Sony is a brand that most consumers rely on for electronic entertainment necessities. Further emphasizing this statement, Sony has always been one of the leading companies in consumer electronics. One product that has proven the brand's legacy is the Sony WH-1000XM3, a wireless headphone the features an impeccable noise-canceling performance, excellent sound quality, and functionality that no other headphones could come close to.
The Sony WH-1000XM3 has been reigned as the king of active noise canceling "ANC" headphones on the market and has continued to do so for almost 4 years. Surprisingly, the one that dethroned the XM3 from its position is, of course, its successor, the Sony WH-1000XM4. Offering more features, functionalities, and improved sound quality as well as noise-canceling capabilities.
Luckily for consumers who have been demanding an equal performance in a form of earbuds, Sony has heard your voices. A year after they made the Sony WH-1000XM3 available on the market in 2018, they also released an earbuds version of the said device called Sony WF-1000XM3.
In this article
Sony WF-1000XM3
King of noise-canceling earbuds
The Sony WF-1000XM3 is claimed, by most, as the king of noise-canceling headphones on the market for earbuds. So if you are looking for top-notch earbuds perfect for traveling and home use, then better check out these earbuds.
Specification:
- Price: US$229.99
- Chipset: MediaTek MT2811SP
- Codec: SBC, AAC
- Bluetooth Specification Version 5.0
- Range: 10 m
- USB Cable: USB Type-C
- Driver: 6mm
HD noise-canceling processor QN1e
One particular technology that enables these earbuds to achieve industrial-grade noise-canceling performance is having a dedicated processor, the QN1e, to work on it. This processor specifically produces an inverted sound wave to cancel out background noises. By doing so, it enables the earbuds to cancel more noise on a wider spectrum of frequencies while using less power.
Touch controls
The Sony WF-1000XM3 headphones feature intuitive touch control settings. With a single tap on the left earbud, you can quickly change from Noise Canceling to Ambient Sound. When double-tapping the right earbuds, you will be able to skip to the next track.
Another caveat of the touchpad control is the volume control that you won't find on most earbuds on the market. By simply placing your finger over the earbud, you can adjust the volume level. You can also either increase it or decrease it to let in ambient sound. This also enables you to instantly chat with someone without taking these earbuds off.
By using the Sony Headphones Connect app, you can further configure the touch controls and add functionalities that won't be possible without the app. Furthermore, the app lets you assign alternative options, such as Google Assistant, Alexa, or Siri to each earbud.
Battery life and case
The Sony WF-1000XM3 earbuds have a rated battery life of up six hours when Bluetooth and active noise-canceling are enabled. It can reach up to eight hours with noise-canceling disabled.
Once empty, a 10-minute of charge is supposed to give you 90-minutes of usage. The case, on the other hand, has a built-in 700 mAh battery.
It is capable of charging both earbuds to full up to 3 times which gives it an extra 18 hours of use.
One major flaw that we find for this particular set of earbuds is the lack of support for wireless charging. Nowadays, a lot of earbuds from various price range supports this feature. So Sony needs to give the WF-1000XM3 a rework and update to keep this model up to date.
The case, on the other hand, is made of soft to touch plastic material. Both the earbuds and case can easily get grease and fingerprints due to the choices of materials.
Fit and comfort
Similar to almost every capsule-shaped earbuds, the WF-1000XM3 also highly relies on the ear tips to keep itself attached to your ears. The package, however, includes high-friction rubber ear tips that keep both earbuds snug and secure in your ears. Unfortunately, these earbuds are not meant for sports or gym use.
Ingress protection
The Sony WF-1000XM3 lacks any form of ingress protection which makes it the weakest point for these earbuds. Today's cheap and affordable earbuds already come with at least an IPX4 protection and for an earbud that cost as much as US$230, it's a glaring concern for most.
In case you do not know what we are speaking of, this only means that the WF-1000XM3 is not water or splash resistant and any form of liquid contact with it could potentially cause device irreparable damages.
Commonly asked questions about the Sony WF-1000XM3
In this section, we try to answer every commonly asked questions about these earbuds.
are Sony WF-1000XM3 waterproof?
No, the Sony WF-1000XM3 is not waterproof. It does not posses any form of ingress protection and contact with liquid could potentially cause damages.
are Sony WF-1000XM3 good for running?
No, the Sony WF-1000XM3 earbuds is not designed for any form of fast phased physicals activity such as running or working out on the gym.
are Sony WF-1000XM3 compatible with PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5?
By design, both SonyPlaystation 4 and 5 does not support Bluetooth connection with 3rd party devices. You can, however, use dongles that lets you connect these earbuds to your PlayStation console.
are Sony WF-1000XM3 compatible with iPhone/iOS devices?
The Sony WF-1000XM3 can be used and is compatible with iPhone and other iOS devices. These earbuds can be paired with multiple devices, but can only play music from 1 paired device at a time.
