There are plenty of great truly wireless earbuds out there to choose from… but the premium
ANC earbud market is really starting to heat up. First we got the Sony WF-1000XM3’s…
then we got the AirPods Pro’s… shortly after we got the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s
and now after a few delays and a name change we’ve got the Bose QC earbud’s. Now there
are more ANC earbuds hitting the market these days but these are the most popular ones.
So if you’re thinking about getting any of these earbuds… lets see which ones are
right for you.
Now when it comes to price the Sony WF-1000XM3’s are the most affordable ones here… but they’re
also the oldest ones here. They have a retail price of $230 but they do routinely like to
go on sale for $178. The AirPods Pro have a retail price of $250, the Bose QC earbuds
have a retail price of $280 and then there are the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s which have
a retail price of $300. Now if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be
linked down below and if you want to learn more about any of these earbuds please watch
their full reviews cause we’re only going over their main differences.
Now as with any pair of truly wireless earbuds for me the first thing we’ve got to look
at is the case. Now plainly said the AirPods Pro have the smallest and most convenient
case here. This case is tiny, it slips in and out of your pocket super easily and you
barely even notice it when you’ve got in your pocket. And for comparison sake this
case is just a little larger than the AirPods case and Galaxy Live case. Where as with all
of these other case’s they are a little larger. For me, the momentum 2’s case is
the largest that I’ll go and say is acceptable… but Sony’s and Bose’s case are just way
too big to be acceptable. Both of these case’s have a huge footprint and they are significantly
thicker than the AirPods Pro’s case so they are super noticeable when you’ve got them
in your pocket. Now granted I will admit that the Momentum 2’s case is just as thick as
the Bose QC earbuds case… but it’s saving characteristic here is its smaller foot print.
But personally I do think Sennheiser know’s that they have to shrink their case down and
I do have high hopes for the future Momentum 3’s cause the Momentum 2 earbuds actually
fit inside the new CX 400BT’s case which is significantly smaller. But nonetheless
when it comes to case the AirPods Pro are the clear winners here… Sennheiser just
manages to skate by and Bose and Sony… get your act together these cases are way to big
for 2020.
However, the Sony’s do manage to justify their rather large case by having a combined
battery life of up to 32 hours if you use them with their Active noise cancelation turned
off. But with their ANC turned on they have a combined battery life of 24 hours. The Sennheiser’s
also somewhat justify their case size by having a combined battery life of 28 hours… and
the AirPods Pro have a combined battery life 24 hours. But unfortunately the Bose QC earbuds
do not justify their large case cause they only have a combined battery life of 18 hours.
Now Bose’s case does have wireless charging which is something the Sennheiser’s and
Sony’s don’t have but the AirPods Pro also have wireless charging all while having
a significantly smaller case. Over all the Bose QC earbuds are really lacking when it
comes to the battery life and case size ratio where as all of these earbuds have acceptable
battery lives for earbuds in 2020. But hand down the AirPods Pro have the most convenient
case here for everyday carry.
But now lets talk about fit cause all of these earbuds fit very differently. Now I actually
feel the Bose are the best fitting earbuds here and you can actually wear these earbuds
for hours on end without any problems. Now these earbuds don’t actually go into your
ear canals all that much they just rest right out side of it. So these are a great option
for people who aren’t the biggest fans of in ear ear buds for long use sessions like
me. And thanks to their very large curtains they still do a really good job of creating
a seal and blocking out ambient noise. And thanks to their built in ear fins these earbuds
stay in place very well after you’ve put them in. You barely have to go back and readjust
these earbuds… which is something you constantly have to do with the AirPods Pro. Now the AirPods
Pro are in ear ear buds they they don’t go in super deep into your ear canals they’re
very shallow. But since they’re so shallow they do constantly like to wiggle out so you
do have to constantly go back and push them back in. But again these are a little more
comfortable than your typical in ear ear buds. Now the momentum 2’s fit like you typical
pair of in ear ear buds. They go into you ear canals a decent amount unlike the AirPods
Pro… but unlike the AirPods Pro they don’t wiggle out as much. So these do a better job
of staying in place. Now you can wear these for long periods of time but for me they do
get itchy after awhile but thats the case for me when any pair of in ear earbuds. But
other than that the Momentum 2’s fit well. But then there are the Sony’s… now im
not the biggest fan of how the Sony’s fit specifically cause these earbuds go in super
deep into your ear canals which just feels very unnatural. But over all when it comes
to the fit… I do feel the Bose are the most comfortable earbuds here followed by the AirPods
Pro, Sennheiser ’s and then Sony’s. But cosmetically I do gotta point out that these
earbuds are huge. When I look at the Bose QC earbuds im reminded of those huge bluetooth’s
from the 2000’s.
