Beats Solo3 vs. Sony WH-1000XM4 vs. AirPods Max: Which to Buy?

Overview of Beats Solo3, Sony WH-1000XM4 and AirPods Max

| #1  Beats Solo 3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones

Google Users Rating: 4.6/5

• Bestbuy: $149.99 (up to 0.5% cashback)

• Walmart: $131.39 (up to 4% cashback)

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The Solo 3 Wireless are the most popular over/on-ear headphones in the Beats range and are regularly featured in cheap Beats headphones sales.They're available in a whole range of different color designs so there's plenty of scope to choose a color scheme that best represents your personality - whether that's jet black or blingy gold!  Touch-sensitive controls are present on the left ear cup for skipping tracks and changing volume. Beats claims up to 40 hours of life - and they do last so long - but, naturally, you can also plug in a 3.5mm cable for a wired connection to your phone. Or charge them up for five minutes to get three hours of playback time.

As the smallest of the Beats on- and over-ear family, they wear their Apple ownership on their sleeve and come with Apple’s W1 chip built in for faster pairing with Apple devices. The newer Class 1 Bluetooth helps to create one of the most stable wireless connections. From a sound perspective, however, The Solo 3 Wireless fall a little short. It’s not that the sound is bad, and it’s certainly not as unwieldy as some Beats naysayers would have you think. But for all they give us in full-bodied sound and enthusiasm, they miss out in subtlety and refinement compared to the cream of the similarly-priced crop.

| #2  Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Over-the-Ear Headphones

Google Users Rating: 4.6/5

• B & H Photo: $278(up to 1.5% cashback)

• Abt: $278(up to 4% cashback)

The Sony WH-1000XM4 is the new flagship headphone offered by Sony and it certainly lives up to its reputation. Not many wireless headphones can compete with these headphones in terms of features, ANC performance, and sound quality. The new Sony WH-1000XM4  retooled the noise-canceling algorithm and now offers a new Bluetooth SoC to block more noise in the mid-range and higher frequencies. As a great noise canceler, the Sony WH-1000XM4 doesn't just cancel noise: it adapts to both your environment (read: changes in barometric pressure) and your movement/activity (sitting, walking, running, etc.) to intelligently and effectively block noise. In addition, the Sony WH-1000XM4 uses a new technology called Precise Voice Pick Up to help your voice come through loud and clear. It works by using the four microphones on each earcup to hone in your voice while talking and reduce the amount of ambient noise that it picks up. 

The Sony WH-1000XM4 also adds the auto-play function sensing when you take the headphones off and pause the music. As well as playing music once you put them back on. It comes equipped with Bluetooth version 5, which does have some extra functionality. The biggest is multi-point connections. This allows the headphones to be connected to more than one device at a time, which makes switching between devices seamless. In a word, Admittedly, the Sony WH-1000XM4 has pretty much improved on every aspect – even making small tweaks like the trimmed down padding on the bridge and additional padding around the earcups to reduce pressure. The only pity is that the XM4 only supports AAC and Sony’s LDAC but does not come with aptX support.

| #3 Apple AirPods Max Active Noise Cancellation Over-Ear Headphone

Google Users Rating: 4.5/5

• Tiger Direct: $459 (up to 2% cashback)

•  Adorama: $499 (up to 2% cashback)

Assuming you are a keen Apple user, the AirPods Max is the best wireless noise-canceling headphones you can buy. It is ideal for iPhone users wanting seamless integration with iOS devices. The AirPods Max comes with active noise cancellation, superb audio quality, and a design that sets them apart from most noise-canceling headphones on the market. The design and build are solid and unmistakably Apple and they were comfortable too. As with other top-tier noise-canceling headsets, the AirPods Max uses hybrid active noise canceling for optimal noise cancellation. And the AirPods Max supports Adaptive EQ, which adjusts the frequency response in real-time, according to your environment and how the headset fits.

The kicker is that because they are baked with Apple's H1 chip, so they have all the same features as AirPods Pro, such as a transparency mode, support for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos, and an easy iPhone pairing. But they lack support for Hi-Res Audio codecs. Plus they are heavier than the other two headphones, so do take that into consideration if you are considering longer listening sessions or are sensitive to weight on your head. The AirPods Max is more expensive than the great majority of premium wireless noise-canceling headphones, so they probably aren't the best choice if you are an Android user.

