Sony WH1000XM3 Noise Cancelling Headphones, Wireless Bluetooth Over the Ear Headset – Black (2018 Version)

I had Bose headsets for travel for over 20 years. I had Bose QC-1, QC-2; I still have QC-20 wired earbuds and aviation headset A20. Recently, I had a challenge of finding headset which not only works to cancel noise in an airplane, but which also works better than earplugs at home, especially to reduce noise of piano played in a different room. I compared Sony 1000XM3 with Bose QC35 and 700 at a store, bought two pairs of Sony, and compared them with Bose QC-20 and A20. On top of that, I did tons of research. To begin with, Bose used to be "the king of noise cancellation" for many years. This reign is coming to an end: the competition is fierce. In pro aviation world, Lightspeed created a strong competition to Bose, while in the consumer world, Sony came up with a product widely superior in noise cancellation. Bose tried to answer Sony with Bose 700, but it is still inferior in noise cancellation and usability and features of the phone app. According to independent testing data available on the internet, Sony's noise cancellation is up to 6 dB better than Bose. If you are not familiar with dB scale, it is a log scale, and 6 dB is a little more than a factor of 2. Noise cancellation efficiency is frequency dependent, so it is hard to compare apples to apples. Power spectrum across all frequency gives an about 2 dB advantage to Sony (29 dB compared to 27 dB of Bose 700), in low frequency range Sony beats Bose with a high margin (about 6 dB), in high frequency range Bose appears to be better. Yet, when you put Sony on your head, followed by Bose, and switch back and forth, Sony is impressively better. Like, way better. Tons better. So much better that you sometimes wonder if Bose is turned on at all. Comparing Sony XM3 with Bose QC20, Sony is better in all respects other than small size and weight of QC20. Noise cancellation is better, and sound quality is better. Comparison with aviation headset A20 shows that A20 is slightly superior in terms of noise cancellation (and, surprisingly, even in sound quality), probably due to a passive noise cancellation component - but A20 is a $1100 headset with a massive wire and console, and connectors are not compatible with consumer electronics. You would never consider it unless you fly an airplane as a pilot. High frequency hissing, which existed up to QC15 and still present in A20 (introduced in 2015) is almost gone in both newer Bose and in Sony. Difference in noise cancellation quality between Bose A20 and Sony XM3 is worth maybe $50, but not $800. I think we are talking about several dB, nothing major. Sound quality is subjective. Neither Sony nor Bose 700 are audiophile grade. One cannot tell the difference while playing music via Bluetooth from a phone, but plug them with a cable into a headphone amplifier and play 24/96 music, compare with Hi-Fi headphones (I have good old Sennheiser HD-620 which used to be in the top 10 best some 20 years ago; not anymore, but they are still great sounding high end headphones) - and you can tell immediately that these are not Hi-Fi headphones. Not even close. With a good sound source, they sound dull and sound stage is not there. But they sound well enough for daily use, for playing music from the phone, certainly better than most earbuds. Sony sounds a little better than Bose 700 to my taste, but it is close, very close, there are small difference in color of the sound which are very subjective. I rated the sound five stars because this is not a Hi-Fi headset, it is a noise cancelling headset, and the price is determined primarily by its noise cancellation abilities. As long as you can listen to music and enjoy it, as long as it does not sound like cheap earbuds, it is OK. For really high quality of sound without noise cancellation, there are much better options in the same price range. App is not required with Sony and Bose (despite misleading information on the web, either headset can be used without the app), but Sony app is much better. It does not require registration and has many more features, including adjustment of noise cancellation to ambient pressure. Sony, to my surprise, works very well for phone calls in the office environment. There were many reports that Bose was vastly superior, perhaps this is the case when one needs aggressive noise cancellation, like on the street among cars and people. Or maybe Sony made updates to firmware which fixed the issues which they had. When answering calls at home, the sound quality on the other end of the line is excellent. People cannot tell I am wearing a headset. Comfort is purely subjective and depends on one's head size and shape. I have a big head, so most headphones exert some pressure. Sony is no exception, but I am fine with that. I must say, the most comfortable headset for my head is Bose QC 35 II, followed by Sony XM3 and followed by Bose 700. Bose 700 feels a tad cooler on the ears. A20 creates too much pressure on my ears. For travel (e.g., vacation) QC20 is hard to beat, due to their very small size. They are inferior to XM3 or latest Bose, but do their job well enough. For use at home or in the office, bluetooth headsets with better noise cancellation and better sound and with the ability to make calls are the way to go. Finally, cancellation of piano sounds. My wife teaches piano full time from home. Sound is a problem in our home. When I am in the same room as our grand piano, I can hear it loud and clear, although much less loud than without the headset. However, when I go to my office and close the door (which is a glass door which only partially blocks the sounds), I can barely hear it and can focus on whatever I am doing without distraction from the sounds. I tried QC20 for this purpose, and they were not quite up to the task. I got the 33 NRR rated 3M earplugs, and they also were not perfect either. I can tell that Sony XM3 works better. I would not use XM3 to work with power tools, though. They are too expensive and possibly too fragile for a workshop, and the benefit is not large enough to warrant the difference in price. Build quality of Sony seems to be better than Bose (and less expensive, too). The headset is made in Malaysia. Bose, I must say, can make great quality headsets (A20, with 5 years warranty, is an evidence to that), but consumer grade headsets always had an almost marginal quality. Bose, by the way, does not repair them once they are out of warranty. They make you buy new ones with a discount. Two of my old Bose headphones broke and I had to replace them because repair option was not offered, and lifetime of synthetic leather ear pads was too short for a quality product. It is too early to say how well Sony would last - we will see. After buying the first headset on Amazon, I got another one for my son. My son absolutely wanted Bose, but after comparing them side by side in a store, and listening to mine, he said, I still like Bose, but I recognize that Sony is better in all respects... So we got him Sony from a local store. The only frustrating part is that Amazon has dropped the price by $50 after I bought both pairs! What a bummer - but now, Bose is completely not competitive. The only downside which I found so far... Sony can connect to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously, but it is confusing how the preference works (the one connected last has the higher preference for audio), and there is no easy way to change the preference or even disconnect a specific sound source. You cannot do it in the app. I think Bose is the same way. I also struggled with connecting to my desktop PC for audio and gave up attempts to set up the audio preference correctly. Either I did not figure out how to do it correctly, or something can be improved in the next releases of the App and firmware. I am sure it will be done, eventually. For what it is worth, competition between suppliers is good - it drives features and quality up and prices down. I hope, Bose will catch up eventually - they missed the opportunity to do it with the 700. Sony 1000XM3 remains the best product in this class for second year in a row.

