- 3 hours ago
WIRED put three strangers in a room with five sets of premium headphones—and zero brand names or prices. Which pair provides the best audio quality, comfort, and noise canceling? And can they guess how much each actually costs? Who comes out on top among the Apple AirPods Max, Anker Soundcore Space One Pro, Sony WH-1000XM6, Sonos Ace, and Nothing Headphones?
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00:00These five headphones are the top picks by Wired's expert reviewers.
00:03But does the average user like them?
00:05I feel like these are a slightly upgraded version of what an airplane gives you.
00:09I put them in a room with three strangers while I watch from behind a one-way mirror.
00:12Here's what they really thought.
00:18This is Focus Group.
00:25A is a little bit more old-fashioned to me in a way.
00:28They look a little cheap budget.
00:30I feel like I'm going into like a movie theater at like an IMAX.
00:35That's a good comparison.
00:36What about B?
00:37It reminds me of like a 90s computer.
00:39I like that.
00:40That's so cool.
00:40I do too.
00:41They almost look analog.
00:43Like a cassette tape or something on the side.
00:45Yeah.
00:45It doesn't scream cool to me though.
00:47It just screams boot up the old desktop computer.
00:50I think we've all been through Windows 95 enough.
00:53I'd pass for the appearance.
00:54I think C is a little bit too chunky for me.
00:58They are quite thick.
00:59I think they're trying to look more premium by adding material to them.
01:03But I don't love the look of them.
01:05It's not my favorite, but it does look pretty good.
01:07D.
01:08They just look kind of normal.
01:10Understated.
01:10Which isn't the bad thing.
01:11Daily wear might not be too bad.
01:14I just looked right past them honestly.
01:15I mean these look unique.
01:17It just seems very sleeper.
01:18How do we feel about E?
01:20I think they look really attractive.
01:22They look different from any headphones I'd seen before.
01:24It has a very premium appearance.
01:26The band on it looks great.
01:27All these are somewhat similar and that's unique.
01:30Okay, let's try them on.
01:32We can get our band photo like this.
01:33Everybody's got headphones now.
01:35Yeah, these feel good.
01:36They're very comfortable.
01:37I feel like these would fall off easy.
01:39Yeah.
01:40I really like the buttons on this.
01:42These feel pretty good.
01:42Like they're not going anywhere.
01:44They feel like they're kind of contoured nicely to one's head.
01:47They also very clearly say right and left.
01:49I feel like these are a slightly upgraded version of what an airplane gives you.
01:53Oh, I love these.
01:55These are cancelled.
01:57Noise cancelled.
01:57I can't hear anything.
01:58Yeah, you can't hear it.
01:59Those might be my favorite.
02:00They're awesome, aren't they?
02:02Yeah.
02:02Yeah.
02:03They're not uncomfortable by any means, but yeah, they just feel budget.
02:07Budget.
02:07They feel budget.
02:09What do you guys think of the material on each one?
02:11On each one?
02:12I mean over time this will have to peel.
02:14This one I feel like will last a while.
02:16This one does feel cheap.
02:18This does feel better.
02:19Pretty good overall.
02:21Yeah, these actually feel nice.
02:22A nice swivel.
02:23These are light and kind of like, they're a bit higgledy-piggledy.
02:26They're too flimsy.
02:26I mean, it's night and day.
02:27You compare A and E.
02:28This is cool.
02:29The kind of mesh on top, breathable material.
02:33I don't know how well it holds up, the mesh, but I do like the design a lot.
02:36I mean these, when you feel them, they do feel pretty good.
02:39Also, these are fun because these like pop right off.
02:41They're magnetized, right?
02:43Oh, that's a neat feature.
02:44You can just like pop them off.
02:45If you need to replace these, it's just super easy to replace them.
02:48Let's see.
02:48It does feel pretty good.
02:50They fold.
02:50That is nice.
02:51That is very nice.
02:52It's well cushioned.
02:53I just don't know why they made the individual earphone part of it so thick.
02:58Like it just looks a little too big for me.
03:00These kind of feel the same as they look.
03:02Just sort of normal, understated, not very memorable, but nothing wrong with them.
