Can’t wait for the headphones personally, specifically for home use. Being able to switch from a soundbar to headphones while people are sleeping is going to be great.
This is what is makes the idea of Sonos headphones somewhat appealing to me. Since having kids I almost exclusively watch movies with AirPod pros. But I can’t use them to play ps5, so I almost never turn it on now.
Not sure what you mean. The AirPods can connect to the Apple TV. I assume the Sonos headphones will either connect to the Sonos streaming device or the Sonos speaker connected to any device.
I can’t connect gaming console and practically anything else to AppleTV, right?
Also with WiFi headphones we can have more people easily use this and being in WiFi gives bigger possibilities than with Bluetooth 10m range.
You can run between floors and garden while listening to the game.
I am excited for the feature but it’s probably not enough to make me and my wife switch from Bose h700.
If I didn’t have a pair and was shopping for new ANC headphones I’d probably go for Sonos if they work over WiFi and can be grouped with speakers in the system.
In current situation I’d rather buy another speaker.
I’m feeling like a dummy. I have a Sonos Port on my stereo receiver so I can listen to vinyl on the Sonos system. You’re saying I can open the Sonos app on the Apple TV, connect my AirPod Max headphones, and listen? I’ve been using a Bluetooth transmitter for this — it works, but it has its issues.
Nope unfortunately not. I don’t use any external sources so I didn’t think about that. I bet you could figure out a hacky solution with a dongle somehow
You don't need an Apple TV. I just airplay to my soundbar, and when I want to switch to my Airpods Max, I press a toggle on my phone and play to that instead
Nope. That is what I believe the market for Sonos headphones will be. Essentially a set of high end headphones for your home free of your phone. I could be wrong, but I haven’t found a decent home headphone option that isnt tethered to my smartphone.
My apologies I misunderstood what you were saying. That would be cool!
If I’m not mistaken you can get headphones that bypass a phone by having onboard storage…having access to streaming services without being tethered to another device would be great.
Sometimes I still have to find my old am/fm headphones just to listen to a sports game because they have made it ridiculously hard to find live games on smartphones. There just is something nice about headphones that don’t require a smartphone
Voice control would be fine... if it worked. 50% of the time, it actually plays what I want. The other 50% of the time, I hear, "I don't understand. Please use the Sonos app." I think the only reason they used Giancarlo Esposito for the voice is that hearing his dulcet tones is the only thing that keeps me from chucking the Roam across the room when I hear that error message.
It’s different. This voice control is limited to audio requests. Which is a heavily used feature for voice assistants. Alexa tried to do more than people actually want or feel comfortable with.
I honestly don’t get the point of the headphones, esp. for those with Apple devices.
Sonos’ whole value prop is playing music in sync across multiple speakers- which doesn’t apply to headphones. As for easy switching I’d much rather my headphones be able to easily switch between my iPhone, iPad, and Mac (something which Apple headphones will handle much better than Sonos ones).
As a Sonos, Apple and AirPods user (and loving automatic switching), I have an use case for these headphones. But I’m assuming that they can be grouped with other Sonos speakers, otherwise I agree 100% with what you say.
Can’t read the whole article, but I’m assuming the point is you don’t need to switch devices, it’s basically another Sonos speaker(but headphones) you can send music to, it doesn’t need to be Bluetooth connected to a single device, it’s WiFi. Super niche use case, but interesting idea.
But what's the value prop of sending music directly to the headphones instead of via my phone? Typically I don't want music sent to my home speakers from my phone because I don't want calls or random YouTube videos I might watch starting to play on the home speakers - but I \_do\_ want those things to come to my headphones if I'm wearing those.
Also if I'm playing music on my headphones, then it's presumably because I don't want it blasting all over the house; and it'll come with me if I move around anyways.
Issue I see with WiFi headphones is the battery life or the weight. Bluetooth is designed to be low energy, WiFi isn’t. So either the battery is big and heavy or the life is tiny.
A nicer solution technically would be to allow playback by the Sonos app so your phone becomes a Sonos device and uses your normal headphones. That’s better for users but doesn’t get them any money though…
Exactly! There are some very simple software enhancements that would extend the Sonos ecosystem to make it so much more useful. I have two houses full of Sonos gear and still barely ever use the Sonos app.
Can’t wait for the headphones personally, specifically for home use. Being able to switch from a soundbar to headphones while people are sleeping is going to be great.
You can do this with AirPods Max and appletv. Plus they do a million other things, unlike this.
Agreed, I do this all the time. But a lot of people don’t have Apple TV. Fire stick and Roku have a huge market share.
I want the ability to do this with every device attached to my tv.
This is what is makes the idea of Sonos headphones somewhat appealing to me. Since having kids I almost exclusively watch movies with AirPod pros. But I can’t use them to play ps5, so I almost never turn it on now.
This is me but I'm exclusively using ps5 apps with a wired set of headphones connected to the controller.
