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VPNs for ad-blocking We’ve spent several weeks with Sony’s WF-1000XM3 wireless noise-cancelling earbuds and while there were a few bumps along the way, we came out the other end completely floored by the earbuds’ battery life, comfort factor and next level noise-cancelling. The Sony WF-1000XM3 earbuds come with six replacement earbud tips, each a different size and material. There are three pairs of silicon replacements and three pairs made from foam. This was nothing short of a dream for me. I’ve used a slightly larger bud for my tiny right ear and haven’t had any issues with the earbud falling out accidentally. And though I didn’t reach a conclusions on whether foam or silicon is more comfortable, I’ve found that the ability to switch it up halfway through the day has done wonders for my overall comfort. Anyway, enough about my weird, asymmetrical ear holes. In a typical office environment, I get nearly no background noise from chatty colleagues or the communal Sonos speaker. And the thunderous rumble of my bus’s engine is almost completely muffled with noise-cancelling activated. I even managed to have a crystal clear conversation over the phone while riding my bike home (save for some wind interference on the in-built microphone). Side-note for the audio nerds out there: the WF-1000XM3s don’t have LDAC support rather AAC and SBC; only the sharpest audiophiles should be able to tell the difference there. The reality is, the WF-10000XM3s sound sublime. I’ve been reviewing the Huawei Freebuds in tandem with the WF-1000XM3s and there’s a stark difference in clarity (though the Freebuds have their perks). Thanks to my aforementioned picky ears, I tend to preference over-ears for day-to-day background music while I work but after switching back to a pair of HyperX cans, I’m already missing the crisp, isolated aural edge of the WF-1000XM3s. They are quite simply some of the best headphones I’ve ever tested, let alone some of the best in-ears. Sony’s clever little HD Noise Cancelling QN1e processor claims to “cancel significantly less noise across almost all frequencies” while using less battery power. Based on my experiences so far, I feel that’s a completely valid claim. I almost always have noise-cancelling switched on and I’m yet to run the power completely dry. If you’re more of a power user than I am, you’ll be happy to hear that the charging case takes a USB-C cable and only takes about 1.5 hours for a complete charge and holds a whopping 18 hours of charge for the Earbuds. Over the last two weeks, I’ve only had to charge the case once, which was after I gave the headphones an absolute flogging on a long Sunday walk. In the grand scheme of things, the case is pretty compact and you’re not going to have any issues fitting it in most pockets. That said, compared to the pill-shaped Freebuds Lite case I’m using, or even Apple’s slimmer Airpods case, it’s a little chunky. This was rarely an issue but in a pair of skinny jeans, with my wallet and Pixel 3 taking up most of the pocket real estate, I had to leave the WF-1000XM3s at home on a few occasions. When I first saw a pair of Airpods out in the wild, I thought the hanging “tail” of the earpiece was pretty naff but after some time with the WF-1000XM3s thicker design, I prefer it the look of Airpods. The WF-1000XM3 have the sort of classic Bluetooth earpiece appeal that makes me feel like a late 90s investment banker. Each earbud is around 8 grams in weight, which is twice as heavy as an Airpod earpiece. On a few occasions, I accidentally knocked one out of my ear and it hit the concrete with a mighty crack. There was no lasting damage but it does feel like I could do a number on them with a few more fumbles. The speed factor simply means you’re less likely to experience an audio delay while streaming video over Netflix and YouTube. For distance, Bluetooth 5.0 can communicate up to 240 meters. I could walk the full length of our office building without any interruptions but any interference (from walls, devices etc.) dropped the connection like a hot potato, even in close range. Lastly, there’s the Dual Audio component, which is most noticeable in the WF-1000XM3s. Bluetooth 5.0 lets you stream a single audio source to two separate devices (most commonly used in smartphones to connect to multiple Bluetooth speakers). With the WF-1000XM3s, Dual Audio means you can use one earbud at a time if necessary (while charging the other, for example). And you can remove one earbud without pausing the music. Speed, Range, Dual Audio. Tick. Tick. Tick. These are all great features but what I want from a new Bluetooth technology is improved stability and easier connection management. While using the WF-1000XM3s, I was repeatedly forced to turn the disconnect Bluetooth on previously connected devices when switching from my phone to my laptop, or vice versa. Otherwise, I’d experience consistent dropouts and scratchy audio. There’s also no power or sync button on the earbuds or charging case. The idea is that shouldn’t need it. When you take your earbuds out of the case, they power on and enter pairing mode. That’s assuming everything goes to plan. When I first experienced connection issues with the WF-1000XM3s, the right earbud completely dropped out. It wouldn’t pair, it wouldn’t charge and I assumed it was dead on arrival. I left it on charge overnight and by some miracle, the right earbud was working again the next morning. But the whole time I was wishing for a power button so I could try a hard reset.
