Now that I have left the honeymoon phase I can safely say that these are trhe best headphones I have owned overall. Which, of course is extremely anecdotal information. The sound quality is good accross the board, particularly for wireless cans.

The noise-cancelling is very good for the most part, completely dampening all ambient noise, completely erasing it with mid to low volume music. The only criticism I have for the noise-cancelling is that it goes a bit weird after sudden temperature change. If they have been warm indoors for hours, and you go outside wearing them during the winter the noise cancelling seems to bug out for the 20 seconds or so, which is honestly nothing.

Another issue with the noise-cancelling is that very loud sudden noises sometimes somehow get through the noise-cancelling. I have noticed this mostly with glass. It can be jarring and uncomfortable due to the rest of the world being almost mute until this happens. This has mostly happened when closing the front door of my house, and also when unloading the dishwasher and putting glasses back in the cupboard, if they clink together.

The battery lasts as long as I would ever need it to, probably not quite 30 hours, but easily a full day and a half of intense usage. A woman disables all sound output at 20% to tell you that the battery is low and you should recharge, and again at 10%. I find her a little obnoxious, a quick chime would be better, rather than making it impossible to hear anything for 3-4 seconds, particularly if you are using the headphones for a call.

As far as comfort goes, these are above average. I haven’t had any issues personally, I could wear them literally all day with no issues, provided my ears got a few breaks just so they can breathe a little; not because of pain. I find them very comfortable, but I usually have less issues than most with headphone comfort.

The only other critiques I have of the Sony1000xm3’s is that the headband has a cushion of foam which can’t be removed or replaced, meaning that if it eventually decays or goes bad, you are stuck with it. Mine is still nice and fresh, but it has only been one year, and I try to clean the pads and band with an alcohol wipe weekly. It is also annoying that it is not capable of being paired with multiple devices simultaenously.

Overall. Despite Sony’s silly product names, I love the Sony WH1000-XM3’s, very close to the perfect wireless headphones for me. XM4’s do not seem worth the upgrade for me, and I am quite happy to continue using the XM3’s for years to come.

I will update this review should they ever die, or if I retire them to give an indicator of the XM3’s lifespan.

 

Straight off the bat, these are very good headphones!

To give you a brief overview of my experiences so far, i’ve had many headphones and become somewhat of a collector if you like, i just thoroughly enjoyed seeing what companies would bring out and enjoyed the unboxing experiences (not always) and that first listening experience. I have grown out of that now (to some extent) and have settled with just the 1 pair, my beloved V-Moda Crossfade 2 Wireless. I’ve tried B&O, B&W, Sennheiser, Blue (i don’t mean Bluedio, i had the Blue MoFi headphones), Beats (the originals when they were being done by Monster), House of Marley, Beyerdynamic, Master and Dynamic, Bose, V-Moda… nearly everything.

Now let me just be honest and say i didn’t buy these straight away. I tried out the B&W PX5s first because i am a huge fan of B&W and there on ears have previously been known to have a better sound quality and better bass then the over ears but although the sheer class remained in the unboxing experience and in the build quality of the PX5s i was extremely underwhelmed by the sound and their app which was a huge let down, i really hope they improve these as they are a quality brand and company!

I then opted for Beats. Why? because i’m in the Apple eco system and assumed they would be good. Silly. My first pair of beats ever we’re when they were partnered with Monster and these just delivered. When they got taken over by HTC it just went downhill. I would have hoped under Apple it would have picked up, and considering they are in their 3rd line off headphones now i’ve given them plenty of time but no. The airpods pro outperform them in every aspect. I have the airpods pro – i’ve tried many wireless earbuds but have found absolutely non, regardless of price, that have the stable connection you never ever have to worry about that the airpods have. And the pros have exceedingly good sound quality!

I then opted for Sony XM3s. I didn’t go for the Momentum’s because quite frankly they look like they just will not suit my head. It’s a non starter. I have had some Sony’s before which were underwhelming which is why i didn’t just jump at these straight away but my word, what a pair of headphones!! The app is so detailed, but not in a bad way, it’s intuitive and all making the overall experience with the headphones that much more enjoyable (you have to try it to understand). The standard sound quality is great, nothing to jump up and down about but clear with a nice clean bass. Then you get on to the EQ setting within the app…. this literally takes these headphones to another level. This isn’t your standard EQ like you may get in the settings part of your phone, this is proper! The EQ actually fully transforms the speaker in the headphones and makes them sound incredible depending on what your listening to. “Bright” is perfect if your listening to something like Butterfly Culture by Benjamin Francis Leftwich. Press the setting icon at the bottom, turn up the “Clear Bass” to 7 on the Bright EQ, then play your Electronic music or whatever your listening too which has deep bass and trust me, these will be thumping on your ears! I listened to Matriarch by Conduct and these were absolutely rumbling! There are times when you want to relax, so just put in the EQ “Relax” and chill out with some calm music from your playlist. There are times when your listening to something cool and easy but you really want to hear the detailed instruments, so put on “Bright”, there are times when you just want some proper thumping bass and to turn it up!! So wack on “Bright” and turn the Clear Bass up to 7. Your Welcome .

Overall, these are not the V-Moda Crossfade 2 Wireless which are still my favourite headphones, but damn, these are good. You will be making an excellent choice getting these! the app is enjoyable, the EQs make these extremely customisable depending on your mood and what your listening too and these change the game, massively!

 

Is there anything worse than a long-since-past middle-aged man trying to impress two teenage girls with his knowledge of Australia on a long-haul flight, especially when you happen to be sitting in the row in front? It wasn’t just my feelings. The Aussie lady in the aisle seat wanted to kill him by the time we landed in Singapore! And that is where these headphones saved my sanity. I switched them on and the font of all Aussie knowledge disappeared. I didn’t have them on full noise cancellation but even at that I couldn’t hear him. For me the sound quality is excellent. Some reviews go into the minutiae of everything sound, but for the ordinary man and woman these are great. A wee added bonus is the adapter for listening to the in-flight movies. And it all comes in a sturdy case. I am very impressed with them and not just for drowning out a chatty passenger in the wee small hours!

