Whoa, Sony Made Noise Canceling Earphones

Sony, the company that said Bose was the king of noise-canceling headphones, has just announced a new series of noise-canceling headphones that cost $ 100 less than its flagship gaming. They are called the Sony XB900N. (XB means Extra Bass, by the way.) "Uh oh," is probably what Bose is saying. "Whoa" might be a more appropriate answer from an average audio enthusiast.

The new $ 250 Sony XB900N Wireless Noise Canceling Headphone looks a lot like the Sony WH-1000XM3 at $ 350, which is probably intentional. We have always been impressed by Sony's noise-canceling wonder. Now society seems to be expanding the reach of its technology. At first glance, the XB900N looks exactly like the 1000X. The headband, for example, looks the same, but there are significant differences in the guts, because the new, cheaper Sonys does not have the anti-noise chip developed for the latest generation of the 1000X range. They also do not have the ability to adjust to atmospheric pressure, which will affect their performance in flight.

Sony regards the XB900N as an affordable noise canceling headphone for bass lovers. So, you may have a little less noise, but you will have a lot more bass! I spent about 12 minutes trying new headphones during a meeting with Sony in New York, and I can say that they have very good bass. Noise cancellation performance seemed good, although sitting in a quiet room with a headset and some representatives from Sony's public relations team is not the best way to test noise cancellation.

Sony clearly wants to sell noise-canceling headphones to anyone who can not or will not pay more than $ 300 for a noise-canceling headset. Its WH-1000X costs $ 350, as does the Bose QuietComfort II and the Beats Studio3 wireless. You can get the new Jabra Elite 85h priced at $ 300, the same price as the Sony H900N noise canceling headphones. So $ 250 for a Sony headset that looks like the $ 350 Sony headphones? It seems like an agreement.

It also looks like good marketing. Although I was able to spend a few minutes with the new XB900N and I took advantage of the thud of this extra bass, I do not know how they will stand up to their more expensive counterparts. The XB900N will be available online and in stores by the end of June. We will do a full review as soon as possible.