Back in May, Sonos took the hood off of its first-ever wireless headphones, the Ace. In my brief time with them during the special session given by the regional distributor, TCAcoustic, I found a lot to love about it, as well as some corners with the headphones that will certainly need some ironing out.
Now with the Ace in my lab and having lived with it for a little over a month, I think it’s time to give you the down-low about it.
What Am I Looking At?
In keeping with Sonos’ ethos, the Ace is an ode to the minimalist. Everything about its design, from the headband to the earcups, absolutely screams simplicity, all while retaining functionality. The headband is made from stainless steel, wrapped entirely in vegan leather that feel absolutely soft to the touch.
Likewise, the earcups on the Ace are detachable and utilise very, very comfortable memory foam that feels cloud-like, wrapped up in that same vegan leather material. More on this in the next part.
Available in both Black and White, I was provided with a unit in the latter colour and like all white coloured products, it looks absolutely pristine. However, this also means that the headphones are prone to showing scuffs and knocks more prominently than an all-black unit.
Another design aesthetic that really makes the Ace stand out are the four microphones grills that you’ll at the sides – front and bottom – of each earcup. I love that Sonos had them flushed to the surface, so if you run your fingers over them, you can just barely feel them.
In addition, the Ace is about as traditional (sort of) as it gets when it comes to onboard controls – there are three buttons in total, one of which is called the “Content Key”. This button serves as the volume rocker, play & pause button, as well as the button you use to navigate through your tracks. The other two buttons are the power button and the ANC button. Yeap, no gesture controls on these headphones.
Out of the box, the Ace comes with its own travel casing, complete with a small pouch that magnetically attaches itself to the inside. That pouch, by the way, has enough room to hold the USB-C to USB-C cable, and the USB-C to 3.5mm cable. Both of which are bundled with the headphones.
What’s Good About It?
Let’s start with the feel of these headphones over my head. One of the many promises Sonos made with the Ace is that, despite weighing in at 312g, which is heavier than Sony’s WH-1000XM5 by the way, there’s nary a strain on my neck when I use it over long periods, and that includes going out to do run some errands or sitting at my desk to type out this review.
As for battery life, Sonos’ boast of 30-hour battery life isn’t just the company chest-thumping. With ANC or Ambient mode active, these headphones really do last that long, which in turn means I only find myself charging them once every few days. The Ace also supports rapid charging, whereby a quick 3-minute charge gives up to 3 hours of use. Handy when you’re in a pinch.
Then there’s the audio performance of the Ace and I can tell you that it covers all the corners, for all the pitches. The highs and mids are some of the clearest I’ve heard, with no signs of breaking at high volumes. If you take Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelt’s Digging My Potato, the harmonica in the track really sings.
Likewise, the lows on the Ace are strong but to be precise, it actually feels a little bass-bias at times. With tracks like Sam Smith’s I’m Not The Only One, I can really feel the thumping of the bass with each and every beat, yet if I shift over to Stacey Kent’s Venus de Milo, the bass line still rattles my skull but feels more of a humming in the back of my head at this point.
The Ace also excels in sound staging and nowhere is this more obvious than when I put on the 1994 Live performance of The Eagles’ Hotel California. Man, do those guitars sing. On a side note, I actually increase the treble and bass on the Sonos App’s equaliser by one notch, just because I prefer a punchier performance. Otherwise, it sounds just a little bit flat for my taste.
What’s The Catch?
As interesting as the Hot Swap function between the Ace and other Sonos soundbars, the feature is still nothing more than a proprietary gimmick. You can’t use it with any other soundbar and perhaps this is me stating the obvious – if you really want to take full advantage of the ecosystem, you’re going to have to transform your entire living room or media room into a Sonos-themed centre.
On a somewhat related note, while I love the all-buttons approach, the Content Key has a tendency to stick when left inactive for a while. It feels a little irritating whenever I press it, either to play or pause a track, only for it to just awaken from slumber and not register the desired action.
As for features like Spatial Audio, I will say that Sonos still has some ways to go with the feature. In my brief experience with it, I think it’s a shtick with the Ace that feels incomplete and by the brand’s own admission, still requires some tweaking before it can even be considered optimal.
And of course, there is the ongoing issue with Sonos’ indecisive tweaking of its app. Honestly, I rarely use any of its functions except for the Equaliser and even then, I wish the brand would have made one that is more dynamic, and not use the step-ladder system for it.
Should I Buy It?
Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that these headphones aren’t cheap because let’s be honest: Sonos isn’t a brand that does cheap and rubbish. While far from perfect, the Ace still manages to hit all the right checkmarks in the audio fidelity department, and like a boss no less.
Let me be clear, a lot of the issues I have with the Ace are focused around the Sonos-centric features that the brand decided to cram into it. At this point in time, they’re far from perfect and if you’re hoping for things to get better in this department, one can hope it comes in a software update or, more likely, a sequel to these headphones.
But for all intents and purposes, the Sonos Ace is one hell of an impressive first try, and I absolutely believe that it is worth every single red sen of its RM2,299 asking price.
Photography by John Law.
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