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Best Headphones Reviews

Bose QuietControl 30 Wireless Headphones vs Sony WI-1000x

August 10, 2020 by Martha Lyons Leave a Comment

Today, we are going to compare two premium Bluetooth neckbands – the Bose QuietControl 30  wireless headphones and Sony WI-1000x  and butt them together to see which one scores the most brownie points.

Bose is known for its balanced sound while Sony is often punchy-bassy-alive and premium in their build and performance. Do not forget to go over the pros and cons, at the end and make your purchase decision easier.

Comparison Chart

Preview
Bose QuietControl 30
Bose Quietcontrol 30 Wireless Headphones, Noise Cancelling - Black
Sony WI-1000x
Sony Premium Noise Cancelling Wireless Behind-Neck in Ear Headphones - Black (WI1000X/B)
Price
$144.77
$259.00
Rating
Durability
Sleek, durable and flexible
Good design, highly durable and heavy
Foldable
Yes (only the earcups)
Weight
62 grams
72 grams
Carry Case
Hard case
Cloth bag
Wired option
Yes - 3.5 mm audio jack with micro USB
Battery life
10 hours
10 hours
Physical controls
Inline controls with ANC buttons
Tactile controlled buttons
Bluetooth
4.2
4.1
No of paired devices
3 devices
1 at a time
Active Noise Cancellation
NFC
Quick charging
60 minutes of use with 15 min of fast charging
70 minutes of use with 10 min of fast charging
Voice prompts
Details
CHECK PRICE
CHECK PRICE
Bose QuietControl 30
Preview
Bose Quietcontrol 30 Wireless Headphones, Noise Cancelling - Black
Price
$144.77
Rating
Durability
Sleek, durable and flexible
Foldable
Yes (only the earcups)
Weight
62 grams
Carry Case
Hard case
Wired option
Battery life
10 hours
Physical controls
Inline controls with ANC buttons
Bluetooth
4.2
No of paired devices
3 devices
Active Noise Cancellation
NFC
Quick charging
60 minutes of use with 15 min of fast charging
Voice prompts
Details
CHECK PRICE
Sony WI-1000x
Preview
Sony Premium Noise Cancelling Wireless Behind-Neck in Ear Headphones - Black (WI1000X/B)
Price
$259.00
Rating
Durability
Good design, highly durable and heavy
Foldable
Weight
72 grams
Carry Case
Cloth bag
Wired option
Yes - 3.5 mm audio jack with micro USB
Battery life
10 hours
Physical controls
Tactile controlled buttons
Bluetooth
4.1
No of paired devices
1 at a time
Active Noise Cancellation
NFC
Quick charging
70 minutes of use with 10 min of fast charging
Voice prompts
Details
CHECK PRICE

Build quality

The Bose QuietControl 30 wireless headphones have a horseshoe design and lay flat on your neck. Built quality is sturdy and the surface is rubberized and feels premium.

This prevents the neckband from sliding during any movements and the frequent controls are in line with the right earphone. Volume up and down, microphone and pause/play buttons are on the inline controller.

The Sony WI stands for Wireless In-ear and the Sony WI-1000x is built from good quality plastic, but is not waterproof and does not fold.

Made from stainless steel and synthetic leather coating, the neckband is rigid than the Bose QC30. The earbuds are big and have an angle to accommodate noise-cancelling mic.

The controls are on the left side with raised symbols of + & – for volume controls, power button and pause/play. These are the control “buttons” and have built-in tactile feedback.

On the right side is the ANC button, but more about it later. You will find a micro USB to 3.5mm audio jack cable, few earbuds and a soft carry case. Unlike the Bose’s hard case, the Sony 1000x case is just a small cloth case.

Comfort

Earcups on the QC30 are plastic without the rubberized coating with in-ear design. Vigorous movements are a no-no with the Bose QuietControl 30 because they shift ever so slightly at each jerk and eventually come out. If you are in the office or walking in a street casually, the earbuds remain in place and work perfectly fine.

The Sony earphones are comfortable and go deep in the ear canals.  However, they fell out each time when I jogged due to its weight; however, for casual use, the earphones are comfortable.

Today, we are going to compare two premium Bluetooth neckbands - the Bose QuietControl 30 wireless headphones and Sony WI-1000x.

Battery

Battery life is 10 hours on the Bose QC30. However, I tried it with 50% volume and 50% ANC continuously for 10 hours; it still had 50% battery left on it. This means that the Bose QC30s have excellent battery life and outlives our expectations compared to other brands.

The Sony WI-1000X claims 10 hours of battery with ANC ON and 13 hours with ANC OFF. With wired usage, this can be increased up to 14 hours with ANC on. Real life testing only gave me 12 hours, which is in between their varied battery life claims.

The quick charging feature is a relief as it gives 70 minutes of play on a 10-minute charge on the Sony earphones while it gives 60 minutes on the Bose QC30.

Noise Cancellation

Getting into the Active Noise Cancellation features, the Bose QC30 has ANC up and down buttons that adjust ANC levels. Therefore, these earphones are dubbed the “QuietControl” as it literally allows the controlling of quietness as desired. The inline controller barely has any weight and does not tug or add weight on the right side.

