Fighting ear pressure with Sony WH-1000XM3:
30.8.2018
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Video: Stephanie Tresch
At IFA 2018, Sony presented their latest innovations including new headphones. The wireless WH-1000XM3 are smaller than their predecessors, provide more space, charge faster and help equalise pressure on your ears.
The plane takes off. Video producer Stephanie Tresch and I are whisked away over the clouds on an Airbus A320. A few minutes earlier, we tucked our ears away in the new wireless Sony headphones. These black or beige headphones, with the full name of Sony WH-1000XM3, come with quite a promise. A promise they might just live up to, as a first impression shows.
Let me set one thing straight: This is not a review about sound quality as we just didn’t have enough time. What’s more, comparing these headphones to those in-ear headphones stuffed somewhere in our rucksacks just wouldn’t make sense. That would be like comparing apples with pears or wired in-ear with wireless off-ear headphones.
Smaller, softer, slantier
The XM3 are considerably smaller than the predecessor model WH-1000XM2. According to Sony, the latter gave wearers a square-looking head. So this time round, the company chose to save on size for aesthetical reasons. In exchange, the cups were overhauled. Tucked away behind the soft padding that is pressed against your skin are the loudspeaker units. The units have a slanted design so your ears can stand off from your head as nature intended. This means that the headphones comfortably fit practically all ear shapes.
As the headband of these over-ear headphones is now more snug around your head, the engineers at Sony went for thicker cushioning for extra comfort.
First impressions on the Airbus: They work. These headphones are so comfortable, I really can’t think of any negative points.
Improved inside technology
But comfort and size alone will not suffice to put this model to market. Of course, Sony knows this too. That’s why they’ve added improved noise cancelling to the XM3. Improvements were made to filtering out or blocking out human voices. This works quite well. Even though I can hear the pilot making an announcement, I have no idea what he’s saying. To be honest, I’m happy with just the noise cancelling. As much as I enjoy being in my own little world of music, I at least want to hear potentially important things going on around me. Here, I can either place my hand on the right ear-cup to deactivate noise cancelling or just take the headphones off for a sec – proper old school.
A totally new feature presented at IFA is their automatic atmospheric pressure optimising feature. Hence the airplane. While the passengers are being pressed into their seats and the Airbus is gaining in height, I put the feature to the test. However, I need to do a little pressure equalising myself before we break through the clouds. It takes two little yawns – hardly anything compared to a take-off without headphones. Even if Sony hadn’t made any other changes, this feature alone would be worth me taking a closer look at the XM3, being the frequent flyer that I am.
USB C at last
It’s the small things Sony improved or changed this time. Take the buttons next to the 3.5 mm jack on the left ear cup. They’re no longer embedded in the case but stick out. This makes them easier for your fingers to find. But this is just a cosmetic detail.
The real advantage is tucked away in the right ear cup. That’s where the USB C port is. In other words, you can charge the headphones with the same cable most smartphones use. What’s more: USB Cs can transport even more power and data through the port. In plain English this just means faster charging. Sony claims that 10 minutes of charging will give you five hours of playback time on the 1000XM3. Nice.
After a while, I’m feeling a little sweaty under the beige headphones. What great timing that the pilot is starting his descent. A descent that only required very pressure equalising from me.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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