Sony WF-1000X
DO THESE EARBUDS LIVE UP TO THEIR OVER-EAR COUNTERPARTS?
WHEN IT COMES to over-ear headphones, Sony’s WH-1000X cans are one of the best wireless sets on offer, rivalling even Bose’s crowdpleasing QuietComfort QC35s when it comes to audio quality and noise-cancelling. So it’s fair to say we had high hopes for these smaller WF-1000Xs, the former set’s in-ear counterparts — especially given their sky-high Aussie RRP of $399.95, which puts them a good $100 or more above most competitors.
Like many other ‘true wireless’ sets, they consist of two lightweight buds that come with their own combo charger/storage-case, which helps keep them clean and charged. The buds last around 3 hours per charge, and you can juice-up the case (which holds another two recharges) while you’re using the buds.
In the box, Sony has thrown in a generous seven sets of fit tips (four rubber and three foam) alongside three rubber ‘supporter’ attachments to help keep them in place, which all but ensure you’ll be able to get a tight fit. You might not even need those supporters either, as the WF-1000X’s are some of the lightest true wireless buds we’ve tried, weighing just 6.8g a pop. They’re not quite the most discrete, visually — they stick out a little more than some others — but their sleek design means their appearance isn’t too ‘loud’ either.
Sonically, they sound good, too — audio’s reasonably balanced but definitely tuned from a stronger midrange and bottom-end, although there’s still a pleasing amount of apparent detail — and each bud’s powered by a 6mm Neodymium dome driver. The noise-cancelling isn’t the strongest, however. It’ll cut out background aircon droning, but introduces its own constant quiet hiss.
Also disappointing is that there’s a half a second delay in transmission between playback device and buds — if you’re watching a video or playing a game on your phone or PC, that’s enough to get annoying quickly.
Given that price, we’d expect perfection, so with those shortcomings, the WF-1000Xs are hard to justify — especially considering you can find impressive alternatives for under $250.