Sony WF-1000XM3 Industry Leading Noise Canceling Truly Wireless Earbuds Headset/Headphones with AlexaVoice Control And Mic For Phone Call, Black

UNBOXING: The first thing to do is to find the correct fit. This, like it has always been for in-ear buds, is a trial and error process. Out of the box, Sony provides you with six pair of tips - 3 pairs of silicone ones and 3 pairs of memory foam ones. I have large ears with almighty ear canals, and based on my past experience with other in-ear buds, I went for the large memory foam tips. These turned out to be too big, and the earphones dangled precariously off my ears. So I swapped them with the medium foam tips; this gave me the perfect and the most comfortable tip. The next thing I did was pop the earphones back into the case, and the case to a power supply so that both the case and the buds charged to 100%. I already had the companion Sony Headphones app on my phone, but if you don't, you can download it. Once they were charged, I launched the Sony Headphones app, went through the connection wizard, tapped my phone on the case (NFC) and that's it. They were paired - a very hassle free, and a no tech challenge process, which anyone can do. Bluetooth connectivity was perfect. I could roam around anywhere in my 1 room kitchen apartment without losing connectivity. Once these babies were paired, I popped them into my ear, and then launched the companion app to configure them. CONFIGURATION & PLAYBACK: Right out of the box, this pair provides a very neutral sound-stage with clear mids, though the highs can be very tinny and the lows quite muffled. This might make some people to take the knee jerk reaction of returning them as they do not sound all that well for the price. Well, don't, and have patience. Configure them to suit yourself, and that's how you'll get the best out of them. Configuration depends on the kind of music you listen to, and hence this step is critical. Personally, I'm not beholden to a particular genre, which makes this stage of the onboarding a bit difficult. I launched the Youtube music app, and started cycling through some of my favorite songs in the metal, pop, vocal, reggaeton, hip-hop, EDM and trap genres. To give an idea: I cycled through songs by Pink Floyd, Paradise Lost, John Legend, Post Malone, Nicky Jam, Alan Walker, Lil Nas X, Skrillex, Flosstradamus, Fever Ray, Florence + The Machine & Eminem. And post that, I went to work with the Equalizer, tweaking it while cycling through the same songs to find the perfect blend of settings that can achieve the sweet spot of a great sound-stage applicable to all these genres. My final equalizer settings for the slider bars: +4, +2, -2, -2, 0 with Clear Bass set to +8. I found that these settings gave me the best sound-stage across all the genres (of course, these won't be perfect for any one genre, but it is either that, or tweak them according to the genre that you listen to). I also set DSEE HX to ON, since this allows for the audio stream to be upscaled to simulate a high resolution stream - a good to have feature if you listen to streamed audio like I do. With the afore mentioned settings, I found that I retained the clear mids, but I was also able to deepen the lows and make the highs sound natural. USAGE: The drivers do taking some burn-in, and I started hearing a slight upgrade in quality after the first 10-12 hours of use. This was the same for my WH-1000XM3s, which sound absolutely wonderful after 4 months of use. While this pair is great on the ears while traveling (I sweat quite a bit, and the over-ear cans become uncomfortable for me), I'd still prefer the WH-1000XM3 if I'm at my desk working, or if I'm in an airplane traveling, because there is definitely some ear fatigue (which is typical for in-ears). The fit, once you have achieved it correctly as described in the first part of this review, is secure, and I did not feel any risk of these falling off. I would definitely not take this pair out for jogging or any gym exercises, since they are not water resistant, and the fit is not secure enough to handle strenuous activities of jumping, running, etc. CONCLUSION: All in all, this is a great pair, and well worth the price, if you have the patience to configure them according to your specific use cases. I highly recommend both the models from Sony, both are winners in my book, and I hope to use them for many years. PS: If you use the Tidal app, it's probably a good idea to go through the 360 degree music setup. I don't, and hence I didn't.

