So if you’ve been watching me for awhile you know that I love recommending the Sony WH-XB900N’s. Now technically these headphones are geared towards bass heads… but regardless these are just a solid pair of mid tier ANC headphones you just can’t go wrong with. And now we have the updated Sony WH-XB910N’s which have some notable upgrades over the XB900N’s. Now overall the XB910N’s are a solid pair of mid tier ANC headphones… but there are some things that I prefer from the XB900N’s over the XB910N’s. But nonetheless lets see what the XB910N’s are all about… and lets see if its worth upgrading if you already have the XB900N’s.
Now regarding pricing, the XB910N’s retail for $250 just like the XB900N’s when they first came out. But just knowing sony I expect these headphones to go on sale on a regular basis. But if you want to get a killer deal… the XB900N’s are still a solid pick up in late 2021 early 2022. And you can easily find them on sale for like $150 while supplies last. Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these headphones up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the most notable upgrade that I am also very appreciative of… and thats the case. The XB910N’s now come included with a nice hardshell case. Where as with the XB900N’s… they came included with a carrying pouch. So if you plan on traveling or commuting with these headphones you don’t gotta worry about them if you stuff them into a cramped back pack cause their case is going to keep them protected. Unlike the carrying pouch from before. Now the only thing that I want to point out here is that even though this is a good case… its not as stiff as the 1000XM4’s case. But I think thats a nonissue. But nonetheless, I’m glad to see that the XB910N’s now come included with a hardshell… cause I do think that it was over due. There are a lot of other headphones in this same price range that already come included with hard shell cases.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves… regarding build quality, the XB910N’s do have some minor build quality improvements over the XB900N’s. Now just like before the XB910N’s have a mostly plastic body. But this time around we’ve got two different types of plastics. The ear cups themselves are smooth plastic and the headband has a hit of textured plastic. Where as with the XB900N’s, their whole body is covered in textured plastic. But is not as textured as the plastic on the XB910N’s. But the real difference is when it comes to the leatherette on these headphones. The leatherette on the XB910N’s feels surprisingly more natural and more supple than the leatherette found on the XB900N’s. Now the leatherette on the XB910N’s doesn’t feel as good as the leatherette found on Bose’s headphones… but I still think this is a pretty big deal cause sony’s leatherette has never really been the greatest.
But now lets talk about the design of these headphones… cause this is something that does bother me about the XB910N’s. Personally I hate just how bulbous this headband looks. Because for comparison sake, the XB900N’s are a little more low profile and the 1000XM4’s are just way more low profile. Which just looks sleeker. I just can’t help but feel that sony is reverting back to their rounder headbands that were found on the Sony 1000X mark 1 and mark 2 and the rounder headband that was found on the Sony XB950N1. And if thats the case… stop it, just stop. So looks wise… I think the XB900N’s are the better looking headphones here.
But now lets talk about fit. Overall the XB910N’s fit just like the XB900N’s. They don’t have too much clamping force making them big head approved SHIRTS DOWN BELOW… but they aren’t super loose fitting like let's say the Bose QC45’s. But if you have a bigger head or if you like wearing hats then the XB910N’s have you covered. Now regarding their weight, the XB910N’s weigh in at 252 grams. 2 grams less than both the XB900N’s and 1000XM4’s. Now you’re not going to feel this 2 gram difference… but over all the XB910N’s are relatively light weight because most ANC headphones weigh in around 270 to 290 grams. So you can easily easily forget that you’re wearing these these headphones if you’re working at your desk or watching a movie in bed… and these headphones aren’t too noticeable on your head when you’re walking around with them on. But finally there’s their ear pads… the ear pads on the XB910N’s are just as spacious as the ear pads found on the XB900N and 1000XM4. However, the ear pads on the XB910N’s are just a little deeper. Which is good for people who might have ears that stick out a lot. Overall the XB910N’s should be able to fit most people just fine… but if you have really large ears or ears that stick out a lot then you’ll still might want to go with lets say the Bose QC45’s or Bose NC 700’s. But the last thing to point out here is that the ear pads on the XB910N’s do have a considerable amount of surface coming in contact with your skin. So these ear pads can collect heat rather quickly. Now don’t get me wrong… these ear pads don’t have an over heating problem… but if you plan on working out with these, they can heat up. But with all of that being said… the XB910N’s have great build quality, they're big head approved, they should fit most people just fine for ling use sessions and their ear pads are a touch more spacious. But I am just not a fan of their bulbous headband.
