Sony MDR-1000x Review: The Best Wireless Noise-cancelling Headphones Yet

Sony MDR-1000x Review: The Best Wireless Noise-cancelling Headphones Yet

The Sony 1000x.

We Highly Recommend this One

When writing tech reviews, you have to rarely and carefully use the word “best”. There’s no other word to describe the Sony MDR-1000x though. After testing and using dozens of wireless noise-cancelling headphones over the last decade, I’ve personally come to one that can offer fantastic audio (not audiophile level but closest for a wireless noise-cancelling can), portability, and some cool smart features to boot. I’ll jump the gun a bit and say that the only issue with this is the price. It’s quite steep at Php17,999 but if you want the best you gotta be ready to shell out cash.

Let’s jump right into the review.

Audio: Fun, Warm, and Full


In terms of sound signature, the Sony 1000x reminds me a lot of the Beats Solo 3. Now before you all go wild and say that Beats is crappy, yes they WERE. However ever since Apple took over their products have improved significantly. The Beats Solo 3, for all of it’s flaws in construction and comfort, produces fantastic sound: fun, punchy bass, and warm highs and smooth mids. It’s relatively the same experience with the 1000x but it does offer better sound stage and un-rivalled noise isolation thanks to the noise-cancelling feature.

See Also: Beats Solo 2 Review

Speaking of noise-cancelling — the Sony 1000x does this superbly well. Once you put it on everything goes dead silent. Now you might be thinking only frequent flyers need to have noise-cancelling headphones but that’s no longer true this days. With the popularity of working in coffee shops or open-space offices, noise-cancelling headphones are now essential for nomad professionals.

Smart Features: A bit Gimmicky but Still Useful

Sony attempted to make the Sony 1000x more than just your usual noise-cancelling headphones by adding “smart” touch features.

You can swipe on the outer ear for different controls. Next track, previous track, pause, play, and volume up/down are there. Apart from that though Sony also put in an ambient sound on/off feature. You can put your hand over the outer ear and you get to hear what’s happening in the outside world. It’s a pretty slick feature if you just want to know what’s happening around you without taking off the cans. However I personally rarely use it when someone talks to me (I’d look weird) so I usually just take the cans off my ears if that’s the case.

Build: Premium, Portable, and Smart

While Sony still uses mostly plastic for the MDR-1000x, it feels better and more comfortable compared to the offering of Beats and closely matches the Bose QC35s. It doesn’t feel like it’s going to break which is what you feel with the Beats Solo 3 Wireless. The faux leather pads are also bigger giving better cushioning to your ears. From experience we rarely get ear fatigue with the 1000x (over 3-4 hours of listening and no issue).

In terms design and aesthetics thee 1000x is understated, subtle, but elegant. It won’t scream “BEATS” with the loud logo and the glossy finish. It also comes with a hard case where you can easily store it when you’re on the go. You can also slip in the cable (if you don’t want to go wireless) in it so you can take it out when you need it.

Battery Life: No Issues

In terms of battery life, the Sony MDR-1000x can go the distance. In our tests we went over 15 hours with noise-cancelling and wireless turned on.

Final Verdict: Highly Recommended for Those who Can Afford it

The fantastic sound quality, comfortable build, elegant design, outstanding battery life, smart features, and the noise-cancelling makes the Sony MDR-1000x one of the best wireless headphones you can get in the market today. Yes it’s steep at Php17,999 but it’s a great buy if you can afford it. We find it hard to spot anything to that we can complain about and that’s rare these days in consumer electronics.

To those who want to get one it’s already available in most gadget and audio stores that carry Sony products. We got ours from EGGHEAD in Shang Mall, Edsa.

See Also: Sony MDR-1A Headphones Review

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