Sonos kindly gave me the Ace headphones for free so that I could review them.

The Sonos Ace headphones are a fantastic piece of audio equipment and I can't see many being disappointed. They held up well against my trusted Bose headphones, and there were even some aspects I liked better.

It was quick and easy to set up the Ace headphones with the Sonos app, and I really liked that you are able to control the noise cancellation options from within the app, as well as on the headphones themselves (with a handy button on the right ear cup). Aware mode lets you hear clearly what's going on without compromising whatever you are listening to, and switching between the modes is very unobtrusive and does not disrupt listening. Noise cancellation is pretty good and while you can still hear loud noises, it's enough to immerse you in the sound.

With some Bluetooth headphones you often get glitches in the sound, particularly if you have them connected to multiple devices, however even with the Ace connected to both my tablet and my phone, I did not experience these glitches which I very much liked.

The sound itself is crisp and clear, but still with a good bass. There's a helpful option to boost the bass if you're listening at lower volumes that you can set within the app. I appreciate that the sound you like from headphones is very much subjective, however I found even the default EQ suited my tastes very well (and if it doesn't for you, there's always the option to tweak this in the app).

Sonos also provides a head tracking feature which can be used along with Spatial Audio, which again can be configured in the app. I did try this out and it worked well, but I preferred to have it switched off as I found it rather distracting (although I know there will be some that love it as a feature).

The headphones themselves are very well built and fairly sturdy, but this does make them on the heavier side. Compared to my Bose headphones, they pack an extra 57g and this does become significant after a while. After wearing them for a couple of hours to watch a movie, you can definitely feel that they are on your head and I was somewhat relieved to take them off.

The design is classy and sleek - I was given the white headphones to review, however the black also looks very nice. They come in a stylish carry case, although I feel like the pale felt-style fabric of this may become grubby fairly quickly.

One thing I'd have liked to see is a constant light on the outside of the headphones to tell you that they are powered on, as it's not always obvious if you cannot remember whether or not you've turned them off.

As I don't have any other Sonos products, I wasn't able to try out the multi-room features, however, even just as a stand-alone set of headphones these were great so I wouldn't necessarily let not having other devices put you off, if the price is right for you.

Overall I found these to be a fantastic set of headphones with very few negatives.

Thanks, Sonos, for the free Ace headphones! Ace in name, an absolute ace in use!

I have been using noise cancelling headphones since 2018 and find the technology to work really well, and in that respect these headphones continue my great experience with noise cancellation. These headphones definitely seem to do it better than I have experienced with previous headphones, from headphones of a similar pedigree, to more business focused products. When trying to listen to something and keep out the noise around you and focus on what you are hearing these definitely deliver. With the noise cancellation I find you do not need to listen to things so loud, which is probably a good thing as these - like most other headphones - start to leak sound at a certain volume. I found with my phone music about 40-50% volume was audible to my partner next to me. Keeping the noise out though usually means you are having to keep noise out for prolonged periods of time due to calls or just focus periods. With previous headphones this can make my ears sore but I have found using the Sonos Ace headphones to be a much more comfortable affair. The soft pads are foamy so where they meet your head they feel good, but also the space allowed for your ears means the pads are not pressing on the ears.

I have been using this product to listen to music and videos on my phone, as well as to a games console via a USB-C Bluetooth dongle. Each device has provided the same experience.

Whilst I was fortunate to get these headphones for free, if I were in the market for some noise cancelling headphones and was considering a pair at a premium price point I would definitely consider these, and would recommend them to anyone that was also int he market for premium noise cancelling headphones. The features, specifically the noise cancellation, audio clarity, and comfort in use, definitely make these a must have.

A few things that made these stand out over and above what I've already mentioned:
The controls are easy to use and I love that there are physical 'buttons' rather than gestures or motions which some previous products had. The magnetic cups and the magnetic lead case as great and handy for keeping things where they need to be. The app is easy to navigate and doesn't require much time at all to get set up and started. Also a positive nod to the vegan leather, always great to know you're supporting a sustainable product!

Thank you Sonos for the free pair of headphones in exchange for an honest review.

Ok, so lets get the worst part out of the way...I opened the sealed packaging to find some damage to the left ear cushion which was extremely disappointing and questions the quality and quality control. See attached picture which shows various creases/folds/imperfections in the material. Not something you would expect to find on headphones from Sonos or at this price point.

Aside from that, I did experience an issue getting the headphones to pair after downloading the iphone app and adding the headphones. Before I got the app, they paired very easy and worked flawlessly, but as soon as I got the app, it seemed to get stuck in a loop of the phone showing connected, but the app saying not connected. Or showing as connected to 2 different 'Sonos Ace' at the same time. After a few minutes it finally seemed to settle and I got the audio playing through the device along with control through the app, great lets go!

So, sound quality is great, no complaints there at all. I have recently been using in-ear earphones but these are next level. Although not new technology, the different noise control options never fail to impress me. When wearing the headphones and cycling through the options, the way the noise cancellation just turns background TV noise to complete silence is amazing, but likewise the 'Aware' mode that then suddenly makes the background noise sound like i'm not wearing any headphones is equally impressive. Head tracking is also a great feature that i've never used before.

I also like the wear detection mode, for someone with kids running round and not leaving me in peace, I can take off the headphones and my content will automatically pause and then resume again when I put them back on...genius!

Unfortunately I don't have a Sonos speaker system with the TV to test out the home cinema experience but sounds impressive.

The headphones themselves are nice and sleek. I like that they have a bit of weight to them too (nothing too heavy) which suggests they are good quality and well made and they feel really comfortable when on.

The packaging is also class with lots of protection whilst also being stylish and well made.

Bottom line, I would recommend these for the sound quality and features, but the physical/visual quality of the pair I received has left a really sour tase in my mouth unfortunately.

First off, the overall aesthetics from packaging to the actual headphone are very impressive. Everything appears to be very well thought of. At first, I thought the lack of buttons maybe challenging but the minimalist approach in both hardware and software has easily grown on me. Both the volume and the mode toggle are on the right earphone and the power and Bluetooth button are on the left. The volume control has a slide functionality versus the conventional button in which took some getting used to but I don't hate it.

The noise control mode comes with ANC, Aware mode (Transparency) and off feature. The ANC mode is outstanding and here's why. Using the SONOS Ace next to running washer and dryer had almost eradicated the noise and the app facilitated my listening experience. Whilst using the equalizer through the app, I have noticed that at default setting, the bass is so balanced listening to EDM, Rock and Podcast that the Apple AirPod Max or the Marshall Monitor 2 could not compare. Be that as it may, the SONOS App only offer one equalizer preset that prevents user from personalizing their sound preference for different usage but the superior bass and treble makes up for it.

I prefer to personalize my audio devices and the SONOS Ace comes with head tracking technology for Spatial audio enabled devices which is perfect for my PC. It's also capable of alternating between two devices seamlessly. For example, if you have the SONOS Ace both synced to your mobile device and your PC, when you decide to play a video in your PC then switch to your mobile device, the audio transition then happens instantaneously. I never knew eliminating the hassle of using 2 headphones is nothing but convenient.

Overall, if you're tired of dealing with heavy and bulky headphones that causes ear fatigue/scalp pain and don't want to stress abt learning convoluted hardware control scheme or confusing mobile application settings, then the lightweight, soft memory foam ear cushion, minimalist approach of SONOS Ace might be right for you.