The long-awaited first headphones: Sonos Ace

The best you could do was saying these will connect with a Sonos soundbar (and only the most expensive soundbar at that) via bluetooth. How is that a plus exactly. Did nobody point out that the majority of TVs and streaming devices these days already support bluetooth headphones? Who exactly was this for?

They won’t connect to your existing Sonos system for listening to music at home 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 WTF!?

And watching films with them only works if you have an Arc, not a Beam or Ray by the looks of it. So they’re just Bluetooth headphones. I’ll stick to my Sony mdr1000x’s. At least their app works. 
 

So you’ve made everyone update to an app they don’t want, that doesn’t work properly, stops you from even listening to your own local music on the hardware you own in your own home without an internet connection, all for headphone features for headphone you can’t integrate with the rest of your Sonos system. Great work execs. Those poor devs, really feel for them. 

Today we are announcing the launch of our first-ever headphones, Sonos Ace, marking the brand’s long-awaited entry into the personal listening category. As a leading innovator in sound, Sonos is now using its renowned audio and design expertise to transform the way we listen on headphones.

The premium over-the-ear Bluetooth® headphones feature breathtaking lossless and spatial audio, world-class Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Aware Mode, as well as the most precise and immersive home theater experience possible using Sonos’ new TrueCinema technology. Sonos Ace will be available globally in both Black and Soft White.

Superior Sound on a Personal Level 

Artfully crafted and masterfully tuned, Sonos Ace defies expectations with a range of features that bring the best of Sonos to headphones. 

• Indulge in high-fidelity sound: Savor every second of your favorite song, podcast or friend’s phone call thanks to Sonos Ace’s two custom-designed drivers that render each frequency with impeccable precision and clarity.
• Your own private cinema: Sonos Ace lets you enjoy a surround sound home theater experience while giving your household the gift of quiet. Instantly swap the TV audio from a compatible Sonos soundbar to Sonos Ace with just the tap of a button. Spatial audio with Dolby Atmos envelops you in dramatically detailed sound from all directions and dynamic head tracking keeps you centered in the action even if you need to grab a blanket or reach for the snack bowl. Coming later this year, Sonos’ all-new TrueCinema technology precisely maps your space then renders a complete surround sound system for a listening experience so realistic you’ll forget you’re wearing headphones.
• Turn the world on or off: Make personal listening even more personal with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), or activate Aware mode when you want more awareness of your surroundings  - be it walking on a busy street or working in the office.

Day-long battery life and ultra-fast charge: Listen or talk for up to 30 hours with an extended, energy-efficient battery life. Ultra fast charging ensures you’ll never miss a beat - get 3 hours of battery life with a quick 3-minute charge using the included USB-C cable.

Elegant Design and Long-Lasting Comfort

Sonos Ace was made to look and feel as good as it sounds. Its distinctive, slim profile beautifully blends  metal accents with a sleek matte finish, complementing any style no matter how fast trends move. 

• Endless Comfort: Sonos Ace uses lightweight, premium materials for an airy fit that gently hugs your head. Its pillowy soft memory foam interior is wrapped in vegan leather, while a custom headband and ear cups that hide the hinge create the perfect acoustic seal without catching on hair. 
• Intuitive Design: Wearing and storing Sonos Ace is a breeze - contrasting colors inside the ear cups subtly signal which way to put the headphones on and beautifully-tactile buttons make controls easy to use while wearing them. When you’re done listening, put Sonos Ace away effortlessly thanks to its fold flat design that fits snugly in its lightweight travel case. 
• Responsibly Made: Sonos Ace is built to last and made for daily wear. The headphones feature replaceable ear cushions, circular materials that allow us to use 17% less virgin plastic, and a 75% recycled felt travel case made from plastic bottles. Engineered to drive energy efficiency, wear detection pauses your music when you remove Sonos Ace from your ears, minimizing the need for charging. 

If “not that it became part of the speaker set up” means that Ace can’t be it’s own Sonos room, then agreed.  The text  you quote though was answering the question of why anyone would want both a soundbar and headphones, not really tied to Sonos products really.

The more I think about it, I think there are two primary target markets here. One is the consumer who  may have gotten a custom installer for their system  see that they can pay $2k for the wireless home theatre setup or $2.5k for the setup with headphones, and considers it a no brainer add on.  They don’t care about a separate Sonos room or anything other than just being able to flip a switch  to from sound system to headphones and back again. 

The other market is really just the high end headphone market in generally.  They don’t necessarily have a Sonos system and would want to use these just like any other headphones.  

This is just not a typical Sonos speaker in headphone form factor, like many people were hoping for.  As much as I would like it to be usable as it’s own room, if I only get 2 out of the 3 options (home theater headphones, BT headphones, and WiFi headphones), WiFi headphones are probably the feature I would drop.