Over-ear Bluetooth headphones Sony WH-1000XM3 Black - Reviews

• Reviews
• February 8, 2020 by Mansur Toktonaliev

Talking about sound is very difficult and it’s not a particularly rewarding task, because you have to listen to the sound. For every person, choosing headphones is quite an emotional decision. The same headphones for two different people can be disgusting and pleasant at the same time. But nowadays there are devices of a universal nature. The Sony WH-1000XM2 wireless noise-canceling headphones are one of them. In addition to balanced sound, Sony offers several other features that take the concept of sound quality to a new level. This is exactly what our review of the Sony WH-1000XM2 will be about.

Sound quality

I have never considered and do not consider myself an advanced listener. However, I can still distinguish mediocrity from good sound. In my opinion, you don’t need to have any special skills here. Put on your headphones, turn on high-quality content and listen closely to the melody, try to catch every instrument, evaluate the frontman’s vocals, at the same time turning on your imagination to the fullest and trying to lay out the sound stage, like an artist composing a picture. Wrapped? It's only the beginning!

If all of the above can be easily done, then we have high-quality headphones. The Sony WH-1000XM2 is exactly like that.

There is no emphasis on any particular frequencies - everything is more or less lined up. The lows don't thump and don't burst your head into a ringing migraine. The highs are well distinguishable, without marginal whistles, creaking clicks and other crimes. The middle ones neatly fill the remaining space. As a result, the frequency spectrum turns out to be tasty, rich, with the filling well mixed throughout the musical pie.

In my opinion, this is how the sound should be - not pronounced, without accents, but high-quality and delicate. The rest can be adjusted manually through the equalizer.

Sony WH-1000XM2 do not reproduce crystal clear sound; it is felt that there is some blur in the sound, but this is not at all critical. The sound is not muffled by anything, there is no barrel, extraneous hum and other nonsense that is found in headphones up to 10 thousand rubles.

TOP best SONY headphones 2020

Noise suppression

However, our headphones cost not 10,000 rubles, but much more. And, I must admit, you can pay so much more for the noise reduction function.

To demonstrate the capabilities of the 1000XM2 headphones, Sony invited journalists, bloggers and other shady characters to a helipark with Robinson R44 helicopters.

Even at the accreditation stage, I strongly doubted the event. Because, no matter how cool the noise reduction is in the headphones, it’s still a helicopter. No subway, no vacuum cleaner, no lawnmower, but VER-THE-FLIGHT!

Grunting and getting ready for the fiasco of the headphones, I put them on my head, got into the helicopter and turned on the NC (Noise-cancelling) function.

Shock, surprise, misunderstanding, malaise - I experienced a storm of emotions. Anything but discomfort from the noise of the engine and propellers.

I’m sitting in a helicopter, listening to the latest In Flames album, and in the background it’s as if a neighbor has turned on a vacuum cleaner somewhere in the next apartment. Where did it come from at an altitude of 80 meters?!

I take off my headphones and immediately reality in the form of a rumbling helicopter hits me in the face, or rather, in my ears. I put it on - again the vacuum cleaner is in the next apartment.

I grabbed my headphones from the presentation, took a minibus, and then the metro to go about my business. Need I say that I didn’t hear any annoying noise from public transport? After such a test!

Disadvantages and reviews

There are not many reviews about the Sony wh 1000xm3, but there are some complaints:

• Ears sweat a lot;
• Not for running (but these are not sports headphones!), they fall off during active movements;
• Strong bass and poor sound overall. I have already explained this;
• Triggering of the control sensor on the outside of the earphone when moving;
• Monolithic ear pads, which quickly wear out and the headphones will have to be thrown away;
• All holes and connectors are not protected, which eliminates insulation from dust and moisture;
• Heavy and uncomfortable (yes, if these are your first closed-back headphones);
• Terrible microphone. The other person hears all the noise, not your voice. You can only call in absolute silence;
• The price is 30 thousand rubles.

One guy wrote about a manufacturing defect - small chips and scratches on the wh 1000xm3 body. Although this may also be a consequence of transportation. But I didn’t find any reviews about glitches or outright breakdowns, and mine work flawlessly. If you have anything to add, please leave a comment below.

I can still hear something

The Sony WH-1000XM2's active noise cancellation works like this. There are microphones on the outside of the channels that “listen” to ambient noise, remove it, and transmit pure sound directly into the earcups.

Passive noise reduction also contributes a lot to this, namely, the rather dense, one might say, vacuum design of the channels themselves. Even with the NC function disabled, external noise is effectively removed thanks to the design of the headphones alone.

The active noise reduction in the 1000XM2 elegantly cuts out low-frequency noise - all sorts of monotonous hums, for example, subway noise, engine operation, and so on.

Mid frequencies are also well filtered out, but they can still be heard.

However, all high-frequency sounds are not removed very well. For example, if you are standing on a noisy street next to a dry road, then passing cars are practically inaudible.

If the road becomes wet, for example from rain, then the sound of rustling wheels still penetrates into the cups in a thin stream.

It's the same story with the voice. The low, masculine bass or so is almost inaudible. If a group of ladies passes by, then you can no longer escape from their ringing voices. However, it is still difficult to understand what they are talking about. Thanks to our noise reducer.

Battery life and microphone

Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones can operate on a single battery charge for up to 30 hours with noise cancellation turned on and up to 38 hours with noise cancellation turned off. The result is very comfortable. It is unlikely that you will need to charge more than once a week.

By the way, these figures were measured, naturally, at average volume. And when connected using the standard SBC codec. If, for example, LDAC is used (it is more power hungry), the autonomy will be less. The same thing happens at volumes above average.

Sony WH-1000XM4

The charge level is displayed in the “default location” (in the status bar of the watch, for example). In addition, it can be accurately tracked in the proprietary application. The battery is fully charged in 3 hours. And 10 minutes “on the wire” is enough for a whole 5 hours of work. Thanks to Type-C and fast charging.