Sony·headphones
Sony WH-1000XM3
Based on 11 credible posts from Hacker News & Bluesky. 1 filtered out as bot-like or off-topic.
Low confidenceFew owner reviews so far, so this score can still move a lot. How we score
Scored September 27, 2026
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Owner reviews
Overall owner mood
Most owners are happy with it: 64% of 11 reviews are positive and 18% negative. Praise centers on sound and noise cancelling. The most common complaint is price & value (4 owners). Owners with 6+ months of use feel about the same (67% positive).
What owners like
Sound praised by 3 owners
“Much cheaper, good noise cancelling, good enough sound quality, and from time to time use them for 8 hours straight (AAC mode) without putting them in the case.”
Noise cancelling praised by 3 owners
“Much cheaper, good noise cancelling, good enough sound quality, and from time to time use them for 8 hours straight (AAC mode) without putting them in the case.”
Connectivity praised by 2 owners
“I use my bluetooth headphones (the product) through bluetooth when I am on the go, and wired when I am at home, especially if I want low latency.”
What owners complain about
Price & value raised by 4 owners
“the the product wasn't cheap, but things have changed.”
Connectivity raised by 2 owners
“That was a big change from the cheap bluetooth earphones I had used until that point, which had terrible battery life.”
What owners talk about
- Price & value2 praise · 4 complain
- Connectivity2 praise · 2 complain
- Sound3 praise · 1 complain
- Noise cancelling3 praise · 0 complain
- Battery & charging1 praise · 1 complain
- Customer support1 praise · 1 complain
Built from the reviews themselves — every quote links to the owner who wrote it.
Full text of every credible post we scored. Bot-like and off-topic comments are hidden.
If noise cancelling is important to you, the Sony WH-1000XM3 (or whatever version they're up to now) are fantastic - I've had the same pair since 2018 and they're well worth the price tag. Great sound, great noise cancelling. Cheaper earbuds that I use on the go every day: JBL Endurance Race TWS
I've had Sony WH-1000XM3 for a couple of years now and I've liked them a lot. Pretty pricey but great quality, +noise cancelling is nice
[...] I had a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3. [...] I contacted Sony, expecting to be able to buy replacement earpads like basically every major headphone manufacturer on earth supplies (yes, even Apple and Bose), and they informed me that earpads are not user serviceable and that I would have to send the headphones into their service centre for a paid for repair. [...] I'm not replacing my headphones annually, it's ridiculous (both from a cost and a waste PoV). I looked online and found replacement pads available from third parties, and tried a set of Dekoni pads, which noticeably changed the sound signature of the headphones and caused ANC problems. So I started looking for a replacement, discounted Sony's line completely, and ended up buying AirPods Max from Amazon when they were decently discounted in a Prime sale, and... [...] ANC is competent, sound quality is reasonable, unlike the WH-1000XM3 when I want to move them between Apple devices I don't have to do the re-pairing mess or stop bluetooth from autoconnecting on my other devices, earcups are lovely and deep, and the pads are user replaceable. They're honestly not a bad product, they're just a bit too expensive without a discount.
A couple months ago, the battery in my Sony wh1000xm3’s failed to hold any charge at all. Was an easy replacement tho and they’re as good as new.
[...] Many bluetooth headphones (not earbuds) also have an audio jack to be used wired. I use my bluetooth headphones (sony wh-1000xm3) through bluetooth when I am on the go, and wired when I am at home, especially if I want low latency. [...]
[...] It never left my side." I've had to ally myself with a brand I've once sworn off just to get a flagship model Android with a headphone jack. [...] (And before you ask, I only generally buy flagships because I upgrade my phone like, every five years, and in my experience flagships are just more bang for buck. [...] Wired connections have known failure modes, something which I really value in tech. I have a Sony WH-1000XM3 which can work both as wired and wireless and I love it for that. [...] Here's to a future with cheaper flagship models with a headphone jack!