 

Wow. These headphones are incredible. Like properly amazing to listen to. Makes your music sound completely different to what you’ve heard before – even if you were listening on good headphones, you are in for a treat.

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way – they’re not as comfortable as Bose and that’s what I’m comparing them to when writing this review. I own or have owned 3 pairs of Bose headphones – in ear and over ear ones, all noise cancelling.

Bose are comfortable in an unnatural way, like you actually forget that you’re wearing them and their noise cancelling was witch craft. Until now. Sony have cracked it and improved on one of the 2 Bose USP’s.

I find myself occasionally fiddling or adjusting the right hand side ear cup of the Sony’s whilst listening to music, something I never did with the Bose.

Please don’t read ‘less comfortable than…’ as ‘uncomfortable’, they’re not, they are incredibly comfortable, but if you’ve come from Bose, expect to notice this difference.

Does the difference in comfort put me off? Not at all. You won’t care either once you start listening to music, at all.

It’s hard to think about much else apart from what you’re listening to. The sound is so involving and enveloping, it consumes you.

Vocals sound so clear and alive. I can understand more of what Eddie Vedder in Pearl Jam is singing now! Alicia Keys sounds beautiful. Drums and guitars sound so punchy, but what you hear most is when they stop playing. It’s hard to explain, but you notice the end of individual musical notes and sounds much more, everything is much more ‘defined’. I can hear little nuances and parts of sounds that we’re never there before.

If whatever reason you’re not quite happy with the sound from these ‘as is’, there is a comprehensive graphic equaliser and effects selection to manipulate to make your music sound how you wish.

I am literally falling in love with my music collection all over again.

I didn’t open the box these headphones came in for 3 hours as was worried I’d over spent (my old Bose weren’t broken, I just thought I’d treat myself in lockdown). I wish I’d bought them a year ago!

If you’re on the fence, buy them and if you don’t like them, you can always return them to amazon (I checked before I opened them), but you won’t…

I would give these 6 stars if I could.

 

As I write this review I am listening on these headphones to the collected Tchaikovsky Symphonies conducted by Mikhail Pletnev, which I gave a really good review to quite a while ago.. If I had written the review listening through these headphones it would have been even better. I have wanted some headphones for a while, but given how expensive they can be I have waited until I felt sure I was spending my money wisely. I’m so glad I waited until I read a professional review of these headphones before I took the plunge. They are superb in every respect. They’re comfortable to wear and deliver superb sound. Bass and treble can be adjusted using the (inevitable) app. The AC woks well and the useful thing is that volume, track and AC can all be controlled by hand/finger movement on the right headphone. If it wasn’t so anti-social to use them when my wife is in the room, I would use them all the time to listen to my music. As it is I use them at every opportunity when I am by myself – so much better than Bluetooth speakers or soundbar. A great purchase.

 

Ordered these and returned them as I had a better deal elsewhere.
Anyhow I can review the product as we have two of them in silver/beige and in black that we are using since November.
I love these headphones. Great for London underground as it cancels most sounds so far that you can even watch planet earth on your phone while on the underground! Since owning these headphones I am way less stressed while commuting, that really made a huge difference!
Now used for working from home, or watching something in the evening when my partner is working, great way to feel isolated in your room and not get distracted by others. Voices still come through but once you listen to music you barely if at all hear people speak.
Only the when using them as headset for phone calls the quality is bad, so bad I need to ask my partner to take off his headphones when he is calling me.
Comfortable to wear for several hours and the battery life is just fantastic. I wished there was the option to turn the female voice of, that tells you ‘noisecancelling on’, or other things when you change settings, as it is quite loud and sometimes you want to snooze away with your headphones on.

 

Excellent headphones for the money. It’s a lot of money but nowhere near the amount required to reach audiophile territory. I compared this to the Bose 700 and found that while the Bose were slightly better in reducing external noises, the audio quality from the Sony was easily superior. The Bose sort of muted all the sounds in the music, where the Sony was bright in the highs and resounding in the lows. Funnily I wanted to like the Bose more but ended up returning them. The controls on both sets of headphones are excellent. I think the noise cancellation on the Bose is slightly better, but I’ve since downloaded the Sony app and have some granular control. I cannot compare the apps as I did not try the Bose app. That said I’m not at all a fan of having to let the manufacturer have access to whatever goes through the ‘phones so I generally don’t use the app and find that the options on the headphone buttons are just fine

 

Whilst most of us are spending time at home under lockdown, I thought I’d splash out on these (I’d seen reviews on YouTube) for extended listening sessions mostly, also for working from home. I have never been able to wear a pair of headphones for a long time and usually get some sort of discomfort, even after an hour.
In the comfort department these are brilliant, I can wear these headphones for hours without any discomfort. I know they are on my head, which some reviews seem to suggest others can’t tell! But, I have been able to keep these cans on for up to 5 hours without noticing any discomfort. It’s not like I’ve felt discomfort after the 5 hour mark, just that I’ve run out of things to listen to by then.

