Sonos can’t catch a break. It seems that almost every time it has geared up for a new product launch, someone has beaten it to the punch, leaking most of the key information beforehand. This time, the victim appears to be Sonos’ much-anticipated wireless headphones, and the culprit? A German Sonos parts dealer called Schuurman.
For a brief period — the page has since been taken down — Schuurman’s site listed the “Sonos Ace” (presumably the name of the new wireless headphones) along with a few photos and perhaps most intriguingly, a price: 403.58 euros (approx. $534), according to the The Verge’s Chris Welch.
The images reveal a set of black headphones with visible Sonos branding on one of the earcups, along with a travel case, a pair of cables, and a mysterious small container (which may simply be a storage unit for the cables).
A second image, showing just the headphones includes a side view of one of the earcups, where buttons — one of which looks like a sliding switch with three positions — can be seen.
Assuming for the moment that these images are indeed the as-yet-unreleased Sonos headphones, it’s clear that Sonos has taken inspiration from both Apple and Sony. The oversized headband is pure Apple AirPods Max, while the single pivot connection from the headband to the earcups is a design we’ve seen on both the AirPods Max and Sony’s most recent flagship, the WH-1000XM5. Just like both of these headphones, it looks like Sonos’ cans only fold flat for storage and transport.
The presence of two USB-C cables (one with a second USB-C connection and the other with a 3.5mm jack) suggests that at the very least you’ll be able to listen to analog audio via the USB-C port, much like we’ve seen from other manufacturers. What remains to be seen is if the double-USB-C cable will be reserved just for charging, or whether it will support digital audio over USB-C like the Beats Solo and Studio Pro.
Sonos has hinted that it intends to launch a new product by June, and rampant speculation has been that this product will indeed be the Sonos headphones. If this leak is any indication, those guesses may turn out to be accurate.
On May 7, Sonos says it will launch a revamped version of its software along with a new web app. We’ll have to see if there are any hidden references to the “Sonos Ace” when that happens.
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