Hey guys…. Time for a little more Tech Talk w/TK!!!
Alright, so in my AirPods Pro 3 review I teased that I might be switching to something new with better noise canceling for louder environments. The Sonos Ace was a stop along that journey — not the destination, but a stepping stone to where I am today. I went back and forth between Walmart and Amazon on these, and after a long travel stretch I just went with whoever could get them to me fastest. I’ve had them in hand for a while now, putting them through their paces, and I have thoughts. As always, I compared notes with what reviewers and owners out there are saying, and lined it up against my own experience.
The Good:
- Build quality is top-notch. These feel premium the second you pick them up. Solid, well put-together, no creaks or cheap bits. Sonos clearly sweated the details here.
- The case is a nice touch. I really like the case they came in — very nice, very sleek, protective, well-designed. Feels like it belongs with a premium product.
- The magnetic cable holder is phenomenal. The case has a magnetic holder for the cables, and it’s awesome. Little details like this are why the whole package feels premium.
- Comfortable, sleek fit. These are very good — sleek, thin, comfortable for long sessions. That said, I’m 6’4″ with a bigger head, and I felt some others fit me a little bit better. More of a note than a knock, if you’re built like me.
- Great soundstage and sound quality. Music has room to breathe on these. The overall sound quality is really good — detailed, open, enjoyable across everything I threw at them.
- Noise canceling shines on planes. This is the big one for me. A lot of reviewers rank the Ace’s ANC a step behind Bose and Sony, but on planes — the real test — I thought it was really good. It did exactly what I bought them for.
- TV Audio Swap with my Arc is slick. I have the original Sonos Arc (the big one, not the Beam, not the newest Ultra), and swapping TV audio to the Ace just works. Late-night watching without waking the house, full sound in your ears. If you’re in the Sonos ecosystem, this is the feature.
The Not So Good:
- Lots of highs. The tuning leans treble-forward, and on some tracks there’s just a lot of high end. Turns out I’m not imagining it — detailed measurements out there show a real treble peak. On bright recordings it can get sharp.
- Bass left this bass-head wanting more. The bass was solid, don’t get me wrong. But compared to my other over-ears, it felt lacking down low. For a self-described bass-head, that’s a real mark against.
- The lack of control is… interesting. The EQ options in the Sonos app are thin. When the tuning isn’t quite to your taste — see the two points above — you don’t have much room to fix it yourself. That’s frustrating on a premium headphone.
- Call mics need work. For phone calls, the mics definitely could use some improvement. People didn’t hear me as clearly as I’d like, especially next to how good the AirPods Pro 3 are on calls.
So where does that leave me? Overall, I really wanted to like the Ace — I wanted them to be a winner. The build, the comfort, the soundstage, the plane ANC, the Arc integration, the case, that magnetic cable holder… a lot of really premium stuff here. But I was just hoping for a little more in the bass department and the mics, and I would have been happy. Something felt missing, and I kept exploring. If you’re deep in the Sonos world and catch them on sale (they’re down to $349 now, and I’ve seen them at $239), they’re worth a look. For everyone else — especially fellow bass-heads — audition first.
One more thing: Sonos just launched the Ace Ultra with better ANC and new drivers, so the original Ace is in an interesting spot. Something to keep in mind.
Interested in checking it out for yourself? Included below are a couple of quick links.