Sound quality is incredible and that seems to be largely for the DSP inside the headphones, rather than the drivers themselves. I did plug in the 3.5mm cable into my pc to try to save battery and wondered if my sound card was rubbish, but it turns out the actually drivers under “passive” power aren’t the best. That’s ok though, because you can plug these in via 3.5mm cable and power the DSP on, which drastically improves the sound. Not sure if doing that improves battery life though (I’m not going to try to leave them on for 30+ hours to test that, lockdown hasn’t got me THAT bored yet). All in all, sound is fantastic and the battery does seem to be holding up to Sony’s 30 hour claim.
Bluetooth is a funny one…
I use these with my iPhone and that was the first device I tried these on. Whilst I was impressed with the sound at first I did think “Christ, I’m glad I didn’t pay the RRP of 350 for these”. That ended up being due to the fact that iPhones don’t support aptx or LDAC, only AAC. AAC isn’t the worst of the codecs these headphones support, but it’s not the best. I hooked these up to my PC which does support aptx and noticed an improvement to the sound fidelity (notice I’m not saying quality here) (also you can force MacOS to use aptx. Google that if you want to know how). So, if you’re running a fairly recent android phone or a laptop/desktop with a fairly recent Bluetooth card you’ll be gold.
iPhone, definitely still worth getting but not the best of the best.
One downside to the Bluetooth I’ve noticed is the lack of fast switching between devices. These cans can store pairing information for up to 8 devices. The problem I seem to have is that if my pc is connected and I want to switch to my phone, I have to manually disconnect the cans from the pc first. Your mileage may vary on this though.

Hope this helps you make an informed decision on these! I have to say I’ve been nothing but impressed with these and the admittedly teeny tiny drawbacks (Bluetooth switching) have been only really minor “problems”.

P.S there is an app you can download to do some clever things and change the EQ, with my use case I don’t care much for the smart features and like a flat EQ, so I can’t comment on these aspects.

 

These are amazing, life-changing headphones. I did a fair bit of research and these are often at the top of the list and I can see why. Noise-cancelling is great – most things are muted well when noise-cancelling and with music on I can’t hear very much at all. I haven’t experimented as much with the noise-cancelling adjusting features but from what I have done it works well. Also, quite good sound (mind you I’m not an audiophile so others may prefer something different), battery life great, and reasonable price for sure. I’m so happy I bought these, they do everything they are supposed to very well. Also extremely comfortable, I can wear them for many hours without problems (haven’t tried on long distance flight yet though). Only slight minus is that the controls on them are a bit finicky sometimes, so still getting used to them. Glad that they come with USB-C cable for charging, to fully charge is quite fast. Also a physical cable and the dongle so you can use them in the airplane on those double headphone things. Also very nice carrying case. The instruction booklets (not even) that they come with are lacking but check Sony’s official support pages for help with them, I’ve used it a few times now in the beginning and it’s very useful. I can highly recommend these.

 

OK, I um’d and ah’d about these for ages. 250 is a hell of a lot of money for a pair of headphones. But I work in an open plan office and really need to completely focus without distraction, so noise cancelling was the key feature. All the reviews said these were the ones when it came to noise cancelling – and they weren’t wrong! Putting these on for the first time you are gob smacked by how much noise they cut out. You feel like you’re in a sound proof booth. It really is amazing.

So then, to the other side of the equation – sound quality. I’d previously has some Sony CN 700’s and there was an improvement in sound quality between those and my previous headphones (a 40 unknown brand). There was an improvement in sound between these and the CN 700’s but TBH, not 180 worth of difference. I’ve read some audiophile reviews of these that say the sound is only mediocre. I guess it’s what you’re used to. I also suspect if you go for a subscription to one of the HQ music services then you’d see much more of an improvement. But then that’s another 10 or so a month and I can’t justify that.

I also actually found the CN 700’s a little more comfortable – bigger, softer pads and a little lighter. Not to really say these are uncomfortable, though.

So, in summary, if you’re after the best music reproduction, look elsewhere. These are very good, but not worth the price based on that aspect.

If, however, you want incredible noise cancelling, then these are fantastic. I can only judge them on the CN 700’s which, frankly, were crap for noise cancelling. If, like me, this was the key feature you’re after then I’d say yes, even though I still struggle to justify the cost, if you can ease your guilt by telling yourself you deserve a treat now and then, these are incredible noise cancelling headphones.

 

– Excellent noise cancellation and very clever adaptive noise cancelling feature to let in graduated levels of ambient noise to suit the situation.
– Really comfortable, even when worn with glasses. I usually find over early headphones uncomfortable as they press the ear on to the earpiece of the glasses. Not these.
– Sound quality is great. I use these for mainly for video editing, listening to music and podcasts. Decent base for music and good clarity with voices.
– Battery life pretty good. For my casual/moderate use I get around 3 weeks per charge. They also charge up fairly quickly.
– Pairing. My only frustration with these headphones. I often switch between devices like phone, tablet, computer depending what I’m doing. Switching between devices is frustrating as I seem to have to put the headphones in to pairing mode every time I switch from the last paired device. My devices (iPhone, iPad, MacBook) all remember the headphones in the Bluetooth menu but just selecting a different device from the Bluetooth menu doesn’t work, they will switch devices but I won’t get any sound until I use pairing mode. I know the Bose equivalents lets you have 2 devices paired to easily switch between and all of my Apple earphones (AirPods, Beats) switch devices super easy with no fuss. This is annoying as it could probably be fixed with a software update. All in all it is still just a small niggle. If these headphones broke today, I would buy them again straight away.

 

