The Silent Hero: Sony WH 1000xm3 & Earbud Review

I don’t typically want to badmouth other brands while writing a review, but you need to know how floored I am that horrible headphones (brand name will remain unnamed) can get so much great press and attention, while Sony has silently and consistently been making great headsets and going unnoticed by the mainstream community.

Now, I’m not talking about music professionals. We all know that a sound engineer is going to have a lot to say when it comes to great sound–these are not going to help you edit tracks (Though they did help me edit a couple Youtube videos. More on that below.). I’m talking about regular people like you and me that want great sound for enjoyment, at a reasonable price. 

More importantly, we want great sound when we use a mic to call a friend. Or worse, when we’re at home trying to sound professional and you can hear the washing machine going because there isn’t a way to turn off the “ambient sound.” 

If you are saying, “You can do that?” I know. I’m with you. I got goosebumps as I worked the app on my phone and swiped the “ambient sound” button up and down. It was shocking to find I could choose just how much washing machine I wanted while listening to my tunes. 

I can see this being very beneficial when you’re listening for a timer to go off, a doorbell, etc. Or when you just want to tune out the world at-home or in the skies, go silent and noise cancel for the ultimate zen experience.

I had a unique set of criteria for my headphones, so I made a chart. 

Did my Sony  WH-XB900N  have it?	Over-ear Headphone Must-Haves
✓	Wireless and Stylish
✓	Light-weight so I can wear for long periods of time
✓	Easy-to-use controls
✓	Must be able to adjust treble and bass
✓	Must not sound like I’m in the bathtub when conferencing L’Oreal (mic quality)
✓	Must adjust to my child-sized head and my husband’s big head
✓	Must have noise-canceling for airplanes

 

These may not seem like big asks, but my last pair of headphones didn’t do anything but provide a wireless experience and they were the same price. These met all my criteria plus some extras, like preset EQ Curves so I could have a brighter timbre when I listen to my jazz versus other genres, which, btw, sound wonderful with Sony’s signature bass sound. 

Overall, the crisp tone stereo sound quality is amazing! So good, that I actually heard problems in a couple videos I produced that I didn’t notice without them. I will honestly never “work” on sound again without these lovely helpers. The Sony wh-XB900N ‘s pick up noises that make the difference between professional and non-professional quality IMO.

Bonus: These wireless headphones have touch controls that were super intuitive! Swipe up on the right earphone when you want more volume, down when you want less. Swipe back when you want to go backwards on your recording, and forwards when you want to go forward. Double tap to play or pause. 

To be fair, I have discovered a couple things that may be worth discussing, but, for the price point, these active noise canceling headphones are beyond my expectations! I wouldn’t hesitate to buy these again and again.

Some small notes:

1. Ear cup – The ear cup is pretty comfortable for around 2 hours. After that, I did want a break! Since I haven’t found an over-the-ear headphone that’s been problem-free, I am kinda neutral about this. Not sure if it’s even possible to not feel pressure on the ears if you want them to stay.
2. Quick charge – These take about 3 hours. Not ideal. These use a usb c charging cord, not a micro usb; this may contribute to the charging speed but I’m not completely sure. Battery life is 30 hours; this is very accurate upon testing.

Style – Since this is a lifestyle blog, with an emphasis on aesthetics, I found these to be fairly minimalist in their two color choices: black or blue accents.

After using these for a month straight, I can’t express enough how much I love these!

The Sony WF-1000XM3

This design is très chic with its’ black and copper accent charging case. I love that both of these headphones use the same app for my phone. 

For gesture controls, the Sony’s are competitive but not groundbreaking. You can start and stop and change the ambient sound with a touch. Other than that, have your phone close by or you’ll have to call up your Google assistant to do things, i.e. change the volume, to do the rest. Considering how much surface space they had to work with for an earbud, I’m willing to let this one slide. 

Do you know of any earbuds on the market that you can do full gestures without calling Siri or Google Assistant? Let me know in the comments below.

Here’s my must-have chart:

Did my Sony WF-1000XM3  have it?	In-ear Bluetooth Earbud Must-Haves
✓	Wireless and Stylish
✓	Comfortable
✓	Easy-to-use controls
✓	Must be able to adjust treble and bass
✓	Must not sound like I’m in the bathtub when conferencing L’Oreal (mic quality)
	Must adjust to my ear canal and not fall out
✓	Must have noise-canceling

Battery life: 6 hours (with Noise Canceling), 8 hours (without Noise Canceling) per single charge. Can charge 3 times with the charging case AND these DO have a quick charge (10min charge -> 90min playback).

Basically, all my must-haves were met aside from one very important thing: They fall out! Now, I did have some user errors and the problem has gotten better since realizing you have to twist them into your ears, but, having them fall out at all with something you want to keep sanitary? Not a pleasant thought for my ears. Though it is worth noting the “wearing detection.” When I was listening to an audiobook and these dropped out, there was an auto pause in place till I got my earbuds back in.

But there is hope! Getting a custom earpiece mold for these isn’t hard. And the variety of molds that come with the set is really stellar! If I didn’t have this family trait (my dad has these issues as well), I’m pretty sure I’d be very satisfied with these.

Overall…

If I were on a budget and could only get one pair of headphones, I would struggle between the two of these outstanding choices. They’re both superstars and use the same app (that can be used on both iPhones and Androids) and both have incredible sound, in fact, they’re leading the industry in noise cancellation for both styles of headphones. Really, you can’t go wrong with either and it comes down to preference. 

If you want my personal commendation between the two, I’d likely choose the over-the-ear Sony WH XB900N purely because of my ear shape, how much I travel, workout, etc. But, I would eventually feel the need for both. The sleek in-ear Sony WF-1000XM3 design is just too convenient for on-the-go and way easier to fall asleep wearing when I want to listen to something as I dose.

I think the build quality on both of these headphones is incredible and I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase or gift these for anyone special in my life.

 

*Editorial Note: This post was sponsored by Best Buy. The compensation received in exchange for placement on The Vanilla Plum is used to purchase props, hire a photographer, write/edit the blog post and support the team behind The Vanilla Plum. Thanks to Sony, Best Buy and The Vanilla Plum team for bringing this post to life.

While compensation was received in exchange for coverage, all thoughts and opinions are always my own. Sponsored posts like these allow for the development of additional dynamic content to be produced, unsponsored. Thank you for supporting our partners!