Sony WI-1000XM2 Neckband Noise Cancelling Headphones Review

Sony WI-1000XM2 is one of the few remaining high-end Neckband Bluetooth headphones on the market, as the consumer trend is gradually turning to truly wireless earbuds. However, after a week of these noise cancelling ear plugs experience, it is clear that the WI-1000XM2 still has many strong points that truly wireless earbuds cannot replace.

With a price of up to $299.99, the WI-1000XM2 is targeted at business customers, office workers and frequent business travelers who need high-quality headphones noise cancelling, but still compact in size and can easily move.

Design

The first point improvement in Sony WI-1000XM2 is that the design has been changed a lot from the previous generation. We don’t have the original WI-1000X available right now, but the biggest complaint was that we couldn’t fold her hard plastic neckband, each time we had to carry her bulky carrying case.

But for the Sony WI-1000XM2, the Neckband is made of a flexible rubber material. Although the WI-1000XM2 is equipped with a compact high-end carry box, sometimes you have to go somewhere very quickly, so you can put this Neckband Bluetooth headphones directly into your coat pocket, which weigh is also quite light.

If you have been using true-wireless headphones for a long time, the wearing feel of the WI-1000XM2 will be quite new. The noise cancelling ear plugs of the WI-1000XM2 may look bulky, but these are more comfortable to wear than today’s truly wireless earbuds. This active noise cancelling headset has no problem in wearing and its design is not based on the ears, so we feel very light and comfortable after wearing it and most importantly, about its fall in the middle of the road. There is no need to worry about it.

Many of you looking at the Neckband design will feel entangled and heavy. However, for us, every day we wear a shirt, the rubber neckband design is quite firmly attached to the shirt, feels very light and easy to coordinate, looks more luxurious.

After a week of use, we were completely convinced by the Neckband design when used in an office work environment. Whenever someone talks to you or someone call you, all you need to do is remove the headset and you can do your thing. Features like hear-through and transparent hearing, though they can help you talk without having to remove the headset.

These Sony noise cancelling headphones look good, thanks to a beautiful matte finish. The large modules at the ends of the neckband hold the battery and audio hardware but aren’t very heavy. There is just one button on the neckband for power, along with a USB Type-C port (covered by a flap) and a 3.5mm socket to connect a stereo cable for wired listening.

Two short cables extend from the neckband towards the earpieces, with an inline remote on the left cable. Apart from controls for volume and playback, there is also a customizable button on the remote which can be set to control the noise cancelling level and ambient sound mode or invoke Google Assistant or Alexa. There’s also a microphone for voice calls and voice assistant interactions.

The sales box of the Sony WI-1000XM2 includes a carry case, a USB Type-C cable for charging, a stereo cable for wired connectivity, an airplane adapter, and a total of seven pairs of ear tips (four pairs of silicone tips, and three pairs of foam tips) in various sizes.

Active Noise Cancelling

Sony’s 1000X series of headphones has always been known for its market-leading active noise cancelling. The WI-1000XM2 is equipped with a QN1 processor similar to the WH-1000XM3 earphones, so the active noise suppression of the product is extremely impressive. Along with dual microphones, atmospheric pressure optimization, ambient sound mode, Bluetooth 5, and support for the LDAC, AAC, and SBC codecs. The hybrid dual-driver system features one 9mm dynamic driver and one balanced armature driver in each earpiece, with a frequency response range of 3-40,000Hz.

We used it in many different situations, such as sidewalks, cafes, restaurants and indeed none of the cases disappointed us. Of course, if you turn off the music, you will hear some external sounds such as traffic or people nearby. However, when we turned on the music at a 35%low volume level, but still no noise was heard, this is a very impressive thing.

We directly compared the active noise cancelling of the WH-1000XM3 and WI-1000XM2 and actually the difference is not much. Sony has always been proud of the WH-1000XM3’s market-leading noise suppression for over a year, and the WI-1000XM2 is no less a great thing.

The headset’s battery life is about 10 hours when using continuous active noise cancelling mode, with us enough for long flights or continuous use of headphones throughout the day. The headset’s full charge time is also quite fast, in just one hour.

However, one more thing to note is that the noise cancelling of this Neckband Bluetooth headphones is highly dependent on the choice of ear tip that fits your ear canal. As mentioned above, in the product set for you there are 7 pairs of different ear tips, with his Hybrids size S tips is best suited for comfort, soundproofing ability.

