When the original Sonos Ace headphones were revealed, I absolutely loved the fit and the sound quality, but the integration into the Sonos ecosystem, which is what you want out of a Sonos product was lacking, but that’s been hugely fixed with the Sonos Ace Ultra headphones.
Whilst the original headset were able to be linked to the Sonos app, it was largely vanity, but now that’s not the case at all. Whilst you still connect over Bluetooth to most devices, the Ace Ultra headset now acts as a speaker, with the ability to play content directly through the Sonos app or move content from a nearby speaker to your headphones easily.
You can still press a button to move what’s playing on your TV from a compatible Sonos soundbar and that now works with Dolby Atmos audio as well complete with head tracking, and if you live with someone that doesn’t want to head those loud noises when you play, but don’t necessarily want to keep a gaming headset charged, this works a treat.
The Active Noise Cancelling in the original headset were pretty decent, but Sonos claim a 2x improvement here with 10 microphones now being used to cancel out noise versus 8. I recently used them on a flight to Sydney and Back and they were just as good as my AirPod Max Gen 2 which are incredible for active noise cancellation. Aware Mode has also been improved with outside noises coming through more clearly and a new Voice Boost mode that can be enabled to only let voices through and enhance then.
There’s also new Adaptive EQ that adjusts based on the fit of your ear cups, and you can manually adjust the EQ in the app as well (this goes for Sonos speakers too). The fit of the original headset were great, and that’s replicated here too with them still being super comfortable.
There’s new custom 40mm drivers and a totally redesigned motor structure for deeper bass and clearer detail, and again, the original headphones strong suite was its sound and that’s just enhanced and improved here.
Battery life has also been increased with 35 hours whilst using active noise cancelling and you can get a three hours from a three minute quick charge, so if you’re going on a long haul flight, or someone that doesn’t want to charge for days between uses, you’re going to be sorted here.
Just like with the original headset, you get a hard cas and a little magnetic cable holder that includes a 3.5mm cord as well as USB-C charging cable, which is more than you get with other headsets these days. The headphones themselves don’t fold down which might be a dealbreaker for some, but I find them quite compact once they’re in the case.
It’s no secret that Sonos has had a rocky few years, but it’s absolutely found its feet again and the Sonos Ace Ultra headphones are the perfect example of this, highlighting the benefits of being in the Sonos ecosystem perfectly and improving on the original headphones that launched at the worst possible time, so I’m glad Sonos has stuck with it and released the next iteration and I’m excited to see what’s next.