I’ve always been skeptical when it came to wireless earphones, mainly because I know how I always tend to lose things. I didn’t want to invest in a pair that I predicted I’d eventually lose. But Sony’s WF-1000X is quick to change my mind about wireless earphones.
While improvements could be made to the device, it’s still pretty neat and offers exceptional sound quality. I noticed a few bugs now and then but it was never enough to make me think these earphones weren’t good.
Design
The WF-1000X is surprisingly bulky. At first glance, they look miniscule and light. While they are pretty small, they appear to bulge out of your ear and it isn’t exactly the most aesthetically pleasing look. They do manage to stay in your ear for long periods of time without sliding out, even while you’re traveling – which was much appreciated.
The box does include additional ear pieces that come in different sizes.
Similar to the other devices in the 1000X series, the WF-1000X has a minimal design. It comes in two colours (black and beige) and Sony really hasn’t gone over the top with the way they’ve designed the devices.
Features
The left earpiece has the power button while the right one has a button that serves as a playback button and allows you to answer calls. Unfortunately, there is no volume control button on these earphones but that’s understandable due to their small size. I can’t imagine it would be easy to control the volume with tiny buttons on an already tiny device. Even though I prefer my earphones to have a volume control function on the device, I can’t be mad at Sony for being practical about this decision so I definitely would not list this as a con.
Sony advertises these earphones as “truly wireless with interrupted bluetooth streaming” and while they do stay true to this, I noticed that the right earpiece would sometimes experience signal loss for less than a second. It only happened two or three times and never lasted for more than a second, but it’s not something that brings the earphones down in quality.
Sony makes use of their Adaptive Sound Control feature to provide for a better listening experience. The feature automatically detects your activity and adjusts the ambient sound to suit your surroundings. This can be played around with through the designated Headphones Connect app.
You can choose to turn off the noise cancellation so that you can hear the people around you. I did test this out by choosing the Voice Mode to see if I could hear someone speaking while I was still listening to my music. It did work, but I found myself unable to hear them clearly and I had to either turn the music lower or take them out completely.
The app also has an equalizer that enables you to adjust the quality of your music. I, of course, increased the bass.
Performance
I can tell you with complete honesty that the WF-1000X’s noise cancellation is truly admirable. I tested out the earphones while I was taking the bus and as soon as I put them in my ears, I couldn’t hear anything around me. I had never been so immersed in my music that I couldn’t even hear the cars passing by. Even when the music fades out and starts to play the next track, the earphones still keep it quiet in your ear and all you can hear is gentle wind around you.
As for sound quality, the earphones do a good job at playing your favorite tracks with incredibly detail and precision. For a pair of bluetooth earphones, the sound doesn’t distort even one bit and your music flows through flawlessly. Sure, the bass isn’t as prominent but that’s not what Sony has advertised (besides, you can play around with the bass through the app’s equalizer).
The tiny 6mm driver really does deliver clear sound. If you listen to an instrument-heavy track such as Wish You Were Here by Incubus, you’re not going to be sorry. I usually find that my regular pair of earphones are unable to play the track clearly and without distortion, but the WF-1000X plays it so beautifully and I was left stunned.
It does well with pop music too. It doesn’t go overboard by only showcasing one aspect of a track. The earphones manage to balance out the vocals and beats meticulously and it’s remarkably impressive.
Sony advertises the WF-1000X as having a 3 hour battery life and I’ve found that you can have continuous listening for exactly that.
These earphones by far have had the least battery life than any other bluetooth device I’ve tested out. However, once you’re three hours are up, you can pop them back into their charging case (provided that too has been charged) and charge them on the go! I suppose there isn’t too much to complain about in that aspect. They could do with a higher battery life, but the charging case certainly helps.
Verdict
All in all, Sony has thoroughly impressed me. I never thought I’d ever want a pair of wireless earphones. While wires can be annoying at times, they make me feel more secure. But the WF-1000X has quickly changed my mind and I’m looking forward to venturing on with hassle free journeys.
Sony’s WF-1000X sells for AED 899!
