Sonos Ace is the top flagship headset directly benchmarking Apple AirPods Max, Sony WH-1000XM5 and Bose QC Ultra. The release price is the same as that of AirPods Max, which is 3999 yuan.
Sonos Ace and AirPods Max are parallel. They are the most expensive and advanced wireless headphones we have ever played.
Sonos is a high-end brand in the field of home theater/speakers, which is famous for its design, sound quality and price. The world knows that they are going to wear headphones sooner or later, but everyone did not expect that Sonos Ace, the first head mounted noise reduction headset of Sonos, was released on May 21, 24, and its national version was released on October 21.
[Basic information of Sonos Ace]:
40mm dynamic unit, with active noise reduction, 8 microphones;
Bluetooth 5.4 supports Qualcomm's AptX for Lossless;
It supports [Dolby Panorama Sound], [Space Audio], [Dolby Certified Head Tracking], and [One Button Switching TV Audio];
Available in black and white, 312 grams, 191x160x85mm;
1060mAh battery, 30 hours of noise reduction, fast charging of "3 minutes of charging, 3 hours of music";
Accessories include travel case, C-C charging cable (75cm long), C-3.5mm headphone cable (1.2m long).
appearance
Sonos Ace is a typical environmental protection package.
The kraft paper box has two easy to pull seals on the back, and the tray is the bottom cover of the box. Even the instruction manual and wire storage have been done for a long time.
The travel protective covers on the flannelette surface are all made of environment-friendly materials, and there is a wire storage box fixed by magnetic suction inside.
The soft white Sonos Ace is a bit light gray to the naked eye.
Under the pure plain leather of the magnetic ear muff is a plush memory sponge. The left and right ears are distinguished by different colors, which is quite fresh.
The texture of the overall frosted body is very good. With the stainless steel head beam, button and grid of the bling bling, it is inexplicably "very expensive".
Although the white version looks very pleasing, if you want to wear it out, it is more recommended to wear the black version - the actually measured white version has more than 50% of the popularity in the street.
Wearing and experience
Sonos Ace weighs 312 grams, more than 254 grams of Sony WH-1000XM5 and 252 grams of Bose QC Ultra, but less than 384.8 grams of AirPods Max, a cervical spine exerciser.
The head beam is slightly tight, but not very chuck. The weight is not superior, but this earmuff is really super soft and comfortable. It has exploded several streets of AirPods Max, and it also takes turns.
Thanks to this earmuff, Sonos Ace's overall wearing feeling is relatively comfortable. As long as the earmuff is not pressed against the tail of the glasses leg, Ben Yanzu can wear glasses for two hours at a time. But it would be better if the next generation could improve the air permeability of earmuffs.
In this year, Sonos Ace has made all entity buttons very "Renaissance". After using the "advanced" touch and slide operations of friends, I have to say—— It's better to press the physical button 。
At the bottom of the left side of the Sonos Ace is the power switch, at the bottom of the right side is the switch for noise reduction mode, and at the same time, it is also a sliding knob for song cutting/volume adjustment. The three buttons are all ultra long keys, and the touch of the keys is soft and Q bounce. Like the plush memory sponge on the earmuffs, it gives a very soft feeling.
Sonos' App has no functions at present, mainly providing noise reduction mode button, dual device connection and head tracking function switch.
In terms of endurance, Sonos Ace has a 30 hour endurance even if it takes the initiative to reduce noise. Even for office use, it only takes a few days to recharge.
In addition to the true fast charging of "charging for 3 minutes, music for 3 hours", Sonos Ace has never cared about its power consumption in a week.
Sound quality and noise reduction
Sonos Ace supports AptX for Lossless (after 2021, most mobile phones on the Qualcomm platform support AptX for Lossless). We randomly tried six Snapdragon 8 Gen 3/Snapdragon 8 Premium models, and even the entry-level machine of Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 can be directly connected in the form of AptX for Lossless, which has surprisingly good compatibility.
Sonos Ace has only one C port (not 3.5mm headphone port), which is more suitable for 2024. When pursuing sound quality, you can also easily find a C-C ordinary data cable to connect your mobile phone/computer/tablet. If it is a traditional audio device, use the matching C-3.5mm audio cable.
Sonos is very confident in its tuning. EQ tuning has simple treble, bass tuning and left right balance slider.
In terms of [sound quality], two words can be used to describe the sense of hearing of Sonos Ace. The tuning is really "very Sonos" The triple frequency is balanced and comfortable, and it will not engage in bass, but it also strengthens the treble and bass a little more than Apple's plain boiled water.
Although it is Sonos' first headphone, it is an audio factory after all. Sonos Ace's sound quality is in front of Apple's AirPods Max, Sony WH-1000XM5, and Bose QC Ultra.
In terms of [noise reduction], Sonos Ace did not release the maximum noise reduction depth data. Its actual noise reduction level is not as good as Bose QC Ultra, which is also slightly weaker than AirPods Max, but it is also OK. The ear pressure is not very obvious, and the anti wind noise effect is good.
Compared with noise reduction, Sonos Ace's transparent transmission mode is quite strong (Sonos is called perception mode). This is the closest we have ever encountered to Apple's transparent transmission mode. The external sound is very close to the effect without earphones, almost at the level of fake. Sony Bose， Please learn from the business friends.
In addition to AirPods Max, Sonos Ace supports Dolby full scene sound and spatial audio, and the head tracking function has Dolby certified headphones.
It can play the Dolby full scene sound of Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Deezer and the lossless audio tracks and spatial audio tracks of Sony 360 live sound effects.
Its spatial audio can also be automatically turned off when movement is detected, which is intimate to Laotie.
Its killer weapon is actually combined with Sonos's own home speaker ecology, but we haven't had the opportunity to experience it. According to the claim, it can switch between its own Arc/Soundbar speakers with one button, use the Arc decoding ability to transmit audio wirelessly, and then superimpose its own Dolby full scene sound and spatial audio, directly across Apple TV, PS5, Xbox and other TV connected devices.
summary
It is hard to imagine that the first earphone of Sonos can achieve such a degree of completion - the appearance, texture, sound quality and noise reduction (especially the transparent mode) of Sonos Ace are all on the same line with Apple, Sony and Bose, and the wearing comfort and advanced sense are very good.
With earphones of this level, you will be touched by the fact that "music members are not empty".
These days, the relationship between earphones and headphones is a little like that between mobile phones and tablets. Mobile phones can also watch videos, but the effect is not as good as that of tablets. In ear headphones are convenient, but the sound quality and immersion still have to wear headphones.
Headphones have a strong noise reduction performance. In addition to allowing you to listen to music at a very low volume on the side of National Highway 107, or on the construction site full of "Shenzhen Voice", their huge sound field makes it easier for people to quickly immerse themselves in music and quickly change their mood.
In the office and at home, the feeling that the world suddenly becomes quiet goes well with lazy weekends. In addition, cold weather turns cold, which is just the good season to use headphones.
The price of Sonos Ace is 3999 yuan, and the price of JD on the Double 11 Festival is about 3600 yuan to 3900 yuan, which is definitely not cheap. But if you don't want to be recognized as wearing Sony and Bose, and you don't want to exercise your cervical spine with AirPods Max, then Sonos Ace is really a new option.
Follow our Weibo @ Love Computer
Follow our WeChat official account: playphone
Of course, we also pay attention to our Bilibili account: love computer
