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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless
Tested using Methodology v1.4
Updated Jan 12, 2024 09:22 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.6
Updated Mar 14, 2024 07:40 PM
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingYes
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingYes
MicYes
Variants
- PXC 550 Wireless
- WH-1000XM3 (Black)
- WH-1000XM3 (White)
Our Verdict
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless
The Sony WH-1000XM3 are a slightly better noise cancelling headset than the Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless. The Sonys have a more premium, high-end build quality and offer better noise isolation for traveling and commuting in noisy conditions. The Sonys are also a bit more comfortable than the Sennheisers. On the other hand, the PXC 550 Wireless have more connection options, making them a great choice if you have a lot of devices that you typically use your headphones with. The PXC 550 Wireless also give you a bit more control over their active features, and they sound a bit better with their default sound profile although both headphones can be EQed fairly easily thanks to their respective apps.
Check Price
Standard
PXC 550 Wireless
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
WH-1000XM3
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comStandard
PXC 550 Wireless
SEE PRICE
BestBuy.comWhite
WH-1000XM3
SEE PRICE
Walmart.comStandard
PXC 550 Wireless
SEE PRICE
Walmart.comStandard
PXC 550 Wireless
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B&HNotice: 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
Mixed Usage
7.2
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
8.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.51 lbs
0.6 lbs
Clamping Force
0.97 lbs
0.8 lbs
Controls
7.6
7.6
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Good
Feedback
Decent
Decent
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
Adjustable
On/Off
Talk-Through
Adjustable
On/Off
Additional Controls
Bluetooth Sync + Presets
Voice Assistant
Breathability
6.7
6.5
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
5 °C
5.8 °C
Portability
6.5
6.0
Portability Picture
L
7"
5.6" (14.2 cm)
W
6.3"
6.0" (15.2 cm)
H
1.4"
3.2" (8.1 cm)
Volume
62 in³
108.00 in³ (1,769.80 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
7.0
8.0
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Hard case
L
7"
7.1" (18.0 cm)
W
7.63"
8.1" (20.6 cm)
H
2.5"
2.4" (6.1 cm)
Volume
133.53 in³
136.00 in³ (2,228.63 cm³)
Build Quality
7.5
8.0
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.5
7.0
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
Frequency Response
Bass Amount
-2.66 dB
3.25 dB
Treble Amount
0.08 dB
-3.05 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
6.9
8.3
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.64 dB
0.34 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Accuracy
8.6
7.2
Std. Err.
1.82 dB
4.28 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
29.54 Hz
10 Hz
Low-Bass
-2.42 dB
3.82 dB
Mid-Bass
-0.9 dB
5.09 dB
High-Bass
2.28 dB
4.87 dB
Mid Accuracy
8.9
9.4
Std. Err.
1.44 dB
0.85 dB
Low-Mid
0.34 dB
0.4 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.21 dB
-0.09 dB
High-Mid
1.88 dB
-0.01 dB
Treble Accuracy
7.3
7.9
Std. Err.
3.62 dB
3.25 dB
Low-Treble
0.49 dB
-1.83 dB
Mid-Treble
2.42 dB
0.21 dB
High-Treble
-2.35 dB
-12.11 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.4
7.5
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.59 dB
1.84 dB
Dips
1.48 dB
0.8 dB
Imaging
8.1
7.8
Phase Response
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.34
0.23
Weighted Phase Mismatch
12.16
8.24
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.54
1.86
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.89
1.77
Passive Soundstage
4.3
3.7
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
5.31 dB
2.68 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
4.43 dB
9.23 dB
PRTF Distance
4.09 dB
5.13 dB
Openness
3.9
0.2
Acoustic Space Excitation
3.2
2.9
Virtual Soundstage
0.0
6.4
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
On/Off
Speaker Modeling
No
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
Presets
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
No
360 Reality Audio
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.6
7.3
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.213
0.380
WHD @ 100
0.171
0.198
Test Settings
Firmware
Unknown
Unknown
Power
On
On
Connection
Unknown
Unknown
Codec
aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz
aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz
EQ
Default
Off
ANC
Maximum
On
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation
6.1
9.8
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-14.53 dB
-29.9 dB
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Bass
-4.07 dB
-23.03 dB
Mid
-16.47 dB
-27.24 dB
Treble
-24.36 dB
-39.7 dB
Leakage
7.2
7.4
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
38.4 dB
37.09 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
Yes
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.7
6.3
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
293.44 Hz
226.27 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
2.68 dB
3.65 dB
HFE
3,517.32 Hz
3,044.37 Hz
Weighted THD
2.138
27.163
Gain
36.92 dB
29.6 dB
Noise Handling
7.2
6.5
SpNR
21.98 dB
19.65 dB
Noise Gate
No
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
6.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
6.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
8.6
7.6
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
27.5 hrs
27 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0.0
Total Battery Life
27.5 hrs
27 hrs
Charge Time
2.1 hrs
2.2 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Auto-Off Timer
No
Audio While Charging
Yes
No
Passive Playback
No
Yes
Charging Port
micro-USB
USB-C
App Support
6.5
8.5
App Picture
App Name
Sennheiser Smart Control
Sony| Headphones Connect
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
Yes
macOS
No
No
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
Presets
Graphic + Presets
ANC Control
Adjustable
On/Off
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
Yes
Yes
Playback Control
No
Yes
Button Mapping
No
Yes
Surround Support
No
Yes
Connectivity
Wired Connection
9.2
9.8
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
Yes
USB Audio
USB Type A
No
Detachable
Yes
Yes
Length
4.4 ft
5.00 ft (1.52 m)
Connector
1/8" TRS
1/8" TRS
Latency - Analog
0.4 ms
Latency - USB
32 ms
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Connection
Analog
Bluetooth Connection
8.5
7.1
Bluetooth Version
4.2
4.2
Multi-Device Pairing
2 Devices
No
NFC Pairing
Yes
Quick Pair (Android)
Yes
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
Line Of Sight Range
145 ft
185.00 ft (56.39 m)
Latency - SBC
200 ms
225 ms
Latency - aptX
171 ms
201 ms
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
Latency - LDAC
232 ms
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
SBC
AAC Support
Yes
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
N/A
iOS Latency
273 ms
Android Latency
137 ms
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
PC Compatibility
Analog
Audio Only
Wired USB
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio Only
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
Audio Only
PS5 Wired USB
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio Only
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
Audio Only
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
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
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC/PS4 Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio Only
PC/PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PC/PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Check Price
Standard
PXC 550 Wireless
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
WH-1000XM3
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comStandard
PXC 550 Wireless
SEE PRICE
BestBuy.comWhite
WH-1000XM3
SEE PRICE
Walmart.comStandard
PXC 550 Wireless
SEE PRICE
Walmart.comStandard
PXC 550 Wireless
SEARCH
B&H
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless
Comments
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless: Main Discussion
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