Sony WH-XB910N Wireless Headphones Review

The Sony WH-XB910N have a very bass-boosted sound profile. They deliver intense thump, rumble, and boom to mixes, which is good if you like genres like EDM and hip-hop with heavy basslines. Their sound profile can be very overwhelming for many; if you like a lot of low-end oomph, these live up to the label of 'extra bass'.

On the upside, their app offers a graphic EQ and EQ presets to help you customize their sound to your tastes. If you disable the ANC, they sound even more punchy and boxy than with it enabled. On the other hand, when connected via the included analog cable, their low-end is still prominent but not nearly as intense, but the headphones have a strong roll-off, veiling trebly sounds.

These over-ears' frequency response consistency is okay. They're prone to inconsistencies in bass delivery—if you have thick hair or glasses, they'll likely interrupt the headphones' seal resulting in a lack of thump and punch. On the plus side, the headphones' performance is replicable between wears on the same head.

The Sony WH-XB910N's bass target profile compliance is passable. The response is overemphasized across the range, resulting in intense thump, rumble, and boom. It's pleasing if you want to feel the bass in songs like Die For You by the Weeknd, which already have a heavy bassline. On the other hand, you may find this sounds very overwhelming, especially as the extra bass can also overwhelm vocals and instruments.

They have good mid-range target compliance. Carrying on from the strongly exaggerated bass, the lowest mids are somewhat emphasized, which highlights bass guitar harmonics. Most of the low-mids and mid-mids are scooped, pushing down lead instruments in the mix. Meanwhile, the high-mids are boosted relative to our target, which can cause the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments to sound honky.

The Sony WHXB910N's treble target compliance is middling. Vocal clarity and articulation are weakened due to significant under-emphasis in the low-treble. Our unit's left and right drivers are also somewhat mismatched in the low-treble range, which shifts the sound's emphasis depending on the pitch to one side or the other. However, in the mid-treble is exaggerated, leading to piercing and shrill sibilants.

The peaks and dips performance is very good, indicating the headphones' frequency response doesn't deviate much from their bass-boosted sound profile. From the bass region to mids, there are slight peaks and dips, but they're very subtle so you can expect a relatively smooth sound. A wide peak in the high-mids and part of the low-treble makes vocals and lead instruments relatively harsh. Meanwhile, a dip in the low-treble cuts vocal comprehensibility, especially in the right driver. Narrower fluctuations at higher frequencies can cause sibilants to alternate from dull to piercing, and high harmonics from hissy to lifeless.

These headphones' L/R drivers' stereo matching is mediocre. The left driver is generally louder than the right, throughout the bass and into the low-treble, skewing the stereo image to the left. That said, there are pronounced localized fluctuations in both the phase and frequency response mismatch plots, indicating issues that may be audible as a lack of positioning accuracy for sounds in the treble. While there are additional fluctuations in the high-treble, they're likely not perceivable, as the audibility of the range declines in humans over time.

The group delay performance is sub-par. The bass frequencies are not well aligned, and sound loose. That said, the treble remains transparent.

While the Sony WH-XB910N Wireless have some pinna interaction which slightly resembles our reference curve, the headphones don't facilitate outer ear interaction the same way as an angled reference speaker.

The Sony WH-XB910N Wireless have very good harmonic distortion performance. While the headphones produce harmonics alongside intended fundamental frequencies at high levels, they shouldn't lead to perceivable coloration in everyday listening scenarios—we lack sensitivity to lower frequencies, and the levels required to produce notable distortion in the mid and treble are beyond safe listening levels.

These headphones don't require an amp to drive them during wired use.

Unlike the Sony WH-XB900N Wireless, these headphones don't support Virtualphones Technology (VPT), a discontinued spatial audio feature. You can set up Sony's 360 Reality Audio via their companion app by analyzing your head and ears. This feature helps create a more 3D sound to help immerse you in your audio. However, it's only available on compatible apps like TIDAL and Nugs.net.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when used with these settings.

The Sony WH-XB910N have a very similar look to the Sony WH-XB900N. They have a fairly minimalist design but look cheaper and more plasticky than the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless. They come in a few color variants: 'Black', 'Grey', and 'Blue'.

These over-ears have a very comfortable fit. They feel lightweight and don't clamp too tightly on your head. The ear cups have a good range of motion to accommodate larger heads. Their padding on the ear cups and headband also feels fairly nice on the skin. However, if you have glasses, getting a more comfortable fit can be harder since the arms can rupture the padding's seal on your head. If you have big ears, they can also touch or rub up against the driver fabric.

These over-ears have good controls. They have a mix of physical and touch-sensitive controls, which are easy to use. The physical buttons on the left ear cup are clicky, while the touch-sensitive surface on the right ear cup is responsive. There are voice prompts for switching between 'Ambient' mode and ANC, as well as beeps when registering touch commands and using the buttons. The headphones will also tell you which device you're connected to. Unfortunately, the location of the power button makes it easy to accidentally touch it when you're putting on or taking off the headphones.

On the left ear cup:

• Power button:
• Single press: Tells you the battery percentage.
• Press and hold for two seconds: Turns the headphones on and off. Also enters Bluetooth pairing mode when turned on.
• ANC/Ambient button: Cycles between ANC on and 'Ambient' mode, which allows you to better hear your surroundings without turning off your audio.