All I can say is that I, like the many reviewers who have already posted, are thoroughly impressed with these new noise-canceling earbuds from Sony. Let’s start with the easiest. These things are visually gorgeous. The charging box in which they sit reminds us of the Sony of “yore” (is Sony seeing somewhat of a Renaissance these days? It sure seems so). The black and rose gold color combination is stunning, and the functionality of the charging box matches it. The individual earbuds fit perfectly in their holding spots inside the case, and are magnetically pulled and held into place. A USB 3 (thank you, Sony!) connects the charging case to the power source. The earbuds and the case are simultaneously charged if both are low, or only the earbuds are charged if the case is charged, or if you are using the case apart from a power source to charge the earbuds. Great design. Next, the comfort of the earbuds themselves is exceptional. I was highly skeptical that they would be either comfortable or stable in the ear, but I am happy to report that they are both comfortable AND easily stay in place. Of course, getting good sound depends very heavily on putting the correct size of the ear caps on the earbuds, so make this choice carefully. If you do not have the proper size on ANY earbuds, they will generally sound terrible. Again, Sony did well here by providing three sizes of two material types of buds so that you can get the perfect fit. Bluetooth connection is accomplished by a touch sensor on the right and left earbuds. You simply touch each simultaneously and the headphones go into connection mode. I had no trouble getting them connected to my phone. Both blue and red lights on the buds and on the charger signal charging, pairing, and connection. (It is advised to quickly look over the included blue-and-white instruction sheet to see the sequence of steps for each of these operations.) Sounds quality is very good. The headphones will not produce pounding bass, but with the right equalization settings, the correctly-sized earbuds, etc. Little practice, the sound is very pleasing. The signature is more-or-less flat throughout the range, with a drop in the lower end of low bass. However, there is still plenty of mid-range bass, and I find the speakers quite pleasant in the manner in which they accurately and clearly reduce the music. This part of any headphones is a highly personalized factor, but I can’t imagine anyone would be disappointed unless they are looking for something that turns out massive amounts of bass at all times. Finally, noise reduction. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve been using Sony noise reduction systems for nearly 20 years on a variety of models with different headphones with great satisfaction (and before most people were even interested in noise reduction). There is absolutely no question that the noise reduction on these earbuds is beyond exceptional: it's almost unbelievable how well they work. As many people point out, they will not remove all voice noise (but will reduce it), but it’s the other noises—airplanes, fans, generators, cars, etc.—that these just handle with aplomb. To be honest, I did not expect them to be any better than my last Sony noise reduction sets, but they certainly are, no kidding. You have to hear them to believe them. This is a five-star item in nearly every respect. As people find out about them, they will become more and more popular. Amazing!

Only had these a day but impressed so far. Had a bit of trouble trying to update the buds on receipt but all sorted now. Great sound quality. Once right tips fitted sits in my ears well. These buds are certainly a step up on my previous Melomania buds. Reassuringly expensive

Very good sound quality with effective noise cancellation and ambient sound control.