But now lets talk about tech specs. Regarding battery life the XB910N’s have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on just like the XB900N. Which is pretty good. But with their active noise cancelation turned off the XB910N’s can go for as long as 50 Hours. Which is awesome. Where as with the XB900N’s they can only go for up to 35 hours with their active noise cancelation turned off.
And to charge these headphones… they both charge via a USB C port as they should. However there are some notable fast charging improvements here. With the XB900N, if you were to charge them up for 10 minutes from a dead battery they are only going to get you 1 hour of playback time… where as with the XB910N’s with that same 10 minute charge they're going to get you 4 and a half hours of playback time.
Now regarding connectivity… just like the 1000XM4’s the XB910N’s can now be simultaneously connected to 2 devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap from one device to another regardless of operating system. However if you decide to use this feature these headphones will only use AAC. Now if you’re an iPhone user this doesn’t matter… but if youre an android user you’re going to have to give up LDAC. But at the very least the XB910N’s can now be connected to 2 devices at the same time where as the XB900N can only be connected to 1 device at a time.
And when it comes to performance these headphones have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether youre using an iPhone or an android device… and when it comes to audio codecs the XB910N’s have support for SBC, AAC, and Sony’s own LDAC. The same stack found on the 1000XM4’s. Now the XB910N’s don’t have APTX or APTX HD like the XB900N… but thats because sony is removing APTX support on their newer headphones in favor of their own LDAC. Now if youre an iPhone user APTX and LDAC doesn’t matter because iPhone’s top out at AAC… this really only affects android users.
But if you want to you can always just use a wired connection with these headphones because they still have a 3.5 millimeter audio jack and they even come included with an audio cable. So if you want you can always plug them into the new high impedance audio jacks found on apple’s new 16 inch Mac book pro just for the funsies. However just keep in mind… you can’t use the USB C on these headphones as a wired connection and you can’t use them while they are being charged. But they can be used passively.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these headphones. For the most part Sony’s headphones are people pleasers. Whether you like a neutral EQ or a bass heavy EQ both of these headphones should have you covered because they both have a fully customizable EQ. So you can make them sound however you want and you can even have different EQ settings for different listening situations. Now these headphones have the same instrument separation and the same clarity… but if you want something with better instrument separation you’ll might want to go with something from Bose or Sennheiser. However, the key thing to keep in mind about these headphones is that they are a part of Sony’s extra bass line up. Meaning that they have more bass and you’re going to be able to feel your music more with these headphones than you would with your average pair of headphones. Because for comparison sake, having the clear bass slider on the 1000XM4’s set to 10 is like have the bass slider on the XB900N set to 4. Now if you don’t want to use this feature you don’t have to. But I really like having the option to use this feature because all of the extra bass is just dumb fun when you’re listening to music… and it really does add an extra level of immersions when watching movies with these headphones. However for my bass heads… I truly regret to inform you that the new XB910N’s have less bass than the out going XB900N. Now don’t get me wrong… the XB910N’s have more bass than your average pair of headphones, they’re going to rattle your head a decent amount, and they should be able to satiate most people who are looking for physicality out of their headphones… but they don’t have as much bass as the XB900N’s. I feel that the XB910N’s have 20% less bass than the XB900N’s. But overall the XB910N’s sound good, they should be able to please most people, and they have that extra bass feature if you want it. However they just don’t have as much bass as the out going XB900N. Which personally I find very odd.
Now regarding the media controls… just like before the XB910N’s have a touch pad. And this touch pad is very good. Its very accurate and easy enough to use. Now its not perfect… but its not problematic what so ever. However one pro tip that I would like to share here is that you can continuously raise or lower your volume by swiping and holding. You can thank me later.
However, I do have to point out that these headphones don’t have proximity wear sensors like the 1000XM4’s. So the XB910N’s aren’t going to automatically play or pause your music if you take them off or put them back on. Now personally I don’t care for wear sensors on my headphones and I usually just turn that feature off. But I just wanted to point it out for the people that just need to have all of the features.
