Customer Ratings & Reviews

Had these for almost a month now and here’s what I think: BUILD QUALITY: both sturdy and flexible; feels premium as you would expect from Sony. 10/10. SOUND QUALITY: these are no joke. Highs, mids, and lows are all well balanced. Hip-hop will be very slightly on the bass side but it’s not over powering.10/10. ACTIVE NOISE CANCELING: best ANC I’ve ever experienced hands down.10/10. DESIGN: they are comfortable, convenient, and they look great. Comes with a hard case and a lot of accessories. 10/10. PRICE: it’s a steep price sure, but it’s worth it. $349.99 full price and $299.99 when they’re on sale. You get what you pay for though. Sony did a phenomenal job with this product. 10/10. If you can afford these, get them. You won’t regret it!

I went into the store determined to buy the sky blue beats that were on sale, but I’ve always loved Sony products and was really interested in their options. I spoke to a couple of staff members in the area who were very helpful, before choosing these. It was the week of thanksgiving, so both were on sale. The beats display doesn’t really work for comparison and is extremely frustrating when trying to put on the headphones. I had to contort around the display and barely had enough slack to put them on my head (not enough slack to accommodate someone 5’6” - please figure out a better setup). They were actually too big for my head and wouldn’t stay on at all. The Sony display was easy to access and provided a better experience for trying them on - the band had a slightly oval shape (which fit my head perfectly). Very comfortable on and impressive sound. Most impressive is the noise-canceling feature. It’s so effective, that I can sit in silence beside my three Great Danes while they bark their little heads off. I’m prone to severe headaches and don’t do well with in-ear styles - and don’t like anything on my head, especially around my temples. These are soft and well-padded and have been comfortable to wear for a few hours at a time. They’re pretty secure on and have made my yard work and exercise more enjoyable. I’ll definitely appreciate them on my next flight. Excellent carrying case design and long battery life. Wish there were other color options, but these are perfect for my needs and have a great sound. I haven’t even used all the built-in features and am completely satisfied. Highly recommend!

