The Sonos Ace headphones are good — and unfinished

Say this for Sonos: the company is remarkably consistent. It has spent decades building audio products that look and sound great… and are almost always initially hampered by some kind of weird software and usability issue. When Sonos stuff works, there’s nothing like it, but it doesn’t always seem to work.

The Sonos Ace headphones fit perfectly in that lineage. In The Verge’s review, Chris Welch found them to be comfortable, attractive, well-made, great-sounding, and hampered by just a few too many bugs. Even still, the Ace is a strong first effort from Sonos.

On this episode of The Vergecast, Chris joins to tell us all about his experiences with the Ace. He explains how he tests headphones, how these stack up to Bose, Sony, Apple, and others, and what Sonos needs to do to make its headphones something truly special. He also gives us a hint about how his Roam 2 review is going. (Spoiler alert: buttons!)

After that, we chat with Stacy Spikes and Muta’Ali about the new documentary MoviePass, MovieCrash. (Spikes is the co-founder and current CEO of MoviePass, and Muta’Ali directed the documentary.) They tell us about what it’s like to be cut out of your own company and story, how and why MoviePass imploded, the future of the movie theater, and why Spikes thinks MoviePass still has a future.

Finally, we grab Jennifer Pattison Tuohy to answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) all about the smart home. You’ve got lights, you’ve got speakers, what’s next?

If you want to know more about everything discussed in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with Sonos: