tops of more experienced competitors like Sony, Bowers & Wilkins, or Bang & Olufsen better, but this is subjective.

Sonos Ace Active Noise Cancellation works very well: monotonous background noise is almost completely eliminated, as well as most external sounds. Except for sharp high frequencies, which is typical for the vast majority of models with ANC. In general, it's not yet at the level of the top Sony and Bose, but it's pretty close. As for the effect of pressure on the ears. I didn't feel it, but one of the "test subjects" did. So the question is individual.

The transparency mode is well implemented. It sounds quite natural and clear, although high frequencies are slightly cut off. Built-in microphones transmit voice clearly, in most situations the interlocutor will not have to ask again. The voice itself is not very distorted, with minimal metallic sound and slightly cut low frequencies.

Battery life

Sonos Ace is equipped with a 1060 mAh battery. It is claimed that the headphones can withstand 30 hours of listening to music with active noise cancellation. Or 24 hours of talk time. Also with ANC or transparency mode enabled. The headphones were used exclusively with ANC at 80-90% volume with aptX Lossless.

The battery life was approximately 27-28 hours, so it's as advertised. Sonos Ace proved to be very durable. It takes about 3 hours to fully charge. There is also support for fast charging. Sonos claims that 3 minutes of charging is enough for 3 hours of music.