Sonos Ace

The Sonos Ace delivers a rich, spacious sound and top-tier call quality, especially when paired with a Sonos soundbar for Dolby Atmos audio swapping. Build quality is excellent and quick-charge is handy, but the app experience is frustrating and comfort is oddly hit-or-miss. Prices vary wildly from $176 to nearly $1,500 for a 2-pack, so shop smart. For Sonos loyalists, it's a no-brainer; for everyone else, consider the Sony WH-1000XM6.

Sonos has been the king of home audio for years, and with the Ace, they're finally stepping into the headphone arena. This is a premium pair of over-ears aimed at people who want rich spatial audio at home and capable noise cancellation on the go. If you're already deep in the Sonos setup, the Ace dangles a tempting carrot: the ability to swap your TV's audio from a soundbar to your headphones with a single button press, complete with Dolby Atmos and dynamic head tracking. It's slick, and it finally gives Sonos users a personal listening option that feels integrated rather than bolted on.

Spec-wise, the Ace packs 40mm dynamic drivers, Bluetooth 5.4 with multipoint, and support for lossless codecs. You get 30 hours of battery, a quick-charge feature that nets 3 hours from just 3 minutes on a plug, and a total of 8 microphones for calls and ANC. At 313 grams, they're not featherlight but they feel substantial in a good way. Our database puts them near the top for connectivity and mic quality, but comfort is surprisingly low, landing in the bottom third. That's a bit of a head-scratcher because a lot of owners rave about the plush memory foam cushions. We'll dig into that.

This review is for the person who wants a blend of home theater immersion and daily listening. The Ace isn't trying to be the lightest travel companion or the absolute noise-canceling champion. Its heart is in the living room, but it will follow you out the door. The question is whether it executes well enough outside the Sonos bubble to justify the price, especially when you've got heavy hitters like the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra staring you down.

When we say the Sonos Ace sounds impressive, we mean it. In our testing, they land in the 88th percentile for overall sound, which puts them ahead of most competitors but just a hair behind the absolute top tier. The soundstage is wide and enveloping, especially with spatial audio tracks or Dolby Atmos content from a compatible Sonos soundbar. Instrument separation is crisp, and there's a pleasing warmth to the midrange that makes vocals shine. That said, if you tend to listen at low volumes, you might find the sound a bit recessed, a complaint that pops up often in user feedback. Cranking the volume fixes it, but the out-of-the-box tuning leans toward polite rather than punchy.

Noise cancellation is effective and, at 88th percentile, it's more than enough for an office or a busy coffee shop. It won't dethrone the Sony XM6 for blocking out subway rumble, but it handles mid-frequency chatter quite well. The transparency mode is natural-sounding, though not class-leading. Call quality is where the Ace genuinely shines: with 8 mics and a score in the 98th percentile, your voice comes through clear even in windy conditions. That's a big deal if you take a lot of calls and want to sound like you're not in a hurricane. The Bluetooth 5.4 connection is rock-solid with multipoint allowing smooth switching between your phone and laptop.

Pricing for the Sonos Ace is all over the map. Officially, a single pair hovers around $449, but we've spotted them as low as $176 from some retailers. On the other end, bundle deals like the B&H 2-pack can push the cost to nearly $1,500. If you can snag a single unit at the lower end of that spread, the value proposition flips from decent to downright tempting. At full price, though, the Ace is playing in the same sandbox as the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QC Ultra, and those offer better noise cancellation and more polished apps. Still, no other headphone at this price gives you that smooth Sonos home theater handoff, so for Sonos households, that one feature might be worth the premium alone.

The Sony WH-1000XM6 is the elephant in the room. Sony's flagship routinely tops ANC charts and its companion app is far more flexible with EQ customization. Battery life is similar, but the Sony is lighter and arguably more comfortable for long flights. If you're a commuter first, the XM6 is a safer bet. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra meanwhile trades blows on sound and offers a different spatial audio flavor with slightly superior comfort for most head shapes. However, Bose can't touch the Sonos home integration, which remains the Ace's killer app. On the more budget-friendly side, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 undercuts the Ace by a good chunk of change and boasts a ridiculous 60-hour battery, but its build quality feels more plastic and its ANC is a step behind.

If your main use case is daily commuting on noisy trains or buses, the Sonos Ace's noise cancellation, while good, isn't the best in class, and the somewhat bulky build makes them less travel-friendly. Look at the Sony WH-1000XM6 for superior ANC and a lighter design. If you're not a Sonos user and prize app stability and EQ tweaking, the buggy companion software will likely annoy you; the Bose QuietComfort Ultra or Sennheiser Momentum 4 offer smoother software experiences. Battery hounds should note that 30 hours is merely average, and the Sennheiser doubles that. If any of those hit home, the Ace may not be your ideal match.

If your living room already hums with Sonos speakers and you've been wishing for a pair of headphones that just works like an extension of that system, stop reading. The Ace is a fantastic companion that brings Dolby Atmos from your soundbar right to your ears with minimal fuss. For movie nights and at-home listening, it's hard to beat. But if you're rarely at your TV and spend most of your headphone time on the move, the Ace's weaknesses in ANC and app reliability start to grate. In that case, the Sony WH-1000XM6 or even the Sennheiser Momentum 4 will serve you better for less money and fewer headaches.