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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Fairphone Fairbuds XL Wireless vs Sony ULT WEAR
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Fairphone Fairbuds XL
Sony ULT WEAR
Tested using Methodology v1.7
Updated Oct 23, 2024 01:46 PM
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Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.8
Updated Feb 06, 2025 08:10 PM
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Amazon.com
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Variants
- Fairbuds XL (Black)
- Fairbuds XL (Green)
- ULT WEAR (Black)
- ULT WEAR (Forest Gray)
- ULT WEAR (Off White)
Our Verdict
Fairphone Fairbuds XL Wireless
Sony ULT WEAR
The Sony ULT WEAR and the Fairphone Fairbuds XL are both over-ear headphones that have been designed with sustainability in mind. The Sony are constructed using recycled plastic, and there are no single-use plastics on the packaging either. That said, the Fairphone take this even further with a construction of recycled plastic, recycled aluminum, vegan leather, and Fairtrade gold. You can also replace most of their parts by ordering them from the Fairphone website. When it comes to sound, the Fairphone offer a much more balanced overall sound, while the Sony are bass-heavy (even with their ULT function disabled). The Sony are a bit more comfortable and better at attenuating against external noise.
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Black
Fairbuds XL
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Amazon.comBlack
ULT WEAR
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Amazon.comGreen
Fairbuds XL
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Amazon.comForest Gray
ULT WEAR
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Amazon.comOff White
ULT WEAR
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Amazon.comNotice: Two or more of the products selected have been tested with different test methodologies, so some of the results below aren't directly comparable. Learn how our test benches and scoring system work, and read more about the latest changes to our headphones test methodology.
Main Differences for
Threshold
Neutral Sound
7.6
6.9
Bass Accuracy
8.9
6.9
Treble Accuracy
7.2
4.5
Peaks/Dips
6.7
7.7
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.0
7.5
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.73 lbs
0.56 lbs
Clamping Force
1 lbs
1 lbs
Controls
7.6
7.7
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Good
Feedback
Decent
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
On/Off
On/Off
Talk-Through
On/Off
On/Off
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
ULT + Voice Assistant
Breathability
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
Portability
5.9
5.9
Portability Picture
L
5.6" (14.1 cm)
8.0" (20.2 cm)
W
7.0" (17.9 cm)
6.9" (17.6 cm)
H
3.0" (7.6 cm)
2.0" (5.1 cm)
Volume
119.54 in³ (1,958.98 cm³)
110.65 in³ (1,813.15 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
6.5
8.0
Case Picture
Type
Pouch
Hard case
L
8.0" (20.4 cm)
7.4" (18.8 cm)
W
8.5" (21.7 cm)
8.4" (21.3 cm)
H
0.1" (0.3 cm)
2.3" (5.8 cm)
Volume
8.10 in³ (132.80 cm³)
141.73 in³ (2,322.55 cm³)
Build Quality
7.5
7.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.0
7.5
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
1,000 Hz
Bass Amount
0.72 dB
6.6 dB
Treble Amount
-1.84 dB
-4.4 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
6.4
7.8
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.78 dB
0.44 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
8.9
6.9
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.54 dB
6.8 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
10 Hz
20 Hz
Low Bass
1.91 dB
6.41 dB
Mid Bass
-0.02 dB
7.8 dB
High Bass
0.9 dB
5.83 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
8.8
8.7
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.59 dB
1.35 dB
Low Mid
0 dB
1.05 dB
Mid-Mid
0.65 dB
-0.34 dB
High Mid
1.09 dB
-1.33 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
7.2
4.5
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
4.13 dB
5.52 dB
Low Treble
-1.91 dB
-6.62 dB
Mid Treble
1.68 dB
-1.55 dB
High Treble
-10.35 dB
-5.36 dB
Peaks/Dips
6.7
7.7
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
2.32 dB
1.3 dB
Dips
1.34 dB
1.49 dB
Imaging
8.1
8.3
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.2
0.19
Weighted Phase Mismatch
15.34
3.51
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.42
1.6
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.94
1.64
Passive Soundstage
4.3
4.4
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
4.85 dB