Compré estos audífonos hace ya mas de 3 meses y estas son mis impresiones: •La presentación de los audífonos es muy buena, definitivamente da la sensación de que estas comprando un producto premium •En mi caso los compré en color plateado y la verdad me han gustado, son cómodos aunque eso si, no los más discretos, el estuche se siente bien, con una textura de plástico suave en su exterior y plástico normal en la tapa, como consejo creo que conviene que le compres una funda pues, en mi caso, de solo tenerla en mi escritorio la tapa la tengo un poco rayada •En cuanto a comodidad ninguna queja, los uso por periodos prolongados en la oficina y en lo personal no me molestan, uso los eartips de foam (los que no son transparentes) quedándome los del tamaño que ya venían puestos, al tenerlos no siento que se me vayan a caer, al estar sentado y de vez en vez caminar un poco, pero no creo que sean idóneos para realizar actividades que requieran de bastante movimiento (ejercicio, etc.) pues tampoco tienen mucho para quedarse en su lugar, sino que están pensados para uso en oficina, doméstico o commuting •La cancelación de ruido es buena, la utilizo en el transporte y la verdad sin mayor queja, con los eartips correctos aisla muy bien el sonido externo, no al 100% pero si al menos lo suficiente para no distraerte de tu musica o serie •El modo sonido ambiente que deja entrar el sonido exterior está ok para cuando quieres estar un poco al pendiente de lo que pasa en el exterior, aunque yo diría que no es apto para su uso en la calle, al menos no con la música aún sonando, en mi caso lo uso cuando transbordo de transporte teniendo que cruzar solo una calle, por flojera de meterlos y luego volverlos a sacar; si pulsas el botón touch del auricular izquierdo dejandolo presionado deja entrar aún mas el sonido exterior en tanto lo mantengas presionado, excelente para cuando escuchas música y alguien te esta hablando y quieres escuchar lo que te va a decir. •Una mención aparte el micrófono, esta ok en entornos silenciosos durante una llamada, pero en el transporte quien me está llamando dice no escucharme muy bien, esto ya me pasó no una sino varias veces y es igual, por lo que si alguien me marca en el transporte debo desactivar el sonido entrante de la llamada de los auriculares y debo hablar convencionalmente por medio del celular •La duración de la batería diría también que está ok, bastante decente, esta disminuye dependiendo si el ecualizador está encendido, el noise cancelling o el ambient sound, o la mejora de sonido, me suele durar por completo 3 días de uso intensivo (días en cuanto a la carga de los audífonos agotando también la del estuche), siempre con el ecualizador y de vez en vez el ANC activado, con la mejora de sonido activada (DSEE HX) disminuye drásticamente su tiempo de uso •Otra mención aparte la aplicación de los audífonos, la considero muy buena donde gestionar las diversas configuraciones de los audífonos, además de incluir un par de tutoriales acerca de su funcionamiento •Por último el sonido, tengo unos Bose QC35 II y honestamente, no tiene nada que envidiarles, soy un fan del sonido mas no un experto, por lo que su principal diferencia notable entre ambos es el soundstage, mas amplio en los Bose que en los Sony, pero son estos los que me gusta más su sonido, más personal al momento de escucharla, eso si, es necesario hacer uso del ecualizador de los audífonos en la app para realmente disfrutar su sonido, y que con su función clear bass, sin ser invasivo en el sonido, tienen un bajo bastante disfrutable y presente En conclusión, en el precio actual que se encuentran ($3,000 o menos) valen mucho la pena, son unos audífonos bastante completos con un buen sonido, ANC y duración de batería mas que correcta, como puntos flacos a tener en cuenta, su micrófono para llamadas en entornos ruidosos, y que no son óptimos en uso para personas muy activas

Depois que comecei a usar esses não quero outro, esses têm recursos impressionantes para configurar no App no celular. A bateria dura umas 6 horas utilizando configuração de redução de ruído. Carrega muito rápido com 3 pontos de contato e na caixinha dele também tem bateria recarregável. A qualidade dos materiais e excelente. Nas partes de borracha o material é muito resistente e tem sensor que "percebe" quando colocamos ou retiramos os fones e podemos até configurar para dar pausa quando retiramos da orelha. Quando colocamos os fones devemos girar um pouco para melhor encaixe nos ouvidos. A cor é discreta. A caixinha parece um pouco grande em relação aos concorrentes mas cabe muito bem no bolso. Nos próprios fones têm sensor que aceita pequenos toques para mudar configurações de uso, basta pré-configurar até 6 opções no App no celular. Dá para configurar cada lado de forma diferente, por exemplo, um lado pode ser para dar pausa/play/anterior/próxima faixa e no outro aumentar/diminuir volume ou acessar Alexa ou acionar o redutor de ruído e outros. A redução de ruído é impressionante e dá para deixar ressaltado somente voz, assim você pode configurar o volume de voz que pode querer ouvir e isolar outros sons ou isolar tudo. Para dormir em local barulhento e ideal, aliás esse foi o motivo de minha compra e estou muito satisfeito. Chego a ter que informar que vou por o fone para que não pensem que não quero dar atenção mesmo estando acordado. O bluetooth é 5.0 então pega até nos outros cômodos e dá pra ficar ouvindo música com excelente qualidade fazendo outras coisas tranquilamente. A qualidade do som é maravilhosa. Os graves e agudos são nítidos, os efeitos como de eco, de ambiente aberto, de ambiente fechado, tudo isso fica bem nítido no som. A gente consegue perceber todo o trabalho que tiveram na produção da música. Só encontrei um ponto negativo que é de não parear com o bluetooth de tv's LG e Samsung (talvez consiga parear com tv Sony). Para parear com celular é ótimo e depois do primeiro pareamento o próprio App gerencia o acesso automaticamente não precisando se preocupar mais com a conexão que é super rápida. As mensagens são em português e podemos configurar para que elas nos digam quando a bateria estiver ficando sem carga. Tem muitas outras configurações que não usei por não precisar no meu caso. É caro, mas no meu caso que tenho dificuldade para dormir e acordo com qualquer ruído, foi perfeito.