First of all i want to say that these are amazing headphones. The sound quality is great, with clear highs and good solid bass. The mids can be lacking a little, but this can be tweaked in the app. The noise cancelling is second to none. For low end sounds the anc is better than anything else i’ve tried. There is great scope for adjusting the setting within the app, which gives you great flexibility. They are also very comfortable.
One big issue i have id the build quality. I ordered a pair from Amazon and within a few hours of use i noticed that in a quiet environment the anc hiss was much louder in the left earcup than the right. It also got louder the longer i used them. After more time, a slight rustling sound could be heard intermittently in the right earcup. This got worse, becoming more frequent and louder the longer i used them. I contacted Amazon and arranged a refund, which was given without question. As i needed a pair for a long bus journey i was about to take, i decided to order some from my local electrical store in Portugal. They arrived the next day. After a short time, i noticed that the same problem was starting again. This time the anc hiss increased in the left earcup and then the same rustling sound in the left earcup too. This got much worse during my trip, to the point where it was interfering with the music even in noisy environments. I did notice that with these 2 pairs, when i set the anc to “wind reduction” it didn’t really affect the level of anc but did reduce the wind noise. I took these to the store i had bought them from and they replaced them during my trip. The 3rd pair so far have been problem free. There is a very slight hiss with anc activated, which i know is normal. (i do have very sensitive hearing) What i have noticed is that when i activate the “wind reduction” the anc level is slightly reduced and i can hear slightly more outside noise. I think this is how they are supposed to work, based on other reviews i have read.
So the end result is this. I am delighted with these headphones. They sound great, have unbeatable anc, are super comfortable, and are compact. After checking online i saw that others had had the same problem with rustling noises and increased anc hiss in one earcup.
Was it worth going through the hassle of 2 pairs not working properly to get a pair that seem to be ok? Yes! I love them. On long journeys by bus or plane they are perfect, and allow you to be totally immersed in your music without being aware of your surroundings at all.
As far as phone calls are concerned i can’t comment. I don’t use them for this purpose.

 

These are the first pair of noise cancelling headphones I have purchased and have come from being an August EP650 user for the past couple of years.

I bought these after my colleague purchased a pair and was raving on about how insane they are. I tried them on in a noisy office environment and immediately noticed the difference.
Without music playing:
– I could still hear conversations from people quite near to me. Not loud but the rumble of the sound of voices.
– Fan noise or any other constant monotone noises vanish and cannot hear anything.
– bashing buttons on my keyboard becomes a whisper in the background.

With music playing at 25% volume:
– Can barely hear the person next to me talking. Literally just certain tones/sounds.
– Cannot hear anything else apart from the music.

Since I work in the Canary Wharf area of London, I decided to do a lunch break walk with the headphones on and my gosh did these headphones blow me away! With my music at 25% and adaptive sound on:
– Could barely hear any people around me. In the busy underground section by Waitrose, which was full of people, I could only just hear the people who passed right next to me.
– I walked towards the escalators and my headphones adjusted to transportation mode. Initially I could hear the escalator but roughly after 2 seconds, all I could hear was my music and nothing else.

In terms of actual sound quality, these are beautiful. Everything is balanced nicely and whilst the headphones don’t go too loud, it doesn’t matter since the noice cancelling feature makes sure you hear absolutely no background noise.
The bass isn’t overwhelming at all. In comparison to my August EP650 over ear headphones which literally vibrate my brain with some songs, the 1000XM3 feels tame but not underwhelming.

Overall, I am overly happy with these headphones. Definitely picked the best headphones to experience noise cancellation for the first time! Highly recommended.

 

At first I got exceptionally happy with these headphones. The noise cancellation is impressive (obviously it won’t reduce all external sounds to zero, but it’s enough to isolate you in a cafe for example). The intelligent adjust (it changes between noise cancellation, ambient sound and ambient sound control off depending on what you’re doing, e.g. on a bus or walking or running). And finally the sounds is great, you can control the bass, treble and so on using the app and it does make a difference (I’m a heavy metal guy and got satisfied with it).

But recently I started having problems with the sensor which is used for gestures control (adjust volume, skip songs, etc). If it’s windy of even if it’s just very cold, the sensor goes banana and starts triggering Siri (or Cortana, if I’m connected to the laptop). I contacted the support and they told me I need to send to the factory for them to review but my warranty is now over. And it seems it’s something that happened to other people in different countries, so it’s not a batch problem.

So, I still am happy with the headphones overall but unfortunately can’t use them outdoors now that the summer is gone.

 

OK, I have lived with these headphones for a few months now and I heartily recommend them – but I do have a couple of reservations. The sound is astonishing – it is as if you are listening to analogue source material much of the time, with punch and gumption right across the frequency range. I am hearing new sonics buried low in the mix on albums I thought I knew intimately – and effortlessly pointillistic psychoacoustic flourishes on recordings that employ this kind of audio trickery.

But.

When I walk along while wearing the headphones, there is an occasional WHOOMP in sound as a tension in my neck muscles causes the earcup to momentarily break its acoustic seal. This also happens when I am eating food. Chew *WHOOMP* chew *WHOOMP* chew *WHOOMP*. Very disconcerting. A sudden gust of wind will surprise the noise cancellation too – and don’t try and listen on a noisy tube train unless you want a constant fufufufufufufufubb of pressure changes appearing in the music.

Also the touch controls on the right earcup are ridiculously sensitive. I will quite often accidentally activate Siri when I am trying to adjust the headphones on my head. It takes a while to finesse the act of turning up the volume without jumping to the start/end of a track. You will find special ways of moving the headphones around on your head to avoid accidentally pressing something. Worse still, there appears to be no option to disable these touch controls, so just be careful!

So in summary: phenomenal, hyper-real sound staging, but try not to move around while wearing them.

 

I came from a half decent pair of wireless AKG headphones when I decided to buy a new pair. I chose these Sony WH
-1000M3’s as they’d previously won all sorts of awards and I thought, is right, these’ll do. The quality of these Sony’s surpasses my previous AKG’s ten times over!

For one, the noise cancellation is incredible! When my sister’s kids visit and they’re running about making ungodly amounts of noise, I just turn on my new Sony headphones and their shouting and screaming literally drowns out to nothing! These headphones are a God send. I’m no audiophile, but as far as I can tell, the music quality is excellent too and depending on the track you’re playing, you can choose a music setting to match.

The battery lasts forever and takes no time at all to charge. From zero battery, you can put them on charge first thing of a morning, get ready and dressed and it’ll be fully charged by the time you’re done. These headphones are sh*t, shower and shave friendly. Charges in no time. Even if the battery dies, there’s a long 3.5 jack to insert into the left cup and straight into your phone or media device. I have an app called NatureSpace that plays three dimensional nature sounds such as rain, waves, thunderstorms, etc. and these headphones are perfect for that type of thing!

