Last year, Sony introduced a new over-ear headphones with active noise canceling at IFA. These headphones were specially designed for use on the road during air travel, for example. This year Sony has completed the 1000X line with an in-ear model with neckband and a completely wireless headset: the WF-1000X. We went out with the new headset from Sony.
Sony WF-1000X
Price€219,-
Freq. reach
20Hz – 20kHz
Additional Features
Noise canceling
Link
Bluetooth 4.1
Weight
6.80 grams per earbuds, 70 grams charging case
Colors
gold or black
Website www.sony.nl 7 Score 70
- Pros
- Fits
- Active noise canceling
- app
- Link
- Negatives
- Battery life
- Time to recharge
- Price
Packaging and fits
The True Wireless headset from Sony has a fairly premium look. The shiny caps shine at you and the matching charging case looks sturdy. The WF-1000X comes with a range of attachments that allow you to create the perfect fit yourself. In addition to the silicone caps, you can also choose from 3 caps made of a stiffer and slightly sturdier material.
Also read: How to choose the best headphones
All caps are color marked to avoid confusion. The headset also has an interchangeable wing with which you can attach the WF-1000X more firmly in your ear cup. The package also includes a slightly larger one, if you need it. So there is no shortage of fits and the set is certainly sturdy enough for sporty activities.
To connect
With the WF-1000X, the left one is the leader. This means that the pairing is completed with the left headset and then the right pair is automatically connected. After we turned on the left headset, it automatically appeared among the available bluetooth devices. As advertised, the right headset connected in seconds. A child can do the laundry.
The Sony headphones continue to effortlessly continue for a distance of 25 to 30 meters from the source. The moment the sound disappears, the connection is not immediately broken, so that the set continues to play when you are close to your smartphone or laptop again. If the connection is nevertheless broken, the set will automatically reconnect after you press a button on one of the headphones. The connection is also very stable: on the rare occasions when there was a hitch, it lasted no more than half a second.
Sound and Control
Due to the many fits, you don't have to worry about missing something from your music. The 6mm drivers produce a nice clear sound with a highly detailed midrange. The low tones are unfortunately nothing to write home about and at the highest volume setting the WF-1000X is still not deafening. We can't blame the compact set for this – the set rather deserves a compliment that the sound at higher volume levels hardly distorts.
The buttons are nicely concealed at the bottom of the set and are easy to operate. Both headphones have a button and each is intended for a different function. With the left headphones you choose the types of noise cancellation, while you control the music with the right. Pressing once is play and pause, pressing twice quickly skips to the next track and pressing three times restarts the track or skips to the previous track. By holding down the button after two or three presses, you can even rewind and fast forward. We missed this kind of music control on the AirPods, for example.
noise canceling
With the button on the left headphone you can choose from 3 modes of noise canceling: off, noise canceling and ambient. In the first mode, the WF-1000X functions as an ordinary true wireless in-ear headset. When you activate noise canceling, the microphones on the outside are activated and so-called counter-noise is produced to eliminate ambient noise.
In the third mode, the ambient mode, important ones such as voices and broadcasters are shown amplified. Sounds such as cars and aircraft engines are simply filtered out in this mode. The three modes are each characterized by their own beep, after which a voice indicates which mode is activated – once you know the beeps you can easily and quickly find the right mode without having to wait for the voice.
The digital noise canceling works surprisingly well. Even in the noisiest of environments, the compact set manages to block a lot of noise. The ambient mode also works well and quickly became indispensable in traffic. We all want in-ear headphones that stay in place, but it's not always desirable for all the ambient noise to be blocked by the shape of the tips. Amplifying important sound like voices and broadcasting is a feature we didn't know we needed so much.
app
With the Headphones app from Sony that belongs to the 1000X series, you give the headphones a few nice extra functions. The app can also read your activity and activate a corresponding noise-cancelling mode.
You can determine the level of noise cancellation that is activated when you are standing still, walking, running or using transport. For example, you can set the ambient mode to be activated when you walk, to still be able to hear voices, and the noise-cancelling to activate when you're in a moving train, to completely immerse yourself in your music. And the great thing is: it still works. It takes about two minutes for the app to detect a new way of moving, after which the set automatically adjusts to what you're doing.
Battery life
The 1000X Series is great for travel, as long as the journey isn't too long. You can see the battery status of the WF-1000X in both the app and the Bluetooth menu on your smartphone. In addition, the set also indicates the status of the internal battery at start-up. After more than 2.5 hours we received a message that the battery of the headphones was empty. With the included charging case you can fully charge the set (on the go) twice, so you can use the set for a total of about 8 hours before it has to be plugged in.
Charging in the case takes another hour and a half, which is quite long. Charging the separate charging case takes 2 hours, with the headset in the case it takes about 3 hours. The charging-to-use ratio isn't all that great – you quickly get the feeling that you're spending more time charging the set than you can actually use the set.
You can see the battery life of the WF-1000X in both the Bluetooth menu of your smartphone and in the Headphones app. The headphones also indicate via a voice how full the internet battery is. It is not possible to see how the battery in the charging case is doing.
Conclusion
With a price tag of 219 euros, the WF-1000X is not exactly cheap, but Sony justifies the price in some areas. Connecting is a breeze, the range is impressive and the set feels quite premium. Thanks to a range of attachments, anyone can fit Sony headphones and the accompanying app gives the WF-1000X a dimension that we have not seen before in true wireless headphones. The biggest drawback is the battery life and the long charging times don't make it much better.