I currently own about 30 headphones of various brands and types. I have tried many Bluetooth headphones and own the Bose QC35 II and Bowers and Wilkins PX. I bought both the Sony WH-1000x MKI & MKII but returned them after weighing the shortcomings vs the cost, my main complaints being comfort and sound (the ANC was always good). My portable-everyday-beat-them-up headphones were the Bose QC 35 II. I liked them primarily for the comfort and ANC. The sound on the Bose can best be described as adequate but generally lifeless. Always in search of something better I read a couple of “First Look” articles about the Sony WH-MX1000M3 and decided to pull the plug on the first day that they were available on Amazon. When I received the Sony’s I was pleased to see that the case was similar to the Bose QC 35, a little bigger but shaped well enough to fit comfortably in my backpack. When I removed the headphones and put them on my head I realized immediately that these would be as comfortable as the Bose. Good job Sony. After charging for a couple of hours I paired them to my phone and went to my headphone test playlist on Spotify. My main complaint with the previous Sony model's sound was that they had very little soundstage (defined as perceived distance between your ears and the music) and little definition (defined as the clarity and separation of the various instruments in a piece of music). The M3 sounded better than the previous Sony’s and better than the Bose, but the highs appeared to be quite subdued and overwhelmed by the bass. This was disappointing. But, Sony has a phone app that allows for EQ so I go download the app. Frustration. The app did not recognize the MK3. Patience. I figure that Sony has not updated the app yet. So I wait a day and see that the Sony app has automatically updated on my phone. I open and hurray! It is recognizing the MK3 now. Now I can play with EQ: -1 on 400 Hz. +1 on 1K. +2 on 2.5K. +3 on 6K. +4 on 16K and “Clear Bass” remains at 0. Play music and now were talking! I’m not going to say that these sound nearly as good as most of my wired headphones, but for everyday-on-the-go-beat-them-up-with-ANC these are exciting. They blow the Bose away. The Bowers and Wilkins PX which weigh about three times more than the Sony’s have decent BT sound when the ANC is off but the sound changes considerably and not for the better when you apply one of three ANC modes. They PX is OK for about an hour of no ANC listening while sitting at home, but after that my ears and the top of my head hurt. The noise cancellation of the Sony is a generation ahead of Bose. There, I said it. Most reviewers crown the Bose as the best ANC you can get. Well, Sony has just showed Bose that they are the new big boy on the block. I did some A/B comparisons with both headphones and realized that the Sony not only cancels steady noise like jet engines or the sound of the air conditioning intake in my condo, but it does a great job of virtually eliminating all other sounds, including television voices and even other people, as my wife can attest to when she had to stand in front of me and wave her hands to get my attention because I could not hear her talking (so, if you want to block out your wife’s talking… LOL!). And this is without even messing with the settings in the app. Others reviewer here have not had the same experience, stating that it does not cancel voices. I frankly did not expect it to cancel voices, but I must say that the Sony comes as close as anything I have ever not heard. So, if you want very comfortable headphones with the best sound and Active Noise Cancelling that you can expect with wireless Bluetooth in 2018 get these. They will not sound as good as wired closed back or open back headphones, but “you can’t always get what you want”, “nothing is perfect”, and “everybody is different”. In addition to the Sony WH-1000XM3 during this review period I used: Bose QC 35 II Bowers & Wilkins PX Bang and Olufsen H6 (wired) Sennheiser HD650 (wired) AKG 7KXX (wired) Spotify Flac files on phone and desktop computer UPDATE 2018-09-21: I did experience an issue with phone calls where people at the other end were hearing an echo of their voice. I tested the headphones with three different phones and the problem occurred with all three. So I replaced them through Amazon. I am glad to say that the new pair does not have the issue. After some tests with phone calls I will say that Sony still needs to do some work on the call quality at the other end of the call (the call sounds fine in the Sony itself). In this regard, the Bose QC 35 is better. I think the call quality is really with the sound processing that Sony has implemented and not the hardware. Hopefully this will be improved in future firmware upgrades. Another minor con that the Bose handles better is the support for multiple BT sources. But this is a minor annoyance and I only use the Sony's for my phone anyway, so I am not constantly switching sources. Small price to pay for better ANC and musical sound.

