Four months since launch, there hasn’t been a day that I haven’t worn the Sonos Ace headphones
When Sonos announced the Ace – the audio company’s long-awaited first foray into headphones – I was intrigued, to say the least, and wondered if they could claim to be among the best headphones. I have a number of Sonos speakers at home so I definitely had a soft spot for the brand, despite the recent app issues that some users have been experiencing.
But as over-ear headphones, I could only give them a certain amount of anticipation and hype. I’ve never been someone who likes to wear over-ear headphones on a regular basis. While I appreciate and certainly agree that they are capable of delivering incredible sound, the pairs I’ve tried have often been uncomfortable, at least for extended periods of time. They make my ears too hot and sweaty; they ruin my hair (it’s okay to be vain, right?) and personally I find in-ear headphones superior, both in terms of sound and noise cancellation.
The Sonos Ace has completely changed my perception.
I was invited to be one of the first in the world to experience the Sonos Ace headphones – the very first headphones from the iconic multi-room audio specialists – at a special press event in Sydney, Australia, and I didn’t leave disappointed. In fact, I left the event thinking that I might have found the very first pair of over-ear headphones that I could actually see myself wearing.
I’ve worn them every day for four months since their official launch.
Thanks to a lightweight construction, the use of soft memory foam and vegan leather, and the aforementioned hinge mechanism, the Sonos Ace are some of the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn.
Let’s talk fit, honey
The main cause of my epiphany is how Sonos Ace fit on my head. Over-ear headphones are a completely different beast than their in-ear counterparts. The latter usually come with eartips in different sizes to help individual users find the best fit. Over-ear headphones don’t have this luxury, but must adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, which is no easy feat.
Where the Sonos Ace headphones shine for me is in the intuitive hinge mechanism. This mechanism is stylishly implemented – it is chrome plated to provide a contrasting accent against the soft white or black color of the headphones, and is integrated into the ear cup rather than visible from the outside. The hinges allow both earcups to rotate on either a vertical or horizontal axis, unlike some other pairs whose hinges simply rotate back and forth. In my experience, the Ace’s hinge mechanism ensures I get a good fit every time as the ear cups can ‘mold’ to the contours of my face and I expect anyone who wears them will get the same result.
Granted, the Sonos Ace headphones aren’t the only ones offering this kind of customization. The Apple AirPods Max – to which onlookers’ Sonos Ace has drawn some similarities in terms of appearance – use a similar swiveling earcup design. But Apple’s premium headphones weigh 73 grams more than the Sonos Ace, and while the Cupertino cans have a knitted mesh headband to help lighten that weight, this doesn’t do enough in my opinion. During my brief experience wearing the AirPods Max, I simply found them too heavy to wear for long periods of time. I’m sure current owners will disagree, and that’s fine, but I didn’t encounter any such issues with Sonos’ first headphone attempt.
Slender tufts
Did I mention before that I could be considered vain? Well, another facet of my disdain for over-ear cans is their (usually) large profile. Personally, I’m not a fan of rocking a large portion of my ears while walking down the street. The best similarity I can offer is that I feel like I look like Makka Pakka from the children’s television show In the Night Garden…unkempt expression and all.
Sony, Sennheiser and even Apple, I’d argue, are all guilty of adding large, protruding ear cups to their headphone designs. However, Sonos has managed to implement a much slimmer profile, which I find much more attractive. It’s still clearly obvious that I’m wearing over-ear headphones, but their slim profile makes for a less noticeable silhouette. To me it screams premium, and the soft white finish of the pair I received is a smart choice from the audio brand. Sonos could have opted for the white finish on its speakers, but in the words of its design director, it would have looked too “techie”; the soft white finish is therefore an excellent substitute.
A fan of physical touch
What happened to the physical button controls? Aside from a power button, most modern over-ear headphones use various forms of swipes and taps to control playback. It’s meant to be intuitive and perhaps ‘cool’, but in my experience I’ve found it to be a bit of a gimmick. To tap, you usually have to tap an exact point on an earcup. But because you can’t physically see what you’re doing, it rarely results in the desired action the first time. Swiping to adjust the volume or song I think produces more successful results, but at the cost of looking a little weird.
The Sonos Ace uses only physical buttons for all controls and has cleverly created a single button to perform seven different actions. The content key on the right earcup lets you play or pause a song, skip or go back to the previous song you were listening to, adjust the volume, and answer or reject calls.
Also on the right earcup is a button to adjust noise cancellation settings, summon your device’s voice assistant, or enable the soon-to-launch TrueCinema feature, which switches audio between the Ace and a Sonos Arc soundbar. There is a power button on the left earcup.
Three buttons. 11 actions. I’d say that’s extremely impressive.
Sound out
Despite our Sonos Ace review revealing that they are not the absolute last word in sound quality compared to similarly priced pairs like the Sony WH-1000XM5 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra – an opinion I ultimately have to agree with after hearing these rivals – I still think their bass is great and I have no issues with the noise cancellation on offer. I’ve worn them at home while my partner is sitting next to me on a video call at work, and I can’t hear him or the people he’s talking to at all. Sure, some train noise can seep in when you’re standing on a platform, but I’ve experienced this with countless other pairs, so it’s not a negative for the Sonos in my opinion
Movie time
The trump card of the Sonos Ace is the ability to ‘talk’ to any of the current Sonos soundbars and switch the audio from your TV to the headphones. I have the Arc soundbar at home and there have been a few occasions where I have had to change the TV audio so as not to wake my partner. The process works seamlessly and the Ace’s ability to deliver spatial audio with head tracking really has to be heard to be believed. The dialogue comes through wonderfully clear and the bass impact is just the right side of low and punchy, resulting in a truly cinematic experience.
What is most important to you?
Of course, here at TechRadar we have to rate each product on its individual performance. But every now and then there can be products that, while they may not be the very best in their class, they still perform in a way that some people like. If you listen to headphones or a pair of speakers and like what you hear, then all the reviews in the world shouldn’t put you off.
That’s what I found with the Sonos Ace. I know these aren’t the absolute best sounding headphones I’ve ever heard, but they are So comfortable that it is a sacrifice that I am more than happy to make.
