It's no secret that the Sonos Ace headphones have been on the cards (they were actually first rumored back in 2019, but recently they got leaked by a Dutch retailer, which kicked things up a notch) and now, we have a concrete date from Sonos itself regarding the launch of its "most requested product".
OK, so the email doesn't explicitly name the Sonos Ace (the likely name for Sonos' first-ever headphones), but the company has taken to Instagram and email to make its announcement, listing a launch date of May 21 at 6am PT, 9am ET, 2pm BST or 11pm AEST – and if you received an email, you'll even have received a helpful countdown timer.
Sonos Ace headphones: what can we expect?
So, they're (almost certainly) coming tomorrow! At the time of writing, there's just over 19 hours to wait.
The news will come as no big surprise to fans who heard about Sonos' leaked summer release schedule, although previously the release date for its set of cans was thought to be in early June, rather than May – so it's rather refreshing to see a brand making good on its (rumored) goals in good time.
Having written an opus on 4 things I want from the Sonos headphones late last year (after it became apparent that despite a challenging 2023, Sonos had invested heavily in a dedicated headphone team) I know what I want: I want the Sonos Ace to be something like the world's first lossless wireless headphones, HED Unity. These arrived in August 2023 from a little-known Swiss audio startup, looking very much as if they should have Sonos' logo embossed across the ear cup – but no.
In a nutshell, alongside music over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (when I go out), I also hope for advanced audio handoff using Sonos' ecosystem. I want to come home and hear the track that's been playing on the Sonos Ace headphones seamlessly adopted and relayed by the Sonos Five in my kitchen.
This feature actually made its headphone debut with the Bowers & Wilkins PX8, along with the updated Bowers & Wilkins Music app. To explain, B&W's Music app lets PX8 users who also own Bowers & Wilkins Formation products switch easily between listening at home – maybe on their Zeppelin or Formation Wedge speakers – and listening on the move via a mobile device with their B&W headphones.
Surely, given Sonos' extensive range of multi-room audio speakers (not to mention the Sonos-compatible Victrola Stream Carbon turntable), this will be a feature of the company's first-ever headphones.
Pricing is of course not officially known, but based on the company's existing lineup of talented audio products, a budget price-tag is unlikely. Back in 2019, a Bloomberg source originally said that the first Sonos wireless headphones would likely cost about $300 / £220 / AU$400, but cut to 2024 and Bloomberg has revised this figure, saying it's actually going to be more like $449 (about £355 / AU$690). If true, that would undercut the Apple AirPods Max, which cost in the region of $549 / £549 / AU$899.
Might they just be the best over-ear headphones of the year? Time will tell – and there's not long to wait now…
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