Review on Sony WF-1000XM3 Black Truly Wireless Earbuds with Mic, up to 32 Hours Battery Life, Stable Bluetooth Connection, Wearing Detection and Alexa Built-in for Noise Cancelling by Tracey White

For use with iPhone 12 Pro. I bought these with the intention of finding a more durable alternative to the Apple Airpods (1st gen), so I'll be comparing this Sony set to Apple's set a lot in this review. A NOTICE. Not sure if this has been the case with other buyers here, but I received what appeared to be a Chinese domestic version of this model. Sony's packaging and documents were in English and Chinese (see attached image). Also, the default language for the built-in voice was Chinese. I was able to switch this to English in the Sony Headphones app after setup. It doesn't matter, I actually think it's pretty cool, but I don't think it was listed on Revain. Pros: - Pairs are quick and easy to set up. iOS can track and display the battery level in the battery widget. - The active noise cancellation works surprisingly well. The app allows you to set various equalizer and noise canceling settings. - Only tested for a few weeks but the battery life seems to be much better than my old Airpods. - Full set of foam and rubber ear tips for different ear sizes. but I feel it can be improved with an equalizer tweak in the settings. As in-ear headphones, they definitely offer more isolated and richer sound compared to the original Airpods which sounded more open and natural. I mainly use wireless headphones for running. These devices are larger and heavier than Airpods, but not big enough to fall out after moderate running and jumping. Cons: - Requires the Sony Headphones app to pair and control features and settings. (A slight inconvenience compared to Airpods which can be controlled and controlled in iOS without additional software). - The firmware was outdated upon delivery. The headphone app was bugging me with software update notifications. Headphones must be plugged in during the software update but NOT placed in the case. - I noticed a few frequent jumps when playing music. There's an option in the app to prioritize a stable connection over sound quality, but that doesn't seem to help much. Sometimes one device turns off suddenly while the other stays connected, even though both devices are close to my iPhone and have enough charge. The only solution I've found is to turn Bluetooth off and on again, then manually reconnect via iOS Bluetooth settings. The case is great but much bigger than the Airpods. It is inconvenient to keep in small pockets or tight pants. Overall: The excellent battery life and active noise cancellation make them a great alternative to Airpods, which offer more features and customization options. However, these Sony devices are still not entirely free of the typical problems associated with true wireless earbuds, and they're less convenient than Airpods in a number of ways: pass-through and connection issues can still linger. Compared to the design of Airpods, they are bulkier and heavier. , and have an in-ear headphone form factor. The case is pretty bulky. Compared to the sound quality of Airpods, they sound more isolated and rich, but need to be adjusted via the equalizer settings to get the best sound. To be honest, if Apple Airpods were cheaper or had user-replaceable batteries, I'd still prefer them to other options, including this Sony set. For an iPhone user nothing beats the simplicity of Airpods with iOS and for me personally they fit my ear perfectly. But if I had to choose something else, these Sony headphones offer a good alternative, but not a real replacement.