But fellas, be warned. You’ll need to turn off the noise cancellation before you use these Sony’s to watch adult movies on your phone… I have been caught twice knocking one off because I couldn’t hear anyone come in my room. So learn from my mistakes. TURN OFF the noise cancellation when you’re about to do your thing! You cannot hear yourself speak, never mind the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs or the sound of your bedroom door opening. Be extra vigilant boys.

But as a pair of headphones, these are perfect to listen to music, watch movies or listen to nature sounds. I figured out the other day that they also connect wirelessly to my TV too! Is right!

 

I did quite a lot of research before buying these as I could get the Bose QuietComfort 35 IIs for considerably less through a work discount scheme. In the end I was happy to pay more so I could get the features that were important to me.

Firstly these have a USB C connection for fast charging. It’s far superior and more robust than the old micro usb on the Bose and in keeping with my phone and iPad cables.

Secondly these have a warmer, slightly bassier sound profile out of the box. I’m not one for messing with equalisers and from what I’ve read the Bose need a tweek to get punchier bass. I’m not talking overpowering bass like you’d get with Beats headphones, just a little more punch. Pretty much every review or comparison I’d read suggested the Sony’s sounded better.

These Sony’s also support more HD audio codecs such as aptx, aptx-HD and Sony’s own LDAC. This is in addition to the very basic SBC and Apple’s AAC. The Bose on the other hand only support SBC and AAC. Whilst my iPad only supports those used by the Bose headphones my Android phone supports all of the other HD codecs including LDAC for higher bit rates.

The noise cancelling really is great and acknowledged as better that the Bose QC 35 IIs. But in addition you can also pipe in ambient noise at 11 different adjustable levels to suit your own tastes. This makes them great for use at work or when out near busy roads. They even have an added feature called focus on voice which does just that….so you can adjust the ambient levels and focus on just voices. The app is good and can be used for adjusting all of these settings but I don’t recommend using the Adaptive Sound Control feature which adjusts the ambient noise levels and noise cancelling based on what you are physically doing. It uses your phones sensors and doesn’t change reliably enough. Adjusted settings are then stored on the headphones so they will stay set if you connect with another device. Speaking of which it IS possible to connect to two devices at once. But only if one device is used purely for calls and the other for media. So one of the devices would need to be an android phone.

A really useful feature is being able to momentarily lower the music volume and use the external microphones to pipe ambient sound into the headphones. All you have to do is cup your hand over the right earphone so great when on a flight for instance and someone speaks to you.

Lastly the swipe gesture controls work well for playing, pausing, skipping music plus Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa.

The X4s may be announced soon which may have BT 5.0 instead of the 4.2 that these have. But they will likely cost much more at launch and BT 5.0 only increases range from what I can tell.

In summary these are great and I highly recommend them!

 

Wow. Just wow.
I have owned a pair of Bose AE2W for around 6 years, and used them in the office, during travel and around the house. Always found soy d quality to be fantastic, but their lack of Active Noise Cancellation meant they weren’t amazing for travel. Very comfortable, but a lot of noise let in.
Am starting to travel a lot with work again, so was looking to invest in a pair of ANC headphones.
Having been I credibly happy with the AE2W and multiple sets of Bose in ear headphones over the years, my first thoughts were to go for the Bose QC35ii.
I had my head turned by these Sony 1000XM3s after reading a lot of the reviews on Amazon and various tech/hifi magazines and websites.
In fairness, I don’t think you can go wrong with either these of the Bose QC35ii headphones at this price range since both are amazing headphones. SInce comfort is subjective, I took a trip to a local retailer and tried on both sets of headphones and found these to be more comfortable, and ANC performed better with the Sony headphones in the store with me blasting various noises from my mobile phone.
My experience with these has thus far been outstanding. Sound is great, and the ANC is incredible – my wife was sitting watching Love Island on the TV, and I watched a movie on my iPad with these headphones, and I couldn’t hear a thing. Can’t ask for more than that. Also effectively blocked out the Hoover when doing the housework.
Very comfy, have read comments in reviews mentioning ears getting warm – this is something unavoidable with over ear headphones in my experience, you just get used to having then on over a while.
My only gripe with these is that the ear pads aren’t easily replaceable in the same way you can replace the Bose ear pads. I have seen Sony will sell them to you directly for $80. The ability to replace the pads is what kept my previous Bose AE2W in great shape for so long, so I miss that – time will tell if it is an issue with the Sony headphones.

 

Prior to the WH-1000XM3 headphones, i owned the Bose QC35 Series 1 and the Series 2s. Whilst each of these headphones have their own pros and cons, on average I have found the Sonys to be the final winner.

The XM3s are an absolute beast at functionality and noise cancellation. As soon as you put these on, you find yourself immersed in your music. The bass is whilst not as good as the QC35 Series, it does the job. And if you were to look at balanced sound, these pack a heartier punch. If you want just bass, then probably the Beats by Dre headphones that Apple peddles will be the ones for you.

The noise cancellation is tremendous. In every way i have found these to provide better cancellation than the QC35s both series 1 and 2. They block out all of my travel sound as I sit on a packed train into the city. The connect seamlessly to my iPhone X and hardly ever cuts out.

The touch controls are slightly less exciting compared to the QC35s. The QCs are button controlled and you can double press buttons and have up and down volumes. Alternatively, like the old Parrot headphones, the Sonys require you to swipe up and down and left and right in order to control. You also have a double tap for play and pause (along with answering and ending a call). These controls whilst seem like a step in the right direction, are still in their infancy. I have found on one of my other units of these (which were returned) slightly unreliable, in particular in hot, humid and extreme cold weather. I have found in extreme cold weather, it will sometimes register phantom touches, and in extreme warm weather, touches are not registered. Where as for the Bose headphones, the buttons are always responsive.