And when it comes to voice assistants… obviously you can always activate your phone’s default voice assistant by pressing and holding on the touch pad. However for my android users… it could be worth turning on google assistant integration. Your google assistant will read out important notifications as they come in and you can even tell your voice assistant to toggle your active noise cancelation settings. But the headphones themselves won’t have Hey Google… Hey google is still activated by your phone.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. The Sony XB910N’s block out an adequate amount of noise for a pair of mid tier ANC headphones. And they block out a little more noise than the XB900N’s. And the Sony XB910N’s continue to block out noise all while still having barely any cabin pressure which is always great for comfort. And their microphone array does a decent job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors. But so that you can see for yourself, we’re going to jump into an ANC Test.
Now for starters I included the AirPods Max in this ANC test because they currently block out the most amount noise because they brutally go after constant low frequency sounds. However, the AirPods Max are not my favorite headphones when it comes to active noise cancelation because they have a lot of cabin pressure. Thats why I still prefer both the Bose NC 700 and Sony 1000XM4. But with that being said the XB910N’s are doing a noticeably better job of blocking out constant low frequency sound than the XB900N’s. Allowing them to better block out road noise or airplane noise. However, higher frequency sounds still have an easy time getting in. So these headphones aren’t super effective when it comes to chatter. But nonetheless, the XB910N’s block out an adequate amount of noise for mid tier ANC headphones, they block out a little more noise than the XB900N, and they do so with barely any cabin pressure, they don’t change how your music sounds and they pick up very little wind noise.
And then there’s the ambient mode on these headphones. Sony has always had a good sounding ambient mode. It sound very natural with zero hissing in the background. Again this microphone array does a good job of blocking out wind noise when walking outdoors. And you can also adjust how much ambient noise these headphones let in. However, I can’t help but notice that the ambient mode on the XB910N has a little bit better clarity than the ambient mode on the XB900N. Which is nice. Now I don’t think your average user is going to notice or care… but id thought I’d point it out.
However I do have to point out that the ambient mode on the XB910N is technically now the active kind similar to the 1000XM4’s. Meaning that they’ll automatically turn off their ambient mode if there’s a sudden loud sound. But unfortunately this active ambient mode is much too linnet. It stops noise… but then it lets it in. Let me just show you. Major headphone warning.
So like you may have just seen… the XB910N’s stoped, but then just let in that noise again. Where as if we were to do the same thing with the 1000XM4’s… you’ll see that they react accordingly.
So like you may have just seen, the 1000XM4’s reacted accordingly. So over all the XB910N’s have a good sounding ambient mode… they seem to have an active ambient mode… but sony needs to make this active ambient mode react like the ambient mode on the 1000XM4. But the last thing that I want to touch on here regarding the ambient mode on these headphones is that they till have quick attention. So if you fully cover the touch pad on these headphones they’ll lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can talk to someone without having to take your headphones off, like this.
And then when you let go the headphones will go back to normal again. Now I feel that quick attention should be locked after you fully cover the touch pad for 2 seconds or so so that way you don have to keep the touch pad covered the whole time you’re talking to someone… but nonetheless I think quick attention is a useful feature especially for my constant commuters and constant flyers.
But finally here’s the microphone test… and this is an area where sony has always struggled. Right now with the XB900N my voice sounds a little shallow and there’s a little bit of static in the background.
However the microphone on the XB910N has more amplification to it and it has better clarity. So I say the XB910N has a decent enough sounding microphone for phone calls while in a quite room.
Now when it comes to blocking out noise pollution… the XB910N’s are defneitly trying their best to block out this road noise. However it is interfering with my voice.
But at least the XB910N’s are doing something. Cause with the XB900N’s… they aren’t blocking out any noise.
And the same thing can be said when it comes to blocking out chatter. The XB900N’s really aren’t doing much.
Where as with the XB910N’s… they are blocking out some of this chatter. And they aren’t messing with my voice too much. So overall I’d say the microphone on the XB910N is an improvement over the microphone on the XB900N…. And even though I recommend that you take phone call with these headphones in a quiet room… you’ll might be able to get away with a little bit of noise pollution.
But with all of that being said… over all the Sony XB910N’s are a great pair of mid tier ANC headphones that you really can’t go wrong with because they cover all of the basics very well. They fit well, they sound good, they have that extra bass feature if you want it, they have a great battery life, they have decent active noise cancelation, they have a really good sounding ambient mode, their microphone is fine and they now come included with a hard shell case. Again, you can’t go wrong with these. However when compared to their predecessors… I don’t like their new design because their headband sticks out so much… and unfortunately for my bass heads, these headphones have less bass then their predecessors.