==== Summmary ==== Sony has hit it out of the park again with the new 1000XM3 ANC headphones. The new design is sturdier, more comfortable, better looking, and most importantly, the sound quality is fantastic~! With new hardware and software, the already great Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology has gotten even better compared to last year's model as well as the competition. Home run from Sony~! **Pros: -Superb sound quality. -Fantastic ANC performance. -Comfortable & durable design. -Lighter than the previous model (0.56 lbs/254 grams). -Touch-gesture volume and track controls work very well. -30-hour battery life. -Quick-charging technology. -USB Type C charging port is more future-proof & easier to plug in. -Useful Sony hardware & software optimizations (Atmospheric Pressure Optimizing, Personal NC Optimizer). -Google Assistant. **Cons: -None ==== Design & Comfort ==== Being an owner of the great Sony 1000XM2, I appreciate and approve the design changes made to the new 1000XM3. The plastic parts of the headphones feel softer and more premium to the touch. The leather padding with urethane foam inside the earbuds and the headrest are better cushioned, softer, and more comfortable. The fantastic touch-gesture controls are back and they're just as easy to use and work very well (e.g., volume & track control, Quick Attention mode). The new color scheme is nice too with bronze accents mixed in with the black. The headphones look sleek and modern. A very welcome addition is the inclusion of the newer and more future-proof USB Type C charging port (Yes~!!). No more fumbling around with which direction to plug in the charging cable and the headphone works with other USB Type C chargers from other modern hardware such as smartphones. 10 out of 10~!! ==== Controls ==== The buttons are located at easy to reach places and work well. On the left earbud is the Power Button and the NC/Google Assistant Button. Also on the left earmuff is the NFC module which allows for quick pairing to your smartphone. If you don't want to use NFC to make the pairing connection, you can initiate Bluetooth pairing by pressing and holding down on the Power Button then selecting the 1000XM3 on your PC's or smartphone's Bluetooth setting page. Pressing the NC Button toggles between three modes - Ambient Sound (default level 20 with Focus on Voice set to Off), Ambient Sound Off, and Noise Cancellation. The Ambient Sound mode can be adjusted between Level 1 to Level 20 inside the Sony Headphone app. The higher you go on the scale between 1 to 20, the more ambient sound around you gets in such as traffic and people sounds. You can also check off on the "Focus on Voice" option to let in voices more easily. For absolute isolation from the outside world, you would choose the "Noise Cancellation" option. If one assigns the NC Button to use Google Assistant instead within the Sony app, then pressing the NC Button triggers Google Assistant who will then speak aloud notifications and tell you the time. In addition, you can hold down the Google Assistant button, speak a command, let go of the button, and the Google Assistant will respond to your query or command. My FAVORITE control feature of the 1000XM3, however, is the touch-gesture controls located on the right earmuff. Swipe Up or Down for volume control, swipe Back or Forward for track control, Double-Tap to pause & resume music, and cup the earmuff with the palm of your hand to allow ambient noise to come through so you can hear and talk to people. Sony continues its excellent ergonomic design with the 1000XM3. Another 10 out of 10. ==== Sound Quality ==== The Sony 1000XM3 sounds good - really good. It plays all types of audio excellently - hip-hop, pop, alternative, rock, vocals, instrumentals, bass-heavy songs. It is truly a jack of all trades and master of all. Bass is GREAT and it delivers it in a deep, punchy, and visceral manner. Even the low rumbly bass is handled superbly. The headphones also deliver a dynamic and wide soundstage with clear vocal separations, range, spatial distribution and balance. In addition to listening to music, I also used the 1000XM3 when playing games on my PC. Sound quality during gaming was also fantastic. Unlike last year's 1000XM2 which didn't sound that great out-of-the-box until I played around with some settings, the 1000XM3 comes out sounding great from first power-on. I connected the 1000XM3 to my Samsung Galaxy S9+ and adjusted only one setting inside the Sony Headphones app - Noise Cancelling Optimizer. The Noise Cancelling Optimizer configures the 1000XM3 to your head physiology to make audio and noise cancelling more efficient and effective. To be honest, I didn't notice much sound quality difference between the older 1000XM2 and this 1000XM3. But that's not a bad thing as the 1000XM2 was already great and the 1000XM3 just maintains the quality and fidelity. 10 out of 10~! ==== Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) ==== With Sony's new HD Noise Canceling QN1 Processor and multiple microphones, the ANC works very well and consistently. All kinds of sounds were deftly cancelled out by the 1000XM3 - traffic noise, barking dogs, chirping birds, lawn mowers, all conversations inside a coffee shop, and background TV and radio noise. With a 3-year-old around the house who might need my attention at any time, my preferred ANC mode was "Ambient Sound On" at Level 1 with "Focus on Voice" checked off. That way, if my daughter seeked my attention, I could hear and respond to her in a timely fashion. When I'm by myself or in a place where I don't expect to interact with anyone else, I then set the ANC mode to "Noise Cancellation" for maximum isolation from the world. I don't know if the performance of the ANC technology is really 4 times improved compared to the 1000XM2 (per Sony), but I do know that it is better and works very well. As you guessed it, it's another 10 out of 10. ==== Conclusion ==== For the absolute best in sound quality and noise cancellation, I honestly don't think there is any other product on the market that is better than the Sony 1000XM3. Everything is just so well-balanced - sound quality, ANC performance, battery life, ergonomics, comfort, and app customization. Sony has created a tremendously well-executed and high-performing product.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 wireless noise canceling headphones are the most incredible headphones I have ever used! Not only are they supremely comfortable to wear, but the sound quality and active noise canceling are far superior to any other premium headsets that I have used. Sound Quality: Sound quality is a critical aspect for headphones, and fortunately they do not disappoint. The sound is very detailed and full range. If you have been using lesser headphones, you will really hear what you have been missing. The bass is tight and defined which is perfect for my tastes, because I don’t like bass that is bloated and muddy The active noise cancellation is phenomenal! When activated it seems like the whole outside world is turned off and that I was in a perfect bubble of silence. I really like that the noise cancellation effect is adjustable so that you can chose to not use it, or partially use it depending on your circumstances. This is a very nice touch because there may be times when you can’t be sonically cut off from the outside world. Another important feature is that it is compatible with high bit rate Bluetooth versions such as aptX HD and AAC. This is important because these standards provide a signal that will sound better because it is less compressed than the previous Bluetooth standard. Design and Comfort It is immediately apparent that these headphones are designed with an emphasis on visual appeal. They are a pleasure to hold and wear, with an attention to detail that showcases the premium design. This is without a doubt the most comfortable headset that I have ever worn. It is so comfortable and lightweight that you can even forget you are even wearing it. So not only do they feel good on your head, but you will love how you look wearing them. I especially like the hard carrying case which is an included accessory. It matches the build quality of the headphones, which will be well protected will traveling. Usage and Controls The right ear pad is a cleverly designed touch pad that allows you to control the headphones intuitively without even looking. It makes raising/lowering the volume, skipping forward/back, answering/ending calls, as simple as flicking a finger. You can also temporarily deactivate the noise canceling by holding your hand on the control panel, so you don’t have to take the headphones completely off to hear something. When you remove your hand the noise cancellation reengages. This is an amazing feature that I will be using frequently. These headphones use a USB Type C connector for charging. USB C is the most recent USB standard, and it is the second device that I have owned that uses it. It is the latest USB standard and it is superior to the older version due to improved charging time and data transfer capability. In fact, a quick 10 minute charge can power these headphones for an incredible 5 hours. Verdict If it were possible to give these outstanding headphones more than 5 stars I would. Yes, the price is high, but they are certainly worth it. If you want the best noise canceling wireless headphones on the market, then the Sony WH-1000XM3 are the ones to get. Once you use them, it will be very hard to use anything else. In fact, my wife loves them so much I am going to get another pair so we each have our own.

