Battery life: 24 hours
Bluetooth: 5.3
Weight: 259g
Spatial audio: Yes
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are a little older than the Sonos Ace, which is mostly reflected in a) the use of Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connectivity, and b) the slight price advantage they have. But just because they’ve become a little more affordable, they haven’t lost their high-end, premium credentials. So you get very acceptable build quality and standard of finish (even if the look is nothing special), excellent audio performance in the typical ‘Bose’ style, a quite convincing ‘immersive audio’ feature, and what is unarguably the best, most effective active noise-cancellation around.
For
- Informative, punchy and energetic sound
- Good smart features
- The best ANC around
Against
- Ordinary battery life
- Not an especially premium look or feel
- No USB-C audio input
Battery life: 30 hours
Bluetooth: 5.4
Weight: 312g
Spatial audio: Yes
The suggestion of Sonos headphones has been around since before the pandemic - but it seems obvious the company has been spending all that time sitting on its hands. The Ace are probably the best-looking and certainly one of the most comfortable pairs of wireless over-ear headphones around, and they’re specified to compete. Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX Lossless is a great start, sound quality is nicely judged, and active noise-cancellation is very decent too (although not up to Bose standards). Wider Sonos system compatibility would have been nice, but why ask for the moon when Sonos is offering the stars?
For
- Detailed, balanced, politely entertaining sound
- Great looks, good comfort
- 'TV audio swap' feature
Against
- Could sound more dynamic and energetic
- Restricted Sonos system compatibility
- ANC is ‘good’ rather than ‘great’
