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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- The Sonos Ace were released successful mid-2024, but they're not the aforesaid headphones today.
- They'll entreaty astir to Sonos fans who request a backstage TV-watching solution successful their home.
- Those extracurricular the Sonos ecosystem volition find much enjoyment from Sonos' competitors.
It's been a twelvemonth and a fractional since Sonos released its archetypal brace of user headphones, and though they made waves erstwhile they archetypal dropped, however person they fared erstwhile the hype died down? I've worn the Sonos Ace often since their June 2024 release, and I person a overmuch sharper knowing of their strengths and weaknesses.
If you're successful a earnestly committed narration with Sonos' location theatre products and often find yourself incapable to usage them erstwhile your partner, kids, roommates, oregon neighbors discontinue for the night, you'll find the astir worth successful the Sonos Ace, some wrong and extracurricular your home.
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If you person Sonos soundbars but don't program to usage the TV Audio Swap feature, oregon if you don't person Sonos soundbars astatine all, you'll miss retired connected these headphones' champion feature, and you'll beryllium amended disconnected buying from Apple, Sony, oregon Bose.
Sonos gave the Ace headphones a large bundle update for their archetypal day past summer, addressing the biggest complaints I had astir them. With the caller updates and implicit a twelvemonth of usage successful mind, here's the champion proposal I tin springiness you to assistance you marque a buying decision.
A thoughtful plan and immense comfort
The Ace are a good-looking brace of user headphones; they're much elegant than the utilitarian Sony WH-1000XM6 oregon the sporty Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2, defined by cleanable lines and slimmer earcups. They abide by Sonos' ethos of modern, elemental design, with subtle yet meaningful choices that marque them casual to deterioration and perceive to.
One of my favourite plan elements is the Ace's Content Key, a multifunction fastener you tin property oregon descent to execute a bid of commands. I similar it to Apple's integer crown due to the fact that it's placed successful the mediate of the backmost of the close earcup, making it easier to reach.
Also: I tested Bose and Sony's flagship headphones for months - however each wins (or falls flat)
Also, it's textured otherwise from the powerfulness button, making it casual to place by touch, compared to different headphones with aggregate multifunction buttons that consciousness the same.
The Sonos Ace are easy the astir comfy headphones successful my armada; they're lighter than Apple's AirPods Max, connection a much relaxed clamping unit than Sony's WH-1000XM6, and person wider earcups than Bose's QuietComfort Ultra 2. I tin deterioration them for hours erstwhile moving astatine my desk, traveling, and binge-watching "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" precocious astatine night.
Dynamic and vibrant sound
The Sonos Ace person a vibrant, lively, and dynamic dependable characterized by a salient bass and treble response. They person a wider soundstage than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, and Dolby Atmos compatibility provides amended entity imaging erstwhile watching TV shows and movies.
The Ace's breathtaking dependable illustration makes them astir compatible with genres of a akin character, specified arsenic pop, electronic, and hip-hop. Their bass effect tin muddle astatine precocious volume, but there's an enjoyable treble shine. The Ace aren't the champion enactment for captious listening, but they tin easy get you successful the groove.
Also: I listened to earbuds with Bose's AI sound cancelling, and can't spell backmost to regular ANC
The Ace don't dependable arsenic elaborate arsenic the Sony WH-1000XM6, but their bold dependable illustration has a cinematic consciousness primed for enjoying podcasts, movies, and TV shows. If you privation headphones tuned to enactment good with a wide scope of genres, you should see what Sony has to offer. The Sonos app has a constricted equalizer for the Ace, truthful if you privation greater power implicit your headphones' sound, spell with Sony.
TV Audio Swap: gimmick oregon axenic genius?
TV Audio Swap is the Ace's standout feature, allowing users to easy link their Ace headphones to a compatible Sonos soundbar. During my archetypal testing, I didn't spot a immense request for it, but present I usage it each the time. My spouse works overnight, and connected a lazy Sunday, I tin ticker TV successful afloat clarity portion cooking oregon doing laundry, each without disturbing his sleep.
Also: I changed 3 settings connected my Sonos soundbar to instantly amended the audio performance
I person to beryllium fair; Bose did the "connect your headphones to your soundbar" happening first, but Sonos does it amended by utilizing Wi-Fi. Bose's exertion uses a specialized Bluetooth connection, portion the Ace pass with your soundbar via your location network. Using Wi-Fi alternatively than Bluetooth provides much unchangeable connections, little latency, and greater state to determination astir your house.
I often ran into bugs erstwhile engaging the Ace successful TV Audio Swap, but since their bundle overhaul past summer, my issues subsided. The Ace's bundle update besides allows 2 Ace headphones to link to a azygous compatible Sonos soundbar, enabling 2 users to ticker TV unneurotic privately. This diagnostic is akin to Apple's, which allows 2 pairs of AirPods oregon Beats headphones to link to 1 Apple TV.
Sonos offers TrueCinema, a diagnostic that measures the country acoustics successful the abstraction wherever your soundbar is and applies them to the spatial audio from the headphones. This diagnostic wasn't disposable until a twelvemonth aft the Ace's release, but its instauration strengthens TV Audio Swap's allure. Once I calibrated my Ace headphones, I noticed an betterment successful their Dolby Atmos with caput tracking performance.
What I'd similar to spot successful the adjacent model
There's a captious country Sonos needs to amended with the adjacent procreation of the Ace headphones: microphones. The Ace's noise-canceling and dependable pickup abilities (two jobs that high-performing microphones and noise-canceling algorithms are liable for) are subpar for $400 headphones. Although the Ace's summertime 2025 bundle update improved dependable clarity and sound cancellation, the improvements are astir noticeable erstwhile wearing them indoors.
Also: Why I'm recommending Google's Pixel Buds successful 2026 (after years of passing connected them)
A caller adaptive sound cancellation algorithm did amended my at-home listening experience, wherever blankets, hoodies, and pillows tin interfere. Additionally, the Ace are astir effectual astatine canceling noises successful the mid-to-low frequencies, specified arsenic a container instrumentality oregon aerial conditioner. The Ace conflict with real-world distractions, specified arsenic traffic, conversational chatter, and sudden, crisp noises. Bose and Sony are amended equipped here.
The bundle update besides introduced SideTone, a diagnostic that lets you perceive yourself amended portion talking with the headphones on. SideTone is different diagnostic that performs good successful a controlled environment, specified arsenic your surviving room, but its contemporaries usage mics and voice-isolation algorithms amended successful uncontrolled environments.
If their noise-canceling abilities were better, their $400 terms tag would beryllium much justified, and the Ace would beryllium much competitory to consumers extracurricular of the Sonos ecosystem. While residing wrong the ecosystem, the Ace are wonderful. Yet, erstwhile you permission it, you don't summation overmuch successful return. For an other $50 to $60, you tin get much powerful, intuitive sound cancellation from Sony oregon Bose.
ZDNET's buying advice
The Sonos Ace are a large enactment for Sonos fans and those looking to participate the company's ecosystem. They excel successful quiescent to moderately noisy environments, are highly comfy to deterioration for hours astatine a time, and play their relation good arsenic your in-home, backstage hold of your Sonos soundbars. If you person a Sonos soundbar successful astatine slightest 1 country successful your location and request a backstage listening solution, you can't spell incorrect with the Ace.
If you can't envision yourself utilizing TV Audio Swap, oregon you don't person Sonos soundbars, you'll find that the Ace autumn level for their price, and you should see different options. The Apple AirPods Max person autochthonal integration with your iOS devices, the Sony WH-1000XM6 person much elaborate dependable and equalizer settings, and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) connection reliable show successful each environment.
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