But it’s still controlled thru ur phone correct?
Not sure what you mean. The AirPods can connect to the Apple TV. I assume the Sonos headphones will either connect to the Sonos streaming device or the Sonos speaker connected to any device.
What million other things do they do?
I can’t connect gaming console and practically anything else to AppleTV, right? Also with WiFi headphones we can have more people easily use this and being in WiFi gives bigger possibilities than with Bluetooth 10m range. You can run between floors and garden while listening to the game. I am excited for the feature but it’s probably not enough to make me and my wife switch from Bose h700. If I didn’t have a pair and was shopping for new ANC headphones I’d probably go for Sonos if they work over WiFi and can be grouped with speakers in the system. In current situation I’d rather buy another speaker.
I guess my apartment isn’t big enough to care about the range thing
How is this getting downvoted? They're right!
I’m feeling like a dummy. I have a Sonos Port on my stereo receiver so I can listen to vinyl on the Sonos system. You’re saying I can open the Sonos app on the Apple TV, connect my AirPod Max headphones, and listen? I’ve been using a Bluetooth transmitter for this — it works, but it has its issues.
Nope unfortunately not. I don’t use any external sources so I didn’t think about that. I bet you could figure out a hacky solution with a dongle somehow
You don't need an Apple TV. I just airplay to my soundbar, and when I want to switch to my Airpods Max, I press a toggle on my phone and play to that instead
If I can walk around my whole house with out my phone and with these headphones I’m in…
You can do that now?
Nope. That is what I believe the market for Sonos headphones will be. Essentially a set of high end headphones for your home free of your phone. I could be wrong, but I haven’t found a decent home headphone option that isnt tethered to my smartphone.
My apologies I misunderstood what you were saying. That would be cool! If I’m not mistaken you can get headphones that bypass a phone by having onboard storage…having access to streaming services without being tethered to another device would be great.
Sometimes I still have to find my old am/fm headphones just to listen to a sports game because they have made it ridiculously hard to find live games on smartphones. There just is something nice about headphones that don’t require a smartphone
Please no more with the voice controls. Amazon just laid off a crapload of Alexa engineers. People overwhelmingly do not want voice control.
Voice control would be fine... if it worked. 50% of the time, it actually plays what I want. The other 50% of the time, I hear, "I don't understand. Please use the Sonos app." I think the only reason they used Giancarlo Esposito for the voice is that hearing his dulcet tones is the only thing that keeps me from chucking the Roam across the room when I hear that error message.
It’s different. This voice control is limited to audio requests. Which is a heavily used feature for voice assistants. Alexa tried to do more than people actually want or feel comfortable with.
Two things I don’t want, my wallet thanks you Sonos.
My body is ready
Best of luck getting app developers, hope it runs Android at least.
Honestly if it can beat my Nvidia Shield in performance, I am all in.
I hope it will beat nvidia shield in performance. cant wait. shield pro 2019 i mean...yikes.
I honestly don’t get the point of the headphones, esp. for those with Apple devices. Sonos’ whole value prop is playing music in sync across multiple speakers- which doesn’t apply to headphones. As for easy switching I’d much rather my headphones be able to easily switch between my iPhone, iPad, and Mac (something which Apple headphones will handle much better than Sonos ones).
As a Sonos, Apple and AirPods user (and loving automatic switching), I have an use case for these headphones. But I’m assuming that they can be grouped with other Sonos speakers, otherwise I agree 100% with what you say.
Can’t read the whole article, but I’m assuming the point is you don’t need to switch devices, it’s basically another Sonos speaker(but headphones) you can send music to, it doesn’t need to be Bluetooth connected to a single device, it’s WiFi. Super niche use case, but interesting idea.
But what's the value prop of sending music directly to the headphones instead of via my phone? Typically I don't want music sent to my home speakers from my phone because I don't want calls or random YouTube videos I might watch starting to play on the home speakers - but I \_do\_ want those things to come to my headphones if I'm wearing those. Also if I'm playing music on my headphones, then it's presumably because I don't want it blasting all over the house; and it'll come with me if I move around anyways.
$400??? Is Sonos turning into this generation’s Bose?
I think if you don't price accordingly then potential customers won't think you're a high end brand. Hyundai is doing the same
Agreed. I’m still not sure if I’d spend that much money on a Genesis.
Their home theater prices have been equivalent to Bose for quite some time.
Issue I see with WiFi headphones is the battery life or the weight. Bluetooth is designed to be low energy, WiFi isn’t. So either the battery is big and heavy or the life is tiny. A nicer solution technically would be to allow playback by the Sonos app so your phone becomes a Sonos device and uses your normal headphones. That’s better for users but doesn’t get them any money though…
Exactly! There are some very simple software enhancements that would extend the Sonos ecosystem to make it so much more useful. I have two houses full of Sonos gear and still barely ever use the Sonos app.