On the right ear cup:

• Swipe up: Raises the volume.
• Swipe down: Lowers the volume.
• Swipe forward: Skips to the next track.
• Swipe backward: Skips to the previous track.
• Double-tap: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and declines calls.
• Place hand on right ear cup: Enters 'Ambient' mode.

They're not the most portable, but that's normal for over-ear headphones. They're bulky, although their cups can swivel to lay flat, and they can fold to save some space. They also come with a carrying case to help store them in your bag when you're on the go.

The carrying case is great. It's mostly cloth material, which feels sturdy. The zipper fully closes, which helps secure the headphones from the elements.

These headphones have good build quality. They're mostly solid plastic with faux leather padding. Their hinges also differ from the Sony WH-XB900N Wireless since their headband extends down to the yokes. However, their plasticky design looks and feels a bit cheap, especially compared to the similarly designed, more high-end Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless. The yokes also feel a bit weak and prone to damage over time.

The Sony WH-XB910N have a decently stable fit. They'll stay on your head if you listen to audio at your desk. However, they'll fall off your head if you use them while headbanging or working out.

• Sony WH-XB910N headphones
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable
• 1/8" TRS audio cable
• Carrying case
• Manuals

The full range noise isolation performance is alright. With the ANC on, they can block out a bit of boomy noise but don't really filter out low rumbling noise from bus engines. The headphones' ANC does a better job with midrange noise, like traffic, than the Sony WH-CH720N Wireless, but the performance isn't as consistent. We expected the headphones in ANC mode to perform the same or better than the headphones' passive abilities in the treble range. Interestingly, though, with ANC enabled, their noise isolation performs worse with high-pitched sounds like clattering dishes and shrieking subway brakes.

A note about the bump in the low-bass: it's not audible when worn by people and appears to result from the testing rig's interaction with the headphones materials. Fortunately, you won't have this issue when you listen on them.

Their noise isolation in common scenarios is middling. The ANC mainly works best on high-bass and midrange sounds. With ANC enabled, the mode makes airplanes and offices more tolerable but doesn't filter out environmental sounds evenly. Low-pitched ambient din and rumbling construction on the street will still reach your ears, and the high-pitched sounds from the office kitchen aren't blocked very effectively.

As noted already, turning on ANC negatively impacts the headphones' ability to block trebly noises. Meanwhile, the bump in the bass range is the result of the testing rig's interaction with the headphones and isn't reflected in their actual use.

These headphones have a 'Wind Reduction Mode' you can access through the companion app. The mode helps to mitigate the 'anti-noise' produced from wind interacting with the ANC microphones, which is fed back through the headphones as an annoying popping sound. This mode performs fairly similarly across wind angles. However, leaving on the 'Wind Reduction Mode' when it's not windy can negatively impact the overall noise isolation performance.

The Sony WH-XB910N's leakage performance is very good. Leakage is mostly in the mid-range and sounds fuller than that of in-ears or earbuds. However, the overall amount of leakage falls below the noise floor of an average office. As a result, you can listen to your audio at high volumes in a moderately noisy environment without worrying about disturbing others around you.

Their integrated mic offers an alright overall recording quality. Your voice sounds clear and bright, although there's a bit of distortion present. People on the other end will understand you clearly.

The mic's noise handling performance is decent. Moderate ambient noise around you will drown out your voice. As a result, whoever's on the other end of the line won't hear you as clearly.

These over-ears have excellent battery performance. Although advertised to last 30 hours continuously, we measured over 39 hours. Keep in mind that battery life varies depending on usage. That said, they're equipped with an adjustable auto-off timer to help conserve battery life when unused. You can also use them passively via their 1/8" TRS cable.

The Sony|Headphones Connect app is great. You can activate ANC on or off, adjust the 'Ambient Noise' level, and remap these controls onto the headphones. The app offers 'Adaptive Sound Controls' as well. This feature lets the headphones detect your actions and automatically switch between ANC on or an ambient noise level. There are modes: 'Staying', 'Walking', 'Running', and 'Transport'. You can also turn on 'Wind Noise' to reduce this kind of sound while listening to audio outdoors.

If you want to customize their sound, the app offers a graphic EQ and presets. You can also adjust the auto-off feature, control audio playback plus volume, turn off touch controls, and see your connected devices. You can adjust notification and voice guides as well as set up 360 Reality Audio, which is a virtual soundstage feature designed to create a more immersive sound by analyzing your unique ear shape.

These headphones come with a 1/8" TRS to 1/8" TRS cable. They also come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge them. This USB cable doesn't support audio, though.

The Sony WH-XB910N's Bluetooth connectivity is good. You can pair them with up to two devices at a time, but unlike the Sony WH-XB900 Wireless, they don't support NFC pairing for quickly pairing your headphones to your device. That said, these headphones support Sony's proprietary codec, LDAC, in addition to AAC and SBC codecs. Over Bluetooth, these headphones have high latency, so your audio and visuals won't be in sync if you're streaming video. Some apps and devices compensate for latency, though. However, if you listen to music or podcasts, LDAC provides higher-quality audio than SBC, and you won't need to worry about latency.

These headphones can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs with full compatibility. However, if you want to use them wired, they only support audio via analog.

These headphones are compatible with the PS4 and PS5 consoles when connected to the controller via analog. However, you can only receive audio.

The Sony WH-XB910N only support audio when connected via analog to your Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S console's controller. You can't use the mic, though.