Are Sony’s new wireless noise-cancelling earbuds really better than Apple AirPods?
- With high-quality sound, longer battery life, good fit and Bluetooth connectivity, Sony’s new WF-1000XM3 earbuds offer stiff competition to Apple’s AirPods
Sony recently released its US$230 WF-1000XM3 wireless noise-cancelling earbuds, and after trying them, I’d be pretty upset if I had recently spent between US$160 to US$200 on a pair of AirPods.
Yes, the WF-1000XM3 may cost more, but you’re getting a much better sound, a better fit, slightly better battery life, and really good noise cancelling.
The Sony WF-1000XM3
Sony's WF-1000XM3 wireless earbuds have a sleek, more-or-less compact charging case. It is larger than the AirPods case and won’t fit quite as well in a pocket, but it has been living in my backpack’s side pocket for weeks now without any trouble.
The case charges via USB-C and keeps a charge of up to 24 hours. It charges the earbuds quickly and I’ve barely had to charge the case. But it is also lacking wireless charging, which is a shame.
Sony claims the earbuds last about six hours on a single charge, which is good for earphones that are this small and portable. Battery life was never an issue, except for one day when I forgot to put them back into the charging case after I stopped using them at work. I got the low battery signal during my commute home, charged the earbuds for about 10 minutes, and I was good to go again.
The earbuds present themselves nicely in the case. They're easy to remove and replace. When you replace the earbuds into the case, they magnetically – and satisfyingly – snap into their enclosures.
