Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless  Headphones Review

The Sony WH-1000XM3 are conservative-looking headphones. The headband has a two-tone finish with pleather coating over the pads. It doesn't look quite as premium as the Sony WH-1000XM2 Wireless' metal frame, but they're sleeker. The ear cups are fairly similar to the previous models but have contrasting accents around the vents and the Sony logo.

These headphones are very comfortable. They have soft padding, a headband design that fits the contours of your head, and a relatively lightweight design, resulting in less fatigue during long listening sessions. That said, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018 are still a bit more comfortable overall.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 have a good control scheme that's fairly easy to use. Swiping up and down controls the volume level while swiping left and right rewinds and skips tracks, respectively. Double-tapping pauses or resumes audio or answers and ends incoming calls. If you cover the touch-sensitive pad, you can also temporarily mute your music if you need to pay attention to your surroundings. Finally, the ambient button on the left cup can activate Aware Mode, though you can reconfigure it to trigger Google Assistant via the app instead. While feedback is less intrusive compared to previous models, the auditory cues aren't as loud, especially at high volumes.

Some users have indicated that the touch-sensitive controls don't work properly in colder climates. While we do plan to implement a cold and heat test in a future update, we can confirm that this headset's controls don't work as expected in cold conditions.

The Sony WH-1000XM3, like most closed-back over-ear headphones, aren't very breathable. They can create a good seal around your ears and reduce airflow. If you use these headphones while running or working out, you may sweat more than usual, but for more casual use, they should be fine.

Update 09/09/2020: We have remeasured the dimensions of these headphones, which has slightly lowered their portability score.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 are only passably portable. While their ear cups fold inwards to reduce their footprint, they're still quite bulky.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 come with a great hard case that should protect the headphones from scratches, minor falls, and water damage. It has a fabric finish instead of the pleather-like coating of other Sony headphones, which some may prefer. It's not the most portable case, but it'll easily fit in larger bags.

The Sony WH1000XM3 have a great build quality. They look and feel premium and should easily withstand a couple of accidental drops. The new headband design is sturdy and flexible, and the ear cups are dense. Unfortunately, the headband is coated with pleather-like padding that won't fare as well over time as the metal frame of the Sony WH-1000XM2 Wireless. They also have a similar yoke and hinge design, which may crack over time. We'll continue to monitor the discussion threads for any major defects with the headband that may warrant a score change. However, they still feel more premium and durable than the Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 are stable enough for a light jog, but won't be the ideal headphones for working out and exercising. Since the ear cups are moderately heavy and protrude from the sides of your head, they can sway a lot depending on the intensity of your workout.

• Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones
• 1/8" TRS audio cable
• USB-C cable
• Airline adapter
• Manuals
• Carrying case

The Sony WH-1000XM3's default sound profile is bass-heavy. Out-of-the-box, these headphones are well-suited for listening to genres like dubstep and electronica, with plenty of extra thump and rumble, well-balanced mids, and a slightly under-emphasized treble response. However, if this sound profile isn't right for you, the Sony | Headphones Connect app offers several audio presets and a graphic EQ to fine-tune your listening experience.

The frequency response consistency is great. In the bass range, they perform extremely consistently. In the treble range, they're also quite consistent, but to a lesser degree. This results in consistent bass and treble reproduction across multiple users and re-seats.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 have decent bass accuracy. While the entire range is overemphasized, the response is generally even and flat. Bass should be deep, full-bodied, and punchy, which is good if you like listening to genres like EDM. However, the rise in the high-bass range does generate a somewhat boomy quality in some mixes.

The mid accuracy of the Sony WH-1000XM3 is superb. The entire range is well-balanced and even, resulting in clear, present, and detailed vocals and lead instrumentals free of harshness.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 have good treble accuracy. The response throughout the range is even and well-balanced, but there's a broad dip between low treble and mid-treble. This results in a slight loss of clarity in both vocals and lead instruments.

The Sony WH-1000XM3's peaks and dips performance is good. The peak in the high bass gives extra thump to some tracks but can also generate a bit of boominess. The peak in the mid-treble can make some instruments and vocals sound piercing and painful. Otherwise, the frequency range doesn't exhibit too many sudden spikes or drops.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 have a good stereo imaging performance. Their weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in amplitude, frequency, and phase response, so objects like voices and sound effects should be accurately placed in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may not perform similarly.

The Sony WH-1000XM3's passive soundstage, like that of most other noise cancelling closed-back headphones, is poor. They create a spacious but ultimately unnatural soundstage, so sound may be perceived as coming from the inside of your head rather than speakers placed around you.

