The Sonos Ace Ultra is available today for $449, exactly two years after the original Ace arrived with the same price tag and a lot of unanswered questions. This time around, Sonos isn't just selling a pair of premium headphones. It's selling a node in your home audio network that happens to sit on your head.
The headline feature is Headphone Linking, which lets you pull audio from any Sonos speaker in your system directly to the Ace Ultra over Wi-Fi. Press the Content Key, and whatever's playing in the kitchen moves to your ears. That's the pitch Sony can't match with the WH-1000XM6, and it's why Sonos kept the price at $449 instead of undercutting its obvious rival.
The hardware upgrades are real but incremental. Sonos claims the active noise cancellation is twice as effective as the original Ace, thanks to deeper ear cups and a redesigned 10-microphone array. Battery life is up to 35 hours. There's an Aware mode for transparency, and the usual collection of EQ options and wear detection features you'd expect at this price.
But early reviews suggest Sonos still hasn't caught Sony or Bose on noise cancellation. Gizmodo's reviewer found the Ace Ultra middle-of-the-pack on a plane and subway, letting in more engine drone and train screech than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra or Sony WH-1000XM6. TechRadar gave Sony a slight edge in ANC testing, crediting the WH-1000XM6's 12-microphone system versus Sonos' 10. For a product positioned as premium, that gap matters.
The Ace Ultra doesn't have a headphone jack. Sonos includes a USB-C to 3.5mm cable in the box, which means you're carrying a dongle if you want wired listening. The company kept the black and white colorways from the original instead of expanding the palette, despite early rumors suggesting five options.
If you already own Sonos speakers, the Ace Ultra makes more sense than it does for everyone else. The ecosystem integration is genuinely differentiated, and 35 hours of battery is competitive. But if you're shopping purely on ANC performance or sound quality without the Sonos system to back it up, Sony's WH-1000XM6 remains the safer bet at the same $449 price point. Sonos built a compelling product for its existing users. Whether that's enough to pull people away from Sony is the real test.
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