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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2022
This is my very first purchase of wireless earbuds (well, I purchased 3 others at same time, to compare them to each other). I did a decent amount of research in a short period of time, and landed on three of the highest rated. These, the Sony WF-1000XM4 and the Beats Fit Pro. I'll start by stating that I haven't felt compelled enough to actually write a review in years. I was so afraid these would disappoint me based on other reviews and Reddit threads, but after just a couple minutes listening to music with these and the Sony earbuds - I had determined an easy winner. I didn't even bother opening the Beats Fit Pro because I knew there was no way they wound better than Bose. My previous earbuds were Bose Soundsport (a gift from someone), so maybe I just have some bias because I'm accustomed to the sound that Bose delivers. My only other prior experience with ANC wireless earbuds is Apple Airpods Pro (I think first generation?) and all I remember when I tried them is instantly thinking the music quality wasn't even close to my Soundsport. Which is a good segue into my Pros and Cons list.
PROS:
1. Sound/Music quality. I'm not educated on all the components of sound/music, I don't know the exact science of what's what, I only know what sounds good to me. I know when music sounds "full bodied" and that's how I'd describe these/the Bose sound. The bass especially. I love Bose bass.
1. Comfort. One of my biggest gripes with the Bose Soundsport was the fit/the wing tips. I HATE the wing tips, even with the smallest size they would cause soreness in my left ear in less than hour. In contrast, I LOVE the way these fit/feel. I have worn them for 3+ hours with zero discomfort. And that's with the size that they came with, I haven't even tried the other sizes yet to see if they can be even more comfortable.
2. Noise Cancelling. Again, I'm not highly educated/experienced in this area (Soundsport didn't have ANC), but I can tell these do it well. I blow-dried my hair while listening to music and I couldn't hear the blowdryer at all (I did have my music up to max/near max volume), but still. I did try to compare this feature with Sony's, and either Sony's ANC was malfunctioning (I researched and troubleshooted), or it was just really bad in comparison to Bose.
3. Easy set-up/sync. Scanned a QR code, downloaded the app, and boom, I was connected. I've had zero connection issues. (I have a Galaxy S21+).
4. Aesthetic. I like how they look. I didn't like the weird knob thingy on the Sony, and I don't like the very obvious "b" Beats logo that's on the Bits Fit Pro, so I am extra grateful that I ended up liking these the most, because I also like how they look the most.
CONS:
1. Hiss/static noise. One of the biggest complaints I saw people have with these is the faint static/hiss noise (when no music/sound is playing), particularly when in Aware mode (ANC turned off). And yes, mine make the noise, and it can be heard even if music is playing at a very low volume, and yes it's annoying, but when I considered how infrequently I would have my earbuds in but not have any music/sound playing (or have volume low enough to hear the static), I determined that's really not a deal breaker for me, and it doesn't outweigh the pros.
2. At first they were a little difficult to remove from the case, but I have quickly gotten better at knowing where to grab/how to remove.
NEUTRAL FOR NOW/WILL UPDATE LATER:
1. Call/mic quality? In my research I also came across a lot of complaints about call quality, people say that the other person on the line can barely hear them/there's a lot of noise, etc. For me, I literally didn't even consider this a factor in my decision making, because I barely care. It's not my primary purpose or use for my wireless earbuds. However, I'll eventually test it out and will update my review later with my experience.
2. Touch controls. I'm new to this, so it could just be a learning curve, but every so often I have trouble getting the touch controls to respond or do exactly what I want. I like it, I think it's neat, and I'm sure I'll get better at it, but I also expect touch controls in general to be finicky on occasion.
CONCLUSION:
While I would recommend these to anyone, I do believe the best choice for everyone is going to be different, and that it's important to know what your priorities are, what annoys you more, etc.
For me personally, the primary purpose of my earbuds is for enjoying music for relatively long periods of time, oftentimes while engaging in physical activity/chores, so sound/music quality and comfort are my two greatest priorities, so for my purposes, I am absolutely thrilled with these.
PROS:
1. Sound/Music quality. I'm not educated on all the components of sound/music, I don't know the exact science of what's what, I only know what sounds good to me. I know when music sounds "full bodied" and that's how I'd describe these/the Bose sound. The bass especially. I love Bose bass.
1. Comfort. One of my biggest gripes with the Bose Soundsport was the fit/the wing tips. I HATE the wing tips, even with the smallest size they would cause soreness in my left ear in less than hour. In contrast, I LOVE the way these fit/feel. I have worn them for 3+ hours with zero discomfort. And that's with the size that they came with, I haven't even tried the other sizes yet to see if they can be even more comfortable.
2. Noise Cancelling. Again, I'm not highly educated/experienced in this area (Soundsport didn't have ANC), but I can tell these do it well. I blow-dried my hair while listening to music and I couldn't hear the blowdryer at all (I did have my music up to max/near max volume), but still. I did try to compare this feature with Sony's, and either Sony's ANC was malfunctioning (I researched and troubleshooted), or it was just really bad in comparison to Bose.
3. Easy set-up/sync. Scanned a QR code, downloaded the app, and boom, I was connected. I've had zero connection issues. (I have a Galaxy S21+).
4. Aesthetic. I like how they look. I didn't like the weird knob thingy on the Sony, and I don't like the very obvious "b" Beats logo that's on the Bits Fit Pro, so I am extra grateful that I ended up liking these the most, because I also like how they look the most.
CONS:
1. Hiss/static noise. One of the biggest complaints I saw people have with these is the faint static/hiss noise (when no music/sound is playing), particularly when in Aware mode (ANC turned off). And yes, mine make the noise, and it can be heard even if music is playing at a very low volume, and yes it's annoying, but when I considered how infrequently I would have my earbuds in but not have any music/sound playing (or have volume low enough to hear the static), I determined that's really not a deal breaker for me, and it doesn't outweigh the pros.
2. At first they were a little difficult to remove from the case, but I have quickly gotten better at knowing where to grab/how to remove.
NEUTRAL FOR NOW/WILL UPDATE LATER:
1. Call/mic quality? In my research I also came across a lot of complaints about call quality, people say that the other person on the line can barely hear them/there's a lot of noise, etc. For me, I literally didn't even consider this a factor in my decision making, because I barely care. It's not my primary purpose or use for my wireless earbuds. However, I'll eventually test it out and will update my review later with my experience.
2. Touch controls. I'm new to this, so it could just be a learning curve, but every so often I have trouble getting the touch controls to respond or do exactly what I want. I like it, I think it's neat, and I'm sure I'll get better at it, but I also expect touch controls in general to be finicky on occasion.
CONCLUSION:
While I would recommend these to anyone, I do believe the best choice for everyone is going to be different, and that it's important to know what your priorities are, what annoys you more, etc.
For me personally, the primary purpose of my earbuds is for enjoying music for relatively long periods of time, oftentimes while engaging in physical activity/chores, so sound/music quality and comfort are my two greatest priorities, so for my purposes, I am absolutely thrilled with these.