Clearly the best among the price. For 9k i think there's no way any TWS earphone can beat The Sony. XM4 isn't yet available here and I'm sure it will have atleast double the price. If you are looking for compact buds, please move on, these aren't for you. The earbuds and the case are bulky axf. Coming to sound quality. These deliver rather flat sound, natural as it is. No boosted base or highs which is very pleasant and what I always expect when i pay so much money. You never want something more emphasized and then later regret when you listen to different variety of sounds. It's Sony so sound is never a problem. Touch controls are really good, BUT they will activate when you move around in bed and touch the buds to pillow 😂 it's really an inconvenience but eh okay. Another problem is, you can have ambient sound control on one side and music control on other but can't have volume control in the mix. If you want volume control you gotta sacrifice one of those above. And lemme say this, ambient sound controls and playback controls are very necessary, Sony please figure a way to slide in volume controls and also I think you should slide in Ai assistant controls somehow too cuz having wireless buds is really handy when using Ai on the go but even to put Ai controls i gotta assign one whole bud side to Ai and nothing else. Ofc these aren't a deal breaker but just remember these are there, and oh other buds do worse than this, atleast sony is a bit more flexible. Manual Equalizer in sony app covers the rest. I like how one bud can be used independently. And two of them can be used with 2 devices? (Happened to me once itself when one bud connected to laptop and another to phone, never tried deliberately). I am NOT pissed about the battery, the backup is decent and easily goes for 2-3 or more days (for me) because I don't keep them on my ears for absolute everytime like some psychos. Well if you go yolo it will probably last more than a day considering you gotta charge buds from the case and put back on. And the case charges pretty fast too, and you can always charge case while using buds themselves so never been a problem. As for just the buds alone using continuously, eh idk, since I wasn't playing all the time, but they definately lasted way more than 6h, like.. morning to night...(?) But remember most time they were idle in my ears. Coming to the biggest main highlight of the buds. Noise cancelling. The best ever in any buds. For all the fools in reviews trying to figure out why it isn't good or whatever, guys, you need to find complete isolation in ear for ANC to work. In any headphones or earphones, ANC will only work if the buds are completely sealed in ears. Better use foam tips because for obvious reasons. If the provided ones aren't the perfect fit and you need something in between, try finding foam tips on Amazon, you've spent like 8-10k on thesez spend a few hundred more to get ANC working properly. The ANC really is even capable to cancel out the loud sound of train and most of people chatter, just the really high pitch sounds come through but they are completely masked by whatever you play in the buds so. ANC here is a beast. Remember ANC cancels out the lows and some of mids. Highs are not completely gone but whatever you play will mask it. Call quality is average. I have a big head big ears and beard so the buds don't stick out and actually looks really premium, with that golden hole and sony branding, people know you haven't cheaped out on your buds 🤣 like i7 or calltek fake airbuds whatever that is. There are lot more features on app and all but idc, these are main things and I've pointed them out. Make your choice.