I did quite a bit of research before making this purchase, and after seeing such great reviews for the previous model (last years), I went ahead and took a blind leap expecting Sony to move things in the right direction. Not only do these sound better than my Bose Quiet Comforts, they also rival them in comfort, and ALSO cancel out sound better. The app lets you personalize your music depending on what genre you’re listening to, and is phenomenal with the amount of customization added for ambient sound and noise canceling. If you’re a frequent traveler, or a music audiophile, I think these are the headphones for you. $349.99 is a hefty price, but I don’t regret the decision a single bit. The ability to cup the right side of the headphones and have the music dimmed to bear silence, is such a great feature... I can’t believe how many times it’s came in handy. ***Also, I was super hesitant on buying the gray pair... wanted the black and settled after they were back ordered on their release date. The off-white color is awesome! Way better than I was expecting.

I read and watched a ton of reviews on Noise Canceling headphones leading up to this purchase. It was really between these and the Bose QC-35II, as the Bose 700s had just come out and were (heck, still are) just too pricey. Simply put, I have been thrilled with my decision! Noise Cancelling: Top Notch. Sound Quality: Fantastic. Comfort & Fit: Great. Connectivity: Zero Issues. Build Quality: Very impressed - I was worried the touchpads would be easily scratch, but almost a year in and they look like new. I also really enjoy playing around with sound options on the app. The current price of these wonderful headphones is even lower than when I bought them, so get to it!

The audio quality of these headphones are great. They also have really good noise cancelling, and are probably the most comfortable headphones I've owned. They have a convenient carrying case with mesh pocket to put the detachable aux cord in. I really cannot think of one bad thing to say about these. They have become my daily headphones for when I want to immerse myself in music and block out the outside for about a year now. They even have an app to where you can adjust the sound profile to fit your tastes and decide which voice assistant to use, etc. If they could improve, I would say that making it easier to switch between multiple paired devices would be the main thing to improve upon.

WOW such a beautiful color and WOW the amazing sound of this headset is second to none. I love how I can put my hand over the left side and the music gets extremely low and I can hear my surroundings. When I am in noise canceling mode I can NOT hear my surroundings. This is music to my ears (Literally) especially while on a plane Sitting next to a crying baby. You can swipe up to turn up sound or swipe down to lower music. If you swipe to the right it forwards your track of your playlist or swipe left to replay last song. I picked the gold color because it looks so classic. The handy carrying case makes it easy to travel with.