Very easy to set up. Comfortable and effective.

¡Amo estos audífonos! Tienen una gran calidad de audio, es muy notorio con música de alta calidad (grabada a 320 kbps o en formato losseless), redescubres sonidos de los que posiblemente no habías reparado antes. Cancelan el ruido exterior hasta el punto en que te aisla de todo ruido externo y tiene una app oficial donde puedes configurar muchos de los aspectos acústicos de los audífonos, destacando la opción de ajustar el nivel de Noise Canceling, en caso de que también quieras escuchar sonidos del exterior. Es conveniente que se pueden usar en modo bluetooth pero también de manera alámbrica con entrada de 3.5mm. La ventaja de conectarlos alámbricamente es que obtienes la máxima calidad y no gastas la batería interna de los audífonos. Sin embargo, usarlos inalámbricamente es lo más cómodo ya que los controles multimedia están en el audífono derecho de manera táctil. La batería dura de un día a dos de uso intensivo, pero si se emplea de manera menos frecuente como un par de horas al día, entonces puede llegar a durar una semana aproximadamente. Se carga por USB-C y el cable viene incluido junto a otro cable para entrada 3.5mm y un estuche donde se guarda de la manera más compacta posible. Con respecto al tamaño, en comparación a otros audífonos, éstos son un poco grandes y quizá no tan ligeros pero es cómodo tenerlos puestos en los oídos incluso después de largos periodos. El precio es un poco elevado pero es una inversión que vale la pena por la calidad que ofrece, lo recomiendo ampliamente para cualquier persona que desea obtener alta calidad de sonido y/o quien desea aislarse de sonidos externos.

