Sonos Ace Ultra Review: Headphones That Only Hardcore Sonos Fans Could Love

Sonos is back in the hardware game in a big way, and its Play wireless speaker was just the start.

There are now two new installments in the Sonos universe: a pair of wireless headphones, the Sonos Ace Ultra , and a new soundbar, the Sonos Beam Ultra . While neither breaks new ground category-wise in Sonos’ repertoire, both have new tricks for real Sonos stans, including upgrades to hardware and a whole host of new features designed to draw you even further into the Sonos solar system’s gravity.

Whether those tricks are significant enough to justify an upgrade will vary from person to person, but in the case of Sonos’ new wireless headphones, the $449 Ace Ultra, the question you’ll have to ask yourself before you buy is, “Just how much of a Sonos head am I?”

The Sonos Ace Ultra are solid ANC wireless headphones that play nice with Sonos' home audio ecosystem, but aren't the best in this price range.

Before I get to the more Sonos-specific side of things, let’s start with the bread and butter. In this generation of Ace wireless headphones (only the second pair that Sonos has released), the company has switched up the sound with custom 40mm drivers that are meant to deliver deeper bass, more clarity, and better balance. Sonos is positioning the Ace Ultra as an all-around upgrade in the audio department.

While I haven’t used the original Sonos Ace wireless headphones , I got a pretty good chunk of time with the Ace Ultra, and the sound is solid. With my usual test songs, I was satisfied with the sound quality. There’s good stereo separation, and the soundstage is fairly roomy. If I had to describe the sound, it would be “balanced.” While some wireless headphones have a “brighter” or “darker” quality, leaning towards mids or highs, the Sonos Ace Ultra feels like dappled sunlight, in keeping with the metaphor.

In songs like “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” by Steely Dan, I got a very equitable dose of mids, highs, and lows. Vocals were probably a bright spot—they sounded clear and well-balanced.

In electronic songs like Daft Punk’s “Da Funk,” I definitely got a better sense of the low-end performance that Sonos worked on. I got a hefty dose of bass, though it wasn’t oversaturating or too artificially punchy. In songs like this, which are heavy on one end of the frequency range, I felt like Sonos’ balanced tuning really pays off, allowing everything to breathe a bit.

It’s worth noting here that the Ace Ultra have adaptive EQ for the first time, meaning they can adjust the tuning on the fly depending on the gaps in the seal around your ears or whether you’re wearing a hat or glasses, or you have hair getting in the way. I listened to the Ace Ultra with a hat on and off and didn’t notice any difference in the sound, so I guess it’s safe to say the feature works.