Now when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity, both the AirPods and Sony’s each establish
a connection with your phone. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use
either one it don’t matter. And this is the connection type that we like to see these
days.
Where as both the Sennheiser’s and bose are using a hero and sidekick set up. So one
earbud, the hero earbud, in this case the right earbud actually establishes a connection
with your phone and then relays that connection to the other earbud. So if you just want to
use one earbud at a time you gotta use the correct earbud. In this case the right ear
bud.
But more importantly when it comes to watching movies or videos on your phone all of these
earbuds have zero latency across the board whether you’re using and iPhone or an android
device which is always great. But when it comes to audio codecs the Bose, Sony and AirPods
Pro only have support for SBC and AAC… Where as the Sennheiser’s have support for SBC,
AAC, and APTX.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these earbuds. Plainly said, if you’re
tying to decide between any of these earbuds and sound is your main priority… than the
AirPods Pro are the last ones you wanna go with. When compered to all of these other
earbuds the AirPods Pro sound super narrow and their bass doesn’t resonate anywhere
near as much as these other earbuds. And since these earbuds do like to put an emphasis on
the mids they are a little vocals forward. Now don’t get me wrong they are going to
get the job but they don’t sound anywhere near as good as these other earbuds. Personally
for me I only use my AirPods Pro to watch videos or listen to podcasts with. But then
there are the Bose QC earbuds and I feel these are a step up from the AirPods Pro. Just like
the AirPods Pro the Bose QC earbuds do like to put an emphasis on the mids but these are
even a little more vocals forward than the AirPods. But unlike the AirPods the Bose are
a little more open and the bass on these earbuds does resonate a good amount. But unfortunately
unlike the Sony’s or Sennheiser’s the Bose don’t have an adjustable EQ. You’re
stuck with the Stock EQ bose gives you. Now personally I do think that it would behoove
bose to add an adjustable EQ to their earbuds cause they recently added an adjustable EQ
to their Bose NC 700’s. Personally for me I just want to dial the mids back on these
earbuds. But next up there’s the Sony WF-1000XM3’s and this is where things start to get serious.
Performance wise these earbuds have much better instrument separation and a much wider soundstage
than both the AirPods Pro and Bose QC earbuds. So the Sony’s sound much more open. And
the bass on the Sony’s resonates more than the bass on the Bose. And unlike the Bose,
the Sony’s have a fully customizable EQ so you can make them sound however you want.
If you want a vocals forward sound signature like the AirPods Pro or Bose on the Sony’s
you can do that. Or if you want a more bass heavy EQ then you can also do that. Or if
you want a balanced sound signature then you can always just use Sony’s stock EQ. With
the Sony’s you’re not just getting better sound quality…. You’re also getting a
lot more freedom to choose. But finally there are the Sennheiser Momentum 2's and these
earbuds kick it up a notch. Like I’ve mentioned in the past… these are my favorite sounding
earbuds. These earbuds have the best instrument separation and widest soundstage here so they
sound the most open. But what really makes these earbuds sound out is that they have
the cleanest deepest resonating bass here so these earbuds can actually induce goose
bumps. Now personally I just use these with their stock EQ cause their stock is EQ is
very balanced with well defined mids and hard hitting bass. But if you want to you can always
customize the EQ on these earbuds to your liking. And im just saying, if you’re someone
that really like bass in their music then these earbuds can deliver more bass than the
Sony’s.
And sound quality aside the Sennheiser’s also have the best media controls here. Straight
from the earbuds themselves you can play or pause your music, skip a track, go back a
track, you can cycle better active noise cancelation and ambient mode and you can even raise or
lower the volume straight from the earbuds themselves. Now the Sony’s also have really
good media controls and you can do almost everything the momentum 2’s can but the
only thing you can’t do is raise or lower your volume unless you decide to sacrifice
your playback controls or ambient sound controls.
