Whether in silver or black, these earbuds look sleek and sophisticated. Their understated design exudes confidence in Sony’s newest product. The pill-shaped earbuds have three points of contact, designed to distribute pressure comfortably along the ear canal. In combination with the default ear tips, they are the most comfortable earbuds we have ever worn.
Touch controls can be operated from either earbud. By default, double-tapping the left earbud alternates between noise canceling and ambient sound modes, while double-tapping the right earbud allows you to skip songs. You can also set the device to invoke your preferred voice assistant, such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, or Apple’s Siri. These features can be reconfigured at will using the Sony Headphones Connect app.
The Sony WF-1000XM3 Truly Wireless are truly wireless headphones that are wireless neutral sounding and versatile. Their design feels stylish and premium, but it’s a little hard to find a good airtight fit since their tip-top options are larger than average. This has a negative impact mainly on bass reproduction and isolation performance. On the other hand, if you can find an airtight fit, the ANC feature makes them suitable for commuting and provides a good amount of noise isolation in an office environment. It also supports approximately seven hours of continuous battery life, a case that can be fully recharged three times, and a companion app that allows for audio customization.
They are portable, breathable, and durable. However, they may not be the most stable option for physical activity if you can’t find a good fit due to the large ear tips. Sony does not list an official IP rating, which is unfortunate. They also don’t leak much sound, so you can listen to loud music and not worry about disturbing your co-workers. Simply putting it in the case for charging should give you enough battery power to get through a day at the office without a problem.
The pad on the right side is for playback controls. Single tap to play/pause, double tap to fast forward, triple hit to fast reverse. Tap and hold for Siri and Google Assistant to start a conversation. In addition, when one earpiece is removed, the currently playing song will automatically pause. Also, when you remove one earpiece, the music playing will automatically pause.