I use my Airpods Pro every day. As a true apple fan, it’s hard to put them off, will that change now? Sony makes, in my opinion, the world’s best over ear headphones (Sony WH-1000XM3). But how well do they deliver on the ear buds side? Let’s find out!

Overall design and fit

The WF-1000XM3’s name confusingly bears an “M3,” to match the very popular over-ear sibling WH-1000XM3, even though these are only Sony’s second edition in this specific line of true wireless earbuds. They are available in Black and Platinum Silver – a deliberate move again by Sony to bring the finishes in line with those offered for their WH-1000XM3 (and yes, to kill all discussion, the name is horrendous).

The USB-C powered case is substantially sized (about twice as big as the Airpods case), but can still fit in most pockets, and the flat top allows you to easily lay it top-down on surfaces when you’ve got the buds in. The cap flips up to reveal the two earbuds inside, and a big red LED in the front of the case lets you see if they’re charging.

Aesthetically, the buds look well made but are bulkier than the AirPods Pro. The headphones actually resemble miniature versions of the Bluetooth headset you might have worn around town in 2006 (or that all truckers used, at least here in Sweden).

Sony provides seven different sizes of earbud; four ‘hybrid silicone’ buds and three ‘triple-comfort’ buds, which feel slightly thicker than the standard ones. It’s a good selection and should be enough to cover all ear shapes.

Battery

Sony has done good with the WF-1000XM3’s battery life. You get about six hours of playback as standard, while the case has enough power for an extra three charges, giving a total of 24 hours when using Bluetooth and ANC together. If you’re caught short, just 10 minutes of charging time is enough to breathe 90 minutes of life into them. Turn off the noise-cancelling and the battery life jumps to eight hours, with the case bumping it up to an impressive total of 32 hours.

Features

A glossy touchpad on each bud’s exterior allows you to play and pause music, access your voice assistant, and change songs, but Sony has also packed in some other nifty extras, including the ability to long-touch the left earbud to temporarily let in sound from the outside world, so you won’t have to remove a headphone while you’re trying to hear announcements or if you are out walking on a busy road.

Speaking of removing your earbuds, like the AirPods Pro, the WF-1000XM3 have sensors that pause music and eventually go to sleep when you remove them. Pop them back in and they’ll resume playback or turn on and re-connect, depending on how long you’ve left them.

Sound

Sony equipped its earbuds with its proprietary DSEE HX engine — designed to upscale lo-fidelity sound for better overall clarity — and it works wonders on the WF-1000XM3, combining with noise-canceling to provide some of the best fidelity you’ll find in wireless earbuds. They really sound great. Treble is clear and crisp, and there is a hefty low end. Songs feel like they have a weight and depth that we often miss on other pairs of true wireless earbuds, which tend to feel a bit exaggerated in terms of their sonic profiles.

Also, the sound is customizable through the EQ settings in the app, so you’ll never be annoyed with the way the headphones treat certain genres. However, even though it is fun to mess around with the EQ settings, I spent the vast majority of my listening time with the headphones in the standard, flat EQ position.

Final verdict

WF-1000XM3 sound excellent, battery life is up there with the best and they are one of the only pairs on the market to pack in real active noise-cancelling and execute it so well. For some, the WF-1000XM3’s biggest shortcoming is that they don’t have any water resistance, so gym/out for a run use is unfortunately an at-your-own-risk situation.

In Sweden, these buds cost around SEK 2,000 and it’s difficult to find a better true wireless earbuds deal right now. I guess it would be Apple’s own Airpods Pro, but at a cost of slightly worse ANC.

Good job Sony!