Headphones

With black Friday sales on at Best Buy this past week, I spent way too much time deciding which headphones I should buy between the Sony WH-1000MX5, Bose QuietComfort Ultra and Sennheiser Momentum 4. (Note that Best Buy Canada does not accept returns of headphones unless they’re defective, so I knew I’d be stuck with my eventual choice.)

I landed on the Sony set. In case some of you are in the same boat, I figured I’d share answers to the questions I had before buying.

TLDR: I’d likely go with a different set had I known…

What would I use them for? : I wanted something to use for work, listen to music and watch TV in the evenings after my wife goes to sleep.

Why I chose Sony? : I actually wanted the Sennheiser Momentum 4 set for their better sound, but was deterred by all the reports of bugs – specifically, connecting to phones while in their case causing people to miss notifications and connectivity issues with music and calls. The Bose were $100 more, even on sale, so I landed on the Sony set. Admittedly, I also find that headphones look bad/dorky with a suit. The Sony set, in my opinion, looks better than both the Sennheiser and Bose sets in a business setting. Just my opinion.

How’s the sound? : In short, not great – with a caveat. They really don’t sound particularly good, even after trying various EQ recommendations online and using their automated “Find your EQ” tool. HOWEVER, if you turn on the active noise cancellation and crank up the volume significantly, you do pick-up on a lot more detail and generally get a better sound profile. If you’re like me though and prefer not to have full noise cancellation or to listen too loudly at work as to remain somewhat aware of your surroundings (I have staff dropping into my office all the time), the sound’s not great.

How’s the noise cancellation? : I’m super impressed at how nice the noise cancellation is. I normally set mine to low-level ambient noise reduction, and they do a great job of allowing me to be aware without hearing the office din. Also, the “Speak-to-chat” feature, where the set becomes fully transparent when you start speaking to enable you to have a conversation with them on is fantastic.

What color? : I got the Midnight Blue version. In my opinion, both the blue case and headphones look the best by far in-person. I was worried about “smudging” since many people write about the black set being a “fingerprint magnet”, but I haven’t had issues with smudging at all. Granted, I don’t have oily skin generally, wipe my hands after eating (because I'm not an animal) and only use tap features to start/stop. I don’t use the swiping and all that stuff. I prefer the precision of using my phone to control volume and songs.

What about comfort? : That’s my biggest sticking point and the reason I REGRET getting them. I read that some people felt that the thin band was painful. I didn’t think I had a sensitive head, but I guess I do, because these things are not comfortable at all to me. The band puts way too much pressure on a small spot of my head to the point that I can’t wear them for more than an hour before taking them off. The band also leave a pretty bad flat spot on your hair, but I suspect that would be an issue with any headphones.

And what about the case? : The complaints about the case being too big and the headphones not folding have not been an issue for me at all. I was expecting a monstrosity based on what some people were writing but was pleasantly surprised to see how compact it all was when I opened the box. It fits in my laptop backpack with everything else I need for work – including lunch and lots of coffee. For travel, I’ll clip the case to my under-seat bag. Size is a total non-issue in my opinion.

Final advice? : While the connectivity and quality are rock-solid, they look better and higher-end than the competition (in my opinion, especially in blue), and have good features for work – I regret buying them. The band is just too painful/uncomfortable. That, coupled with the underwhelming sound, makes me wish I had bought another model. They’re by no means bad and I’m not overly bent out of shape about the purchase. BUT, I suggest you try them on for a while to see if you feel the narrow band before purchasing. It only gets worse with time.

Which would I choose if I had a do-over? The Bose QC Ultra. I say this having not worn them for long periods, so take it with a grain of salt. But the wider band would likely address my biggest issue with the Sony set, and the Bose sound profile, while not for everyone, is at the very least on par with this Sony model in my opinion.