03:07They don't have like a really nice swivel, but they don't really feel flimsy either.
03:11No.
03:11I wouldn't call it budget, but I also wouldn't call it premium either.
03:15Yeah.
03:16Somewhere mid-grade.
03:17It's better than this one, I will say.
03:20Oh, you think so?
03:21I just am not a fan of this material.
03:23Oh, that's too much cushion?
03:24Too much cushion.
03:25I like the cushion.
03:26I like the cushion.
03:27Do you?
03:28I mean, who doesn't like a little cushion?
03:30What do we feel like is our favorite looking at all of these?
03:33I'd probably say E, but B I think is pretty interesting to look at.
03:37I feel like this one and this one, these are cool.
03:40I might be able to come around to it a little bit if it was just more comfortable for me.
03:49That song has a really prominent low end.
03:53I actually thought that the low end of the headphones should have been a bit better.
03:57The middle range and the highs, they sounded very good.
04:01Vocals seem so clear.
04:03She does these like kind of whisper sounds and it's not too trebly.
04:06You're not getting like the sibilance that you would get from low end headphones.
04:10It almost felt like I was there.
04:11I actually really, really liked those.
04:13There were some details with the lossless version that I didn't notice before.
04:18There's a greater separation between instruments.
04:22I love these.
04:23Then I also feel like the other ones feel better on my head.
04:26Not as good as the first one.
04:27Not as comfortable.
04:28I almost want to shake my head to see if I could like run with it.
04:33The sound quality just doesn't have the range that the first one did.
04:36It felt a little flatter.
04:37How would you rate those with the lossless quality?
04:40With the lossless, we get back the high range and we get back the middle range
04:43that we had lost with the Bluetooth version, so that's cool.
04:47The audio comes cleaner on these ones for some reason,
04:50whereas the other ones felt like there was like a little bit of a fade.
04:55I don't really think I would love those headphones if I had to use them as Bluetooth headphones.
04:59Once it was plugged in, I feel like it got a lot better,
05:02going that you're going to be wearing it Bluetooth most of the time.
05:05E was superior to A.
05:08If I had a criticism, it would be I'm not getting as much of like a sound stage effect,
05:12where it sounds like the instruments are in like different places, almost as if I'm in the room.
05:19D has really good treble.
05:22Those sound a little bit brighter than headphones-y, and maybe there was a little more clarity.
05:29It was really good, actually.
05:30I would not say that they were as comfortable.
05:33The padding felt a little off with it.
05:34I thought they were actually better as Bluetooth than they were when they were plugged in.
05:38It kind of muffled everything.
05:40Got a lot quieter from the Bluetooth to the lossless version.
05:43It's an easy fix, I suppose.
05:45You just turn up the volume.
05:47The sound was pretty good.
05:49I felt the bass was a little weak.
05:51I feel like I would love those for when I was running.
05:54And they're super noise-canceling, which I like.
05:56The vocals were pretty good.
05:57I mean, treble range was all right.
05:59Just mediocre.
06:01Would not pick.
06:01Huge difference when we go to lossless with the Bluetooth.
06:05Like, couldn't wait to take them off.
06:06They sound like a different pair of headphones.
06:08I actually wanted to continue listening.
06:10B is not a comfortable headset.
06:12It's a little too tight.
06:16Listening to that, that's really clear audio.
06:19You felt like you were there.
06:20I don't like this very much.
06:21Everything sounded kind of flat.
06:22I wasn't getting a super strong bass out of them, but vocals.
06:27And that was very, very good.
06:29They had no depth.
06:30Everything just sounded kind of smooshed, compressed together.
06:33Sorry, headphones C. You tried.
06:37So you guys have prices with you.
06:40You don't know how much these headphones cost.
06:42Put down what you think each headphones cost.
06:45Pretty sure you know which one's the most expensive.
06:47Apple.
06:47It's the Apple Air Bud Max.
06:49So we're all in the same boat there.
06:50I actually think these might be the cheapest ones.
06:53I think they're the cheapest too.
06:54I feel like the Sonos are probably pretty expensive.
06:59That sounds good to me.
07:00Not me.
07:01I think the nothings, they've got the style thing going on.