The earcups are more comfortable than the QC35s, they are padded and smell great of leather. The give when you pull these out is elastic and you can wear these comfortably for a 12 hour flight without issue. However note that these are slightly more shally than the QC35s, so those with big ears will find you ear touch the edge of the speaker. Not really an issue for me – and i think they are comfortable enough to not be an issue. One issue with these headphones is that you need overall cup fit and isolation for the ANC to work. This means your ears are completely covered, and hence on a hot day – you’ll definitely get some sweaty ears. Not the most comfortable in hot weather.

These headphones are not rated to be waterproof. I have however worn these in the rain before without issues – but i would warn against wearing them in heavy rain as you dont want to damage your device!

Battery life is excellent – i often dont have to charge them for a couple of weeks. I use them on a daily basis on my commute and have never ran out of battery. You can charge them via USB C and and there is quick charge functionality to give you a bit of juice for a small amount of charging time.

The app is much more sophisticated than what Bose provides. It allows you to customise the level of noise cancellation from 1-10 and you can set it to automatically switch between noise cancellation modes. For example if you are on transport and it detects this, it can turn down cancellation so that you can hear the announcements. However i find this to be only a bit more than a gimmick as it also uses more battery life in doing this. You can also manually set how much you want to cancel noise without the detection system. There are great equalisers and positioners which can customise where you want the noise to be coming from. I haven’t really figured out a practical use for this yet.

My only real issue with these headphones is the way it folds. Someone at Sony really messed up when it came to designing how it fits into the case. Somehow you can’t pull it out of the case, straighten up and put on. You have to take it out, twist it around 180 degrees and then put it on. A silly little thing, but whoeever designed the hinge should really focus on real life use before finalising. Sure it is a small detail, but it is an important one in the overal customer experience.

Despite a couple of small snags, you’ll end up hearing songs of the past the way they were meant to be heard. These are miles ahead of the competition at this point in time and at this price point. Whilst a bit pricier than some of its competitors, it has the best in class ANC technology. Though i haven’t actually tested the Bose 700s yet, so it could swing back for me. But if you’re looking for tried and tested magnificent headphones. These are the bad boys for you.

5/5 recommended.

 

been using these for over a year now. here are my thoughts:
(1) travelling — these headphones are a damned life saver on a plane. Not only do I get to actually hear the film or music I’m listening to, but I don’t get off the plane with hearing that doesn’t recover for a few hours. It’s totally comfortable to wear them on 11+ hour flights. the USB-c support means I can charge them on my laptop, phone or nintendo switch charger. I can even use my laptop as a backup battery for them using a double-ended usb-c cable.

(2) exercise — these headphones are NOT designed to be used for exercise, and not water or sweat proofed. However, I’ve found they work just fine in light rain and when I work out. It’s great to be able to cancel out the noise around both figuratively and literally at the gym

(3) taking meetings — I had the WH100XM2s and the bose QC30s, these seem to be the best of all of these. Even in fairly windy conditions I have never gotten a complaint about wind noise. With ambient sound off, you can hear yourself pretty OK. Always a joy to be able to walk around the house when taking meetings.

(4) Listening to music — these have really good audio reproduction. For fear of getting executed by the headphone mob, the quality approaches my dt770 pros, when the Bose QCs were a clear and straight downgrade.

(5) Gaming — it’s highly unfortunate, but like most bluetooth headphones out there these headphones may support AptX, but they do *not* support AptX Low Latency. That makes these only a fair choice for gaming. You can use the included cable which has no latency instead but it kinda voids the point of being wireless of course, and the cable is quite short — I often catch it on my arm and get a huge *BANG* in my left ear as I accidentally unplug it.

(6) Recording, monitoring and streaming — I’ve used a mic setup with a loopback for years with a good quality mic. It’s something I couldn’t really go without. The delay on these headphones in AptX mode is I’d say a good quarter of a second. It’s essentially impossible to use them to hear yourself talk from some external device. As mentioned previously this can be helped with the included cable, but it’s highly inconvenient to say the least.

(7) (open) Office work — these will block everything out and that’s a double edged sword. Not being able to even hear yourself breathe tends to feel a bit claustraphobic, even with ambient audio on. This is great for those times you want to take yourself out of a space and focus on something, but I start to feel uncomfortable after a while from the silence and / or the metallic sounding filtering the ambient audio goes through. Possibly could be fixed by tweaking the noise cancelling as you can do in the mobile app.

Bugs and Issues

(1) I went through quite a bit of frustration where the mic would cut out completely until I disconnected and reconnected to the call I was taking. This seems to be an issue with the way the headphones’s software handles bluetooth connections. If you have multiple bluetooth pairings, walking into range of another can temporarily disable mic connection

Suggestions

(1) add AptX Low Latency support. Since you can get zero latency with the included cable, this is entirely a software thing. That would let me use these for everything I do, travelling gaming and all

(2) I’d really like to be able to rename my headphones to make them less confusing to pair sometimes

(3) Let me use the app to prioritize devices. It can be really annoying to get these headphones to connect to the right thing when I turn them on, since they just connect to the strongest signal that gets to them first, which unless I manually disable bluetooth will always be my desktop or laptop. If I want to connect my phone as I leave home, I either have to walk out of range or mash the connection button on my phone to ensure they connect first as the headphones turn on

(4) add some tactile feedback to the swipe actions on the side of the headphones. The swipe actions have very strict feeling directionality, I find myself using the edge of the headphones to help ensure I swipe properly. some kind of little recess would help me gesture much more easily

(5) to pair these headphones, you have to hold the power button for a whopping seven seconds, and it gets very confusing because during those seven seconds it still performs the power button action. Would be great if I could press both buttons for half the time

(6) Improve the UX around having an AUX cable connected. presently, the cable can be connected with the headphones on or off, but turning them off requires connecting the cable first. If I’m using them at my desk for a long time, I sometimes want to be able to power them off to go out for the night or something and I’ll often find they’re still on, but totally out of battery

(7) the headphones are able to detect some types of calls and enable a loopback mode that makes speaking much clearer. It would be great to be able to toggle this on when I’m using my desktop compute

 

I’ve been looking in to noise cancelling headphones for at least a year or so. I’ve needed them for a while longer to be honest, living in shared housing, noisy flats, and roadsides I was tired of having to move due to noise problems. After 1 month of using the Sony Headphones, at the time a big gamble as they cost a fortune, I’ve had an incredible time with them. They work, they just do the job, no more traffic noise, hearing the neighbors argue. I can just shut it all out.