Beats Solo3 vs. Sony WH-1000XM4 vs. AirPods Max: Specs

Beats Solo3 vs. Sony WH-1000XM4 vs. AirPods Max: Full Comparison

Design

Beats Solo3 is a well-designed headset that seems quite sophisticated, trendy, and elegant.  It offers three colors: Pink gold, Black and Red. Despite the plastic construction, the build-up quality is excellent. In reality, the plastic contains a metallic inner frame. It’s all fairly stable and strong, and very lightweight. The headphone may be folded in order to conveniently store and hold. A patch made of spongy rubber is included on the headband. Beats Solo 3 will ensure a more comfortable fit with the use of this substance instead of foam.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones are almost similar to the WH-1000XM3, although some minor improvements have been made by Sony.The substance from which the headphones are made is less shiny and brusque. The earpad’s coils are marginally bigger for an improved fit; the construction of the headband has been changed to fit best on a broader variety of heads and the shape has been smoothed out to streamline the look. The Sony WH-1000XM4 is currently available in three colors: Black, Blue, and Silver.

The AirPods Max build and design is undeniably Apple at its best. With five colour options (space grey, silver, sky blue, green and pink), they are undoubtedly the most eye-catching of the three. But their design flourishes go beyond just a pretty paint job. The plush, chunky memory foam earpads are comfy enough to wear for hours, and an adjustable headband is also suitable for all-day listening sessions. The ear cups attach using magnets, so should be easy to remove and reattach – handy for stowing in your bag when not in use. One neat design quirk is that they are controlled via Apple's Digital Crown, a dial first seen on the Apple Watch. This lets you alter volume, control playback and summon Siri.

Control

Beats Solo 3 has a play/pause and a volume switch on the right ear cup. In the stated ear cup, there is also an integrated microphone. The 3.5 mm audio interface is also on the left ear cup for wired listening. On the left ear cup for skipping tracks and adjusting volume, touch-sensitive controls are available. You can listen to music without batteries using an audio cable.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 is operated via touch controls on the headphones, but they don’t always work very well. It’s more reliable to just remove the headset to initiate auto-pause, rather than using the touch panels. Sony also has its own ambient sound mode, which is similar to Apple’s Transparency mode, but instead of hitting a button, you cup one hand over the Sony WH-1000XM4’s right ear cup to enable it.

You can control the AirPods Max via the Digital Crown dial and noise cancelling button at the top of the right headphone. The headset also has auto-pause and auto-resume functionality, as long as it’s connected to an iPhone. The rotating crown immediately registers your input—if anything it’s a little too sensitive. If you want to talk to your smart assistant you can either say “Hey, Siri” while wearing the headphones or give it a long-press.

Sound Quality

The Beats Solo 3 offers lots of basses but is not too exotic or heavy. The bass is versatile enough to be deep and effortlessly stable. The midrange and the treble are generally smooth and go well with strong bass. Thus, while vocals and lead techniques are unique, the focus remains on the bass.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 is also some of the best-sounding Bluetooth headphones money can buy. Unlike the Beats Solo3, the Sony headphones doesn’t place much emphasis on the bass notes, which yields a more neutral low-end sound. Also, the Sony WH-1000XM4 lets you customize the EQ settings in the Sony Headphones Connect app, so you can always boost that bass up to your liking. Sony's LDAC codec also allows for higher-quality files to be played wirelessly from a compatible source. 

The AirPods Max really do take sound quality for wireless, noise-cancelling headphones to a whole new level compared to the Beats Solo3 and the Sony WH-1000XM4. It offers the 40mm custom driver that produces a ‘rich, deep bass, precise intermediate and crisp, clean high-frequency range.’ So the AirPods Max really do sound rich, deep and detailed, especially if you enable Apple’s Spatial Audio feature which provides a virtual surround sound experience from 5.1, 7.1 and even Dolby Atmos content.The head-tracking, which ensures the audio is always relative to the screen as you move your head, is amazingly smooth and accurate.  The AirPods Max doesn’t allow you to set a customize EQ profile on the AirPods Max, whether you’re an iPhone user or not. Rather, the headphones uses an Adaptive EQ which automatically adjusts the sound signature based on the level of ambient noise around you, and it works very well.

Mic quality

The microphone of Beats Solo 3 isn’t great. The low-end attenuation and old hardware does a poor job of concentrating on the designated speaker’s voice and transmitting it clearly. So its call quality is bad.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 microphone array is pretty good. It attenuates bass frequencies quite a bit, so people with lower voices may not come across as loudly. This attenuation is intended to remove low-frequency noise to help with speech clarity.

