So the Sonos Ace are a good first try from Sonos, I really like their build quality, I like their case and I like that you can use the USB C port on these headphones as a wired connection. However these headphones to struggle when it comes to sound, active noise cancellation, their ambient mode and microphone for phone calls. Nonetheless today we’re going to see how the Sonos Ace Stack up to the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s, which also have their issues, but these have actually shown to be pretty popular.
So first theres price, now the Sonos Ace retail for $450 which is pretty up there if you ask me. Where as the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s have a retail price of $380 but these now like to go on sale for $270… a decent enough price to put up with these headphones short comings. Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two headphones up they’ll be linked down below, or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
So first theres the case. Now both of these headphones come with hard shell cases, which is great. However since both of these headphones are lay flat, both of these cases have a larger foot print to them compared to fully collapsable headphones. But regardless, Sonos’s cases is a lot easier to travel with than with Sennheiser’s case cause this case is a lot thinner than Sennheiser’s case. So if you plan on flying with these headphones, you defentily want to go with the Sonos. But also, with the Sennheiser’s if you remove the headphones from their case, they are going to power on, which is cool. But even after two years and multiple software updates, I am still getting the issue where if your case is upright, the headphones are going to power on and they’re going to connect to your phone… which is super annoying. So personally I just dont like flying with the sennheiser’s cause of their large case and power on issue when they’re in your backpack or carry on.
But with the cases out of the way lets talk about the headphones themselves. Now one of the biggest downgrades on the Momentum 4’s from their predecessors in general is that these headphones dont feel as luxurious. The Momentum 4’s have a lot more plastic to them, the headband is wrapped in silicon and the leatherette on the ear pads feels a little plastic. Where as with the Sonos Ace, these headphones feel a lot more luxiours cause even though their ear cups are plastic, they have a slight soft touch feel to them, their arms are chrome, the plastic on the headband feels denser and thicker, and the leatherette on the headband and ear pads is a lot softer, supple and it has a nice grain to it. Overall, the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s are very built and they’re sturdy, however the Sonos Ace just feel a lot more luxiours.
Now when it comes to the fit and design of these headphones, both of these headphones have a firm fit to them, but they are both big head approved. But something that I was really surprised about the Ace, and I really like about them is that they have a very low profile design to them, where as with the Sennheiser, these are pretty bulbous by comparison. Now the ear cups on both of these headphones are pretty spacious and they should have no problem accommodating most ear types. And even if you have large ears or ears that stick out a lot, they both should have you covered. However, both of these ear pads have a lot of surface area coming in contact with your skin, and both of these paddings are soft and they both like to retain heat… so with both of these ear pads, they do like to heat up faster than with other earpads out there. And also, these the weight on these headphones, now both of these headphones weigh more than your staples from Sony and Bose cause the Sony 1000XM4’s weigh in at 255 grams, the Bose QC Ultra weigh in at 254 grams, the Sony 1000XM5’s weigh in at 250 grams and the Bose QC’s weigh in at 235 grams. Where as with the momentum 4’s these weigh in at 295 grams and the Sonos Ace weigh in at 312 grams. So with both of these headphones, you’re going to notice them shifting around a lot more when you’re walking around with them on, and they’re not as easy to forget that you’re wearing them when you’re sitting with them at your desk. So overall, both of these headphones fit very similar to one another, but from a general design and fit standpoint, I do prefer the Sonos here cause therye a lot more low profile and they have that thinner case.
But now lets talk about tech specs, the Sonos Ace have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on which is good cause its a little above average for premium ANC headphones in 2024 and if you were to use these headphones with their ANC turned off then you can always extend their battery life that way. But then there are the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s which have a monster battery life of 60 hours with their ANC turned on.
And to charge all of these headphones, they charge via a USB C port as they should, and with both of these headphones, you can use their USB C ports as a wired connection. However, with the Sonos Ace, the is the only port that you’ll find on these headphones but the Ace also come included with a USB C to audio jack cable, so you can still use these headphones with a wired connection if you’re on an airplane. Where as with the Momentum 4’s you can also use these headphones with an audio jack connection cause they also have a 2.5 millimeter audio jack.
The only thing is, with the Sonos Ace, even if you want to use them with a wired connection, they have to be powered on, where as with the Momentum 4’s, you can use them passively, as in they dont have to be powered on if you want to use them with a wired connection. So I feel that this is something that frequent flyers should pay attention to.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, both of these headphones can be connected to any two bluetooth devices at the same time regardless of eco system so you can easily hot swap from one device to another which is really good if you have an iPhone and a windows PC.
