Did Sonos just kill the Apple AirPods Max? That's likely what many people will ask when they try out the Sonos Ace. At launch, they are priced at £449, which makes them a bit more affordable. So that's an instant win.

They're designed to work perfectly with iOS and Android. They may even be a little better on Android, and I'll explain why that is a little later. But compatibility is another win.

And check this out: Unlike the Airpods Max, they have a power button. Yeh, Sonos has Aced it so far vs. the Airpods Max. I think it's like they have just done this to Apple. Stick around, and I shall explain.

The reality is that Sonos is not only very good at audio but also seems equally good at design. I say that because the Sonos Ace headphones solve some but not all of the problems that bother me about many other headphones out right now.

I'll highlight those as we go through the top 5 killer features. One feature here truly separates these from the pack, and I'm so excited about it. Anyway, let's start with number one: the design.

Design & Controls

This is my opinion despite how good the Airpods Max might be. Because they are actually very good. When I see people wearing them, they always remind me of Princess Leah's hair buns. They are a great look for the ladies but not so much for men.

The Sonos Ace, on the other hand, has an almost similar shape but with nicer lines that break up the rounded top surface from the sides of the earcups. Also, the stainless steel grills and hangers make it look so premium.

The hinges are also very cleverly designed to blend seamlessly into this elegant design. It looks classy. The main hinge mechanism being hidden within the earcups brings two big advantages to the Sonos Ace… and maybe one downside.

The upsides are that the race track yoke is firmly secured and protected inside and is very unlikely to ever hear any creaking or visibly see any cracking after prolonged use. Because the hinge is hidden, it reduces the potential for accidental skin pinching or hair snagging. Now, you are much more likely to experience this with headphones with collapsible hinges.

Some may mention this downside: They're not collapsible, so they can't be compacted into a smaller form factor when you're carrying them around. I might have agreed with you on that if the carry case was huge or very chunky…but it isn't. It's a bit thinner than my Sony XM5 case, and I still need to get started on Apple's handbag wrap thing.

And check this out. I got this recently… Inspired by MKBHD, it's magnet paper. This case has magnets to hold the cable pouch in place. It's such a simple idea but perfectly executed. And if you're wondering what goes in the pouch, well, in the box with the Sonos Ace, you do get a USB C to analogue audio cable and a C to C charging cable.

Also, if you're an eco-warrior, you'll be happy to know that the carry case is constructed from 75% recycled plastic bottles. Anyway, back to the design of the headphones. Another problem you may run into with other headphones is the ability to clean the insides of the earcups.

Honestly, it's basically impossible with many premium headphones. But not here because, once again, brilliant use of magnets. The ear cups are not only removable and replaceable, but the mesh is super easy to clean—barely an inconvenience.

Despite the Aces' slim profile, the memory foam padding on the ear cups and headband is very nice. I have no complaints, and they are wrapped in durable vegan leather and EPU material. You'll have to subscribe and hit me up later to determine how well the material holds up over time.

Now, one thing, if I'm nitpicking about the design, is the way the cups turn outwards and not inwards when around your neck. I did ask one of the Sonos engineers about this. And I'm told the reason for this is the way the wiring inside their headphones is. It doesn't allow them to twist that way. The solution for this is to take them off and flip them around. That seems like a lot of work. But it's kind of a first-world problem, though, right?

I appreciate a lot about the style and branding. Instead of plastering the Sonos logo everywhere, Sonos actually does this in a much more subtle but thoughtful way. The logo is only on one side and placed right next to the content key, which means you can use your sense of touch to locate them a little more effortlessly.

The race track shape is used on many Sonos designs, such as the Arc, the Era, and the New Moves. And if you look, you'll notice it in the Aces design.

User Controls

This brings me to the 2nd significant feature that elevates Sonos Ace. They call this the content key. I wrote down a couple of bullet points when I first tried these at the Sonos pre-brief.

Every input feels intentional. I meant that that there is no hit-or-miss with these. It slides up or down for volume adjustments. Push inwards once for play pause, double push for skip, triple push for skip back.

The second bullet point was that I like how mechanical it feels. What I meant by this is that the spring resistance makes it feel intuitive and responsive. And it's strong enough that you won't accidentally trigger any of the controls.

There are two more buttons that serve specific purposes. The circular button next to the content key toggles on and off the ANC modes. There are audio cues for this, which take some getting used to as they're not voiced to you. They are tones that indicate ANC on and Aware mode. A push-and-hold here activates your AI assistant.

On the left earcup, you have the power key, which, when held down, doubles as the BT pairing button. They do have wear-detection sensors in the earcups. So they will pause and resume when you briefly remove them and put them back on. If you remove them, they will eventually auto-power down when they are not in use.

The Sonos App

And of course you do get Sonos App support & app controls also. The connectivity to an iPhone is via SBC and AAC, just like with AirPods. However, the Ace does use a newer BT 5.4 chip, and remember how I said the Ace might be even better when used on Android. Well that's because they do support the Qualcomm AptX Adaptive codec. I did make a video about it, but I'm keeping it simple for now. AptX Adaptive can deliver a higher bitrate than Apple's preferred HiRes codec.

Technically speaking, it's a pretty big deal. This means that there is more potential for delivering HiRes audio when paired with an Android phone with a Snapdragon chip, such as the Samsung Galaxies. In my opinion, this makes the Sonos Ace the perfect Android alternative to the AirPods Max.

Now, there is something that I know people were hoping for. And that was WiFi connectivity, so you could stream directly to the headphones on your home network without worrying about BT. Yeah, that would have been nice. I feel Sonos might be thinking about adding that in the next one.

Anyway, back to the app. Here, you can switch off ANC and Ambient mode entirely. Sonos also gives you the option to map the OFF option to the button. You can tweak the wear-detect feature. Most notably, you can set it up to answer phone calls when placed on your head.

It's nice to see that you also get access to simple EQ, so if you want more bass or treble, that is an option. I'll get into my thoughts on the sound quality in a moment.

Just below this, you can enable Dolby head tracking. If you need to get more familiar with this, it fixes the audio source right in front of you. It does this with a very clever EQ and volume-balancing algorithm. It's great if you want to emulate being at a live audio performance or movie theatre. This brings me to the feature that I'm so excited about.

Home Theatre Mode / Audio swap

This is a Sonos ecosystem-specific feature and something that I've never heard of or seen before.

Check this out. Let's say it's late, and you want to watch a movie with your home cinema audio setup…but you can't. Because you'll wake up your whole house and probably piss off the neighbours. Well, this unique feature can map a virtual surround sound into the Ace headphones tailored to match the acoustics of your living room and your current audio setup.

The audio from the source is interpreted by the Sonos Arc and transferred to the Sonos Ace. And it works incredibly well. Even though it was the night before Christmas and nothing was stirring, not even a mouse…you could jump on Call of Duty Warzone and blow stuff up… and it would sound very close to what you'd be used to if you weren't wearing the headphones at all.

At the time of this video, it's only supported by the Sonos Arc sound bar, but more support will be rolling out for Beam and others in future updates.

For my thought on the quality & ANC. Check out my video review