Sonos is planning a follow up to its Sonos Ace headphones with an upgrade, dubbed the Sonos Ace Ultra, spied in an official filing with regulators in the United States.
According to a Bloomberg report, the so-called Ace Ultra headphones will be the commencement of the company’s plans to embrace generative AI. Sonos has already confirmed a product launch is coming next month and it’s possible we could see the upgraded headphones there and then.
The reporter Chris Welch, who has a good history of Sonos scoops in recent times, writes: “Sonos Inc. is readying a new pair of wireless headphones, the first product in an upcoming hardware wave that will see the audio company push deeper into artificial intelligence and frame its signature whole-home system as an ideal match for cutting-edge AI models and voice interactions.”
A further report from Lowpass, citing the Federal Communications Commission filing, says the more premium version of the noise-cancelling Ace headphones will also be available in up to five colours, as opposed to the black and white variations available on the originals. Those colours are Greige (light gray), Shadow Black, Agave, Blush and Sand.
The filing suggests there’ll be support for Wi-Fi pairing to a home wireless network, potentially making them a more integrated part of the whole home audio set up, while it’s also apparent from the report that advance voice support will be included.
The original Sonos Ace headphones, the company’s first non-speaker product, arrived in 2024 and have not been an overwhelming success in a crowded market of well-established players. Our reviewer praised the hardware for their excellent sound quality and detail, the epic noise cancellation, beautiful design and quality on-board controls.
However, the app integration was awkward, several key features like TrueCinema and TV Audio Swap weren’t fully functional at launch. There were also issues with integrating with the much-maligned Sonos app that’s just starting to regain some respectability.
In affording the Sonos Ace headphones a four-star score, Stuff Editor in Chief Dan Grabham wrote: “The app issue is a big one – because you might as well just be using any pair of high-end headphones. TV Audio Swap aside, Sonos hasn’t provided a compelling reason for buying the Ace even if you have a Sonos system. And we feel that’s a massive miss.”
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