Sonos has today unveiled its hotly-anticipated Sonos Ace headphones, the company’s first foray into personal audio after years of mastering the speaker market.
The new headphones come in two colors, and feature “breathtaking lossless and spatial audio, world-class Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Aware Mode,” as well as what Sonos calls “the most precise and immersive home theater experience possible.” The latter is powered by Sonos’ new TrueCinema technology, and indicates that Sonos is as much focused on home cinema as it is music with its latest offering.
Starting at $449, the new headphones will be available in two colors, black and white, starting June 5.
Sonos Ace unveiled
Sonos says the Sonos Ace have “world-class” active noise cancellation that can pinpoint sounds and neutralize them. Naturally, they also have an “aware” mode akin to Apple’s transparency mode in the AirPods Max. Also like AirPods Max, they feature head tracking that follows your movement for a more immersive listening experience.
The Sonos Ace also come with a button to seamlessly swap TV audio from your Sonos Arc to your headphones, with support for the Beam, Beam Gen 2, and Ray also on the way.
Sound is provided by custom 40 mm dynamic drivers in each ear cup, and audio and noise cancellation come from eight microphones. They also support spatial audio content from the usual streaming services and devices, as well as lossless audio over Bluetooth and USB-C, including Apple’s Lossless Audio Codec found in Apple Music. Through the Sonos app, you can also adjust the Ace’s EQ.
The Sonos Ace feature a matte finish with stainless steel, and weigh just 312g, a good chunk less than Apple’s over-ear offering. Battery life is good for up to 30 hours of listening time, and you can get three hours of charge in just three minutes thanks to ultra-fast charging over USB-C.
TrueCinema is coming to the Sonos Ace by way of a software update later this year.