Sony has done it, they've developed the BEST noise cancelling wireless headphones available! The WH-1000XM3 Wireless Noise Canceling Over-the-Ear Headphones are the newly released version from Sony and they are exactly what I've been looking for for the last few years. The headphones ship with a great carrying case, a USB-C fast charging cable, an audio cable for wired connection and instructions/paperwork. The headphones fold up perfectly to fit in the case which is a good size for traveling. The came fully charged and ready to go, so all you need to do is (optional really, as they headphones will connect to your bluetooth device anyway) download the Sony Connect app and set up the earphones. First let's talk about the Connect App - it's a great tool for taking advantage of the many settings these headphones provide like Adaptive Sound Control, Noise Canceling Optimizer, Surround, Equalizer, Sound Quality Mode, etc. Open the app, turn on the headphones and hold them close to connect and you're off and adjusting. Some of the functions are automatic like the Adaptive Sound Control - this will detect your surroundings and adjust the headphones accordingly. You can also select the Noise Canceling levels. Super easy to use and a great tool. Onto the headphones, the first thing I noticed when putting them on was the plush feel of the ear pads and the headband. They are super comfortable and easy to adjust to your head size. I've been wearing them almost non-stop for the last couple of days and there are zero hotspots or uncomfortable rubbing. Hold the power button for a couple of seconds and then the magic starts, the noise canceling technology is fantastic, literally cutting out all the background noise as I walked around crowded streets. I'm not an audiophile by any stretch, but the sound quality is the BEST I've ever heard from a BT headphone. The music is so rich and you can hear all the different levels from the bass lows up to the crips highs. The sound out of the box was pretty amazing, and I've also adjusted it using the Connect App. There are a number of preset equalizer settings for every type of music lover. Not only do these headphones rock, they are loaded with super cool and totally useful Touch Features so you can adjust the music level, FF, Pause, answer phone calls, etc. just by touching the right ear cup. And if that isn't enough, if you place your palm over the entire ear cup, Sony's Quick Attention mode kicks in...the sound level is automatically turned down, along with the noise canceling level so you can hear the outside world and talk to someone or listen to a flight change announcement....all without having to take the headphones off! It really works! As mentioned, they came fully charged and after multiple days of use, they are still at 90%...this absolutely crushes the battery performance of my other NC headphones. Pros: - Fit and comfort is outstanding, even after hours of wearing them - Noise Canceling and Sound Quality are second to none - Nice Carry Case for traveling - Touch Controls - control your music or call without ever touching your phone - Sony Connect App is a great control app for individual setup - Taking Phone Calls - crisp and clear even in a crowded store Cons: - Haven't found any yet!!! The Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless Noise Canceling Over-the-Ear Headphones are by far one of my new favorite devices and would 100% recommend them to anyone looking for the BEST noise canceling headphones available.

Awesome sound/very very comfortable on the ears exception that it's poor when it comes to taking phone calls

Well worth the money!! I love all of the features they come with. Super noise canceling and the fact that you can just place your hand on the right ear to allow ambient noise, freaking awesome headphones. GET YOU SOME!! I’ve made like 4 people go buy these same pair I love them.

Couldn’t decide between the Bose and the Sony. Went with Sony on the recommendation of the Blue Shirt. I have no complaints. Couldn’t hear anything but my music on my recent flight. Well worth the cost.

Took a flight to Hawaii and I couldn’t ask for a better pair of noise canceling headphones.

Very good NC capability. Great sound quality. The only downside is that the lack of flexibility to connect to more than 1 device, which is pretty annoying. Hope they get that with a firmware update.

good quality. good sounds quality. I really recommend.