The ANC does not block out everything but most of the external noise. If you are playing music above 50% volume along with ANC, then almost 90% of the external noise is cancelled. However, Bose has left the ANC and the microphone performance the same as that on its predecessor, the QC20, and the experience is identical with some slight chattering seeping in from the surroundings.

Pressing the ANC button activates the feature on the Sony 1000x and toggles between ambient sound and ANC. The ANC is quite good, is at par with the Bose QC35, and feels much better than the Bose QuietControl 30.

The ANC mic rejects wind noise but has poor passive noise cancellation. There is also a brilliant ambient sound setting, that allows you to control the amount of ambient noise during playtime. Funny thing – they amplify even those sounds that you won’t consciously hear; like an expensive pair of hearing aids. LOL.

The adaptive sound settings are connected to a pressure sensor that measures the barometric pressure in your immediate surroundings for ambient sound control. Space-age stuff,  isn’t it?

Today, we are going to compare two premium Bluetooth neckbands - the Bose QuietControl 30 wireless headphones and Sony WI-1000x.

Connectivity

The Bluetooth 4.2 connection is awesome in the Bose QC30s and works well through walls without any distortions and minimal audio leaks. The Bose QC30 has the ability to pair with 3 devices at once and swapping between them is super easy. It also has voice prompts to tell you which devices are connected to the Bose Bluetooth headphones.

On the Sony WI-1000x, there is NFC touchpoint on the right side of the neckband and on the left side there is a micro USB for USB charging cable and wired listening. Pressing the power button for a while would prompt the battery status and holding the play/pause button will activate Siri. Bluetooth connection 4.1 on the Sony Bluetooth earphones gives you good range, but swapping between devices is not possible unless we manually change it from the settings.

Audio

Bose QC30 has a neutral and accurate sound signature with equal frequencies that do not overpower each other. Bass is refined and clean allowing the mids and highs to be relevant.

The soundstage is distinguished and the audio channels are identical and creating surround sound audio in front and behind you for a richer experience. The Bose also allows the adjustment of ANC, volume levels, EQ and battery indication.

The audio quality on the Sony 1000x was not that great. The depth, mids and vocals are great but when it comes to the lows and highs tends to be too sharp and cause discomfort.

The alive bass is there but almost ruins the soundstage and frequencies making it muddy all the way. EQ does not help here much; the highs remain sharp, and the bass is muddled. Overall, a great disappointment from Sony!

If the audio was good on the Sony WI-1000x, then I would have chosen it over the Bose QC30. However, the Bose QC30 feels much better when it comes to audio in spite of lacking some unique features that the Sony Bluetooth wireless earphones had.

Bose QuietControl 30

Pros
  • Ultra lightweight
  • NFC
  • Battery life is great even with ANC on and is at par with what they claim
  • Can control the levels of ANC depending on the surrounding
  • Good ear fit
  • Good carry case
Cons
  • Overall performance is average compared to the competition and its predecessor QC20
  • Level of noise cancellation is not that great
  • In-line control is a bit tricky and needs time to get used to
  • Earbuds slip with vigorous movements
  • No wired connection option
  • Expensive
Preview Product Rating
Bose Quietcontrol 30 Wireless Headphones, Noise Cancelling - Black Bose Quietcontrol 30 Wireless Headphones, Noise Cancelling - Black CHECK PRICE

Sony WI-1000x

Pros
  • Aesthetic and built quality is premium and heavy
  • Accessories include a USB to 3.5 mm headphone cord, air plane adapter, numerous foam and silicone eartips and a carry case
  • Feedback on buttons is great
  • Good noise cancelling headphones
  • Has ambient sound control
Cons
  • Comfort of earbuds fit is average; selecting the correct eartips is important here
  • Adaptive Sound Control is slow
  • No multi-point connection
  • Expensive and cloth carry case
  • Still uses Bluetooth 4.1
  • Audio is muddied with added bass
Preview Product Rating
Sony Premium Noise Cancelling Wireless Behind-Neck in Ear Headphones - Black (WI1000X/B) Sony Premium Noise Cancelling Wireless Behind-Neck in Ear Headphones - Black (WI1000X/B) CHECK PRICE
Martha Lyons

Martha studied Jazz and has a diploma as an audio engineer under her belt. In addition to her work in front of and behind the control room window, she works as a music journalist, among other things, tests around 90-100 wireless headphones a year. Quality is her credo!

Last update on 2023-01-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Contents

  • 1 Comparison Chart
  • 2 Build quality
  • 3 Comfort
  • 4 Battery
  • 5 Noise Cancellation
  • 6 Connectivity
  • 7 Audio

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Filed Under: Blog, Bose, Facts, MUSIC, Sony Tagged With: comparison

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Contents

  • 1 Comparison Chart
  • 2 Build quality
  • 3 Comfort
  • 4 Battery
  • 5 Noise Cancellation
  • 6 Connectivity
  • 7 Audio

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