Review : Sonos Ace Wireless Headphones
Sonos' First Attempt at Headphones, Lets see How it Works !
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TechTranscript
00:00We're here with Sonos checking out their first ever wireless headphones, the Sonos Ace.
00:06So Sonos is a well-known brand in terms of home audio.
00:09They've got amazing soundbars and other speakers, but this is the first time that they're coming
00:14out with a pair of headphones.
00:16So like other premium headphones in this space, these are excellently designed.
00:21They've got a wonderful, almost a minimalist design.
00:25You can see the single piece of stainless steel goes right in and out like that, so
00:29there's no place for hair to get caught on, for example.
00:32We've got controls, physical controls, I should say, on both ear cups so that they're easy
00:36to find just by your touch.
00:38If you take a look here, they're going to be available in two colors, white and black.
00:43I actually kind of prefer the white ones just because of these metal accents.
00:47It really kind of stands out, I think.
00:49So the Ace have a few tactile buttons on the side.
00:52This one here is a multi-function button that increases and decreases the volume, lets you
00:57play and pause tracks, and you can also use it to connect to your Sonos soundbar.
01:03Right below it is a button to turn on and off the active noise cancellation.
01:07On the other ear cup at the bottom here is just a simple power button, and that's it.
01:12So at 11 ounces, these are fairly light headphones for the size, but more importantly, they're
01:16really comfortable too.
01:18When you're wearing them, they're very comfortable.
01:20That's because they've got a lot of really good padding here.
01:22This is vegan leather, and the weight is distributed evenly and the pressure is distributed
01:27evenly so that there's no one hard point against your skull.
01:32They also cut a really thin profile too.
01:34You can even take off the cups here, which are magnetic, and you can see just how thin
01:39they are.
01:40So they're not going to take up a lot of space in your bag.
01:43Inside each cup is a 40mm driver, which in our brief demo delivered amazing sound.
01:49In addition, there's also spatial audio and some other features in here that really deliver
01:54an immersive soundscape.
01:57Another neat feature with these headphones is that they have head tracking technology.
02:02So when it's paired with your TV, the sound will always appear to be coming from in front
02:06of you, even if you turn your head to the left or the right.
02:09It's a really neat effect.
02:10You can also listen to lossless audio on these headphones in two methods.
02:14One is if you connect it using the port on the bottom, or if you have an Android phone
02:19with a compatible Snapdragon audio processor, you can get it over Bluetooth.
02:25Of course, no set of headphones is any good if it runs out of power.
02:28Fortunately, the Sonos Ace has up to 30 hours of battery life.
02:32Even better is a fast charging capability.
02:35So if you plug them in for just three minutes, you'll get three hours of battery life.
02:39One of the key features of the Sonos Ace is that you can pair it with a Sonos Arc soundbar.
02:45So if you're listening or watching a movie at home and you don't want to disturb anybody,
02:50you can simply press a button on here and have the audio transferred from your soundbar
02:54right into the speakers.
02:56Even better, the listening experience you get within the headphones is going to be nearly
03:00identical to what you get with the soundbar.
03:02That's because it uses room mapping to deliver a similar audio profile from the soundbar
03:08inside the speakers.
03:10So while you're listening inside the headphones, it's going to sound like you're in the room
03:15with everything where it should be.
03:17Sonos calls the feature True Cinema.
03:19True Cinema works similarly to Sonos' other audio mapping capabilities.
03:24In this case, though, the soundbar will send out signals and the microphones within the
03:29headphones itself will pick up those audio cues and then create a room profile based on that.
03:36The Sonos Ace will be available on June 5th for $449.
03:40That places them in between the Bose QuietComfort Ultra and the Apple AirPods Max.
03:45Like Sonos' other products, the Sonos Ace command a premium price, but you're getting
03:50premium audio quality at the same time.
03:53As someone who's used other Sonos products in the past and have been very pleased with
03:57them, I'm very curious to see how these headphones will perform.
04:01Let us know if you're excited about the Sonos Ace.
04:03Drop us a line in the comments below.
04:06You can also follow Tom's Guide on all the socials at Tom's Guide.
04:09Keep a look out for our full review of the Sonos Ace, which should be coming fairly soon.
04:14Until then, I'm Mike Prospero for Tom's Guide.