Just over a year old and the plastic headband slide on the left has cracked. It's just out of warranty. I do not recommend purchasing these for the build quality at this price point. For the most part I rarely used them until the pandemic, when I started using them daily for video conferencing and phone calls. It's been 2 months of daily use and clearly they can't stand up to the regular use. I purchased the Sony WH-1000XM3 for myself and also The Bose QC II 35s at the same time to replace the Beats I recieved as a gift (the cheap plastic on those broke just like the Sony headphones). Ultimately, my kiddos use the Bose set daily but I preferred the Sony for the sound quality and functionality. I now regret that decision. I am very disappointed that a nearly $400 set of headphones should not become an expensive paperweight so quickly. As an alternative to these, I would go with Sennheiser (but not meant for portability), V-moda (I've owned 2 pairs for over 5 years each without any issues until 6 years in), Bose QC35 II have surprisingly withstood abuse from my kids who use them as dedicated gaming headphones for the last year.

Honestly, I've had it for some time now, and I use them for everything, recommended

The amount of customization on these are incredible

The Sony WH 1000XM3 noise canceling headset is an over the ear headset that offers superb sound quality with adaptive noise canceling. The headset can be worn wireless or wired via a 3.5mm cable. For being a Sony high end headset the price point seems a little low in my opinion based on the hardware thats inside. However this is good for the consumer. Lets dive in and talk about some of the features and find out if this is a good fit for you. First off lets talk about what you can expect to receive out of the box real quick. Your going to get the headset, instructions, 3.5mm cable, usb-c cable but (but no power adapter), and a travel case. Set up is done very easily and can be accomplished either through Bluetooth or NFC. Sony offers a free app for most of their headsets and this one included. I highly recommend downloading the app due to all the features it unlocks on the headset. First thing i wanted to touch on was the power cable. It's running a usb-c cable, which is pretty much the way of the future however the cable they provide is very small. I'm talking about 6 inches or less and comes with no power outlet adapter. This means you need to charge this headset on a device with a USB port or buy an adapter. Luckily for me i have a few usb-c cables so i actually ended up throwing that cable away since it was so small and replaced it with another existing cable i already had. Now the app allows for some pretty nice features such as adaptive noise canceling, equalizers, and noise canceling optimizer just to name a few. There are only two buttons located on the left ear cup one is for power and the other controls noise cancellation. Now on the right ear cup there are functions built in that act like buttons but they are invisible touch controls. I've uploaded a picture to show the right ear cup has no buttons. However if you wish to move to the next track touch on the forward most part. And if you wish to raise the volume swipe up or down. One really cool feature that i liked alot is that if you have noise cancellation on and someone is talking to you, instead of taking your head phones off to hear what they are saying you can simply cover the right ear cup with your hand and the hard drive will turn off noise cancellation, lower the volume and amplify ambient sound so that you can hear what is being said. Once you remove your hand then your settings go back to the way they were. Trust me its a pretty cool feature that i have never seen before. The headphones are very comfortable and not once did i have any comfort issues. Battery life is very long. I have been running this headset for about 20 hours and am barely at 40%. Now while i can't tell you charge time, because i don't like depleting my battery, what i can tell you is at 50% life it took only 30 mins to charge it to full level. Sony is claiming that a 15 min. charge time i believe, will get you about 3- 5 hours of battery life depending on your settings. Let's dive in to noise cancelling and sound quality after all thats whats really important. I don't want to waste time on giving you specs because they can all be found on best buy's website along with Sony's website. This headset offers adaptive sound control. What is this? Simply put it is able to detect what you are doing and change your noise cancelling based on your environment. You have a few different settings it will try to detect which are staying, walking, running, and transport. If your at home listening to music it will switch to staying which allows more ambient voice sounds to enter so you can hear your wife or kids if they ask you something. If it detects that you are on a bus or plane it will switch over to transport mode which will eliminate all outside noise. This feature can be turned off at any moment and controlled manually to your desired setting. One thing i have to say is this is hands down the best noise cancelling i have ever heard and Sony has really entered this market packing a punch. When the noise cancellation is turned up all the way it does such a good job that i can barely hear my own voice and my ears start to ring because its so quiet. It actually worked too well for me to the point to where i don't use the full setting but rather keep noise cancellation at 50%. I am very impressed to say the least and if you are a frequent traveler this is almost a must have feature. Now noise quality is great but there were some connective issues via bluetooth connection. Now the issue i ran in to was my connection would drop out for seconds on end while listening to music. This would happen very randomly, there would be some days where i had zero issues and other days where it was so constant i had to reset my phone and headset. Im not exactly sure what the cause is but what i can tell you is it seems to be a common occurrence lately with some of their noise cancelling products that are wireless. I say this because i own 2 other Sony headsets that are both noise cancelling and are wireless and they both have the same connection issues. Now mind you im running it off a S9 plus with the latest bluetooth connection plus i have all my settings turned off to see if it would help however it did not. While this is very annoying it can be remedy by running the 3.5 cable directly to your phone. What sucks about using the cable though is that it won't allow you to access the app as the app will only run if it detects the headphones through bluetooth. This kind of was a let down as the app actually has a way better equalizer than my phone and was the prime choice for my music operation. Lets talk sound quality. All i can say is Sony does not disappoint in this area not even one bit. Through the app via the way of their built in pre-sets, there is an equalizer to fit everyones style of music. If you like string instruments or jazz there is a setting that focuses on your highs and mids while paying little attention to vocals. If you like rap and want to hear that bass hit there is a setting that focuses on vocals and big bass. And let me tell you that bass hits so hard that you can actually feel the speakers reverberating in the headset. Vocals are so clean that you won't need to look up lyrics for your favorite song. This is hands down one of the best sounding headsets to date bar none. That is just my opinion but trust me when i tell you that this is the area that made Sony, well.....Sony. So you can expect them not to disappoint. The quality was so crisp and clean that old tracks started to seem like new songs to me as i was hearing pieces of it that i never heard before. Here's the thing guys. This is a awesome headset that i think is priced pretty low. I find it very hard to think that this set will leave you disappointed. The only reason i did not give this 5 stars is due to the random connection issues while listening to music via bluetooth. However if you travel alot and you want something that is adapative so you don't need to mess with buttons or features then this is the headset for you. It folds up very easily to make it compact and battery life is amazing. The usb-c cable allows for very fast charge times with little down time. Due yourself a favor and grab this. Pros: -Awesome sound quality -Fast charge times -Long battery life -Great app features Cons: -Random connection issues

