Sonos looking to battle Apple & Beats in high-end headphone market

The company is in early development of a wireless over-the-ear set expected to ship for $300 or more, Bloomberg sources said. As with its most recent room speakers, the product will allegedly support multiple music services and voice assistants.

The sources didn't identify those assistants, but some Sonos products already support Amazon Alexa, as well as limited Siri control by way of AirPlay 2. Google Assistant compatibility is due sometime this year.

Offering native multi-assistant support would give Sonos a clear advantage over Apple's Beats products, which can only interact with assistants on a connected iOS or Android device. AirPods do have Siri integration, but don't go any further.

Apple has been rumored as working on self-branded over-the-ear headphones with high-end features like noise cancellation. At one stage it was thought that they could ship by the end of 2018, but the project may have been delayed by multiple redesigns, joining other vaporware accessories like a wireless AirPods charging case and the AirPower charging mat.