My Bose QC25 died in one ear after ~2.5 years of daily use, and I really
need some sort of noise cancelling throughout the day, so I picked up the Sony WH-1000XM3 today.
They were not my first choice, but the stores were all sold out of Bose QC35-II and I was hesitant to go with them anyway since they have yet to update with USB-C support, so I thought the WH-1000XM3 would be a reasonable option.
Well it turns out that was a big mistake.
Perhaps if you only use them with a phone and nothing else they are great headphones, but I find them aggravating to use since I switch my headphones between 3-4 devices every day.
- The power switch is a software button that you have to hold and wait to turn the headphones on/off.
- Pairing is done by holding the power button for even longer, so you are holding down the button for about ten seconds before you can then pair it with another device. The whole process takes about 15-20 seconds to switch devices which may not sound like much, but it feels like an eternity when you're used to switching headphones instantly with a cable.
- According to the manual it claims to support multiple connections for answering calls, but from my testing it seems that this only works if the device you are connected to only supports audio out. If it has headset support, it will retain the connection. Even when the device you are connected to does only support audio, it won't actually switch to your phone unless that was the last device it connected to that supported headsets. There's no connection management in the app.
- As soon as you connect analog audio it kills all Bluetooth connections - so you cannot answer calls if you are listening to an analog device; e.g. playing a game on the Switch.
- The analog connection only supports audio, it does not support the microphone to use as a wired headset.
- Disconnecting the 3.5mm cable immediately switches off the headphones rather than staying on, or switching over to a Bluetooth connection.
- Having to use gesture control rather than buttons for control is awful.
- Holding your hand on one side to enable pass-through mode is a nice idea but it's somewhat unreliable, latency is high, and rather than only passing through voice, it sets the noise cancelling to the lowest level which is essentially the same as taking the headphones off, rather than making voices easier to hear in a loud environment like Bose can do (at least on the QC20).
- Any interaction with the headphones results in loud beeps and a voice assistant yelling in your ear. That includes things like losing a Bluetooth connection.
- The assistant button only works with Google Assistant, not Siri on iOS devices. If you don't use Google Assistant, it acts as a button to turn noise cancelling on/off.
- Sound Position Control and Surround (VPT) processing seem useless. SPC was of interest to me (speaker simulation by having the sound appear in front of you) but it does not work well and really hurts audio quality.
- DSEE HX seems like it may be helping AAC audio sound less compressed, but I haven't spent enough time listening to them critically to really say.
- Having built in EQ seems like a good idea, though I stuck with them in the default state for now. Boosting the bass at all - if you are inclined to do so - sounded pretty bad I thought.
- The noise cancelling optimizer didn't really seem to do anything, and I don't see an option to reset it to compare.
The headphones feel
huge compared to the QC25.
I'm not sure how noticeable it will be in photos, but the top of the QC25 are domed, which tends to make them look thinner when worn, while the WH-1000XM3 are both taller and flatter.
Less of the height is actually padding on the WH-1000XM3 too, which also makes them stick out more (less compressible materials).
Overall, they're much chunkier headphones:
I will say that they are not uncomfortable - they seem to have done a good job with the weight distribution, and though the padding and earcups are relatively thin, there don't seem to be any pressure points. They don't seem as secure on my head as Bose though. They don't fall off, but do move around if I slowly tilt my head backwards or forwards.
They are comfortable with glasses, and noise cancelling seems less affected by them than Bose are. The pleather material on the Sony earpads seems thinner and more pliable, which helps with comfort but I am concerned about how that will hold up over time. The headband is using a pleather material rather than Alcantara on the Bose headphones, which also concerns me.
Frankly, I've had bad experiences with pleather material holding up for more than 18 months or so, no matter who makes it, so I'd much rather that they used real leather or an alternative material.
I'm planning on returning these, and would probably just pick up a pair of QC25 again if it were not for the fact that the triple-black model I have was apparently a limited edition and the standard edition is ugly.
I'm now hoping that Bose can repair or replace them for a fee, and/or have a QC35-III with USB-C and other improvements due for release soon - assuming that connection management is better than Sony (though it wouldn't take much).