CNET

Sonos Ace Headphones Review: Top New Headphones of 2024 With a Few Caveats

While Sonos’ first headphones are rather pricey at $449 — and first and foremost, they turn out to be Bluetooth, not Wi-Fi headphones — their swanky design, impressive sound quality and excellent noise canceling, make them a top headphone for 2024. Should you buy them instead of models from Bose, Sony and Apple? CNET editor…

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While Sonos’ first headphones are rather pricey at $449 — and first and foremost, they turn out to be Bluetooth, not Wi-Fi headphones — their swanky design, impressive sound quality and excellent noise canceling, make them a top headphone for 2024. Should you buy them instead of models from Bose, Sony and Apple? CNET editor David Carnoy digs into all that in his full review.

Find the Sonos Ace Headphones here:

*Cnet may get commission on this deal.

00:00 Intro
00:59 Design
02:55 Features
06:18 Call Quality
08:04 Sound Quality
08:53 Blindfold Test
11:18 Final Thoughts

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#sonos #bluetooth #headphones

42 Comments

  1. @henry1667

    June 3, 2024 at 11:01 am

    nah look like a pair of donuts…no thank you

  2. @NizarNoor

    June 3, 2024 at 11:16 am

    How do these compare to Sennheiser Momentum 4?

  3. @DG-2323

    June 3, 2024 at 11:48 am

    This feels like a product that was just simply released too soon. The “tru cinema” thing sounds like it could be the market differentiator, and that isn’t ready yet. And this product release seems to be the catalyst for updating the app with a half-baked design that should have spent more time in testing and QA. This really feels like an executive-suite blunder at that company, I feel for all the employees who’ve had to deal with the fallout from what is ultimately just a bad call.

  4. @lubis1991

    June 3, 2024 at 11:55 am

    9:10, how did the guy know which was Apple????? Weight alone? Isn’t it meant to be a BLIND TEST for SOUND QUALITY? So why was bro yapping about plastic build and all? Build quality is addressed in other parts of the video????

    • @artarealmblazer8452

      June 3, 2024 at 2:40 pm

      The AirPods are considerable heavier than any of the other brands, and the metal is cool to the touch. Plus, you can feel the difference between metal and plastic…

    • @lubis1991

      June 3, 2024 at 2:42 pm

      @@artarealmblazer8452 So why blind them at all?????

    • @artarealmblazer8452

      June 3, 2024 at 3:36 pm

      @@lubis1991 Better than nothing (shrugs)

    • @lubis1991

      June 3, 2024 at 3:39 pm

      @@artarealmblazer8452 Nah mate, this is absolutely nothing. If the participants can differentiate between the headphones, there’s absolutely ZERO point for blinding them. They are essentially unblinded.

    • @artarealmblazer8452

      June 3, 2024 at 3:44 pm

      @@lubis1991 Ok

  5. @Wankidy

    June 3, 2024 at 11:57 am

    I bought my Sonos for $68 off. So the price makes some sense to me

    • @Kaniac47

      June 3, 2024 at 12:56 pm

      Me too. 15% military discount.

  6. @ThomasHoffDE

    June 3, 2024 at 12:29 pm

    Can’t believe they have a WiFi chip and don’t allow you to decide if you want to use it or not? WTH

  7. @rolins3279

    June 3, 2024 at 12:31 pm

    Honestly, why will someone pay $450 for these Sonos when to really benefit from them, you have to be in the Sonos “Close-System”, while most are already in that of Apple, and for those who are not there, Sony or other Sennheiser exist and do not have “Close-System” constraints, frankly, why 🤷🏽‍♂️

    Today, all manufacturers want to have their “Close-System”, none realize that the only winner at the end of this crazy race will be Apple, and perhaps Google to a certain extent 🤦🏽‍♂️

    Ps:and I can guarantee you that 90-95% of people who are in both Close-System will choose the Airpod Max.

  8. @Bruceneuman

    June 3, 2024 at 12:52 pm

    Sonos headphones that do not work with their speaker system? What’s the point? They need another connect accessory that broadcasts a Bluetooth signal from their other devices. Oh, well, maybe something like that will come down the road.

  9. @Diatonic5th

    June 3, 2024 at 1:06 pm

    It’s a $250-$300 headphone with a $450 price tag.

  10. @Moose185

    June 3, 2024 at 1:31 pm

    If these were priced at $349 literally everyone would be talking about them.

  11. @AdventureVixen

    June 3, 2024 at 1:43 pm

    No LDAC?

  12. @RobSnow-ui4sz

    June 3, 2024 at 2:01 pm

    First gen….no thanks

    • @jtjdt

      June 3, 2024 at 3:49 pm

      First gen, but they’ve been working on these for almost 6 years now.

