Sony WF-1000XM3 TWS Noise-cancelling earphones review

Sony WF-1000XM3 is one of the most popular, truly wireless, in-ear noise-cancelling earphones. It was launched in July 2019, in the International market. It inherits the property of audio quality which WH-1000XM3 offered. Sony finally launched it in India this year and we tried it out. Our experience and review is mentioned below:

Design

Sony has always been known as a premium brand, and the expectation is the same for each of their products as well. The design of Sony WF-1000XM3 is quite unique that one can distinguish it from a distance. The copper color lid also adds style to the charging case. It is a bit bigger in size so may be difficult to fit in the pocket.

The charging case has a soft matte finish contrary to a glossy finish along with a finger magnet on the case. There is a small strip of a red LED, which tells the charging status of the case. Beyond the LED there is NFC logo, which denotes the NFC transceiver, is right underneath. On the rear side of the case, it has USB-Type C charging port.

The lid is magnetic and opens fairly but not too wide. It also doesn’t threaten earbuds to fall from the case. When you remove earbuds from the shell, the tri-hold structure fits perfectly but it looks a bit bulky. If you compare it with other earbuds they are little bigger than compare to TWS in the market. Being lightweight, they were comfortable and fit perfectly. Sony is also giving an extra pair of foam ear tips and silicone ear tips in 3 different sizes respectively.

However, we tried using it while running in the field but have a fear of accidentally falling out of the ear. So it is not ideal for workouts and jogging sessions. It can be used while travelling, watching movies, listening to songs and doing meetings while WFH during the pandemic as these is best use case scenario.

Performance and Battery

When it comes to best audio Sony is in the top 3 rankings and expect the top-notch audio from WF-1000XM3. Starting with the noise-cancelling feature it has taken a huge leap with any other competition in the market. There are some added features including 360 Reality Audio, the Ambient Sound Mode, Quick attention mode which overall gives immersive and enhanced experience.

Sony brings the Dual Noise Sensor technology coupled with new HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1e to cancel noise. During testing, the construction of a building was in progress nearby with heavy noise outside the house, even while walking through the lanes blowing horns all over but thanks to noise-cancelling features which completely kept us undistracted. The background noises are completely blocked when used for calling and the person on another side could hear clearly as well. We recommend to switch off the ANC mode while walking on a busy road as it can hinder situational awareness, causing an accident.

If we talk about playing different music genres and result is clear it throws superlative sound quality, clarity and is equally soothing. The bass is punchy, highs are crisp and clear, lows are handled well too. If you are addicted to music listening then this is the best accessory you can gift yourself.

The WF-1000XM3 comes with the universal headphones app which is present on both the App Store and Play Store. If you haven’t tried we recommend installing simultaneously with pairing it with the smartphone, it gives more customization. The earbuds support the Digital Sound Enhancement Engine HX (DSEE HX) which helps to step up the audio quality and it can be turned off/on only with the app. The app also provides equaliser which helps to change the bass, treble according to the taste of music. It also has few predefined inbuilt modes.
We usually prefer Bass-heavy music, the WF-1000XM3 hits the ball out of the park for bass lovers. It has an adaptive sound control mode which works on the sensors placed in earbuds and monitors our body position changes the sound mode as per your surroundings.

The WF-1000XM3 comes with the universal headphones app which is present on both the App Store and Play Store. If you haven’t tried we recommend installing simultaneously with pairing it with the smartphone, it gives more customization. The earbuds support the Digital Sound Enhancement Engine HX (DSEE HX) which helps to step up the audio quality and it can be turned off/on only with the app. The app also provides equaliser which helps to change the bass, treble according to the taste of music, it also has few predefined modes inbuilt. I prefer Bass-heavy music, the WF-1000XM3 hits the ball out of the park for bass. It has an adaptive sound control mode which is works on the sensors placed in earbuds and monitors our body position changes the sound mode as per your surroundings.

The WF-1000XM3 has in-ear wearing detection which stops the music once you take them out of ears and resume instant once plugged back in the ear. These earbuds also touch control settings – single tap on circular shape lets play or pause music, tap on the left earbud to change from Noise Cancelling to Ambient Sound, or double-tap on the right to skip to the next track. It has all the three major voice assistant Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri support to interact seamlessly.

Connectivity of WF-1000XM3 with the iPhone was quick; it paired quickly and reconnects automatically once earbuds are out of the case. Though we also had occasional connectivity issues, while switching facetime calls to music or to gaming. Even though it didn’t happen many times it is still worth a mention. The call quality of the earbuds is pretty good on both ends as the receiver could hear me properly.

The company claims these earbuds can last for 6 hours with ANC on and 8 hours without ANC, after using for two straight weeks we can surely verify that claims by Sony are accurate.

Gizmo Verdict

he Sony WF-1000XM3 is no doubt one of the best TWS present in the market which supports both iOS and Android smartphones, can be paired with laptops too. It has the best ANC and premium audio quality with the latest technology features included.

Sony will definitely go one on one with Apple AirPods Pro and Sennheiser Momentum in the premium segment.

Pros