After years of speculation, hope, and rumors, Sonos has finally released their Ace ANC headphones at a price that puts them in line with some of the biggest names in the industry. What's surprising though is just how soundly Sonos beats Apple at their own game.
Here are eight ways that Sonos Ace beats Apple AirPods Max (and one reason you might want to wait before picking them up)
1—Head Tracking
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Both headphones use Head Tracking to alter the sound coming through each ear cup as you move your head. It's essentially like having your music playing from a single external source. As you turn your head, you'll hear the sound more in one ear as opposed to the other. It's a neat trick but it's not for everyone: if you're strapping speakers to your head you probably just want to hear the source, you don't need to simulate a less optimal experience.
That said, if you do prefer to listen to your tunes with spatial audio and head tracking, the Sonos Ace does a fantastic job of rendering your music naturally. Where I never really notice the effect at all when wearing AirPods Max (even after personalizing my Spatial Audio), I noticed it instantly when using the same feature on the Sonos Ace.
2—Channel Separation
One thing I noticed right away when testing out the Ace was just how clearly the various audio elements came through. So many headphones, even expensive ones, cover up poor audio channel separation by just making things louder. With the Ace, I can clearly pick out individual instruments, even at high and low volume extremes.
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It's not something the Apple AirPods Max are especially good at and further entrench the Sonos Ace as a "music first" device.
3—Phenomenal Bluetooth Range
This one I discovered by accident. I was on a conference call and, as seemingly always happens, FedEx came to the door with a package I had to sign for. It was only after I'd closed the front door that I realized the Sonos Ace hadn't dropped the audio from my laptop. With my Apple AirPods Max, I usually lose the audio from my MacBook Pro while I'm walking through the kitchen on the way to my front door.
With a bit more experimentation, I found that the Sonos Ace has considerably better Bluetooth range, at least 20-30 feet more than the Apple AirPods Max. Is this due to the fact that it uses Bluetooth 5.4 as opposed to Apple's older 5.0 standard? Possibly, even though official specs say there's no difference in range. But it doesn't matter what the numbers say, the proof is in the fact that I can now walk to every corner of my house and stay connected to my laptop (for better or worse).
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4—More Comfortable All-Day Wear
The Sonos Ace, with their mostly plastic construction, weigh nearly 3 oz. less than the metal-laden AirPods Max. It's not overly noticeable in the short term, but when you're wearing them all day long, those 3 oz. make a considerable difference.
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The removable earcups of the Sonos Ace are made from memory foam wrapped in vegan leather. The same goes for the extremely cushiony headband. There's also enough tension that the headphones stay in place but not so much that they crush the sides of your head. Plus there's substantial ventilation (in shiny stainless accents) which means you won't end up with a case of "swamp ear" at the end of a long session.
The Apple AirPods Max, in contrast, get heavy over time. And while the ventilated headband keeps the top of your head from getting warm, the same can't be said for the textile cushioned ear cups. Pair that with the minimalist ventilation channels in the Max and wearing Apple’s headphones all day can be punishing.
5—Better For Traveling
The one thing you notice as soon as you get the Ace out of its box is that it comes with an actual case. There's no weird travel bralet like with the AirPods Max. The textured hardshell is nice and slim (since the headphones fold flat) with a storage pod that holds not only your charging cable, but a 3.5mm audio cable. That cable is great, not only for plugging into audio ports on hi-fi systems for listening but for listening to audio on planes as well.
While the case will definitely take up more room in your travel bag, you'll can also find them with ease and there's no chance they'll get hung up on something else. Plus, you know exactly where all of your cables are.
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6—Multi-Input Options
Apple does take Sonos' lunch a bit when connecting to Apple products. After all, there's never going to be anything easier than a pair of headphones that just magically connects to every Apple product you're registered on.
But what if you don't use Apple products in your day-to-day? The multi-device option on the Sonos Ace lets you easily connect to two devices at the same time and seamlessly transition between them. It's great for when you're listening to music on your phone but need to switch to your laptop for a meeting. And it's way better than having to manually reconnect every time you switch between devices.
And who says that second device has to be a laptop? If you have a Bluetooth-enabled TV, like the Roku Pro, you can have that be your second device and watch your shows without disturbing the whole house.
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7—Better ANC
The noise-canceling on the Sonos Ace beats the AirPods Max, hands down. Is it the best I've ever encountered? Not quite. That's still reserved for the "might as well be in the void of space" Sony WH-1000XM5.
But I was recently listening to music and watching a movie while my daughter entertained seventeen teenagers for an end-of-school bash. What was later described to me as "two hours of endless shrieking" didn't even make a dent in the sonic cocoon of the Sonos Ace. Two of the girls had a whole conversation with the back of my head while I was sitting on the couch and I didn't even realize it until they walked around to check to see if I'd heard them (I hadn't).
The Apple AirPods Max ANC is fine but it's always been a sore spot for me. For $550 I expect "far side of the Moon" levels of noise canceling. Compared to the Sonos Ace, I might as well not even turn ANC on.
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8—It's Cheaper!
Speaking of price, Sonos Ace, while expensive, is still $100 cheaper than the retail price of the Apple AirPods Max. Apple was offering $100 off their cans during the pre-order period for the Sonos Ace but now that they've been released, they're back to being $549.
As capable and refined as they are, the Sonos Ace makes a compelling case when comparing the two sets of headphones.
If all this sounds like a win to you, then you can pick up Sonos Ace right now from the Sonos site in soft white or black. But there is just one reason that you might consider if you're thinking about streaming audio from your Sonos soundbar to the Ace headphones…
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One More Thing—Awesome Feature is Extremely Limited
Unfortunately, the Sonos Ace's best party trick is extremely limited out of the gate. If you also own a $899 Sonos Arc soundbar, then you’re one of the lucky ones. Just pop into the Sonos app (I know, I know, I think it was better before they redesigned it too) and stream audio seamlessly to your Sonos Ace. The spatial audio works spectacularly here. I watched Star Wars (the original one, back before all the prequels and sequels, git off mah lawn) and was completely immersed in the sound stage.
And while the connection is seamless and the sound amazing, it only works with the Sonos Arc. Other soundbars will be able to connect to the Ace in the future…but not for a bit. That means one of the most beneficial aspects of buying headphones that are in the same ecosystem as the rest of your speakers isn't available unless you also have the highest end product they sell. It would've made a much stronger point in the Ace's favor if Sonos had been able to add the planned support for other soundbars at launch.
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That said…I couldn't even get my Apple AirPods Max to connect to my Roku Pro without 15 minutes of frustration. So being able to turn on my Sonos Ace, click a button in the app, and enjoy personal audio streamed from the Arc felt blissfully simple and "just worked" (to borrow a phrase). I look forward to Sonos opening this up to a wider hardware stack.