Bluetooth is a massive step up for me, the range is excellent when moving from room to room. The sound quality is great, a non issue, all my music sounds crisp, sharp and the balance is great. I’ve tested even for music production, playing keyboard you really hear the sound clear with no interrupting sound leaking from outside.

I would spend hours wearing ear plugs, these headphones have saved me in so many ways, I can only say get these if you’re at wits end with noisy neighbors, loud house shares, or just need the opportunity to focus on projects from home without distractions. I’m sad to say they are worth every penny. No disappointments on what they do at all.

Take my review and 100% give these a go.

 

Quite simply…..these are easily the best headphones i have ever used. I was slightly sceptical if it would live up to the promises on the Sony site, but they do not disappoint. The noise cancellation is excellent, I asked my better half to complain about something…. I activated ANC and within a few seconds….. silence! I did not even have any music on at the time, that alone is worth the money. I use it daily on the underground, and within a few weeks have nearly missed my stop due to not realising i have already reached my destination, I use them in the office, again blocks out all sound when i want to. It has the option to allow ambient sound too, which is a great feature for when you want to hear around you at the same time as music/podcasts etc The ios app is nicely created for managing software updates and configuring sound. It comes with a very nice case that will protect it when its in a bag or not being used. My only negative is that after a few hour or so, my ears get quite hot, but thats just me i guess, it does not make it uncomfortable, in-fact i have work it for 4 hours straight without having to adjust it. And its UBS-C – that was a big plus point for me as its one less charger cable i need to carry as i can use my laptop charger at home and work to charge it. And for those who forget to charge it, quick charge gives you 5 hours with just 10 minutes charge… thats crazy! And lastly, it supports Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, however iI have not used that feature yet.

 

Ok so I’m not an audiophile, I just like music, so this is a layman’s review. When I say I like music it ranges from classical, opera, film, through to rock music. Everything except modern pop. I hate noise and just like to hear what I want to hear, not people talking, or music that I don’t like. Previous using BT earbuds and screwing them deeper and deeper to try and get silence. I intially looked at getting better earbuds then decided I’d be better with over ear ones. Took ages to decide between these and Bose QC35 and in the end plumped for Sony.
The noise reduction is just amazing and even without music on the world is much quieter. This of course means that you can listen to music at a lower volume. The sound to me is great and I’m very impressed with that.
The app is good too and easily connects quickly with my aging Sony Experia E5 and gives all kind of available tweaks.
I tried out a few tracks of all different kinds of music and they all sound great. Hoovered with them on yesterday Big test was always going to be the train and planes. So I waited for at least a train before reviewing. Oh my ! Even before I put the music on most of the train noise is just gone. Not total silence but really amazing when you lift them off. Turning music on makes it even better and for the first time did not have play ACDC to drown everything out. I could actually play quieter music and hear properly. I’m currently typing this in a coffee shop with music playing, people talking and a loud hum from machinery and listening to music I’m in total silence.
The control swipes work well and the battery life is great. I got them on Saturday, this is Wednesday and have listened for a few hours each day and sitting at about 80%.
The case is good and the only slight thing is the charging cable is a bit short but just needs to be allowed for.
So much better than in ear buds for sound and comfort and I’m really glad I bought them so far.

Oh and did I mention no wires ? It just works. AWEsome

 

Finally pulled the trigger on these after watching for some time. They come beautifully packaged, ignoring the tacky “sound awards” stickers. You slide open the box and the headphones all all cables are packed away in a single travel case, usual warranty and conformation paperwork in the box.

Very quick to set up using android with NFC pairing, no mucking about with new pairing requests and pin codes. Headphones came with 70% charge so we’re good to go.
Out of the box these are very bass heavy, it tends to muddle up higher frequencies. A little EQ trimming and that’s solved, however this comes with the drawback of meaning you can’t use the sony codec specifically designed for these headphones. On the note 8, not sure about other Android devices the phones EQ settings work across Bluetooth connections, so I can keep the sony codec and adjust the sound profile.
The sound, while not audiophile level is still very good for the intended use of these products, which is mainstream usage using streaming services and MP3 files.
You are paying for the ANC, which is outstanding. Such a difference with these for droning our engine noise, voices and other background noises. Would I sit in the house and use these? No, I have open back headphones for in the house. Would I use open back phones on public transport and expect the same sound quality? No, this is where these shine. With the EQ setup to my tastes, it has a very clean sound and I get more than enough detail for enjoyable listening.

The build quality is very nice, the headphones look and feel premium. Very comfortable with no indications of becoming unnxomfortable or hot for extended use.
Quick charge with USB-C means you only need 10 minutes of charging for up to 5 hours of listening.

The bad bits.
The materials used are fingerprint magnets, very quickly these started to show signs of use, the matte black shows up any oil or grease transferred.
The wind cancellation is pretty poor, it throws the ANC into a meltdown.
The actual sturdiness of the materials I’m uncertain of, they do not feel like they would stand up to a lot of abuse.

I am very happy with this purchase and do not regret it. They do what I wanted them to do.

 

I have had the pleasure of owning about 6 different noise cancelling headphones over the past year, including the Bose QC 35’s and the new Bose 700’s.

