Got my ACE headphones today, they sound great but they’re not charging. Stuck at 53%. Tried different cables and power adapter that work with other devices. Feel like I’m doing something stupid. No orange or green lights to indicate charging status. Blue light comes on ok when connected via Bluetooth. Is there reboot / reset option of some description I could try???
Thanks
It appears that Sonos Ace is not PD compliant.
Wait is this actually true or mostly speculation? Anyone else confirm? I’ve been reading posts here by some that say the issue is that some chargers like the ones from Belkin and Anker aren’t actually PD certified and that’s the problem.
It appears that Sonos Ace is not PD compliant.
Wait is this actually true or mostly speculation? Anyone else confirm? I’ve been reading posts here by some that say the issue is that some chargers like the ones from Belkin and Anker aren’t actually PD certified and that’s the problem.
Just my speculation. The Belkin and Anker chargers seem to be PD certified according to their packaging and label on the charging bricks.
Furthermore, I've tested these chargers on so many other devices (cameras, tablets, laptops, phones, earbuds, other headphones), and the issue only happens with Sonos Ace.
Just so everyone knows, I think it’s PD compliant. Used my 100W Anker and have had no issues.
That's not how to look at it. Your 100W Anker charger probably has the ability to output 18W or lower, hence it works for Ace.
But that’s how a PD compliant charger should work, no? Most Anker ones are, so I’m confused by the reported issues people are having. If use the output capable of greater than 18W, it will still charge and not brick the system because it charges accordingly.
Just so everyone knows, I think it’s PD compliant. Used my 100W Anker and have had no issues.
That's not how to look at it. Your 100W Anker charger probably has the ability to output 18W or lower, hence it works for Ace.
I do not understand why you don’t just continue to use the charger(s) you have that work with your Ace and be done with it… it seems pointless arguing over the Sonos Staff members post - saying minimum 15W etc. it might even be an unintentional error in their post anyway. Personally I always thought it was 15W (5V x 3A) that was being used in anycase, same as the Roam, as I can’t see the Ace needing the higher power input used by the larger Sonos Move battery - which apparently is as follows (taken from other community posts)…
The power adapter for the Move/Move 2 must be USB PD (Power Delivery). For 45W operation the PD source must put out either 20V/2.25A (or higher current) or 15V/3A (or higher current).
For 36W operation the PD source must put out 12V/3A or 15V/2.4A and note that charging speed is reduced if listening to audio at the same time. Anything less than 36W will not power or charge Move.
So 15W seems about right to me as a minimum, because some chargers might output 5.2V x 3A (15.6W) perhaps and may still work - I wouldn’t like to test it however and will stick with PD chargers, personally speaking.
Just so everyone knows, I think it’s PD compliant. Used my 100W Anker and have had no issues.
That's not how to look at it. Your 100W Anker charger probably has the ability to output 18W or lower, hence it works for Ace.
But that’s how a PD compliant charger should work, no? Most Anker ones are, so I’m confused by the reported issues people are having. If use the output capable of greater than 18W, it will still charge and not brick the system because it charges accordingly.
Yes, that's what I thought too. But after reading some USB documentation, the receiving device must be able to regulate it too, not just the charger brick.
Just so everyone knows, I think it’s PD compliant. Used my 100W Anker and have had no issues.
That's not how to look at it. Your 100W Anker charger probably has the ability to output 18W or lower, hence it works for Ace.
But that’s how a PD compliant charger should work, no? Most Anker ones are, so I’m confused by the reported issues people are having. If use the output capable of greater than 18W, it will still charge and not brick the system because it charges accordingly.
Yes, that's what I thought too. But after reading some USB documentation, the receiving device must be able to regulate it too, not just the charger brick.
The PD chargers ‘actual’ power output ability for each port is usually stated on the charger and if it has multiple USB ports, it will usually state the changes if either two, three etc. ports are being used simultaneously.
When I purchased my PD chargers around 2020/21 - I was only able to get a 100W PD charger, but these days they can go upto 240W power output, but will still only charge my Roam-2 at 5V x 3A (15W) for example (and Ace too at that level). I use E-marker chipped power cables too, as that helps to ensure that only the correct ‘negotiated’ power is used to charge a connected device.
It appears that Sonos Ace is not PD compliant.
