Bose Active Noise Cancelling 700 vs. Sony WH-1000XM3

although I have to say the Bose do the exact same thing but it has nothing to do with the app that just happens now let's talk about phone call quality don't worry I'm getting to audio quality in a second the Bose are far and away better than the Sony in terms of phone call quality it's as good as your phone if not a little bit better they do a better job of cancelling out wind noise than the Sony in fact in a windy day the Sony are almost unusable in that regard so what you're getting out of the Bose is really great noise cancelling from the noise around you through the microphone in the Bose so that you get exceptionally clear phone calls that also means that in a noisy environment like a plane or downtown you're gonna be able to integrate with your voice assistant much more easily than you would with the Sony because it's always gonna recognize exactly what you're saying I think that's a huge bonus for business types because they're going to be using these headphones for making phone calls while they're on the go and that is a key consideration for a headphone of this type now we're gonna get to audio quality I know a lot of you have been waiting for this part especially you audio enthusiasts out there the Sony we've been calling them the best sounding noise cancelling headphones for a couple of years now and that's because they really are they have a little bit of a boost in the bass actually there's quite a bit of Bron down there they get low and they're very punchy otherwise they have a more or less neutral approach to sound they're not trying to color it in any particular way you get lots of detail in the highs the transient response is really good and mid-range is nice and clear it's not stuffy or muddled in any way with the bow 700 interesting thing so when I first started listening to these my immediate impression was wow I think this is better than the Sony but then I did some more listening and this plays out same as speakers when you first hear something and it dazzles you you're kind of won over it with it but once you kind of relax in the sound and you take a more careful look at the overall sound Claudie you realize that with the bow 700 they've done some serious sculpting to the sound first of all there's not as much brawn in the bass as the Sony but that's not a deal killer not everybody needs that much bass what does alter the sound of the headphones is that they're pushing the upper mid-range of the lower treble quite a bit and what that comes off as is being super clear super revealing sound but listen a little bit more closely and you notice that brass and cymbals and really tight drum hits tend to pop a little bit too much they're a little aggressive now if you're in a plane and you're cancelling out a ton of ambient plane noise engine noise you're gonna need a little extra clarity boost and I think that's why Bose has gone this route with sculpting the sound for everyday listening though I still prefer the Sony overall it's a more balanced sound and I've never had a problem hearing the dialog in a movie while flying on a plane with the Sony yes the Bose may be a little bit more forward and a little bit more clear in that regard maybe they sound a little bit better on a plane but anytime you're not on a plane or in a super noisy environment the sony just went out on sound quality so now I need to make what I thought was gonna be a really tough call which is the better headphone but it's made easier by the fact that they're clearly targeted at two totally different kind of listeners you've got your audio enthusiasts on one hand and then you've got your frequent flyer and business-type on the other hand the sony is the better all-around headphone because of its sound quality audio enthusiasts are definitely going to prefer the sony however when I'm traveling I'm probably going to put the Bose in my backpack because they're just that much better for all the practical uses that I'm gonna need them for they still sound great especially on a plane the case is a little bit better and they're more comfortable long-term so when I'm on those long long flights I'm gonna pick the Bose for just general everyday use I'm probably gonna pick the Sony