When it comes to headphones, Sony certainly knows what it’s doing. And that is evident with the new Sony WH-1000XM2 wireless headphones that offer both superb sound quality and excellent noise cancellation.
The headphones have swivel earcups so they fit really comfortably and are easy to pack into the included hard case when you’re done listening.
Each ear cup has a leather feel with the flat panel on the right side offering gesture controls to set the volume, navigate your music and answer your calls.
We accidentally brushed our hands along this earcup a few times and paused the music.
The ear cups completely cover your ears and, combined with the noise cancellation, you’re not going to hear much of the outside world.
But if you need to hear something or if someone wants to talk to you, all you need to do is activate Sense Engine by placing your hand over the right earcup to instantly deactivate the noise cancelation.
Another touch and it’s back on again.
You can take that a step further with Sony’s Headphones Connect app to control the ambient noise settings and adjust the sound levels.
The noise cancellation is already quite sophisticated and can adjust to atmospheric pressure and high altitude when you’re on a plane.
Sony’s WH-1000Xm2 can even compensate for your own features like head size, glasses and hair to optimise the level of noise cancellation.
There’s Bluetooth onboard so you can wirelessly stream your music but you can connect a cable to plug the Sony headphones in when you want to connect to an aircraft entertainment system on a long flight.
Under the hood are powerful 40mm drivers with a Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) diaphragm to product a full range of frequencies.
The sound quality was remarkable. The Sony WH-1000MX2 did not miss a single note whether we were listening to AC/DC, the Star Wars soundtrack, The Jam, the Doors, INXS, the Pet Shop Boys or an audio book.
Bass was conservative (which was OK) and that added to the more sophisticated sound. Heavy bass would have made the Sony headphones too street and it would lose its appeal to older listeners.
But for the high and mid-levels, Sony got them absolutely spot on.
The Sony WH-1000XM2 are also capable of Hi-Res Audio which makes these an audiophile’s dream.
On the battery side, you’ll get up to 30 hours which is enough for a round trip of long flights.
And with just 10 minutes of charge you’ll get 70 minutes of listening time.
Sony WH-1000XM2
Price: $499.95
VERDICT
The Sony WH-1000XM2 wireless noise cancelling headphones are in a class of their own and combine brilliant audio quality with superior noise cancellation with wireless convenience.
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