Sony WH-1000XM3
Shares rank 6 of 7 noise-cancelling headphones by recommenders
People recommend these wireless noise-cancelling headphones for sound quality and noise cancellation they rate above Bose. The most common caveat is battery failure.
People recommend these wireless noise-cancelling headphones for sound quality and noise cancellation they rate above Bose. The most common caveat is battery failure.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Sound quality praised
“sound superb, and have IMHO better noise cancellation than Bose”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “AirPods Max 2” Noise cancelling better than Bose
“sound superb, and have IMHO better noise cancellation than Bose”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “AirPods Max 2” Works wired and Bluetooth
“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.”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Wired headphone sales are exploding. What's with the Bluetooth backlash?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Battery failed to hold charge
“the battery in my Sony wh1000xm3's failed to hold any charge at all”
Comment from 15 Mar 2026 in “Wired headphone sales are exploding. What's with the Bluetooth backlash?”
Other noise-cancelling headphones people recommend
The four most recommended other noise-cancelling headphones, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AirPods Max | 56 | 104 | 35% | 6 | 3 yrs8 owners | — |
| Sony WH-1000XM5 | 23 | 17 | 58% | 6 | — | — |
| Bose QuietComfort headphones | 22 | 2 | 92% | 5 | 10 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Sennheiser Momentum 4 | 7 | 1 | 88% | 3 | — | — |
| Sony WH-1000XM3This page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“sound superb, and have IMHO better noise cancellation than Bose”
“the battery in my Sony wh1000xm3's failed to hold any charge at all”
“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.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.