07:04I feel like they're trying to go a little more premium.
07:07I might do $2.99.
07:09Not sure I agree with it.
07:10All right, I only have $2.99 on C.
07:14Yeah, Sony.
07:15I kind of want to think the Sony ones would be more expensive.
07:19Could be.
07:19You got everything right.
07:21Oh, wow.
07:22Oh, impressive.
07:23So the most expensive are the Apple AirPods Max.
07:26The Sony XM6s are around $458.
07:30Sonos Ace is around $319 on sale.
07:33And the nothing is $299.
07:35The cheapest is the Soundcore Space Moon Pro.
07:38Wired's top pick is actually the XM6s.
07:41The Sony line of headphones, the XM series, have long been some of the best headphones on the market.
07:46There's obviously a lot more that we factor in.
07:48Battery life, there's microphone quality, there's overall comfort, travel capability.
07:53So for example, these ones you can actually fold them in for travel.
07:56And I think the Sony's are actually some of the best in the business in terms of noise cancellation.
08:00So I will also point out that you really liked the Sony's.
08:04You did not.
08:05So there is also that difference of like, you know,
08:07people just having different preferences and sound stages of what they want, right?
08:11Out of the headphones.
08:12There's actually not a single pair of headphones here that we don't like.
08:15If you want something more of a budget-friendly option,
08:17you get something like the Space One Pro.
08:19And if you're in a Sonos household, you're more likely going to go for the Sonos Ace
08:24because there are some features there that allow you to stream with other Sonos products.
08:29Apple's AirPods Max, we like them a lot.
08:31They're really great on a lot of fronts.
08:33But I think anyone with an iPhone is more likely to be geared towards that
08:36because Apple is more of a brand name.
08:38You kind of want the look, that cachet that comes with it.
08:40And the Nothing headphones are actually a relatively new pair of headphones from the company.
08:44They haven't made headphones before, so that's their first attempt.
08:47And that's our favorite for design because they just look like no other headphones out there.
08:52With that, they still sound pretty good.
08:54They have decent battery life.
08:56A lot of good options on the market.
08:57It's the audio quality for me, which is like the number one thing.
09:00And I have very specific things that I'm looking for.
09:03The lossless version of those are actually very good.
09:06Yeah, I agree.
09:07Yeah.
09:08One pattern I noticed is with the higher-end models,
09:11you tended to not notice the difference between lossless and Bluetooth.
09:14Whereas with the cheaper models, there was a much bigger gap.
09:18That is something to note that maybe the lossless isn't doing a ton more on the higher end.
09:22But also, would you pay $550 for headphones?
09:25It depends.
09:26If you're flying a lot, a good pair of headphones is kind of clinch.
09:30What's sort of the price range here that you think you'd feel comfortable spending on a pair of headphones?
09:34I'd say like $300.
09:36I wouldn't say it's so much of a price range.
09:39It's really just, do I feel like I'm getting my dollar's worth?
09:42It's not that I'm an Apple fanboy or anything like that.
09:45It's just, I put them on.
09:46It was the first one I tried.
09:48I was even a little skeptical because I thought, this is the first one.
09:51You have to be a little more critical and everything.
09:53I still thought they were the best by far.
09:55So would I pay the premium for it?
09:57Unfortunately, yes.
09:58Yeah, I would.
10:01My favorite, they were the Apple.
10:03You would be surprised how many people run in New York with these headphones.
10:06Yeah, I do see people running with them, which I think is a bit funny.
10:09See, when I was testing them out, I wanted to run because I felt like that would be my selection
10:13and take on a wireless headphone if I could run in them.
10:16I agree with Patrick about the AirPod Maxes.
10:19I do think that they're the best headphones.
10:21I actually did really like the nothing.
10:23I felt like they were comfortable.
10:24I liked the sound.
10:26Do you like the styling?
10:27I like the styling as well.
10:28It's something unique.
10:29I'm more of a wired headphone person, so wireless for me is something new.
10:34We're all wired headphone people here.
10:37Yeah.
10:38Check out wired.com to see how our expert reviews compare to our focus group experiment.
10:43Let us know what you like in the comments.
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