Where as by comparison, both the Bose QC earbuds and AirPods Pro do have fairly limited media
controls. However if you’re an iPhone user having always listening Siri does offset limited
media controls. Cause with AirPods you can just be like hey siri call so and so and or
send so and so a text and boom its done.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these earbuds. Now I do feel comfortable
saying that the Bose QC earbuds block out the most amount of noise here. And when it
comes to ranking it goes Bose, Sennheiser, AirPods, and in last place is Sony. Now the
Bose don’t block out a lot more noise than the Sennheiser’s and AirPods which are neck
and neck but they do block out a little more noise.
Now I do want to taper expectations here… none of these earbuds are going to block out
nearly as much noise as a proper pair of over headphones like the Sony 1000XM4’s or Bose
NC 700’s… but the Bose QC earbuds do block out an impressive amount of noise for earbuds.
However I do gotta point out that these earbuds do have a little more cabin pressure than
these other earbuds and on occasion they did make me feel a little nauseous which isn’t
a problem with these other earbuds.
But like ive mentioned in the past… I only use the active noise cancelation on any of
my earbuds when I have to and what’s really important to me a decent ambient mode. Now
all of these earbuds have decent ambient modes that all sound very natural and that have
zero hissing in the background except for the Bose. And
when it comes to blocking out wind noise when walking out doors all of these microphone
arrays do a good job of rejecting wind noise.
But the AirPods Pro do the best job here of rejecting wind noise. Where you’ll might
get hit by a gust of wind these other earbuds the AirPods Pro will actually still reject
it.
The Bose also don’t have too much amplification to them by they do sound a little cooler.
I think the AirPods sound good but they do have a little more amplification to the them.
And then there are the Sennehsier’s which have the most amplification to them here but
I think they still sound pretty good for phone calls.
Inperson AirPods chatter But when it comes to blocking out chatter
this is an area where both the Aipods and Bose QC earbuds really struggle
With both of these earbuds you can clearly hear a lot of chatter in the background.
Where as with the Sennehsier’s they do a decent job of blocking out chatter given at
how much they do like to amplify your voice.
But just for comparison sake these are the Galaxy buds Live and these earbuds do a much
better job of blocking out chatter. Cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone
you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter. But if we were to switch over to
the Galaxy Buds Live you don’t hear it as much.
But with all the being said… if you’re trying to choose between any of these earbuds
for me it really boils down to two options. If you’re an iPhone user looking for maximum
connivence then the obvious choice are the AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro have the smallest
and most convenient case here with a combined battery life of 24 hours and wireless charging.
They have the best ambient mode here, and having always listening Siri just makes it
super easy to places calls, send out texts, and more all with just your voice. And the
active noise cancellation on these earbuds is also good. However these pale in comparison
when it comes to sound quality. So for me I just use these earbuds for watching videos,
listening to podcasts or take phone calls with. But these are my go to earbuds for when
im running errands. But if your main concern here is sound then you gotta go with the Sennheiser
Momentum 2’s. These earbuds truly sound amazing cause of just how open they sound
and super deep resonating bass. These earbuds sound so good they can actually be a viable
alternative to a pair of headphones. And when it comes to active noise cancelation these
earbuds do manage to block out a little more noise than the AirPods Pro… but im going
to mostly attribute that to the Momentum 2’s better seal. Now even though I do prefer to
run errands with the AirPods Pro cause of their smaller case you can absolutely still
take the Momentum 2’s on the go with you. But then there are the Bose QC earbuds and
Sony WF-1000XM3’s. Even though the Bose QC earbuds are the best fitting earbuds here
and they do manage to block out the most amount of noise here… its not a huge difference
from the Momentum 2’s or AirPods Pro. And its certainly not a big enough performance
difference to compel me to compromise on the Bose QC earbud’s huge case. And given that
the Bose have a combined battery life of 18 hours that just unacceptable for a case of
this size these days. When it comes to earbuds im looking for maximum convenience and case
size and battery life plays a big roll in that.
But then there are the Sony WF-1000XM3’s… even though this case is rather large they
do help justify it by having upto a combined battery life of 32 hours. Even though they
block out the least amount of noise here at least they have a very good ambient mode which
I feel is more important. And these earbuds also sound much better than both the AirPods
Pro and Bose QC earbuds. So even though these wouldn’t be my first pick… if you’re
on a budget and you can get them on sale for $178 I say why not.