Sonos Ace Ultra vs Sony WH-1000XM6: comparing features, sound and design

TechRadar reviewer Harry Padoan compared the Sonos Ace Ultra with Sony’s WH-1000XM6 across features, sound quality, design and value. His account describes a close contest between two premium wireless over-ear headphones, which have the same listed prices: $449, £399 and AU$699.

Padoan says both models offer extensive equalizer options, wired and Bluetooth connections, wear detection and effective active noise cancellation (ANC). In his testing, the Sony headphones had a slight edge at reducing deep sounds such as engine rumble. Sony’s headphones have 12 microphones, compared with 10 on the Ace Ultra.

The review identifies Sonos ecosystem support and Dolby Atmos as strengths of the Ace Ultra. TV Audio Linking can transfer audio from a compatible Sonos soundbar to the headphones, while Headphone Linking can hand audio off to supported speakers, including Sonos Play. Padoan also describes the Ace Ultra’s Dolby Atmos playback with head tracking as especially effective for movies. He says the Sony’s Cinema upmix mode was less impressive.

The headphones support different high-resolution Bluetooth codecs: aptX on the Ace Ultra and LDAC on the WH-1000XM6. Both support lossless wired listening, while the reviewer notes that only Sonos offers USB-C audio passthrough. Padoan calls the comparison close, but the supplied article text ends before his final verdict or its battery-life comparison.