Features

To adjust the active noise cancellation of Sony headphones, users need to download the Sony Headphones Connect app for Android and iOS. WI-1000XM2 has many different levels of noise protection, such as the default Noise Canceling, Wind Noise Reduction (reducing the sound of wind when driving) and Ambient Sound mode with 20 levels adjusting the level of anti-noise. Noise levels and Focus Voice mode to focus listening to the surrounding voice.

In addition, the Sony Headphones Connect app also has many other outstanding features that WI-1000XM2 users also need to know:

• One feature we use very rarely is ‘Adaptive Sound Control’. This feature uses sensors on your phone to identify your activity and adjust the noise cancelling mode to suit activities such as sitting, walking, running or in traffic. You can adjust the noise level to suit each activity through the app. However, we often turn off this function because 90% of the time we spend in active noise cancelling mode, and directly controlling the noise level on the app is also quite convenient.
• The ‘Atmospheric Pressure Optimisation’ feature under ‘Noise Canceling Optimizer’ helps to adjust the pressure throughout the ear canal. This is especially convenient for those who are on airplanes to avoid buzzing, or discomfort, we have also used this feature on the WH-1000XM3 with great ease, even when taking off.
• You can also set up 360 Reality Audio, a Sony-developed format that is said to make music more immersive and detailed.
• Customize the connection with the phone, you should adjust to Priority on Sound Quality to have the best sound quality (using AAC codec on iOS, LDAC on Android), while in Stable Connection mode will reduce sound quality and switch to SBC. DSEE HX mode should also be enabled, so upsample the music quality to a higher sampling frequency close to the lossless music quality.
• And finally, the most practical feature is a customizable button on the remote. This button can be adjusted between Google Assistant, adjusting the noise canceling mode and Amazon Alexa. Just press a button to check the time, schedule, listen to phone notifications and even reply directly to incoming messages. You can also press and hold this button to command a voice assistant.

Sound Quality

If comparing the Sony WI-1000XM2’s sound quality with two WH-1000XM3 and WF-1000XM3, the WI-1000XM2 is the most audiophile-oriented product. The overall tone is gentle, easy to hear, not too lively like WF and WH.

Backed by a hybrid dual-driver setup and superior codec support, the Sony WI-1000XM2 sounds impressive, capably helped along with effective noise cancellation and stable connectivity.

Instead, the spotlight of this headset is vocal. The singer’s voice, whether male or female is still very detailed, from the time of breathing to the time of attachment still shows very soulfully. We find it very easy to listen to the mid-range of this headset, which is very easy to listen to, sensitive, rich in detail and even if you have just practiced or listened for a long time, you will find the mid-range extremely beautiful.

The soundstage of WI-1000XM2 neckband Bluetooth headphones is also a strong point not to be missed. The space is airy and shows a very good separation between the instrument and the vocal. One thing we really like about this headset is the depth of space. This is something that a lot of wireless headsets do not have the ability to show, the WI-1000XM2 shows listeners the depth of the recording naturally.

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The high-resolution songs have full roll-off details to make it easy to hear. Because the WI-1000XM2 is very easy listening, tender suitable for chill after a long day of stressful work. Sitting on a chair and relaxing with music is probably the purpose of WI-1000XM2. Well, you can still use the 3.5mm socket to connect a stereo cable when the battery is exhausted or to plug in the player with a headphone jack. Personally, we feel a bit different when plugged in, the bass strip sounds thicker, but the sound quality now depends a lot on the good music source.

Final line

After one week of experiencing Sony WI-1000XM2 neckband Bluetooth headphones, we can confirm that this headset is not for all users. For customers who need to be active and young to practice sports, this is probably not your first choice. However, with the daily needs of office people, those who are often on business trips, the WI-1000XM2 is a perfect choice.

An active noise cancelling is the leading form of the present and the impressive sound quality is impeccable, the WI-1000XM2 absolutely deserves its $299.99, can be purchased through Amazon.com in Black and White colors. In addition, if you feel insecure when wearing and are not satisfied with the sound quality of the truly wireless headphones, the WI-1000XM2 is a perfect solution to address the need for sound quality as well as comfort and convenience.