Sony WF-1000XM3
Few pairs of headphones were as eagerly anticipated as the Sony WF-1000XM3 true wireless earbuds. Their predecessors, the WF-1000X, launched in 2017, were a superior alternative to the distinctly average Apple Airpods of the time. But now, with no shortage of wireless headphone options, manufacturers have to work extra hard to stand out from the crowd. The Sony WF-1000XM3S manage to do that for all the right reasons.
Sony has swerved the bullet-like appearance of some wireless in-ears and shied away from the hanging teardrop designs. You can see a strand of DNA from the original WF-1000X, but the WF-1000XM3, available in either Black or Platinum Silver, are a new design.
Twist and lock
The outer section of each earpiece is smooth plastic with a small, touchsensitive circular patch on the surface of both buds that act as control pads. Sony provides seven different sizes of earbud; four ‘hybrid silicone’ buds and three ‘triple-comfort’ buds. The headphones enter the ear at a slight downward angle; you then have to twist them up to lock them in place. They are a comfortable fit – the intrusion is kept to a minimum, but the wearer still feels nicely isolated.
At the heart of each earpiece lies a Sony QN1E HD noise-cancelling processor. It’s virtually identical to the chip found in the Award-winning Sony WH-1000XM3 over-ear headphones. Sony claims this chip delivers a 40 per cent increase in noise-cancelling quality, compared with the WF-1000X.
It uses 24-bit processing and claims to bring greater efficiency to the headphones, allowing for better battery life. The chip acts not only as the noise-cancelling processor, but also handles DAC and analogue amplification duties. The Sonys support SBC and AAC codecs, but not aptx HD Bluetooth.
As is the norm with true wireless earbuds, the Sony WF-1000XM3S come with their own charging case – a chunky case with a striking copper-coloured top. Sony has made big strides with the WF-1000XM3’S battery life. There’s six hours of playback as standard, while the case has enough power for an extra three charges, giving a total of 24 hours using Bluetooth and noise-cancelling, rising to 32 hours with noise-cancelling off. There’s no battery indicator on the case, but the red LED light on the front blinks if it doesn’t have enough juice to charge the headphones fully.
The Sony Headphones Connect app gives a little more control over some of the functions of the WF-1000XM3. You can see the battery level of each earpiece and the case, alter the built-in equaliser and flip the functions of the touch controls – useful for left-handers. We would experiment with the DSEE HX sound processor, which can be switched on or off. We prefer the extra sparkle music seems to have with it on, although battery life takes a bigger hit.
Sony has done a decent job of implementing the touch controls. Out of the box, the left control pad is for turning noise cancelling on/off and engaging the Ambient Sound mode. Tap and hold to engage the Quick Attention feature, allowing you to hold a conversation without having to pause your music.
The right pad is for playback controls. Single tap to play/pause, a double tap skips forward and triple hit skips back. Tap and hold to start a conversation with your virtual assistant of choice – Siri and Google Assistant are supported. Alternatively, removing one of the earpieces automatically pauses what you’re playing. Place it back in your ear and it picks up where you left off.
The controls take a little time to get used to, particularly as it’s a small target for your fingers to aim for, but thankfully you don’t have to tap the pad right in the middle to get a reaction. The volume can be controlled through the touchpads by enabling the feature in the Headphones Connect app and assigning the function to an earbud.
Play Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car and the Sony WF-1000XM3 create a wonderfully musical sound. Instruments sound natural, believable and just as 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, the Sonys aren’t afraid to deliver each thwack with the kind of power and poise you’d expect from on-ear headphones.
We try the Sonys with video content from Netflix, BBC iplayer and Youtube and find no lip-sync issues with Top Gear as the headphones capture the excitable yelps of comedy duo Paddy and Freddie.
Sony has really pulled something special out of the bag with the WF1000XM3S. They sound excellent, battery life is up there with the best and they not only pack in active noisecancelling, but also execute it well.
The touch controls take a bit of getting used to, and it would be nice to support aptx HD Bluetooth, but apart from that, you can’t get a more musical and engaging performance from a pair of true wireless earbuds.