Wait is this actually true or mostly speculation? Anyone else confirm? I’ve been reading posts here by some that say the issue is that some chargers like the ones from Belkin and Anker aren’t actually PD certified and that’s the problem.
Just my speculation. The Belkin and Anker chargers seem to be PD certified according to their packaging and label on the charging bricks.
Furthermore, I've tested these chargers on so many other devices (cameras, tablets, laptops, phones, earbuds, other headphones), and the issue only happens with Sonos Ace.
That’s pretty wild. IIRC there’s been issues with Move and Roam with chargers as well. I wonder what it is with Sonos?
Just so everyone knows, I think it’s PD compliant. Used my 100W Anker and have had no issues.
That's not how to look at it. Your 100W Anker charger probably has the ability to output 18W or lower, hence it works for Ace.
But that’s how a PD compliant charger should work, no? Most Anker ones are, so I’m confused by the reported issues people are having. If use the output capable of greater than 18W, it will still charge and not brick the system because it charges accordingly.
Yes, that's what I thought too. But after reading some USB documentation, the receiving device must be able to regulate it too, not just the charger brick.
that makes sense, but I didn’t realize it. I’m hoping no issues pop up for my pair, have been trying to test and charge to see if they end up being bricked or not charging.
Just so everyone knows, I think it’s PD compliant. Used my 100W Anker and have had no issues.
That's not how to look at it. Your 100W Anker charger probably has the ability to output 18W or lower, hence it works for Ace.
But that’s how a PD compliant charger should work, no? Most Anker ones are, so I’m confused by the reported issues people are having. If use the output capable of greater than 18W, it will still charge and not brick the system because it charges accordingly.
Yes, that's what I thought too. But after reading some USB documentation, the receiving device must be able to regulate it too, not just the charger brick.
that makes sense, but I didn’t realize it. I’m hoping no issues pop up for my pair, have been trying to test and charge to see if they end up being bricked or not charging.
Look at the various power outputs available printed on the PD charger itself. It needs a usb-C (not usb-A) port, with a power output available of 15W (5volts x 3amps) - if it says that on your charger block, then you should be okay.
Note that with chargers that have two or more ports, you may find that some outputs may become unavailable when more than one port is being used simultaneously, but that information should be printed on the charger aswell.
Basically, just read my summary again a few posts up, without the superfluous subsequent reply.
18W or lower. Old USB-A chargers do work because they're 18W or lower. Higher wattage chargers (like Apple's 140W) can work as long as it can output 18W or lower.
Some PD 3.0 certified chargers (even though equipped with PPS) can't go lower than 20W because it's 2024. But apparently Sonos Ace as the receiving device can't even regulate that. So be careful. 18W or lower, and you'll be ok.
Basically, just read my summary again a few posts up, without the superfluous subsequent reply.
18W or lower. Old USB-A chargers do work because they're 18W or lower. Higher wattage chargers (like Apple's 140W) can work as long as it can output 18W or lower.
Some PD 3.0 certified chargers (even though equipped with PPS) can't go lower than 20W because it's 2024. But apparently Sonos Ace as the receiving device can't even regulate that. So be careful. 18W or lower, and you'll be ok.
USB-A is no longer part of the current PD certification - but yes they can work but I recommend using the later USB-C with a power output stated on the the charger itself of 5V x 3A = 15W and (hopefully) all being well it should work with the Ace - yes I accept other chargers/output may work but that output is the common denominator on all the PD chargers here that do definitely work.
Please note too
This 100W charger, just as an example, has two USB-C ports that can output at various voltages in compliance with the PD standard - I have highlighted that one or both of its ports can output 5V x 3A which is 15W - see image below. So both of its ports will charge the Ace or even two Ace headphones simultaneously.
The exact same charger will also charge two Sonos Move/Move 2 speakers which each require 45W power output 15V x 3A = 45W. See here:
So it’s important to look at the power output available for each USB-C port and it should be printed somewhere on the charger.
It's embarrassing how a new pair of headphones in 2024 that costs 449 USD to buy can't regulate the charge that comes in from PD chargers. While much older devices from almost 10 whole years ago can.
Sonos Ace along with the new app (which was updated to accommodate the Ace) have been far far away from a good look for Sonos. Extremely disappointing.