Update 02/07/2022: These headphones are compatible with Sony's 360 Reality Audio feature, which you can control in the companion app. In addition to Virtualphones Technology (VPT) and Sound Position Control, 360 Reality Audio can offer better sound quality. However, you need to subscribe to services that support this feature and use compatible files. We have updated our review to reflect these changes.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 offers Virtual Surround, an acoustic effect unique to Sony products. With this technology, you can control sound positioning in a 360-degree environment. These headphones also can turn multi-channel content into 3D binaural audio. These headphones also have a 360 Reality Audio feature available through the Sony Headphones Connect app that produces a better spatial quality of sound. To use this, you need to subscribe to a streaming service like Tidal or Nugs.net compatible with this technology.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is satisfactory. While there's some distortion in the low and mid-treble at both moderate and high volumes, the overall level of distortion remains fairly low, resulting in mostly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Sony WH-1000XM3. Our results are only valid for these test settings.

Note 09/09/2020: We have updated the ANC setting from "Maximum" to "On".

Update: 03/11/2019: Some users have been experiencing a reduction in noise cancelling performance after the 4.1.1 update. We re-tested our Sony WH-1000XM3, but from our measurements, it doesn't seem like there's a noticeable difference in noise cancelling efficiency. You can check out the results for yourself here. However, we may have gotten lucky with our unit since the consensus online seems pretty mixed on this issue. You can participate in the discussion thread below if you're also experiencing this issue.

The Sony WH-1000MX3's noise isolation performance is incredible. Their ANC system is outstanding, allowing them to filter out ambient noise across the frequency spectrum, ranging from the low rumble of bus and plane engines to the high-pitched hum of an AC unit.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 have decent audio leakage performance. A significant portion of it is spread over the mid-range, resulting in a fuller-sounding leakage compared to that of in-ears and earbuds. The overall level of the leakage is relatively low, so you shouldn't disturb people nearby while listening to music.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 have an integrated microphone.

The integrated microphone has a mediocre recording quality. Like most Bluetooth headphones, recorded speech may sound a little thin, noticeably muffled, and lacking in detail.

For Bluetooth headphones with a better performing microphone, take a look at the Jabra Elite 85h Wireless.

The microphone has okay noise handling capability. People on the other end of the line should be able to understand you if you're calling from moderately loud environments, like a busy street. However, they may still struggle to fully separate speech from ambient noise in really noisy environments.

Update: 08/02/2019: The auto-off timer only triggers after they're disconnected from their source rather than when no content is playing. We don't consider this to be a feature that prolongs the battery life as you could put the headphones down on your desk and they could still be connected to your PC or phone. The review and text have been updated.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 have good battery performance. They have about 27 hours of continuous playtime with ANC enabled. Unfortunately, they don't have a true smart auto-off timer and they need to be disconnected from a source to automatically turn off. If you're looking for a pair of Sony over-ears and value long battery life above all else, consider the Sony WH-H910N/h.ear on 3 Wireless, which provide roughly 40 hours of continuous playback.

The Sony | Headphones Connect app is excellent. It's easy-to-use and features a broad range of options, including a graphic equalizer with presets, an in-app media player, and options for room effects and sound position. You can also check live data on their adaptive noise cancelling performance. You can also calibrate the ANC directly in the app instead of holding the NC/ambient button.

These headphones come with an audio cable with no in-line remote or USB adapter. They only support audio via an analog connection as they use a TRS cable.

These headphones have decent Bluetooth connectivity. They support Google Fast Pair, which makes it a breeze to connect them to Android devices. Unfortunately, unlike the Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018, they don't support multi-device pairing. They also have high latency whether you're using the default SBC codec, aptX, or Sony's own LDAC high-res audio codec, which makes them less than ideal for watching movies and gaming. This won't be an issue if you only plan on playing audio. Note that some apps and devices compensate for audio latency differently, so your own experience can vary depending on what apps you use.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 can only connect wirelessly via Bluetooth.

You can use the Sony WH-1000XM4 wirelessly with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. You can also use them via an analog connection, but they can only receive audio, so you can't use their mic.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 can only receive audio when you wire their 1/8" TRS cable into your PS4 or PS5 controller's AUX jack.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 aren't Bluetooth compatible with the Xbox One. While you can still receive audio by plugging their audio cable into an Xbox One controller, you won't be able to use their integrated microphone.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 don't have a base or dock. If you want a versatile headset with a base that you can also use wired, check out the SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition Wireless.