HAS SONY MANAGED TO MINIATURISE ITSELF?

I think I've reviewed more earbuds and headphones this year than ever before.

For me, there's four main questions any earwear needs to answer...

How do they sound?

How do they fit?

How do they look?

Do they offer any kind of noise cancellation and if so, is it any good?

There are certainly a lot of options out there that answer all those questions pretty positively. Sony took things to a whole new level with its over-ear WH-1000XM3 headset, cementing its reputation as a go-to brand for Active Noise Cancelling, style and comfort.

But can you really squeeze all that into a set of "truly-wireless" earbuds?

Sony certainly seems to think so. In fact, not only are the WF-1000XM3's almost called the same thing, Sony doesn't even call them earbuds, they're "Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones" apparently.

Sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, if you stick them in your ears, they're buds.

In saying that, as you can see from the image above, the WF-1000XM3's are quite an unusual shape. They're not tiny and subtle like some earbuds I've tried, nor do they stick out or hang down like others. They're definitely a statement, with the Sony logo emblazoned across each bud in bronze. That statement says, "I've paid quite a lot of money for these cool little things, so they'd better do the business."

They do.

So that's basically the "look" question answered; they look different, classy and unmistakably Sony. They also look like they'd be a terrible fit, but I was surprised to find this isn't the case - not for me anyway.

It must be an absolute nightmare for any earbud designer to try and come up with a form factor that even approaches a universal fit. The way most manufacturers get around this is with a variety of tips and indeed, here Sony includes several sizes in both soft and harder materials. I actually found the more firm, rubbery option to be the most secure. The WF-1000MX3's ergonomic "tri-hold" structure, which is supposed to ensure three points of contact and the fact they're actually constructed from a high-friction rubber all combines to a) give the impression these things are practically weightless and b) they simply don't fall out. At all. Ever.

I've worn them around the house, to the gym and on several runs and neither earbud has worked its way loose. Not once. What's more impressive is, you're not really supposed to wear these for exercise as they have no water-resistant IP rating. My loophole is I try not to break a sweat.

This super secure fit may just be a fluke for my particular, weird ear shape. They're the only ears I've got though, so it's all I can offer.

Looks? Tick. Fit? Tick?

So how do these puppies sound? To be honest, this is not some magical reproduction of the full-sized over-ear WH-1000XM3 in a much smaller package. That's simply not physically possible. But damn if they don't come close. Using Sony's companion headphone app, you can choose from a number of preset EQs, or customise one of your own to suit your preferences. Certainly, like most Sony devices, the bass response in particular is actually quite impressive.

There's a lot of tech under the tiny hoods of these earbuds to make them sound as good as they do. The Digital Sound Enhancement Engine HX upscales compressed files like mp3s to make them sound more high-res. This seems to work pretty well on podcasts too, which are notorious for being recorded at low bit rates to keep file sizes down.

Another neat trick is simultaneous bluetooth transmission, which has only recently appeared on a handful of true wireless devices. This means the signal is beamed to both ears at once, instead of to one bud then across to the other. The result is the most stable connection I have ever experienced on a set of wire-free buds. Not a single dropout or phase issue the whole time I've been using them.

That just leaves noise cancelling.

Sony's famous HD noise cancelling processor, the QN1e, is the same chip you'll find on the big headphones and yes it works - to a degree. There are dual noise sensor microphones sampling the world around you and adjusting the level of ANC accordingly. On one hand, this is great, as you obviously don't need as much Active Noise Cancelling in a quiet office as you do on a plane or a train. On the other hand, every time the WF-1000XM3 changes mode, it interrupts your playback with a beep notification to let you know it's done it. I'd prefer if it just shut up and got on with it. Luckily you can deactivate the Adaptive Noise Control completely using the app if it gets too annoying. From the app you can also manually adjust the level of ambient noise you let in too.

In fact, there's a lot you can do to customise the way you use these earbuds.

Now that we've ticked off all my main four requirements, let's look at some of the finer details. I don't totally love the controls and to be fair, I've yet to find the perfect solution to run things from something as small as an earbud. Basically, there's a circular touch pad on each bud, which you can program to perform your choice of a limited number of functions; play, pause, answer calls etc. You can also switch between Noise Cancelling and Ambient mode, or use that left-hand bud to run Google Assistant. This gets complicated fast, as you'll need to remember the right combination of taps, double-taps or holding your finger on the pad to get Google Assistant to do all the things you want her to. She usually reminds you, but ironically, more often than not I found it easier to get my actual phone out to read and answer my messages. Maybe with a bit more training I'll get used to it.

There's no on-board volume option - you have to run all that from the source device which is a bit of a pain. And there's no on/off control either - the buds activate the moment you take them out of the case and your music will pause automatically once either bud is removed from your ear.

It's certainly useful to be able to make phone calls using Google Assistant and although I've seen some reviews questioning the call quality of the WF-1000XM3, in my experiments it worked well, with some callers commenting on how effectively the noise cancelling cut out any background noise when I wasn't talking. Pretty clever.

Like the buds themselves, the charging case is a classy looking affair, although it's certainly one of the larger ones I've come across. On the bright side, you'll get about 24 hours use from a full charge of the case and earbuds combined and the case even provides quick-charge functionality; up to 90 minutes playback from a 10 minute charge. Very handy if you're travelling. There's also a reassuring magnetic clunk when you pop the earbuds back in place making it hard to lose one, even if the lid's open.

These are the truly wireless earbuds that truly tick all the boxes and as such, they also truly tick the premium price tag box. However, if they really are the best, maybe they're worth it.


Click here for more information and pricing on the WF-1000XM3 wireless noise cancelling headphones.