In the ever-expanding audio gear market, Sony has established its mark for its various offerings with a forte in the premium wireless headphone segment. While their 1000XM3 has won accolades for its performance and design, it's price did make it out of reach for a lot of interested consumers. For such users, Sony has launched new WH-910n headphones that offer active noise cancellation at a lower price point than their flagship offering.
The WH-910n has an over the ear design and comes with a matte finish on the headband and the earcups. This finish gives them an elegant look, and you don't have to worry about any fingerprints as well. For style, the padding around the earcups has a pattern finish that adds to its overall looks. We were immediately impressed by the build quality, and even though it's lightweight, it feels sturdy. The ear cups are foldable for portability, which is a plus point in our books. However, the carry case included in the price is a basic pouch style bag, which we feel is not justified for the asking price. A good quality hard carry case should have been included, in our opinion.
The right earcup has the touch controls on top, which works well but does need a few days of getting used to if you have never used this control system before. Also, covering the right earcup from hand activates the quick attention mode that enables speaking with someone nearby without taking off the headphones. Another handy thing is that you can customise the hardware assistant button to launch the Google Assistant or Alexa as per your preference via the headphones connect app. These features were only available in the flagship model up till now, and thus it's great that Sony has offered them in a lower-priced variant.
Sony headphones always win our vote for comfort, and the 910n is no different. The 910n has larger size earcups compared to the other models by Sony, which sit comfortably around the ears. This larger design makes them comfortable to wear for long durations and also aids in improving the noise cancellation. The headband also has a good amount of padding and does not get uncomfortable to wear.
The headphone's active noise cancellation is fantastic. It was able to cancel out 70 percent ambient noise easily on its own, and if you listen to music at even 50 percent volume, then you won't hear anything around you, not even the sound of a metro train. Sony has also included Adaptive sound control in the headphones, which means that they detect when you are stationary or walking/travelling and automatically change the noise cancellation suitable for the activity. We loved this feature on the 1000XM3 as well because it helps get an immersive audio experience.
Audio quality is also top-notch as expected. Even though the 910n uses a 25mm driver unit, it has been designed in such a way that there is minimal loss of audio quality compared to larger 40mm drivers. The difference is so minimal that most layman users won't be able to tell the difference. We used the headphones for various genres of music, gaming, and videos from OTT services. The headphones delivered impressive audio - thumping bass, sharp trebles, and fantastic clarity. The only thing we felt at times listening to specific genres of music was that the sound stage is not as wide compared to flagship models from other brands. They also work great for voice calls - the dual microphones are placed ideally on the bottom side of the earcups from where your voice is captured better even if you speak in a lower volume.
Another feature that impressed was its battery life. Sony claims 35 hours of battery life on a single charge under ideal usage conditions, and we managed to get over 32 hours of backup. Moreover, there is also fast charge support via USB Type c - 10 minutes of charging gives juice enough for two hours, which means you can watch 2-3 episodes of your favourite series easily. In case the battery runs out, you even have a 3.5mm aux jack to use the headphones in wired mode - a feature we want all brands to adapt to wireless headphones.
Sony has always been a brand focussed on audio gear. Their headphones have impressed us continuously, be it the entry/mid-level MDR range or the flagship WH-1000XM series. Apart from the great products, Sony has also always played smart on its marketing strategy - they have ensured that consumers have a Sony headphone option at every few Rs 1,000 gap. The only area missing a headphone so far was between the Rs 20,000 - Rs 25,000 segment and this is where the Sony WH-910n wireless headphones fit perfectly. It delivers on all fronts and, in our opinion, is the headphone to consider if you want the best of features in its price segment. Of course, if you can extend your budget, then nothing beats the 1000XM3.
4/5
Pros
- Comfortable, excellent noise cancellation, fantastic audio output, excellent battery life, ambient mode, quick attention mode, multiple voice assist support, fast charging support.
Cons: Comes with a basic carry pouch, sound stage not as extensive as flagship headphones.
Price: Rs 21,990.
Karan Bajaj is a senior tech journalist based in New Delhi.
First Published: Feb 13, 2020 9:49 PM IST