To put it short the Bose is still the most comfortable as these tend to get warm especially for a fat guy like me. But… when it comes to best sound quality and probably the best noise cancelling out of all headphones the Sony’s win hands down. At first I didn’t like them. I found them too tight. Then after watching YouTube videos I realised I can almost bend them a little and now they fit like a dream. I was at an airport yesterday for 7hrs and I simply put them on, listened to my music and the cancelling was amazing. When in the air you can use to App to change the headphones so they work better at a different atmospheric pressure and then they worked even better. Just remember to do the same when you land.

You can alter mostly everything on these. Treble. Base. The lot, so your music tastes will all be catered for. Unlike the Bose I found I didn’t notice any lag when watching YouTube videos as often when I use my Boses the talking and sound aren’t in sync. Downsides they can get warm. No matter. I just took them off for two mins and then put them on. But keep in mind guys I’m fat and am hot all the time. I highly recommend you give these a try.

 

Well, simply put, these are some bloody good headphones. Seriously, even at a price of 329.99, it’s an investment worth making. The noise cancellation on these is excellent. The outside world? What the hell is an outside world? It seriously elimates so much. People in the same room as you are audible but they are massively quiet. Sound of the kettle boiling? Gone. Washing machine? Gone.

And that’s not to mention the sound quality. Now these haven’t been designed to be competing against the marketed headphones of the Sennheiser 500/600 series, Fidelio X2, H4 and the like. But they sounds great still. Soundstage is decent, with a tendency to be V-Shaped, but with the fantastic Sony Connect equaliser, you can fix this easily. And LDAC support as well for Android 8.0, great. Even DSEE HX works great for the most part, filling in data and doing a decent job.

The phones have got NFC, so pairing with your phone is a case of activating Bluetooth, loading the app and placing the phone next to the phones and hey presto, you’re in. Make sure you allow the app to configure the ANC to your headphone placement as well with the quick config tool.

These might be the best headphones purchase I’ve made. Great battery life, good sound quality with EQ fixes, amazing ANC, and an investment for years.

 

let’s start by saying that the headphones are the best noise cancelling. pack with features comfortable fit beautiful case but I’m sorry to say I had to send the headphones back for three reasons that they didn’t suit me personally.

1. I wanted to use the headphones for the noise cancelling because I commute on the bus twice a day this is my first problem I had with the noise cancelling. As the bus was going along the noise cancelling was cutting out all the noise around me but every time the bus went over a bump in the road all there was a lot of vibration. it was picked up by the noise counselling by cutting out the music. the microphones was having trouble isolating loud shocks or bumps from the bus. I’ve checked the app to see what Setting it was at and it was on commuting so I knew it was on the right setting for travelling on the bus.

2. As the headphones have great features the problem I seem to found the features only work when the app was opening on your device.
So when you use the headphones you have to remember to open up the app every time you want to use them.

3. This is the biggest problem I had with the headphones with voice calling every time you answer a phone call the mic would open up the environment around you in the caller could not hear you only the outside noise around you and this was a big major problem for me travelling on the bus

 

I could not decide between the B&W PX, the Bose QC35 or the 1000XM2. I knew I would regret not buying the other two if I chose one. So I waited, resisted the temptation to deal on the 1000XM2 price cut a few weeks ago. And then, by chance, came across the new XM3 version. A trip to John Lewis to try for comfort the PX, QC35, 1000XM3 and B&O H9 and I made my decision. I spent all evening playing with them and my biggest reservation, that I might prefer the impressive treble on the QC35, was resolved by the Sony App. You can meaningfully change the music with an effective equaliser on the App. I have owned the Beoplay H4 and found them impressive enough but a bit plasticky, so my teenage son got them. (The sound wasn’t full, my hunch being flat middle; I didn’t have surprises dancing from bottom right cup to top left cup — those little pops of sound almost physically bouncing around your head, whereas the XM3 has plenty) And fat plastic about an inch above the ear made the H4 uncomfortable. I’ve experienced the B&O App and the Sony App is far better. I have no negative issues with the XM3 at all (OK, they’re boxed a bit cheaply…what’s with that cheapo black cardboard ribbon lining.doesn’t matter, the carry case is nice).

I have never been happier with a new headset. And I loved the first version of AKG451, before build quality deteriorated. And the wired B&W P5 sounded fantastic. As an intermediate Bluetooth measure I bought the Srhythm NC25 for a throwaway price (and they are really quite good). But these Sony cups, I want to spend the rest of my life with them. I’ve just come off a phone call with the wife. She heard me clearly, so the phone mikes work. The sound cancelling is eery, it’s that effective, I’ve never heard the sound of silence before. I know the B&W look better, but I didn’t want the weight and I need headphones I can use when they lose charge, just by attaching a wire (apparently the PX can’t be used with no charge and just a wire, so how do you use them for in-flight entertainment.these Sony’s do come with the airplane adaptor.) That copper trim elevates the look very effectively, helping them look understated rather than cheap. Weight saving justifies plastic, instead of B&W metal, and the nifty copper trim softens the aesthetic compromise you have to accept with the XM3 versus the PX.

I was worried that the XM2s were not loud enough. The XM3s are plenty loud (at my desk on half volume or less using the iPhone 8).

The sound reproduction is the same with the NC on or off.

Swipe works very well.

I wear glasses. No issue.

I’ve walked out 15m to the garden with no loss of sound.

Cups are oval long (not round) and deep, so comfortable. The leather does not feel like it will tear easily. The case is as compact as you can hope for. I’ve managed to squeeze it into a Tumi shoulder bag together with a hardback book (a but lumpy, but I can zip it up).

I’ve been writing this while listening to Kate Bush, playing with the trebles happily. To check all-round I’ve just put I’m Not Scared on off the Introspective album. And then to go for bass a bit more, I’ve done Streets of Philadelphia. And then.Galvanise. OMG.BOOM, then tickle!!

Thank you Sony; the people who conceived, designed and built this must love what they do — they have made my world a much better place than I found it. They should be proud.