2.68 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
6.85 dB
4.52 dB
PRTF Distance
9.54 dB
4.72 dB
Openness
1.5
1.3
Acoustic Space Excitation
2.6
3.6
Virtual Soundstage
0.0
4.1
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
On/Off
Speaker Modeling
No
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
No
360 Reality Audio
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
6.9
7.6
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.638
0.343
WHD @ 100
0.239
0.133
Test Settings
Firmware
V90
2.0.5
Power
On
On
Connection
Bluetooth 5.1
Bluetooth
Codec
aptX HD, 24-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Amsterdam
Off
ANC
On
On
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
8.4
8.7
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Overall Attenuation
-22.10 dB
-22.90 dB
Bass
-15.91 dB
-16.64 dB
Mid
-19.06 dB
-24.24 dB
Treble
-32.98 dB
-29.03 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
7.5
8.9
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-17.66 dB
-20.16 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-17.99 dB
-21.25 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-19.21 dB
-21.73 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
ANC Wind Handling
ANC Wind Handling Graph
ANC Wind Noise
Leakage
7.7
6.9
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
35.54 dB
40.22 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.9
7.3
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
403.18 Hz
87.24 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
2.67 dB
4.5 dB
HFE
6,267.15 Hz
6,933.79 Hz
Weighted THD
1.084
6.936
Gain
28.65 dB
31.29 dB
Noise Handling
5.4
8.1
SpNR
19.53 dB
22.6 dB
Noise Gate
Always On
Always On
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
6.0
8.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
4.5
7.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
7.6
8.8
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
28.4 hrs
44.1 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0.0
Total Battery Life
28.4 hrs
44.1 hrs
Charge Time
2.2 hrs
2.4 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
No
Auto-Off Timer
Audio While Charging
Yes
No
Passive Playback
No
Yes
Charging Port
USB-C
USB-C
App Support
6.0
8.0
App Picture
App Name
Fairphone
Sony| Headphones Connect
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
Yes
macOS
No
No
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
Graphic + Presets
Graphic + Presets
ANC Control
No
On/Off
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
Yes
Button Mapping
No
No
Surround Support
No
Yes
Connectivity
Wired Connection
8.9
9.9
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
No
Yes
USB Audio
USB-C
No
Detachable
Yes
Yes
Length
N/A
4.10 ft (1.25 m)
Connector
USB-C
1/8" TRS
Latency - Analog
N/A
0.3 ms
Latency - USB
18.5 ms
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Connection
USB
Analog
Bluetooth Connection
7.5
8.8
Bluetooth Version
5.1
5.2
Multi-Device Pairing
2 Devices
2 Devices
Quick Pair (Android)
No
Yes
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
No
Line Of Sight Range
206.69 ft (63.00 m)
334.65 ft (102.00 m)
Latency - SBC
271 ms
214 ms
Latency - aptX
265 ms
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
N/A
Latency - LDAC
N/A
238 ms
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
aptX HD
SBC
AAC Support
Yes
Yes
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
0.0
0.0
Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Latency - Dongle
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
N/A
PC Compatibility
Analog
No
Audio Only
Wired USB
Audio + Microphone
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
No
Audio Only
PS4 Wired USB
Audio + Microphone
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
No
Audio Only
PS5 Wired USB
Audio + Microphone
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
No
Audio Only
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
No
Audio Only
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Base/Dock
0.0
0.0
Type
No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
No
No
Power Supply
No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
Check Price
Black
Fairbuds XL
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
ULT WEAR
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comGreen
Fairbuds XL
SEARCH
Amazon.comForest Gray
ULT WEAR
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comOff White
ULT WEAR
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Fairphone Fairbuds XL Wireless
Sony ULT WEAR
Comments
Fairphone Fairbuds XL vs Sony ULT WEAR: Main Discussion
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