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Why did I buy these
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Pretty obvious that I needed a new pair of headphones, I previously had a pair of Razer Electra headphones and before that some cheap £15 bluetooth earphones from an off brand on Amazon. I figured if I wanted a new pair then I might as well spill out for a top of the range pair. I do a fair bit of research before buying new tech so for me it was between these and the Bose QuietComfort's and in the end the decision was to go with these.
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My initial thoughts
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When I first got them I was excited beyond belief, this is the first time I had splashed out for a pair of headphones and I had high expectations. The packaging is simple and neat, you open them up and are given a nice carrying case with a 3.5mm cable to connect to your devices by wire (if for whatever reason they run out of battery), a airplane adapter which I thought was a nice touch but I doubt I'd ever use it since I'd be on wireless mode 99% of the time and then the headphones themselves.
Build, comfortability & NFC
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They look beautiful, matte finish around mixed with plastic, soft cushioning on the headband and earcups and very minimal branding. They look sleek and modern. They are also foldable which makes them great for travelling as they fit neatly into the carrying case. In terms of comfortability, I've worn these for hours on end and they've not hurt my head or my ears, I believe these are the first pair of headphones I've owned that I can confidently say they're extremely comfortable and I am someone with big ears so it's hard finding comfy headphones to fit them.
On the left ear cup there's an NFC logo (yes, you can actually pair your device by NFC) - you basically hold up your phone to your left ear with NFC turned on and it would pair, don't get to ahead of yourself though, you can't pay at any cash machines with these things and on the right you have the touch controls which are super easy to use and intuitive, I prefer these over physical buttons, just seems a lot easier to use.
ANC (Active Noise Cancelling)
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This is my first pair of headphones with ANC and I am pleasantly surprised by how good it is, the earcups make a seal around your ears to block out noise and there's a nice feature within the headphones app which allows you to set the headphones to listen to your surroundings and turn the noise cancelling off say e.g. you're waiting on a train platform and want to hear announcements then the AI in the headphones will detect you're in this environment and let you hear the outside world. If you want to turn off noise cancelling manually you can do this by placing your hand over the right ear cup and it again lets you hear your surroundings by setting your audio to the background. This can be handy for when you're at work and someone wants to talk to you but you don't want to take your headphones off but it also makes you kind of look like you're a secret agent calling for back up.
Battery life
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The battery life on these headphones are incredible. I haven't tested to see if the 30 hours are accurate but I would say that I've been able to charge them and then do 2 working days back to back and then playing a couple hours of games on my pc before I get the voice warning me to charge up. For me the battery life doesn't have to be 30 hours because I tend to charge my tech daily anyways but it's still handy especially for long haul flights.
Sound quality
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They sound good but not mind blowing. I think the majority of the sound comes from the decent ANC but if you love bass then these are pretty good for that. Sony gives you an equaliser in the app to mess around with if you aren't happy with the default settings so that's a bonus but straight out of the box they sound a tiny bit above average.
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My thoughts now
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Now I can rant.
I bought these not even a year and a half ago and the left ear cup has already decided to give up on me (pictured) now I wouldn't be as mad if it was an uncommon, non-documented problem but unfortunately for Sony this has happened to A LOT of other people with the same headphones (Google it), some have had their headphones broken within a couple of months! The worst part is that the warranty doesn't even cover accidental physical damage which is exactly what this was, the plastic on the band just broke randomly from normal use! For a premium product like this you'd expect more. Apparently this issue has been fixed on the newer model but can you really trust that after so many people have had this issue on this version? Especially if you're forking out close to £400 for the XM4's.
Other things I felt were a bit gimmicky or not worth buying the headphones for. The noise cancelling that the AI controls doesn't work most of the time. Sometimes for me it randomly turned my audio down when the wind would go by or I'm just walking, so I turned that off after a couple of days.
The NFC to pair, used that like 3 times tops and never used it again ever. The placing your hand over your headphones to let audio in feature, I use sometimes but not enough to warrant buying the headphones just for this. The new headphones have a feature that when you take off the headphones it pauses your audio and vice cersa when you put them back on which seems more handy but this model doesn't have that feature.
Oh and if you want to listen to these wired then the ANC doesn't switch on. It only works when you're in wireless mode which is kind of dissapointing.
The only good thing I can say after using them till now is the battery life, which has stayed true since I bought them. They still charge quickly to give me a couple hours of playback when I'm in a hurry and lasts all day when I'm working.
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Conclusion
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In conclusion, these headphones are ok but could be great, they have a bunch of features (some gimmicky) that make life easier for you and make your listening experience enjoyable but the small things that you'd expect out of a premium £300 product at the time of purchase just aren't there for me. Build quality needs vastly improved and get rid of the gimmicks, it doesn't add anything to the experience.
So the real question, should you buy them? I see they're currently just over £200 on Amazon and it's hard to find a the correct pair of headphones for this price but I cannot recommend these because the durability just isn't there and I've had some headphones in the past that have lasted me years before and they've cost a tenth of these. I would avoid these if possible but if you do get them I'm sure you'll be happy, just be concerned that they might break on you at any point.
| Product Dimensions | 1 x 1 x 1 cm; 259.99 Grams |
|---|---|
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Item model number | WH1000XM3B.CE7 |
| Colour | Black |
| Compatible Devices | Most smartphones, PC, Tablets |
| Connector | Stereo Mini Jack |
| Material Type | Aluminium |
| Size | 1 |
| Battery Type | Lithium Ion |
| Charging Time | 4 Hours |
| Item Weight | 260 g |
