Sonos recently said it was about to announce its “most requested product ever.” If you guessed headphones, congratulations. The company maintains a devoted fan base, and many people were no doubt eager to see what it would look like to apply its expertise to the category.
The answer comes in the form of the Ace over-ear headphones. The market play is clear from the start: The $449 headphones are firmly aimed at an audience that would otherwise buy the Bose QC Ultra ($429), Sony WH-1000XM5 ($399) or Apple AirPods Max ($449). These are mostly frequent travelers who don’t mind paying dearly for sound and comfort — no doubt a demographic that dovetails nicely with Sonos’ existing user base.
“They’re here! Fans have been asking us for years to bring the Sonos experience to headphones — and we knew our first foray into the category needed to champion the type of innovation and audio experience that Sonos has become synonymous with,” he noted. CEO Patrick Spence in a statement.
As for what that means in non-PR speak, the Ace looks like a standard set of premium headphones on paper. That’s not a bad thing, but the days of Bose being the only game in town are long over. There is stiff competition in the segment, especially at this price point.
Top features will be familiar to anyone who’s shopped around: lossless and spatial audio, active noise cancellation/awareness, home theater surround sound. The claimed 30 hours of battery life is a big plus. That’s the same rating as the Sony MX, and a nice improvement over the Bose and Apple, which are rated at 26 and 20 hours, respectively.
There is a point where the extra battery hours are negligible. Given that the current longest international flight (New York to Singapore) is less than 19 hours, I would say that we are currently operating in this field. That said, more battery is never a bad thing, and neither is the ability to listen for three hours on a three-minute charge.
It’s also worth noting that real-world battery life varies and is based on many factors, though the company tentatively notes that “up to 30 hours” is for listening to audio with ANC enabled — which can drain LIFE. The battery itself is 1060mAh, which is a big upgrade from the Bose QC Ultra (750mAh) and AirPods Max (640mAh) and a little less than the M5’s 1200mAh.
The Ace features two 40mm dynamic drivers and eight beamforming microphones for calls and noise detection. Spatial sound, which debuted on last year’s Era 300 speaker, features head tracking and Dolby Atmos support. Lossless, meanwhile, arrives via Qualcomm’s low-latency Snapdragon Sound aptX codec. Again, this all sounds great (so to speak), but I’m reserving any judgment until I’ve had time to review the headphones. The good news is that this is coming sooner rather than later.
The Sonos Ace looks exactly like premium headphones. The headphones offer a minimalistic design, compared to the competition. There is no unnecessary decorative detail, apart from a subtle Sonos logo on the right cup. Filling is generous in both the cups and the band, which should be nice on long trips. As we head into summer though, I’m curious to see how well they breathe in steamy weather.
Above all, the company is making an ecosystem play here. There’s no doubt that a significant portion of fans trust Sonos enough to buy any product it puts its name on. If you’ve come to trust a brand enough to invite it into your home, you’re probably excited that Sonos is finally entering the space.
Given how long it’s taken Sonos to actually release a pair of headphones, it’s safe to say it’s taken its time. The company has high standards when it comes to sound, but whether that translates to a vastly different form factor is the kind of thing you can only properly answer after trying it yourself.
Even if they sound great, whether the segment needs another $450 pair of headphones is another question. Is any part of the loyal Sonos fanbase currently in the headphone market enough to support the product? Probably, very few avoided buying a premium set of in-ear headphones in the hope that Sonos would one day hit the market.
Even for a brand as established in audio as Sonos, these will be difficult waters to navigate.
The Sonos Ace will be available from June 5th.