[...] I got a WH-1000xm3 that all reviews praise for sound quality and it sounds like complete shit, muffled, over emphasizing bass, no clarity. [...] And you can't even adjust eq if you want to use the bettter audio codecs. If I paid the original list price for this i would be furious
[...] I didn't want to use a dongle or buy new wired headphones, and I didn't want to use a 1-to-2 USB-C/lightning dongle to listen to music and charge at the same time. Then I invested on a Sony WH-1000XM3 and suddenly battery life wasn't a problem anymore. That was a big change from the cheap bluetooth earphones I had used until that point, which had terrible battery life. I could use them for a full day, maybe forget to charge them, and it never ran out of battery. [...] The downside was the price... the WH-1000XM3 wasn't cheap, but things have changed. [...] Much cheaper, good noise cancelling, good enough sound quality, and from time to time use them for 8 hours straight (AAC mode) without putting them in the case. The earphones + case can last a week without charging them (with my usage of course). [...] So I'd say that the list of downsides is getting shorter as good bluetooth headphones get cheaper. It's still more expensive, but it's a different world compared to 5 years ago. [...]
[...] I can't find any record of this so I'm guessing maybe it is referring to the WH1000XM3 headphones? Given ldac is also mentioned this seems a reasonable guess as it's a bluetooth model. If that's the case I wouldn't call it "good listening equipment", the default frequency response curve of the wh1000xm3 is incredibly bad, it's barely worth listening to classical music on without using AutoEq[1] or something equivalent (I have a pair and it's much worse than my old Ath M50s which were like half the price). The bass heavy curve of the headphones is far more noticeable than any difference between 16/24 bit audio would ever make. [...]
I only download 320kbps songs onto my phone because I exclusively listen with Bluetooth earbuds and headphones, so the quality is bottlenecked at 250kbps. iPhone doesn’t support wired EQ. For high quality listening I use a digital audio player with FLAC files and wired Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones.
[...] New headphones, my current ones which are a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3 have started to die after years of use, it is my second pair because my autistic ass went and bought an extra for when the first ones broke. [...]
The claims, and the evidence
What the brand claims
No published claims on file for this product yet.
What owners report
“If noise cancelling is important to you, the Sony WH-1000XM3 (or whatever version they're up to now) are fantastic - I've had the same pair since 2018 and they're well worth the price tag. Great sound, great noise cancelling. Cheaper earbuds that I use on the go every day: JBL Endurance Race TWS”
after 6 yearsView on Bluesky“I've had Sony WH-1000XM3 for a couple of years now and I've liked them a lot. Pretty pricey but great quality, +noise cancelling is nice”
after 2 yearsView on Bluesky“[...] I had a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3. [...] I contacted Sony, expecting to be able to buy replacement earpads like basically every major headphone manufacturer on earth supplies (yes, even Apple and Bose), and they informed me that earpads are not user serviceable and that I would have to send the headphones into their service centre for a paid for repair. [...] I'm not replacing my headphones annually, it's ridiculous (both from a cost and a waste PoV). I looked online and found replacement pads available from third parties, and tried a set of Dekoni pads, which noticeably changed the sound signature of the headphones and caused ANC problems. So I started looking for a replacement, discounted Sony's line completely, and ended up buying AirPods Max from Amazon when they were decently discounted in a Prime sale, and... [...] ANC is competent, sound quality is reasonable, unlike the WH-1000XM3 when I want to move them between Apple devices I don't have to do the re-pairing mess or stop bluetooth from autoconnecting on my other devices, earcups are lovely and deep, and the pads are user replaceable. They're honestly not a bad product, they're just a bit too expensive without a discount.”
after 1 yearView on Hacker News“[...] I got a WH-1000xm3 that all reviews praise for sound quality and it sounds like complete shit, muffled, over emphasizing bass, no clarity. [...] And you can't even adjust eq if you want to use the bettter audio codecs. If I paid the original list price for this i would be furious”
Common Sony WH-1000XM3 problems
Issues at least two owners independently report.
- Price & value4 mentionsView on Hacker News
“[...] I got a WH-1000xm3 that all reviews praise for sound quality and it sounds like complete shit, muffled, over emphasizing bass, no clarity. [...] And you can't even adjust eq if you want to use the bettter audio codecs. If I paid the original list price for this i would be furious”
- Connectivity2 mentionsView on Bluesky
“I only download 320kbps songs onto my phone because I exclusively listen with Bluetooth earbuds and headphones, so the quality is bottlenecked at 250kbps. iPhone doesn’t support wired EQ. For high quality listening I use a digital audio player with FLAC files and wired Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones.”