Sony WF-1000XM3
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Sony has swerved the bullet-like appearance of some wireless in-ears and shied away from the hanging down teardrop designs. You can see a tiny strand of DNA from the original WF-1000XS, but the 1000XM3S are a brand new design.
Originally launched at £220, these buds are now available at £170, making them something of a bargain. In each earpiece is a Sony QN1E HD noise-cancelling processor, similar to the chip in the WH-1000XM3 over-ears. Sony claims it delivers a 40 per cent increase in noise-cancelling quality, compared with the WF-1000X.
Battery life is better too, at six hours of playback with Bluetooth and noise-cancelling, while the case has enough power for an extra three charges, totalling 24 hours.
Play Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car and the Sonys have all the ingredients required to create a wonderfully musical sound. Instruments sound natural and just as expressive and captivating as her emotive vocal. There’s subtlety in spades as the bass notes of the track rise and fall in intensity.
As the drum kit explodes into life for the chorus, the Sonys aren’t afraid to deliver each thwack with power and poise. This kind of dynamic dexterity is hard to communicate in on-ears, never mind small in-ear headphones.
Switch to The XX’S I Dare You and the WF-1000XM3S immediately lock into a rhythmic groove and show an impressive turn of pace. The track flows along effortlessly. Bass is weighty and wholesome, but punchy and agile too. Vocals are prominent, but don’t over power. There’s a real sense of musicality and balance.
We compare the new model with the original WF-1000XS and the newer buds sound more open, dynamic and detailed. The level of transparency is judged nicely too – poor recordings aren’t dressed up, but high-quality tracks really sing.
Part of the credit has to go the noise cancelling on the WF1000XM3S. It’s clearly a step up and even without music playing you can hear the headphones cancelling out more background noise. They can’t match a proper pair of over-ear noise-cancelling headphones but it’s hard not to be impressed with what Sony has done with such small earbuds.
Sony has achieved something special with the WF-1000XM3S. They sound excellent, battery life is up with the best and they are one of the only pairs on the market to pack in active noise-cancelling and execute it so well.