Key Takeaways
- Sonos should unveil the Ace, its first pair of headphones, on May 21 at 6 AM Pacific, possibly priced at $449.
- Features should include USB-C, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, but above all Sonos platform integration.
- The company recently launched an overhauled app that has been criticized for missing features.
A special announcement on Tuesday, May 21 will showcase Sonos’ “most requested product ever,” according to marketing emails as well as a post on Instagram. The company is widely expected to reveal the Ace, its first-ever pair of headphones. The news should hit at 6 AM Pacific time, which translates to 9 AM Eastern.
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Relatively little is known about the Ace, but rumors have put its price around $449, roughly in the same league as Apple’s AirPods Max and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra. It should include USB-C, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth as connection options, but its key selling point will presumably be integration with Sonos’ platform — for instance making it easy to shift audio from living room or TV speakers to private listening. In fact the company recently did a major overhaul of its mobile app, presumably with the Ace in mind, although it has come under fire for omitting basic features like a sleep timer and working tools for local music libraries. These gaps should be solved “in the coming months,” Sonos says.
Another factor up in the air is the Ace’s release date. It was originally anticipated in June, but a Tuesday announcement could signal that Sonos is planning to ship by the end of May. Of course, a second possibility is that deliveries will have to wait a couple of weeks. Phased launches are common in the tech industry, particularly when products are expected to have high demand. Companies like Apple and Google use a similar approach, since they can manage inventory and supply chains without disappointing customers.
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The look of the Ace was leaked in a premature listing by Dutch retailer Schuurman, later removed. The comparison with the AirPods Max and QuietComfort Ultra appears to be apt, with some design traits similar to both products.
What about the Sonos Roam 2?
Sonos is also expected to reveal its second-generation Roam portable speaker in the near future. Rumors have pegged its launch for a similar June timeframe, so it’s possible that the speaker will be announced alongside the Ace, or just days after.
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Feature-wise, the Roam 2 may be even more of a question mark. It should get tweaked aesthetics, but beyond that, the only other rumored change is the addition of a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button. The current Roam requires people to perform Wi-Fi setup before Bluetooth is even an option, which is impractical if you need the speaker to be portable right away. Its pairing process is cumbersome, too, ironically making it best suited to listening around the home. The Roam 2 is likely to have additional upgrades to keep it on par with the rest of the Sonos lineup.
