Sony’s WH-1000MX3 Rules The Block

People are screaming. Cars are exploding. The internet is turning itself upside down.

And for good reason.

Well, no. Not a good reason. But of all the reasons the internet has, in the past, flipped out over something, this might be one of the more reasonable ones.

BOSE has worked very hard over the past several years to establish themselves as the ultimate “top dog” of the headphones market, pushing out many iconic pairs marketed at the casual and professional alike, including the Bose QuietComfort 25, which I personally know a lot of people bought on Black Friday-level sales that brought the headphones just under $100.

But the BOSE name hasn’t gained its prestige by appealing to the masses; No, they’re best known for being the best of the best in the headphones market. But that’s the problem. This time, they’re not.

Critics are fawning over the newly-released Sony WH1000MX3  (Which haven’t been publically released yet, so no store page there). TechRadar gave the device 5 out of 5 stars – a really rare occurrence for such an expertly critical tech review site.

The review cites these devices as an absolute game-changer. The reviewer, Nick Pino of TechRadar, states that these headphones represent a significant upgrade in terms of Sony’s willingness to compete with BOSE for the spot of top headphones. And the five-star review solidifies Pino’s opinion of the devices: Sony has done more than make a run for the throne. They’ve stolen it.

The glamorous reviews continue on CNET, where writer David Carnoy calls the device a collaboration of smart ideas and decisions that improve on every single important aspect of the device’s predecessor, the WH1000MX2. He even states that the developers of this device seemed so intent on fixing all the problems he found with the previous designs that he thinks they might have read his last review.

So what makes these headphones a huge step up from their predecessors? Improvements on everything that went wrong the last time. One of the primary complaints reviewers had with the WH1000MX2’s was their considerable charge-up time for their short battery life, at least compared to their competition (The aforementioned QuietComfort25).  This time, Sony’s made the switch from Micro-USB charging to USB-C charging, a considerable change that enables the new quick-charge feature – That’s plus five hours of battery life in just 10 minutes of charging. Not bad.

The headphone also includes the option for use as a wired device this time around, and reviewers state that the sound is even better in wired mode. This might not matter for many, but it’s a big deal for myself and a few others I know personally – Us forgetful types find that having our very-expensive electronics tied to our computers makes it much more difficult for us to misplace them.

Finally (and perhaps most importantly), according to the CNet review, the noise canceling technology has been improved to a point where these new headphones cancel out background sounds more effectively than their latest BOSE counterparts.

All this is cool, and the all-around improvements do make the device superior to BOSE’s current top set in the eyes of many more experienced in the headphones field than I, but what really puts Sony’s model one step above the competition, for me, is a feature I learned about just recently:

When you put your hand over the right side of the headphones, the noise canceling turns off and the device uses exterior microphones to let the outside world in. That’s right: You no longer need to take them off when you want to have a quick talk with someone.

I don’t know about any of you, but when it comes to noise-canceling headphones, that right there is absolutely huge.

Featured Image Via Sony