So, ACE are just headphones?

That is what any sensible person that values his money would do - wait to see if features promised today by Sonos are delivered and work to expectations.

It seems that people are buying them regardless, trusting Sonos will fulfil their expectations as and when the promises are kept. That thinking seems to me to be from another universe, like a cult following.

I also understand that not all will see the effect on their wallet the same way.

They will likely release a software update down the line for the headphones to disable the pause button. Sonos loves the bait and switch with their products. 

Geez, y’all need to do some research before just piling on with the hate. They apparently integrate pretty seamlessly (one button-push) with the Arc to deliver surround sound - and full Dolby Atmos at that - to the headphones. And yes, it uses Bluetooth. If it didn’t y’all would be saying “What, I can’t play music from my phone? And I have to be connected to my wi-fi? That sux!” Look at potential use cases and they are likely (1) for quality sound when you’re out and about, and (2) personal surround when watching TV without disturbing the rest of the house. Both delivered. I’m sure treating them as another ‘speaker’ in your Sonos system will be coming, but ‘required day 1’? Probably not the most important thing. Now, I’m not a Sonos apologist (and the new app absolutely sucks b*lls) but damn, get some perspective here.

Any skepticism is more than reasonable given the current app debacle. The headphones appear attractive, and although I have yet to actually see and hold them, physically speaking, they look to be sleek and really professionally well built.  But no wifi integration with the sonos architecture?  Can’t directly stream music?  Of all the features, that was the most anticipated (and not unreasonably so, given how many years this product debut has been expected).  And no ability for multiple headphone users to stream simultaneously?  And a bunch of vague statements from the CEO about potential future updates?  Look, I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually the headphone prove to be nice additions to the product lineup.  With a bit of a track record and some additional features, I may by a pair.  But for $450 out of the gate for the limited case use (spoiler alert: of course, at a bare minimum, we would expect atmos from arc), i mean, c’mon, man, recognize Windows 95 when its staring you in the face. 😂

Sonos has been teasing us with “our most requested product” ads and emails.

I think they have misunderstood the request.

Sonos owners want a set of headphones that we can add to our systems like any other Sonos product.

What we’ve been offered is just a set of Bluetooth headphones!

Very, very disappointing.

I was ready to buy a pair immediately (I love a bit of early-adopting!) but not now. Why would I buy something that doesn’t work with my existing Sonos products.

Is this just an “entry level” product? Are a pair, with actual Sonos capability, in the pipeline?

Will we have to wait for the Ace to be a sales failure before we get what we actually want?

Who knows?!

As per today's email, Sonos are no longer marketing the Arc 'TV Audio Swap' functionality as a feature. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this particular function gets canned before launch. If their current marketing is anything to go by - then yes, these are literally 'just headphones'.

Completely pointless 

please Sonos product management/engineering, we spend money with you and support Sonos 

why would I buy your head phones when gives me nothing over any Bluetooth headphones I already have???

why would you bother with these ? i would choose airpods max over these any day (or any other prestige headphones) but then after years of loyal Sonos  usage i am now skeptical of the sonos hype machine , having forked out on the era 300s which turned out to be disappointing for music and best suited as rear speakers for home theatre - albeit very expensive rear speakers  and now the debacle with the S2 app - Sonos couldnt do any wrong now they keep screwing up

Latest quotes

“It was the number one request from our customers for years,” Spence said of the new headphones. “And our customers are usually pretty good at knowing where to go.”

“So, we’ve been prototyping headphones for four years; we’ve looked at a variety of different things, and this is where we’ve landed.”

However, some users have scrutinised Sonos, questioned why the Ace doesn’t use Wi-Fi – like the company’s other products – and therefore doesn’t integrate with the wider Sonos ecosystem.

“There are trade-offs you have to make,” Spence said about that decision. “The number one thing for consumers is that they want it to work out of the box, rather than having to take it home and set it up on your Sonos app,”