I do own the previous model of these headphones (the WH-1000MX2) and these are a slight improvement over those. The sound quality is still fantastic and even a little better than the previous model. The Smart listening SENSE ENGINE will auto detect what you are doing, say, sitting still, walking around etc and will adjust the listening and ambient sounds to meet those different environments. I did notice a slight pause in the music as it changed the mode that it was working in. A minor annoyance though. The QN1 noise-canceling processor is fantastic. I am not sure how Sony did it, but it cuts out just about any sound and leaves you only hearing the music from your headphones. I can wear these all day, they feel slightly lighter than the previous model and the ear pads are softer than before with a larger hole that encompasses your ears. The quick attention mode is a great feature as well. You simply have to cup your hand over the right headphone and it will mute the volume and activate ambient sound so you can have a quick conversation. Very handy feature so you don’t have to fumble for your device that is playing the music or pause anything. Sony includes a very nice carrying case that is soft on the inside and has a semi hard shell to protect your headphones. Also included is an airplane 3.5mm dual jack to a single 3.5mm headphone jack, along with a 3.5mm headphone cable that you can connect your headphones directly for a wired source. One of the biggest and most welcome improvements comes in the form of the USB Type C connector these use. Now I can carry around one less cable. Hands free calling is clear and crisp and my friend who I called said that the mic was working perfectly. The right side of the headphones, along with being used for quick attention mode, is also used to adjust volume, play, pause, or change tracks. Simple swiping motions or taps is all it takes to do that. The rated hours of use is slightly down from the previous model though. These are 30 hours which is 8 less than before, but to me that is still plenty of life for these things. You can use google assistant, but you must remap (using the Sony Headphones Connect App) the NC/Ambient button to do so. I did not change it since I liked being able to toggle between those modes more than I would use google assistant. There was a firmware update that I did have to do right out of the box and it took it about 30 minutes to complete. If you are in the market for a great set of headphones, the you cannot go wrong with these at all.