  13. @markymarkreviews

    June 3, 2024 at 2:05 pm

    Excellent review

  14. @RadiantandDire

    June 3, 2024 at 2:20 pm

    Where do you get your shirts

    • @davidcarnoy961

      June 3, 2024 at 9:39 pm

      I think that one is from Banana Republic outlet. Costs more to get them pressed 😂

  15. @football_prediction

    June 3, 2024 at 2:37 pm

    But why is the call quality a little robotic
    Or

  16. @football_prediction

    June 3, 2024 at 2:40 pm

    This ks why apple airpod max 2 would be the best of 2024
    Because everything would jist be better
    When apple launched the airpod max it was king supreme and it took 3 years for the competition to catch up
    Even still they havent defeated it yet

  17. @hotcayenne

    June 3, 2024 at 4:24 pm

    Another great review, David! Been watching/reading them for decades. Thanks!

    • @davidcarnoy961

      June 3, 2024 at 9:38 pm

      Thanks for the support over the years! Appreciate it.

  18. @hotdavesweet

    June 3, 2024 at 4:37 pm

    Love It but…Pricey my friend. I don’t have 500 euros ($549) too much for me. David, can you test the headphones from the new EV Mercedes Maybach?

  19. @EEE-kh3tn

    June 3, 2024 at 4:55 pm

    Very interesting he said they’re ahead of the Sony’s, AirPods Max, and Bose

  20. @samsdad638

    June 3, 2024 at 5:16 pm

    1. Is wired sound that much better than Bluetooth?
    2. Can the 3.5mm be used to listen to turntable without amp?

    Thanks and great video!

  21. @Jayden-lr2mm

    June 3, 2024 at 6:00 pm

    A $450 price tag damn

  22. @zmanag5297

    June 3, 2024 at 6:15 pm

    Thank you, David for the great review but I have to say I think I will stick with my Bose smart sound bar 600. I love that paired with my surround and subwoofer 700 series. and also it pairs perfectly with my Bose ultra earbuds and my Bose comfort headphones. I love Sonos and their ingenuity, but I had a Sonos system and I had massive issues with my surroundsound speakers, always disappearing and having to reinstall them.. I just think Bose has a better set up. But I do thank you for the review because I was curious.

    • @davidcarnoy961

      June 3, 2024 at 9:36 pm

      Thanks for watching! And yes, that seems like a good decision sticking with your Bose set up.

  23. @CyrusRanchhod

    June 3, 2024 at 6:16 pm

    So ugly

  24. @thestimp1

    June 3, 2024 at 6:40 pm

    I want whatever the product manager is smoking to create sonos prices…

  25. @venvedam

    June 3, 2024 at 7:12 pm

    Thanks Dave for the impressions, useful information!

  26. @BenDMitchell

    June 4, 2024 at 2:57 am

    Can I wear these outside?

  27. @OledBurnInKing

    June 4, 2024 at 4:07 am

    Sennheiser has the rs 175 that uses wifi with the wireless receiver built into the headphone stand with pogo pins that attach to the headphones. There is a possibility that sono can implement a wireless receiver in there headphones since there are headphones that use usb c dac mode like the focal bathys. The usb c dac mode will still drain the battery on the phone since the dac on the phone needs power to drive the headphones. The dac on the headphones uses the amp depending on the device if the amp is powerful enough to drive a clean signal without any noticeable distortion as much as possible for the headphones to be able to drive the headphones depending on the impedance on the headphones. I have the sony xperia 1 iv android phone connected to the headphone jack from my sennheiser hd 600 the original marble version are 300 ohms and the amp on the phone is too weak to drive high impedance headphones since the amp is not a very powerful amp and the amp on my phone does not have the circuitry to drive high impedance headphones properly. However, any low impedance headphones can be driven by my phone. I use my sennheiser headphones all the time when commuting by bus, walking around and running errands.

  28. @viva1924

    June 4, 2024 at 4:52 am

    Always love your reviews!

  29. @samirshah5411

    June 4, 2024 at 8:45 am

    When are the Sony XM6s coming out?

  30. @vokso11

    June 4, 2024 at 10:27 am

    Sennheiser Momentum 4 is my absolute winner ! Sound quality , crazy battery , great build, great Mic for phone calls the almost complete package ( I wish ANC was Bose QC Ultra level they would be pure perfection) !

  31. @two20john

    June 4, 2024 at 2:07 pm

    Another Sonos product that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to straight from the box. No doubt it won’t work with legacy products either.

  32. @SweBun

    June 4, 2024 at 8:44 pm

    They might add the Wifi headphone feature in an update. If users are asking for the feature they might reconsider.

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