Powered by the all-new QN1 HD Noise Cancelling Processor, and introducing a superior sound with tons of new customization options, the Sony WH-1000XM3 comes in as one of the best headphones in its category.
Design
Unlike its successor, the XM3 moves from metal to plastic in the headband making it lighter to use, which might feel a bit less premium for some (we’ve actually preferred the new material).
Last year’s spotted texture on the ear cups are now replaced by a smooth, matte finish. The headband bends more than the previous design and fits closer to the head, reducing what Sony called ‘the Mickey Mouse effect’, where the gap between head and headband makes you look like…you. know, Mickey. The space for the ears is now larger and deeper as well, allowing more comfort.
The foam inside the ear cups is thick and extremely soft and is made form synthetic leather.
Features
The new QN1 chip provides four times the signal processing performance over the older model. The right ear cup features a touch panel to play/pause, answer calls, change volume, and skip tracks by swiping / double tapping.
The Quick Attention’ mode can be activated by holding your hand over the cup, which reduces the music and lets in outside noise, in case someone is talking to you. The gesture also allows to activate Siri if you’re connected to an iPhone.
A new change is the charging mechanism, with a new USB-C port replacing the old micro-USB standard with improved quick charging, where 10 minutes of charging will provide five hours of battery life.
Also improved is the The automatic power-off feature, which now can be controlled through Sony’s Connect app, and lets you increase the amount of time before cutting off the music when no audio signal is detected.
The app also offers an Adaptive Sound Control feature allowing you to optimize noise-canceling depending on the environment. In conditions where the app is not available you can control the headphones’ active noise cancellation using the NC/Ambient button on the left ear cup.
During flights, the optimizer even adapts based on changes in atmospheric pressure. The app also lets you change the direction of where you want the sound to come from.
Sound Performance
The headphones pack 40-mm drivers in each ear cup which produce a frequency response of up to 40,000 Hz with a 32-bit audio signal processing powered by the QN1 processor. The ear cups also include inbuilt digital-to-analogue (DAC) converter and analogue amplifier.
Codec support on the WH-1000XM3 is just fantastic, the headphones are able to process SBC, aptX, aptX HD, AAC and LDAC, covering the major high resolution audio formats, automatically switching to one of these when “Priority on sound quality” is selected on the app.
The WH-1000XM3 headphones offer a clear sonic experience with a spacious sound bringing every instrument used to life. This is all coupled with crisp details and enhanced dynamics, and deep (satisfying) bass.
Whatever your style of music, we can safely say, the WH-1000XM3 nailed the performance levels by far.
Verdict
I’ve worn the 1000XM3s on multiple occasions around town, in the metro and even at home where a constriction site next door is constantly using drill and hammers, and have to say, at many instances, not even my Quiet Comforts were able isolate the sound like Sony’s XM3s. Sony wins the audio performance war this time as well, it’s simply impressive.
If you are in the market for wireless headphones, look no further! The Sony WH-1000XM3 are some of the best headphones you can buy.
