Sony WF-1000XM3 flagship earbuds launched at ₹19,990, company explains why it won’t eat WF-SP800N’s market

A year after globally launching the flagship WF-1000XM3 earbuds, Sony has finally introduced it in India. Priced at ₹19,990, the WF-1000XM3 will be available at ₹17,990 as a part of an introductory offer. These will go on sale starting 6th August. 

For those following the earbuds market should know that Sony launched its WF-SP800N earbuds recently and that is priced at ₹18,990. It has almost the same features but is being pitched as a sports product for those who are active and always on the move. So will the WF-1000XM3 at the same price be hurting the SP800N in any way? We asked this to Mani Balan, Product Manager of Audio business at Sony India and here's what he said.

“Although WF-SP800N and WF-1000XM3 fall in the same price bracket, the usage scenarios and target customers are different and hence, both can co-exist without any cannibalisation. While WF-SP800N caters to sports & fitness related needs, WF-1000XM3 addresses travel and core music performance related needs,” he said.

And although both have common features like noise cancellation, good battery life, touch gestures and more, Sony thinks WF-1000XM3 will see more traction with buyers in the coming days. “Our flagship model will be WF-1000XM3 and it will occupy a large part of our promotion plan for Truly Wireless segment. WF-1000XM3 has a very premium design, Industry leading Noise cancellation and a very balanced sound which makes it different from WF-SP800N. We estimate more buyers for WF-1000XM3 as its already a global hit model and also because of its superior performance over other available Truly Wireless headphones in the market,” added Balan.

We’ve already talked about the WF-SP800N in details in our review. But what does the 1000XM3 has in store for us?

Sony WF-1000XM3 specs and features

Sony claims these earbuds to deliver ‘industry-leading’ noise-cancellation tech with the QN1e processor. This comes in addition to Dual Noise sensor technology, which essentially means the inclusion of dual microphones for catching more ambient sound from your surroundings.

Adding to the mix is the 0.24-inch (6mm) driver unit in each earbud, DSEE HX for digitally enhancing the audio, touch sensors to control music playback, activate voice assistants (Google Assistant, Alexa), take incoming calls and more. 

Sony claims that the WF-1000XM3 can deliver up to 24 hours of listening time with earphones alone delivering 6 hours on a single charge and 8 hours with noise cancelling switched off. Also, it can be charged for 10-minutes to deliver up to 90 minutes of play time.

Like we’ve seen in other Sony earbuds as well, there’s a Quick Attention feature wherein you could place your finger over the earbud to automatically turn down the volume and hear ambient sound. It goes back to normal once the finger is lifted.

And the highlight is the Adaptive Sound Control that uses the Sense Engine, something we saw in SP800N as well. The ‘smart’ function auto detects the environment you’re in and adjusts the ambient sound settings as required.

Available in two colour variants – Silver, Black, the earbuds come with a charging case that has a USB Type-C port and uses magnets to keep the earbuds intact while charging. Some other features include NFC, 20Hz-20,000Hz frequency response, Bluetooth v5.0, tri-hold structure and customisable controls.

We will be talking about our experience in our review, which will be out soon. So stay tuned.