The AirPods Max’s microphone system transmits the best audio when connected to an Apple device. However, whether a non-Apple device will result in poor microphone quality is kind of unpredictable. This depends on the way the source device handles wireless communication with Bluetooth devices. If you’re using the “wrong” device to talk through the AirPods Max, you might find that your voice is echoing or sounds muffled.

Noise-cancelling

Both Sony WH-1000XM4 and AirPods Max have Active Noise Cancelling, while the Beats Solo3 not. It only offers Passive Noise Reduction which can not suppress all background noise entirely. The ear cups don’t cover the ears entirely, hence, they won’t offer a full seal. The noise of motor or machinery sounds would not be reduced in the low frequencies. However, the headphone is still functioning well to minimize low-volume noise as the external conversations and exterior traffic noises won’t trouble you at all.

Undoubtedly, Sony WH-1000XM4 and AirPods Max are the best noise-canceling headphones in the market right now.The AirPods Max have four mics in each ear cup to deliver noise cancellation – there are three outward-facing to detect environmental noise, and one inside to monitor the sound reaching the listener’s ear. Noise cancellation is able to constantly respond to the headset fit and activity in real-time with computational audio. The noise cancellation is highly efficient since it can be calibrated for outside noise 200 times a second.In addition, the roomy AirPods Max ear cups facilitate exceptional passive isolation. When you combine passive isolation with active noise cancelling, the outside world is almost completely blocked out. Using a special algorithm and a Bluetooth Device on Chip (SoC) to track audio and ambient noise, the specialized HD Noise Cancelling Processor of Sony WH-1000XM4 QN1 makes accurate changes 700 times a second to maximize noise cancellation.

However, the Sony WH-1000XM4 seem to be just marginally better at blocking constant, consistent noise (the engine on an airplane, say), the AirPods Max are just a touch better at combatting background voices. Both Sony WH-1000XM4 and AirPods Max have “transparency” modes, which repurpose the onboard microphones normally used to create the silencing effect to help you hear the world around you without needing to take the headphones off. This comes in handy when you’re navigating busy streets or need to speak to someone briefly.

Battery Life

Beats Solo 3 has a relatively better battery life than the AirPods Max and the Sony WH-1000XM4. Officials say that it supports 40 hours of playback. In addoition, the Beats Solo3 Wireless’ Fast Fuel technology is remarkable: just five minutes of charging supplies approximately three hours of playtime.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 can go for 30 hours with noise cancellation enabled and up to 38 hours with it switched off. 10 minutes of charging an empty pair will grant 5 hours of listening time.

In terms of battery life, the AirPods Max can still last up to 20 hours even after active noise reduction and spatial audio are enabled. When used with a smart earphone case, it can directly enter the ultra-low power consumption mode when not in use, further ensuring battery life. Apple quotes 1.5 hours of playback from a 5-minute charge.

Bottom Line

Beats Solo3 vs. Sony WH-1000XM4 vs. AirPods Max: Which to Buy?

All three headphones have their pros and cons. The AirPods Max are a very tempting pair of headphones indeed which sound so good, and have such effective noise cancelling and Spatial Audio features, intense connectivity, the ability to switch different Apple devices. But it is really expensive. If you're an iPhone user and you're prepared to pay a premium for the best build, design, features and sound quality, look no further than the AirPods Max. If you don’t have an iPhone, please do not buy the Apple AirPods Max. Beacuse you’ll miss out on many software features and you won’t have as much control over the device—you just won’t get the full experience.

Regardless of if you have an iPhone or an Android phone, the Sony WH-1000XM4 headset is the better bang for your buck.Whether it is adaptive noise cancellation, ambient mode, audio performance, or versatility, Sony does well in all departments. It may not quite outperform the AirPods Max in sound quality and ANC, but it runs $200 cheaper. So you can give the WH 1000XM4 a try when you want something that is cheaper, durable and provides similar sound performance.

The Beats Solo3 Wireless is an old set of headphones but still works reliably well with iPhones, due to W1 chip integration and AAC support. Compare to the AirPods Max and  the Sony WH-1000XM4, the Solo 3 Wireless lacks Active Noise Cancelling feature. Of course, the sound quality is also not as good as the AirPods Max and  the Sony WH-1000XM4. Its biggest advantage is the long battery life. So if you are limited budget, and the extra battery life, range and close compatibility with the iPhone interests you, the Beats Solo3 Wireless is still a fine option.

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