Design and features:These headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. These headphones can be used wirelessly with Bluetooth devices or can be cord connected. When cord connected they have medium high sensitivity regardless of whether they are powered with or without the noise cancelation feature turned on or unpowered, so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and lower-powered portable audio devices. The WH-1000XM3 has an integrated microphone and touch sensitive volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls that work with paired Bluetooth devices. Additional features include momentarily audio program muting and engagement of the ambient sound monitor mode when the entire hand is placed on the right earcup, support for Apple Siri and Google Assistant digital voice assistants when used with mobile devices that have those features, the ability to receive high resolution audio Bluetooth transmissions from selected Sony products, optional NFC Bluetooth pairing, and earcups that fold and swivel to flat for ease of carrying and storage. The free Sony Headphones Connect app download for Apple and Android mobile devices adds additional features including various automated adjustments that are claimed to optimize the noise cancelling characteristics of the headphone based on different situations. It can also act as a audio program player, provide tonal adjustments, enable various virtual surround sound modes, and adjust the apparent location of the audio program. This model comes with a detachable 46-inch long standard audio cable, a USB charging cable, a mini-plug-to-airplane-jack adapter, and a carrying case.
Sound quality: We found the WH-1000XM3 provides excellent active noise reduction and that the sound quality was pretty much the same regardless of whether the noise cancelling feature was turned on or off, or whether it was used in the Bluetooth or powered wire connected mode. When used in any of those four modes it delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can best be summarized as thumpy and a bit muffled. Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is prominent and thumpy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even, but is a bit muffled. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended but slightly smeared (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer sound blurred) and the lower treble is subdued. The sound is somewhat closed-in (sound-wise it is somewhat obvious that you have something covering your ears) and, except for the bass, lacks a sense of liveliness. This model does a so-so job of recovering the room ambience of a recording (the sense of the acoustic space in which the audio program that's being listened to was recorded). In cord connected unpowered mode the overall sound can best be summarized as somewhat muffled, and the sound quality falls to the bottom of the good range. These headphones provide excellent noise reduction that is fairly even across most of the frequency range with low frequencies reduced the most. When the noise cancelling feature is turned on a very faint hiss can be heard when there is no audio program to drown it out.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears. As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feels cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the earpad seal and reduce the noise reduction capabilities of the headphone. Users with smaller heads may find they can't get a good earpad seal (the earpads gap at the top) and that the less-than-optimal fit affects the sound quality by causing the bass to be a bit subdued, and that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward, possibly to the point of falling off. Incidental contact with the touch controls on the right outer earcup can cause unintentional playing or pausing, track skipping, or volume level changes. When wearing this model while walking the vibrations from each foot step can be heard by some users through the headphones when the power is off or the power is on and the noise cancelling mode is turned off. The sounds of footsteps are reduced in ambient mode, and may not be heard at all in noise cancelling mode. We also found that this model has a poor folding design - if care is not taken when unfolding the WH-1000XM2 the hinges can pinch a finger. While the pinch is not severe enough to break a bone it can be painful.
