Sonos Ace: A new luxury contender enters the ring

Not only that, but Sonos has elected, unsurprisingly for what is already a premium brand, to enter at the top of the noise-cancelling headphone segment – with an eyewatering price tag of AED2,100 – the same price as Apple’s AirPods Max.

So how do the new headphones stack up?

Build and comfort

In this arena, the Ace does not disappoint, eliciting a luxury feel with soft memory foam, lightweight stainless steel, and soft vegan leather. Slipping them on is comfortable, and after testing for long listening sessions, remains so. Sizing adjustment is easy with the stainless steel headband sliding to accommodate head size. Available in either matte black or white, the headphones look as luxury as they feel.

Unfortunately, while the headphones themselves easily succeed in the build quality, the same could not be said of its included travel case. The case zipper feels rather flimsy for such a premium product, although the removable magnetic sleeve for its included USB-C and 3.5mm audio jack adaptor is a nice touch.

Given that noise-cancelling headphones are often touted as the perfect accompaniment for frequent flyers, it seems like a strange choice for Sonos to have missed an opportunity to continue the premium nature of the product to the quality of the case. A hard case or higher quality materials would inspire more confidence for on-the-go use.

Sound quality

Sonos has a rich history of audio engineering, effectively dominating the top-end segment for home audio consumer sound. While the Ace is their first foray into headphones, some of this experience clearly translated over, and audio purists will find much to love about the Ace’s sound. Dual custom drivers deliver richly detailed bass, midrange, and treble across all genres. Vocals sound natural, and instruments take on new life through Dolby Atmos spatialization. Dynamic EQ customisation via the app also expands possibilities.

Speaking of the App, however, it would be remiss to not mention some of the controversy surrounding Sonos’ new app. Released in May earlier this year, the app received a near-universally poor reception, with many features of its earlier iteration removed and general bugs. Sonos has publicly stated they are working hard to update the app and improve functionality – but it’s always worth bearing in mind that when buying a product, consumers are often buying into an ecosystem that needs to work in order to support it.

Noise cancellation

The Ace features robust passive noise cancellation, while the active noise control appeared to work at effectively silencing ambient sound in most environments. The headset features a single button on one earcup to switch between noise cancelling and transparency modes – and the transparency setting in particular is very impressive. While the active noise cancelling did work as advertised, in comparison to the industry hegemons, Bose and Sony, there’s still a bit of catching up required, although for most consumers the Ace will not disappoint.

Ecosystem advantages

The ‘killer feature’ of the Ace is advertised as its integration within the Sonos ecosystem. TV Audio Swap sounds magical – one press of a button and your TV sound moves from your Sonos soundbar to your headphones, taking advantage of the Ace’s Spatial Audio to send surround sound without disturbing your neighbours and loved ones.

This feature is one reason why the Ace commands such a high price tag, and for those that have a compatible soundbar and use case, this certainly fills a niche that had mostly been left dormant.

However, on the subject of compatibility, for the time being, the only soundbar that the Ace is compatible with is Sonos’ top-of-the-line Arc model, those with either a Beam or Ray are left out in the cold until Sonos updates the Ace at some indeterminate time in the future. As always, future promised updates that are yet to be delivered are, at best, a difficult value proposition, and relying on software updates to unlock key features after purchase is a risk taken on by the consumer.

The price

At AED2,100, a buyer would expect commensurate build quality, comfort and audio quality, and in this overall the Ace does hold up. For an entry into a crowded marketplace, Sonos has done a remarkable job at delivering a quality product and given that this is the firm’s first headset it is perhaps unsurprising that there are some issues to grouse over. In the future, with more robust ecosystem support and software updates, this has the makings of becoming a runaway recommendation in the premium headset tier – but until that point earlier warnings still stand.