Creating something that people touch and use constantly, rather than a speaker they interact with primarily through an app or simple buttons on the top, proved to be a formidable challenge for the brand, which perhaps explains why what has taken so long. Sonos can ground.
Sonos sound designers and engineers spent years making sure of everything from the fit (they used over 500 different head shapes) to the shine and durability of the headset’s paint (which Spence admits was a surprisingly annoying pain point).
Early in our conversation, Spence acknowledges that to play in a space with Apple, Sony, Bose and other audio heavyweights, you need to launch a formidable product. Anything less would mean disaster. “It’s our first entry into a $5 billion category that’s growing by double digits every year,” he says. “So this will be the way millions of customers will get to know Sonos.”
While focused on ensuring new listeners’ experiences with Ace headphones are the best possible, Spence admits that the company also needs to retain existing customers who want to add a great pair of headphones to their Sonos ecosystems.
“We’ve had tens of thousands of customers asking us to make headphones,” he says, “so it’s great to be able to offer something that people have been asking for.”
But heeding can orders from existing customers doesn’t mean the headphones will be included in an existing Sonos setup. To do just this, features like the ability to use Ace to replace a Sonos Arc soundbar in your living room, or the ability to map your room and recreate it in the spatial audio of headphones, aim to please users. long lasting. term Sonos users.
Durability and longevity are also key. Spence claims that the brand’s headphones will be the most durable on the market. Sonos has, during yearssaid it will support even discontinued products for five years after they’re off shelves, which is better than most brands can promise.
rough seas
The shift to the new portable era has not been without setbacks. For one, the newly updated Sonos app has been buggy for a few weeks. I personally haven’t had any issues, but several members of the WIRED Gear team who have set up Sonos products since the recent update have experienced issues pairing the devices, updating firmware, and generally getting them to work properly in the home.
This is a worrying trend and we’ll be keeping an eye on it as we continue to test the latest Sonos products. (In addition to the Ace, we also have the new Roam 2 Bluetooth speaker up for review and haven’t had any connection issues yet.)
That said, the Sonos team has historically been extremely responsive to users when it comes to listening and issuing corrections to the app as they are informed. Personally, I’ve seen my own app and devices update several times during this short review period and I hope the fixes keep coming.
Still, it’s no good having to always update software, and there’s really no way to justify the new app’s problems other than to point them out and say that there’s clearly truth to Sonos’ claims that it’s working to resolve them.