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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Sound
- Design
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless vs Apple AirPods Max
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless
Apple AirPods Max
Tested using Methodology v1.6
Updated Mar 14, 2024 07:40 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v2.0
Updated Apr 18, 2025 06:31 PM
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeOver-Ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
Bass AmountSlightly Emphasized (1 dB)
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Treble AmountUnderemphasized (-4 dB)
MicYes
Sound SignatureWarm
Variants
- WH-1000XM3 (Black)
- WH-1000XM3 (White)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Blue)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Green)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Midnight)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Orange)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Pink)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Purple)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Silver)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Sky Blue)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Space Gray)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Starlight)
Our Verdict
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless
Apple AirPods Max
The Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless are good headphones, but if you use iOS, the Apple AirPods Max are also a good choice. The Sony are more comfortable, have a sturdier case, and have a more stable fit. You can tweak their sound via the graphic EQ found in the Sony app. However, the Apple headphones have an H1 chip, which makes it easier to pair with other Apple products seamlessly. They also charge up in less time and have a standby mode to help conserve battery life.
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Black
WH-1000XM3
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AirPods Max (USB-C)
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WH-1000XM3
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AirPods Max (Lightning)
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AirPods Max (USB-C)
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AirPods Max (USB-C)
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AirPods Max (Lightning)
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AirPods Max (USB-C)
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AirPods Max (Lightning)
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AirPods Max (Lightning)
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AirPods Max (Lightning)
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AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Finding storeMain Differences forNeutral Sound
Neutral Sound
Threshold
Neutral Sound
7.4
Full Comparison
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
400 Hz
Bass Amount
Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)
Bass Amount
3.25 dB
Treble Amount
-3.05 dB
Treble Amount
Underemphasized (-4 dB)
Sound Signature
Warm
Frequency Response Consistency
8.3
8.1
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.34 dB
0.83 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
7.2
9.6
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
4.28 dB
1.5 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
10 Hz
20 Hz
Low Bass
3.82 dB
1.72 dB
Mid Bass
5.09 dB
1.15 dB
High Bass
4.87 dB
1.49 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
9.4
9.1
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
0.85 dB
1.3 dB
Low Mid
0.4 dB
0.49 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.09 dB
0.2 dB
High Mid
-0.01 dB
-1.34 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
7.9
6.1
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
3.25 dB
5.14 dB
Low Treble
-1.83 dB
-4.28 dB
Mid Treble
0.21 dB
-4.58 dB
High Treble
-12.11 dB
-3.65 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.5
7.9
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.84 dB
1.01 dB
Dips
0.8 dB
2.31 dB
Stereo Mismatch
9.1
Frequency Response Mismatch
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
1.86
0.1 dB
Weighted Frequency Response Mismatch
1.77
0.7 dB
Weighted Phase Mismatch
8.24
0.6°
Cumulative Spectral Decay
CSD
PRTF
3.7
4.4
PRTF Accuracy (RMS Deviation)
2.68 dB
4.28 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
9.23 dB
6.81 dB
PRTF Distance
5.13 dB
5.22 dB
Openness
0.2
Acoustic Space Excitation
2.9
Harmonic Distortion
9.5
Harmonics Levels
WHD @ 94 dB SPL
0.380
0.06%
WHD @ 104 dB SPL
0.198
0.10%
Electrical Aspects
Impedance
Sensitivity @1kHz-1V
N/A
Bluetooth Max SPL
103.2 dB
Virtual Soundstage
6.4
2.9
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
On/Off
No
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
On/Off
Room Ambience
Presets
No
Head Tracking
No
On/Off
Virtual Surround
360 Reality Audio
Spatial Audio
Test Settings
Firmware
Unknown
6A326
Power
On
On
Connection
Unknown
Bluetooth
Codec
aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Off
Adaptive EQ
ANC
On
On
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Imaging
7.8
Group Delay
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.23
