Computer Shopper - UK (2020-04)

ISSUE386|COMPUTER SHOPPER|APRIL2020 81

SSSONY’SPREVIOUSANCheadphones,the
MMMDR-1000XandWH- 100 0XM2,wereboth
gggreat,but theynever quite managed to topple
the Bose QuietComfort series, particularly on
nnnoisecancellationquality.Now,however,the
third-generation WH-1000XM3 is here,and
nnnotonlyhasittakenthecrown,it’sseenoff
ccchallenges from both audiophile brandssuch
aaasBowers&WilkinsandBose’sreworked
NNNoiseCancellingHeadphones700.

SOFTTOUCH
DDDesign-wise,the WH-1000XM3 are similar to
the WH-1000XM2, except forthe headband’s
mmmetalcorebeingcoveredupwithfauxleather
foraless industrial look.Withthicker and
sssoftercushioningontheearpadsand
immmprovedpaddingontheheadband,the
WWWH-1000XM3aremorecomfortablethan
eeever,soyou can wear the headphones for
hhhoursonend andnot feel thestrain.
Smooth surfaces on the earcupsmaintain
theminimallook, and there’s abrace of
buttons on the leftearcup forcontrolling the
ANC and turning theheadphones on and off.
Playback and volume controlsare delivered
through atouch-sensitive panel on the
right-hand cup.
While thesecontrolstake alittle bit of
getting used to –you doubletap to playor
pause songsand swipe in variousdirections to
skip tracks and rampupthe volume –theydo
enable avery clean look. Theyalso let you
temporarily cut the volume and disable noise
cancelling so youcan hear your surroundings,
by covering thepanel with the palm of your
hand.This might look daft sometimes, but
it feels very intuitive.
AUSB Type-C portsitsonthe bottom of
the right earcup, whilea3.5mm jack is on the
left, meaning there’s stillanoptionfor awireeeddd
connection if youdon’t want to use battery-
sapping Bluetoothall the time.
The WH-1000XM3 come withagenerousss
selection of extras.You get asemi-hard,
fabric-covered case,3.5mm analogue and
USB charging cables, and adouble-pronged
airlineadaptor.
There’s acomprehensivelist of core
features, too, including GoogleAssistant
support, rapid charging and Sony’s QN1 chippp,
which brings togetheradigital-analogue
converter(DAC), noise cancelling control and
an analogue amplification on onechip.
Sony’s Headphones Connectapp,which
supports both Androidand iOS, also allows
forsomefine tuning. There’s an equaliser
and surround sound/positioncontrol, and
you canalso adjustthe noise cancelling

SONY WH-1000XM3

★★★★★

£258•Fromwww.amazon.co.uk

VERDICT

SSSonyhitsthehighnoteswiththeWH-
1000XM3,itsbestANCheadphonesyet

sothatit’sfully

fromtheoutside

UPINTHEAI

Theappisfuncti

masterclassinUI

facilitateanother

AtmosphericPres

Thisadjuststhe s

microphoneandn

soitoperatesmor

differentatmosphe

while flying at high

words. We haven’t

but we founditcan

effectivenessonthe

undergroundtrain,e

Anotherstrongs

WithANCturnedon

can keep goingfor 3 0

than the Noise Cance

18 hoursmorethant

moreaffordableANC

Siri, Google Assista

areall built-in, and cod

aptX, aptX HD,SBC,A y n

LDAC.Overall,theWH-1000XM3aremuch

betterequipped forconnectivity andsmart

featuresthanmostheadphones;there’seven

NFC, so pairing acompatible smartphone is

even easierthanusual.

Sony’s headphones also excel at noise

cancellation; at the highest setting, theycan

finally matchthe Bose headphones on sheer

effectivenessatblocking out noise.Everything

fromtraffic noise, thehubbub of an open-plan

office,and even theroar of theLondon

Underground is reduced to abackground

murmur and, at times, removedcompletely.It

even givesthe B&WPX7 stiff competition,

eeevvveeennniiifffttthhheeeAAANNNCCCooofffttthhhooossseeehhheeeaaadddppphhhooonnneeesssiiisssjjjuuusssttt

about more effective on the whole.

ellingandfiltering

accordingly.You can also make manual

adjustments, which can be handy (and safer)

if youwanttolisten out fortraffic or PA

announcements,oreven have themicrophone

pick up voiceswhile muffling othersounds.

Noise cancellation is impressive, but it’s

soundquality where theWH-1000XM3 really

come into their own.Thisisapair of

headphones that offer awonderfully

expansive sound: the bassisdeep and

impactful,the mids areascapable of

capturingthe smooth tonesoforchestral

strings andwood instruments as they are the

crunch of overdriven electric guitars, andthe

higher frequencies sparklewithclarity.

SMART’PHONES

At thesame time,the sound is well balanced.

The bass neveroverpowersthe other

freeequencies, mids don’tget excessively warm,

andddtreble,particularly in vocals,doesn’t

waaander intothe realms of harshnessor

sibbbilance.There’s an argument that formusic

speeecifically,the Creative SXFI Air sound better

wittththe Super X-Fi feature enabled,but this

doesn’t helpnearly as much withpodcasts or

waaatching video;ingeneralterms, we prefer the

reliiiably excellent sound of Sony’s headphones.

With theWH-1000XM3,Sonyhas gone

strrraighttothe topofthe pile withapair of

preeemiumwireless headphonesthat combine

excccellent soundquality,leading noise

cannncelling andasolidfeature set, all housed

inaaacleverly designed package.

HEADPHONES

yon orfiltersinsomenoise

eworld.

IR

ionalratherthana

Idesign, butitdoes

coolfeature:the

ssure Optimiser.

ensitivityofthe

noisecancellation,

reeffectivelyat

ericpressures–

haltitude,inother

trieditonaflight,

nenhanceANC

eground or in an

evenifjustalittle.

suitisbatterylife.

n,the WH- 100 0XM3

0 hours, 10 hoursmore

ellingHeadphonesand

heLindyBNX-100, a

option.

ant and Alexa capabilities

dec support stretches to

AAC andSony’s own

H

Still, there’salotmorecleverstuffbehind

the WH-1000XM3’sANC than simple racket

reduction.For instance,theadaptive sound

modedetectswhatyou’redoing–suchas

running orusing public transport –and

adjusts the noise cancellingandfiltei

ac di