WWYD: Beats Studio 3 or Sony 1000XM4?

[anthonymoody]

Kid wants over-ear NC headphones for birthday. Doesn't really care about them being wireless funny enough. For iPhone and MBP usage 99% of the time.

I think the Sony is superior in all aspects save one: the Beats have the W1 which makes life inside the Apple hardware ecosystem so much easier to live with.

So I guess basically it's a trade between "W1 convenience factor" and "literally everything else is better about the Sony." Kid isn't really a brand/style person, so that doesn't really matter.

Which would you choose and why?

 

[secretk]

I would choose Sony for few reasons. First I have 1000XM3 so I am biased. I have not used Beats but from what I have seen I am not impressed. I would not call Beats over the head headphones, for me they are on ear headphones. That for me means two things - not good seal for NC (if you have bigger ears which granted I do) and potential sound leakage. Both for me are important factors.

You already said the rest - NC is better with Sony obviously. Can't say about the transparency mode. Also I cannot comment on phone calls quality (if this is important).

I have AirPods Pro and let me tell W1 and its connection is not seamless. My Sony headpones connect faster to my different Apple paired devices to which they have been paired to than the AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro are supposed to automatically connect and switch but it does not work and I need to trigger the connection manually quite often. Sony would connect to the last connected device and yes if I want to switch I have to then trigger manually the connection. For me first time connection is more important and here Sony wins.

So if Beats follow Airopods Pro approach/solution for me W1 is not a plus to consider.

 

[anthonymoody]

@secretk thanks for the thoughts. I didn't realize that the W1 wasn't all that. My wife has Air Pods and doesn't seem to have any issues switching devices, though maybe she does and just doesn't complain to me about it!

 

[JCCL]

I have the Sony’s and are my favorite headphones ever. In my opinion they’re much much better than the beats. W1 is cool but I prefer to use good old fashioned Bluetooth pairing if that allows me to enjoy all the other functions in which the WH1000XM4 are superior.

 

[secretk]

@secretk thanks for the thoughts. I didn't realize that the W1 wasn't all that. My wife has Air Pods and doesn't seem to have any issues switching devices, though maybe she does and just doesn't complain to me about it!

I might be just weird use case. I have 4 Apple Devices (2 iPads, 2 iPhones) and I have paired all of them with the Airpods Pro. On top of it I have Shortcut running when the device gets connected with them. Maybe my issues are related to this specific setup but it is a fact for me that in the 50 % of the cases I need to trigger manual connection in Settings.