Weighted Phase Mismatch
8.24
0.6°
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
1.86
0.1 dB
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.77
0.7 dB
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.3
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.380
0.06%
WHD @ 100
0.198
0.10%
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-Ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
8.0
7.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.6 lbs
0.85 lbs
Clamping Force
0.8 lbs
1.2 lbs
Controls
7.6
7.9
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
iOS
Ease Of Use
Good
Great
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
Voice Assistant
Breathability
6.5
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
5.8 °C
Portability
6.0
6.0
Portability Picture
L
5.6" (14.2 cm)
7.8" (19.8 cm)
W
6.0" (15.2 cm)
7.5" (19.1 cm)
H
3.2" (8.1 cm)
1.7" (4.3 cm)
Volume
108.00 in³ (1,769.80 cm³)
99.00 in³ (1,622.31 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
8.0
6.0
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Soft case
L
7.1" (18.0 cm)
7.9" (20.1 cm)
W
8.1" (20.6 cm)
8.5" (21.6 cm)
H
2.4" (6.1 cm)
1.7" (4.3 cm)
Volume
136.00 in³ (2,228.63 cm³)
114.00 in³ (1,868.12 cm³)
Build Quality
8.0
8.0
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.0
6.5
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
9.8
9.4
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Overall Attenuation
-29.9 dB
-26.06 dB
Isolation Audio
Bass
-23.03 dB
-19.54 dB
Mid
-27.24 dB
-30.62 dB
Treble
-39.7 dB
-28.95 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
9.0
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-21.85 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-19.98 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-21.92 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
Leakage
7.4
7.1
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
37.09 dB
38.88 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.3
6.6
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
226.27 Hz
273 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
3.65 dB
2.77 dB
HFE
3,044.37 Hz
3,466.89 Hz
Weighted THD
27.163
3.025
Gain
29.6 dB
15.85 dB
Noise Handling
6.5
5.0
SpNR
19.65 dB
9.61 dB
Noise Gate
No
No
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
6.5
5.0
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
6.5
5.0
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
7.6
8.3
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
27 hrs
21.6 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0.0
Total Battery Life
27 hrs
21.6 hrs
Charge Time
2.2 hrs
1.5 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
No
Standby mode
Audio While Charging
No
Yes
Passive Playback
Yes
No
Charging Port
USB-C
Lightning
App Support
8.5
6.0
App Picture
App Name
Sony| Headphones Connect
iOS Interface
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
No
macOS
No
Yes
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
Graphic + Presets
No
ANC Control
On/Off
On/Off
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
Yes
No
Playback Control
Yes
No
Button Mapping
Yes
No
Surround Support
Yes
Yes
Connectivity
Wired Connection
9.8
9.3
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
Yes
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
Yes
Yes
Length
5.00 ft (1.52 m)
N/A
Connector
1/8" TRS
Lightning
Latency - Analog
0.4 ms
1.7 ms
Latency - USB
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Connection
Analog
Analog
Bluetooth Connection
7.1
7.9
Bluetooth Version
4.2
5.0+H1 chip
Multi-Device Pairing
No
No
Quick Pair (Android)
Yes
No
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
Yes
Line Of Sight Range
185.00 ft (56.39 m)
328.00 ft (99.97 m)
Latency - SBC
225 ms
185 ms
Latency - aptX
201 ms
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
N/A
Latency - LDAC
232 ms
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
SBC
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
Audio Only
No
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
Audio Only
No
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
Audio Only
No
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio Only
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
Audio Only
No
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
WH-1000XM3
Searching
Finding storeBlue
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
WH-1000XM3
Searching
Finding storeGreen
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storeMidnight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding storeOrange
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding storePink
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storePurple
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding storeSilver
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storeSky Blue
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storeSpace Gray
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storeStarlight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Finding store
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless
Apple AirPods Max
Comments
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless vs Apple AirPods Max: Main Discussion
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