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Sonos' $449 Ace Ultra headphones add a nice-to-have Wi-Fi link to your Sonos speakers
Gizmodo's reviewer put the $449 Ace Ultra's sound behind Sony's $460 XM6 and a notch under Bose at the same money, which leaves the new Wi-Fi handoff to Sonos speakers as the case for buying it.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- Sonos added two products to its line, the $449 Ace Ultra wireless headphones and the Beam Ultra soundbar, and Gizmodo's review says neither breaks new ground category-wise for the company.
- The headphones support spatial sound, Dolby Atmos and dynamic head tracking, and Sonos pitches them partly as a way to listen to movies.
- The review's cons list rates the ANC and sound solid but not the best in this price range, and says the headphones are less comfortable during long periods of wear.
- The review does not state a price for the Beam Ultra soundbar.
Compiled by The Product DeskSomething wrong?How this is made
Why it matters
- constraint The feature that separates these from rivals cannot be assessed by anyone without a Sonos speaker already at home, so shop-floor demos and most reviews test everything except the reason to pay.
- decision With Bose at the same $449 and Sony $11 above it, the buyer's choice comes down to what is already plugged in at home rather than to the headphones themselves.
- exposure A first-time Sonos buyer pays flagship money for the component this review places behind both rivals, and gets nothing back from the Wi-Fi work until a speaker purchase follows.
- precedent Sonos priced at parity without the sound to match, so the ecosystem becomes the only differentiator reviewers can weigh, and this review graded it a nice-to-have.
Handoff is the part of this launch that a store cannot demonstrate. Gizmodo's reviewer could test it because there are already a few Sonos speakers in the house, and reported that headphone linking worked well aside from some initial bugs [10].
Sonos set the Ace Ultra at $449, the same as Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), and $11 below the $460 Sony WH-1000XM6, about 2.4 percent under it [2][8][9][15]. The ranking in the review runs the other way: sound is good but not excellent next to the Sony, and closer to the Bose, with Bose keeping a slight edge [8][9].
The hardware work is real enough. The custom 40mm drivers are meant to deliver deeper bass and better balance, and adaptive EQ arrives for the first time in this generation, retuning on the fly when a hat, glasses or hair breaks the seal around your ears [4][5]. The reviewer listened with a hat on and off and did not notice any difference in the sound [6].
Sonos built the Ace Ultra so you can switch between the headphones and the speakers you already own [10], and the review's own summary calls those Wi-Fi features nice to have but probably not critical for most [11]. The review is based on listening impressions and does not say how often linking actually gets used once the novelty passes.
If there is a Sonos speaker in the house already and most listening happens within its range, you are in the only quadrant where $449 buys something Bose and Sony cannot sell, and movie listening is part of Sonos' pitch for its headphones [7]. A Sonos owner who mostly listens on a train or a plane is paying flagship money for a pair the review calls less comfortable during long periods of wear [12]. With no Sonos speaker at home, the buyer is in a plain headphone comparison, and on this review's account that comparison goes to the other two.
If the speakers are already installed and the listening is mostly at home, the Ace Ultra is a reasonable buy at third place on sound. If not, you are paying for an app connection you will use once. Gizmodo's reviewer framed the test as a question buyers should ask before paying: "Just how much of a Sonos head am I?" [14]
What to watch
- A price and a review for the Beam Ultra, which would show whether the soundbar leans on the same Wi-Fi handoff features as the headphones.
- Any Sonos firmware note addressing the initial bugs the reviewer hit in headphone linking.
- Whether the Ace Ultra gets discounted below Bose's $449 inside a quarter. A cut that fast would mean the ecosystem pitch is not holding the price.