Headphones : Sony WF-1000X

Key Features

• Review Price: £200
• Wireless
• Noise cancellation
• Earbud design
• Adaptive sound control
• Charging case

What are the Sony WF-1000X?

Wireless earbud-type headphones are cool, but they don’t generally sound amazing. That’s because sound is often not the priority. The Apple AirPods, for instance, put a lot of emphasis on connection stability. The Jabra Elite Sport are designed for sports. But now we have the Sony WF-1000X, which happily take a sound-first approach.

They’ve taken a few elements from last year’s excellent (over-ear, wireless, noise-cancelling) Sony MDR-1000X and crammed them into a tiny nugget small enough to sit in your ear. Not only are they head and shoulders above any wireless earbud headphones I’ve heard to date – they’re good enough to replace a lot of wired rivals – but they are also the first of their kind to feature noise cancellation.

Basically, you get excellent sound, total freedom of movement, and the ability to shut out other people’s racket. I’ve not been this impressed by a pair of headphones in ages.

Sony WF-1000X – Design

As is now the norm with wireless earbud headphones, the design has two elements: the buds themselves and their charging case. I’ll start with the earbuds.

It’s a subtle design that mostly sits in your ear. It sticks out a little, but not so much that it looks like you drive taxis. While the Sony WF-1000X won’t pass as those invisible earpieces you see in spy movies, the overall effect is a lot less eye-catching than the Apple AirPods’ ‘toothbrush’ design.

You’ll notice a transparent bit at the tip with an arc inside. That’s an antenna to make sure the two buds play nice with each other – the left ear handles information and relays it to the right.

The Sony WF-1000X fit very nicely. There are two types of ear tips in a range of sizes: the typical silicone ones and a rubbery-sponge style. It didn’t take much experimenting before I found one that suits me. Each bud weighs less than 7g and never feels like a burden.

The part of the bud going into your ear canal is ever so slightly angled, which helps the buds go in and stay in. Another thing that helps to secure fit is a small fin (available in two sizes) but that’s so subtle I’m not sure it actually does anything. Maybe that’s the point.

Either way, I tried very hard to to shake the buds loose but no amount of headbanging could dislodge them. The ‘F’ in WF-1000X stands for ‘freedom’, and that seems very appropriate. Sony says these buds could withstand a splash, but are not designed for sports – with everyday use in mind, this level of fit is plenty. Don’t worry about running for the bus.

Each bud has one button. The left ear takes care of power, pairing and noise cancellation. The right ear controls music playback, call start/stop and your phone’s smart assistant (Siri/Google Assistant). There is no onboard volume control, however – you do that from your phone.

As for the case, it’s a flat box with straight edges and rounded ends. It’s a little chunkier than I’d like, but it is metal and feels sturdy. I tend to put it in my bag and not my pocket, but come winter I’m sure it’ll be fine in my coat.

The bottom of the case has an NFC chip for quick Bluetooth pairing with Android devices. While not necessary, it’s a nice touch. The auto on/off feature, however, is indispensable.

Remove the buds from the case, and they’ll come to life, automatically pairing with the last device you used them with. Replace them and the buds shut down, with red lights indicating the case is topping up their battery levels.

Each bud holds three hours of charge, and the case holds six – giving you a total of nine hours’ listening. The case itself is charged by USB-C.

Oh, and they’re also available in black.

Sony WF-1000X – Features

Wireless, noise-cancelling, earbud headphones. You might think the features list is implicit, but there’s a lot more here than meets the eye.

Take the wireless bit. The partner ‘Headphone Connect’ app lets you choose to prioritise sound quality or connection stability. That’s super useful in network-congested areas like busy offices or train stations, where all manner of wireless frequencies conspire to mess with your connection. If you ever experience a drop in connection, this fixes it most of the time.

I should stress, connection does depend on your device – I used a Huawei Mate 9 and an iPhone 6S and managed to wander off (10m or so) to make coffee without so much as a stutter. My Astell & Kern AK70 didn’t do so well beyond 3m.

As for the noise-cancelling bit, the app also lets you decide whether you want to shut everything out, or let in a little ambient noise, or let in just voices. Whether you prefer musical immersion or situational awareness, it’s up to you.

Can’t decide? That’s fine too. The buds’ Adaptive Sound Control feature uses gyroscopes in your phone to work out what you’re doing, and adjusts the intensity of noise cancellation accordingly. It flicks between Staying, Walking, Running and Transport.

If you don’t use the app, you’ll have limited control of the noise cancellation: some NC, all NC, or no NC. You’ll also miss out on the EQ adjustment feature, due via an update in October 2017.

Should I buy the Sony WF-1000X?

The Sony WF-1000X excel at wireless connectivity, noise-cancelling and audio performance – all in a package small enough to comfortably fit in your ear. I’m not sure there’s much more I can ask of them. Can they replace wired headphones entirely? No, because that’s not always practical. But if you want freedom of movement and you want your music to be a haven from the outside world, look no further.

Verdict

Without doubt the best wireless earphones in the world.