I've never had an "expensive" pair of headphones before. These are amazing. Since the day I got them, I've been practically living in them. I have a lot of online meetings for work, so they get used all day for that. Then at night I use them for watching shows, podcasts, music, audiobooks, etc. They connect easily to both my laptop and phone. The noise cancelling feature works really well, so now even when I'm doing the dishes or vacuuming, I can listen to music. I like the fact that you can put your palm on the side of them to mute them when talking to someone in person. Or double-tap to pause. The swipe controls work really well. The mic is very clear and just as good as my old headset that had a mic extension in front of my face. These are so comfortable and light that I often forget I'm wearing them (like I will look for them and then realize I'm wearing them). With other headsets, I've had weird pressure points on or behind my ears, so wearing them for extended periods wasn't possible. I can literally wear these from morning to night without issue. The battery lasts a looong time. If I have a full charge in the morning, I can get a full day with them, plus the next day until the end of my work day. So almost 2 fulls days with heavy use. And they don't take long to charge, either. Like an hour or two, max? I like that they will tell you how much batter is left. The case is well made and easy to use. I take them to work every day, so that's important to me. I wish the included usb-c cable was a few cms longer, but it's not a deal-breaker. The only thing that I would really wish for would be the ability to mute the microphone during calls. Seems like a weird oversight on Sony's part. I've had them for about 8 months now. Recently I've noticed that about a minute after turning them on, they turn themselves off. Once I've turned them back on, they stay on for good. This doesn't happen every time (maybe one in 3 or 4 times?), but it's worrying. I hope this isn't indicating a problem that's going to get worse.

I usually don't write amazon reviews but these headphones have impacted me quite strongly so I must do one. Prior to getting these, I had used both the bose QCii headphones and beats studio 3 but both were not a great fit for me. The bose were SUPER comfy but the treble-centered sound quality was not to my liking. With beats on the other hand, I actually enjoyed the heavy bass sound but they were very uncomfortable, hurting my ears only after 15 minutes of use. Furthermore, noise cancellation on beats didn't feel worth the price, as the noise-blocking from OFF and NOISE CANCELLING didn't feel drastically different. With these Sony headphones however, i truly feel like im getting everything I ever wanted in a pair of noise cancelling headphones. Not only are they comfy but through the app, you can use the EQ to customize the sound quality to EXACTLY how you like it (you can make it sound like a bose or beats headphone by adjusting modes). Aesthetically too, these headphones are by far my favourite out of all the headphones I've tried. From looking at the photos, I wasn't a fan of the 'red' logo on the black headphone but was happily surprised to find that in person, it's rose-gold/bronze. This accent is very pretty and adds an extra 'luxury' factor to the headphones. The case zipper is also rose gold and looks stunning! Noise cancellation is amazing too. If you have airpods pros, I would say that the noise cancellation power is a similar strength (but of course the sonys would block out more net noise in the end because they're over-ear). Overall, these headphones are CRAZY and listening to music on them legit makes me EMOTIONAL cuz the sound hits so good. Now for the cons that I've noticed and irk me. These don't affect me as much because there are more features I like, but some of these cons may make or break it for some people: 1) When you facetime/talk on the phone, ambient sound comes in and you can't customize this. So for example, if you were walking on a busy street and had your noise cancelling on to listen to music, but then picked up a phone call, your noise cancelling would turn off, and you'd be able to hear all the loud street noise even though you're trying to focus on your phone call. 2) Sometimes bluetooth connection cuts off for 2-3 seconds and then reconnects. only happens maybe 1 time every 3 days? It's not too frequent 3) You can't connect more than 1 device to the headphones so switching from device to device can be a time hassle sometimes 4) There is a 'beep' sound everytime you do a touch-sensor control. Eg everytime you swipe up to increase volume, theres a beep. Not a fan of this TLDR: If you are looking for headphones that will make your music HIT you (and you can get over the cons mentioned above) GET THESE HEADPHONES. You will not regret it.

Comprei o WH-1000XM3 depois de muita dúvida entre ele e o Bose Noise Cancelling 700, pelo motivo simples de estar mais barato. Apesar de já ter usado fones com cancelamento de ruído ativo, ainda me impressionei com o WH. A qualidade do fone é inquestionável, extremamente confortável, muito bem construído, o fone não apresenta nenhum tipo de rangido ao manipulá-lo, a qualidade do som, como já é esperado de um falante de alto nível da Sony, é incrível, graves muito bons e bem colocados (em comparação com um Beats Studio, por exemplo, fica bem mais agradável). O App para celular de headphones da Sony é muito bom, permite o controle fácil do cancelamento de ruído e outros ajustes. O único ponto negativo que detectei não está diretamente relacionado ao fone e sim a case que o acompanha. O posicionamento do fone dentro da case é completamente sem sentido. No mais, é um fone completo, realmente topo de linha na categoria, vale muito à pena. Estou redigindo esta avaliação enquanto uso-o para ouvir um Podcast.