There’s an adaptive sound mode too that adjusts the noise cancelling depending on what you’re doing. The wind noise reduction setting appears to do very little.Īn ambient sound mode pipes noise in from the outside world, which is good for awareness. The earbuds are heavily affected by wind noise, however, which appears to be a function of their size and how much they stick out of your ears. Noise across the board is effectively reduced, including train noise, road noise and engine rumble, meaning you can listen to your music, and hear it clearly, at lower volumes. The Sony WF-1000XM3 are the most effective in-ear noise cancelling earphones I have tried, including those with wires and large batteries. The outer surface has a microphone hole next to a circular touchpad for controlling music or switching noise cancelling modes. Generally, they are fairly comfortable in the ear, but I found if I didn’t quite get the right orientation the outer rubber surface caused pain in the fleshy bits of my ear after about 45 minutes. I would not recommend them for running, though – they are not water resistant. With the correct earbud tip, chosen from the seven pairs included, the fit is pretty secure, despite the size and 8.5g weight, which is on the heavy side for wireless earbuds. Sony ditched the ear hook from its previous true wireless earbuds in favour of a new “high-friction rubber surface” on the outer part that enters your ear. You’ll get between five and six hours of constant playback with noise cancelling on, or eight with it off, for a total of 22 to 32 hours, using the case.
A 10-minute stay in the case charges the earbuds for about 90 minutes of playback time, while a full charge takes 90 minutes. It charges in 3.5 hours via USB-C and will charge the earbuds three times. The attractive flip-top charging case is too big to really pocket, which means it’ll have to go in a bag. The top of the charging case is coloured rose gold or copper. You’ve got to dig out your phone to change the volume, which is a real shame.
All the controls work very well, but they’re missing the big one: volume. Taking out one of the buds pauses the music. Talking to people using ambient mode is possible too, but I wouldn’t recommend it because people will think you’re being incredibly rude. Tapping and holding the left bud activates ambient listening mode, reducing the volume and noise reduction, which is useful for catching public transport announcements.
Which side does what can be configured in an Android or iOS app. There’s a circular touchpad on each bud for controls – single, double and triple taps can take care of playback, change the noise reduction mode or activate Google Assistant. The trunk of the earbuds sticks quite far out of your ear, with the oval-shaped body projected forwards towards your mouth. The case top flips open to reveal the earbuds held in by magnets, each with a canal bud-style tip to insert into your ear.