Sony launched their updated wireless noise-cancelling headphones called the WH-XB900N a couple of weeks ago. This newer iteration stands as a bridge between company’s Extra Bass series and their more premium line up of WH-1000 series.
The XB900 attempts to deliver the best of both worlds with its low-end frequencies and sharper deeper base, that is quite unheard of at this price point. We, fortunately, had a chance to take this bad boy for a spin and see what it has to offer, so let’s take a look.
Design and Features
The design of the XB900N is made out of plastic but its sturdy construction sure offers some confidence. These are offered with a headphone cable and a USB-Type C cable for charging and of course a carrying pouch which comes in handy.
The look and feel don’t turn heads quickly attention, but that doesn’t mean its unattractive. It has subtle colour accents in the form of highlight points which make it quite interesting when holding in hand. The entire build quality will make you keen on taking it outdoors which presents a lot of usability that comes with its durable built.
The headphones are cleverly designed to be able to fold easily into a form compact enough for storing it in your backpack. Both earcups can be twisted to a 90-degree angle with its hinge mechanism making them ergonomic. Users can identify the bass duct on the headphones through the shiny coating of black or blue paint, which can be fine-tuned according to the environmental sound.
All buttons and jacks have been placed on the left earcup that houses the 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C port and a custom button that can be used to invoke Google Assistant or your favourite Siri. There is NFC too if your keen on connecting this headphone in a jiffy.
The right cup, on the other hand, has been tasked with the job of controlling the headphone, as it comes with a touch sensor that offers the user the option to control the volume or attend calls with a simple swipe. Both cups are capable enough to rest comfortably on your head and assist in isolating the ambient sounds thus driving the listening experience.
The XB900N has a neat little trick up its sleeves in the form of the Quick Attention mode which allows the ambient sound to pass through the headphones in times where the user needs to listen to a surrounding conversation. This mode effectively tuned down the sound which seems to be a part of the natural environment. Trust us when we tell you that this mode works brilliantly and serves as a mode you quite often would resort too as opposed to removing your headphones entirely.
Sound Quality
The two foundation pillars of the XB900N comes through its extreme bass and an extensive noise-cancelling feature. This headphone can intensify the bass in lows while the active noise cancellation creates a virtual envelope around your ears. The system uses a built-in microphone to monitor the ambient sounds and record its waveform, which it cancels with a negative waveform, thus negating the sound in its entirety.
The headphones can be used through the Sony Headphone Connect app that is available both on Android and IOS platform. The app has an equalizer to fine-tune the headphones as per your taste and adaptive sound control options for different situations. It can also be paired via a Bluetooth 4.2 controller with support for multiple audio codecs like LDAC, AAC, aptX HD and SBC. In our testing, the headphone stayed connected to our device up to a visible range of over 30 feet which is impressive.
The heavy bass is produced using the custom electro bass booster technology which tweaks the lows for a resounding output. This makes the headphone maintain the perfect balance between extreme highs and lows for a joyful experience.
Battery Life
The XB900N claims to deliver a battery life of over 30 hours on a single charge with noise cancellation enabled. This is purported to be true as we were able to get over 20 hours of music playback through our average testing.
However, the downside comes in the form of a charging time that was well over 6 hours to juice up the device to a complete 100 per cent.
Worth the money?
Through our extensive testing, we found the WH-XB900N does hold a valuable offer. The headphones share the same traits as their premium offerings with its bass-heavy profile and premium noise cancellation technology. For this particular headphone, it seems the case that Sony hasn’t cut around any corners as the device feels comfortable, robust, and delivers the perfect soundstage. So if you’re a bass-head looking for something that fits the tag of a premium headphone with not so premium price tag, well look no further. Well done Sony!