It's embarrassing how a new pair of headphones in 2024 that costs 449 USD to buy can't regulate the charge that comes in from PD chargers. While much older devices from 10 whole years ago can.
Sonos Ace along with the new app (which was updated to accommodate the Ace) have been far far away from a good look for Sonos. Extremely disappointing.
If it's true Ace can't accept a 20W input for example, it's incompetent as well as embarrassing. Should be fixable with a firmware update hopefully.
A really poor start to the long awaited headphones, what with the widely reported sound issues too.
It's embarrassing how a new pair of headphones in 2024 that costs 449 USD to buy can't regulate the charge that comes in from PD chargers. While much older devices from almost 10 whole years ago can.
Sonos Ace along with the new app (which was updated to accommodate the Ace) have been far far away from a good look for Sonos. Extremely disappointing.
I completely disagree, there might only be one or two brands of charger with the stated power output out there that are inexplicably not working with the new Ace product, but I’m sure if those make/models are reported to Sonos, they will be investigated and likely resolved. All the chargers I have here, with that 5V x 3A=15W power output are working absolutely fine without any issue.
I’ve not seen many folk post images of their chargers power-output either, so some may perhaps be mistaken reports. Also there are some chargers that maybe ‘cheap imports’ in some cases and so may not be a genuine product - so that’s why it’s important to report these matters to Sonos to allow them to investigate the matter further.
I prefer not to jump to any conclusions at this point in time.
I have reached my conclusion based on my extensive experiments with various chargers. I'm glad it hasn't bricked my Ace yet. Posting pictures of charger bricks here is silly and such a hassle. The product information of these chargers is readily available on the internet.
What's behaving like a cheap import here is actually the Sonos Ace itself. Can't even regulate the charge it receives. It behaves like the cheap USB-C massage gun I got from AliExpress (as I mentioned previously here). That massage gun can't be charged with many modern USB-C PD chargers, very similar to the Ace.
Well I’m happy to post the evidence that I have available here - even if you think thats ‘silly’. (What hassle
?)
Anyhow, I’m now going to step out this thread, as I’ve posted the detail and will just leave others to decide for themselves.
The Sonos Ace is an excellent high quality product by the way for any others reading this thread. They far exceed the competition in my view. They also ‘fast charge’ A 3-minute charge provides 3 hours of playback. Read more here:
https://support.sonos.com/en/article/charging-your-sonos-ace
I’m out…
It's embarrassing how a new pair of headphones in 2024 that costs 449 USD to buy can't regulate the charge that comes in from PD chargers. While much older devices from 10 whole years ago can.
Sonos Ace along with the new app (which was updated to accommodate the Ace) have been far far away from a good look for Sonos. Extremely disappointing.
If it's true Ace can't accept a 20W input for example, it's incompetent as well as embarrassing. Should be fixable with a firmware update hopefully.
A really poor start to the long awaited headphones, what with the widely reported sound issues too.
It is true, unfortunately. I'm not optimistic about this being fixed with a firmware update, as they have tons of other issues to deal with for the app. Luckily I haven't had any sound issues, and the app has been stable enough for me personally. But this charging issue has been very frustrating and overall disappointing.
Just wondering if the new Ace firmware update 2.9.5 fixes the charging problem for anyone who has experienced the issue?
As per the release notes…
“We just deployed an update for Sonos Ace that specifically addresses the USB-C PD Charging issues that have been reported here (Reddit) and on the Sonos Community.
This update **also** addresses:
* Potential for garbled audio using TV Audio Swap
* Potential for audio to be missing in one earcup
* Potential for errant shutdown from battery thermal protection”
Just wondering if the new Ace firmware update 2.9.5 fixes the charging problem for anyone who has experienced the issue?
Someone saying it fixed their Anker charging issue here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/s/sZpL0xBn61
Wow that's a nice surprise. Unfortunately I won't be able to confirm because I returned my Ace, sadly. Just not satisfied with it overall.
AFTER firmware update from mid-July (2.9.5-61e97660b), ALL my charger are now working with my Ace. Yeah ! 
Before that firmware update, I was unable to charge my Ace with these 3 chargers I have : Anker 737 120W, Anker Nano II 45W and UGreen 65W Nexode.
Thanks Sonos to have taken this matter in hand.
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