Sony WH-1000XM3 Headset: Goodbye, Bose



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I'm not one of those New Yorkers who like to walk around with big headphones, especially noise boxes. Awareness of the situation is important when you avoid pedestrians, traffic and the daily surprises of city life. In general, I walk around with a pair of wireless earpieces, one in my left ear. I felt less anxious in the city with the 1000XM3, because its ambient sound modes did a fantastic job in terms of outside noise.

You can access it by pressing a left-ear button or by using the Sony Connect mobile app, which allows you to adjust the amount of external sound you let in. A convenient option lets you focus on the voices. Wear the headphones in a noisy office, but still hear your colleagues. And if you do not want to deal with ever-changing parameters, there is adaptive sound control, which modifies the noise suppression according to your environment. It usually reduces all the noise when you sit down, but lets in the ambient sound once you start moving.

The Sony application also allows you to customize the noise cancellation on your hearing profile by reproducing a series of tones when wearing the headset. And it can also change the functionality based on your current air pressure, which should make it work even better on planes. I'm honest, it's hard to say if these application settings really improved things. But it only took a placebo to make me think that the headphones were actually designed for me. You can also integrate Google Assistant into the 1000XM3 via the Sony application, which turns the noise canceling button located in the left headset into a prompt of the wizard. Although the feature works well, I prefer to have sound controls at hand. If Sony really wants to go with Google Assistant, it should at least have a dedicated button.

Sony claims that the 1000XM3 has 30 hours of battery life, and this is not far from my tests. He survived my flight to Berlin, as well as several days of constant use without the need for a refill. Sony has also added a USB-C port for charging, which is useful if you are already collecting devices that support this new standard. If you have a well-connected USB-C connection (or a Sony AC adapter), the headset will have five hours of charge after just 10 minutes.

Bose has long been the king of noise canceling headphones, but Sony has weathered well over the years with the 1000XM range. This latest iteration is the punch that Sony needs (especially since Bose is still struggling to combine a decent noise reduction with high quality sound in its headphones). The biggest disadvantage of the 1000XM3 is its price of $ 350. It's the same as the last QuietComfort of Bose, at least it's competitive. If you want something almost as good, take a look at Sony's Hear On 2 headphones. They are not as comfortable as the 1000XM3, but you can find them under $ 150.

Based solely on its fit and sound quality, the WH-1000XM3 is one of the best headphones I've ever known. But the integration of the elimination of background noise makes it also one of the most useful equipment. At a particularly busy morning on my Brooklyn block, the 1000XM3 m helped keep my spirit in mind as a truck and a row of cars honked in front of my window during a half hour. This did not completely cover the noise, but it reduced the horn of the truck from ear-piercing to minor nuisance. And once I started playing music, I was able to ignore it completely. Sometimes it's nice to have instant silence on demand.

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