But when it comes to overall performance, all of these headphones have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… but with the Sonos have noticed some random disconnects… so hopefully that can be fixed through a firmware update. But when it comes to audio codecs, both of these headphones have support for SBC AAC and APTX, however if you want to use APTX you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound, Now simply put, the Sonos Ace don't sound all that great. These headphones leans towards a very bright sound signature and their bass is very flat. So due to these headphones very bright sound signature, their vocals are super emphasized, but the instrumental lack detail and their bass has no kick to it and it doesn’t resonate all that much either. So as a result, these headphones are not all that much phone to listen to, and due to their lack of bass, watching movies with these headphones isn’t all that much fun either. Now you can always go in and adjust their EQ, but even if you try to adjust their EQ, these headphones aren’t going to sound all that great. Where as with the Sennehsier Momentum 4’s, these sound a lot more balanced cause the vocals aren’t as over emphasized, they also sound more open and they have a lot more detail in their instrumentals, and these have a lot more resonance and kick in their bass. So overall, with the Sennehsier Momentum 4’s, not only do these sound more open than the Sonos Ace, these are a lot more fun to listen to cause they’re bass is a lot more dynamic. Cause yes, with the Sonos Ace you can always go in and adjust the EQ on these headphones and get some bass out of them… but the bass and opened on the Ace is going to pale in comparison to the Momentum 4’s.
But when it comes to the media controls on these headphones, the Momentum 4’s are using a touch pad and personally im not the biggest fan of this touch pad cause it is overly sensitive, so they could be a hassle if you’re trading with these headphones or they can be hard to use to someone that isn’t tech savvy. Where as with the Ace, these are using a physical button. And with this button you can push it up or down to adjust your volume and you can press it in to skip through your music. Overall the Ace’s media control buttons are just a lot easier to use.
And with both of these headphones, they have wear sensors. so when you take these headphones off they’ll automatically pause your music, and when you put them back on they’ll start playing your music again. Now overall I dont really care for wear sensors on my headphones, so I usually just turn them off, but if you want them they are there.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. Now both of these headphones block out a lot of noise, which is great. However, the Ace do manage to block out more noise than the Momentum 4’s. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into the ANC test.
ANC Test
So like you may have just seen, the Sonos Ace are able to block out overall more noise than the Sennehsier Momentum 4’s. However the Sony 1000XM5’s are able to block out a little more noise than these other two headphones. But my main critique about the ANC on the Sonos Ace is that they have a lot of cabin pressure. So with these you are going to feel a noticeable discomfort on your eardrums and you’ll might even feel a little disorientation when walking with them. Where as with the Momentum 4’s, these dont have as much cabin pressure. So overall from a performance standpoint, I do prefer the Momentum 4’s ANC over the Ace cause these are able to block out almost as much noise, but with significantly less cabin pressure which leads to overall better comfort.
And then theres the Ambient mode on these headphones. And both of these ambient modes have their issues. With the Ace you can’t adjust how much noise they let in, but in general, people’s voices do sound pretty muffled cause these are trying to control what noise and voices they let in. Where as with the Momentum 4’s, these just let in everything, but their ambient mode sounds fairly artificial, but my main problem is that their microphone array picks up a lot more wind noise. But overall, I do prefer the Ambient mode on the Momentum 4’s but these are better for indoor use for when you’re walking at the airport.
Mic Senn Quiet
But finally heres the microphone test, now both of these headphones have decent enough sounding microphone on them to take phone calls with while in a quiet room.
Mic Ace Quiet
However, I do feel that clarity on these microphones could be better, how they both do a good job of focusing on my voices.
Mic Ace Road
However, the Sonos Ace do a much better jog of dealing with this road noise than the Sennehsier Momentum 4’s cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch over to the Sonos Ace, it is severely reduced.
Mic Senn Road
Where as with the Sennehsier meotmum 4’s these aren’t blocking out as much road noise, but you can still understand me.
Mis Senn Chatter
However, with the Sennehsier Momentum 4’s these do a slightly better job of dealing with this chatter cause there is a better emphasis on my voice.
Mic Sonos Ace
Where as with the Sonos Ace, there is a lot more interference going on with my voice. So overall, both of these microphones are decent enough to take phone calls with while in a quiet room… but the Sonos Ace are better with dealing with road noise where as the Sennehsier Momethum 4’s are better at dealing with chatter.
But with all of that being said, I think the Sonos Ace are a great first try from Sonos and I really like their build quality and design. I also really like their surprisingly thin case. However, for me it is hard to justify these headphones cause of their cabin pressure, lack luster ambient mode and their very bright sound signature. So even though the Momentum 4’s have their issues like a huge case, their ear pads can heat up, and their mic is mid for phone calls… if you can get these on sale, the momentum 4’s are a great pick up. I think these sound a lot better and a lot more dynamic than the Ace, their ANC has less cabin pressure, and their ambient mode is less muffled. However, dont expect that great build quality from the Ace.