Sony WF-1000X vs Bose SoundSport Free

Bose vs Sony…a tale as old as time. These two companies have been going at it for awhile so today we are comparing their flagship true wireless earbuds. We’ll just be comparing the major advantages and differences between the two so if you want the full details for each, check out our full reviews below for that:

– Bose SoundSport Free

– Sony WF-1000X Review

Audio Quality

Although some people rave about the audio quality with the Sony WF-1000X, we weren’t that impressed. We thought the highs were a little raspy and shallow. We also thought the bass and depth were just average, although you can fiddle with the bass within the Sony Headphone Connect App (more on that below). On the other hand, we thought the audio quality with the Bose SoundSport Free was very crisp and clear. The bass is also pretty decent with the SSF. Overall, we give the edge to Bose when it comes to sound.

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Battery Life

The Bose SoundSport Free offer pretty solid battery life for true wireless earbuds. Expect to get around 4-5 hours of playback on a full charge. Also, the Bose portable charging case offers an additional 10 hours of battery life as well. Compare that to the Sony WF-1000X earbuds, which provide only 2.5-3 hours of playback on a single charge. Also, Sony’s portable charging case only provides 6 hours of additional battery life. So Bose is the clear winner here. However, Sony’s quick charge feature is slightly better. Pop the Sony earbuds back in the case for 15 minutes and you’ll get around 75 minutes of juice, whereas with Bose, 15 minutes gets you around 45 minutes.

Bose SoundSport Free Are Better for Working Out

After testing out both earbuds, we think the Bose SoundSport Free offer a more secure fit. They come with three different size ear tips and wings and when you shake/wiggle your head, they don’t move around all that much. On the flip side, the WF-1000X have a very tiny ear wing that doesn’t really do much and when you shake your head, the earbuds don’t fall out or anything but you can definitely feel them wiggling around within your ear. The SoundSport Free are also water and sweat resistant (the WF-1000x are not), which pretty much makes them the winner by default when talking about running/working out.

Secure Fit w/ the Bose SoundSport Free

However, with that said, the Bose earbuds are larger and heavier than the Sony earbuds. Each Sony earbud weighs about 0.24 ounces, which is about half the weight of each Bose earbud. As such, the WF-1000X are a little more comfortable and they don’t fatigue your ears as quickly as the SoundSport Free. So if the question was, which earbuds are better for casual use? Well, Sony might be the winner so it all depends on what you’re looking for.

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Track Management / Volume Controls

With both pairs of earbuds, you’ll be able to do the following:

– Pause/play

– Skip/return to previous track

– Take/end calls

– Access Siri/Google Assistant

– Enter pairing mode

But where the two earbuds differ is in volume controls. With the SoundSport Free, you have dedicated volume up and  down buttons on the right earbud. The WF-1000X do not have any volume control mechanism. That means you’ll have to use your phone to adjust volume, which is kind of a bummer.

Find My Buds

Maybe a minor feature for some people but for some people this might be important. Within the Bose Connect app, there’s a Find My Buds feature. Basically, you can see the last place where the earbuds were used in case you happen to misplace them.

We might prefer the Bose SoundSport Free, but the Sony WF-1000X do offer several advantages.

Noise Cancellation

Sony is the winner here by default since the Bose earbuds do not offer active noise cancellation. With the Sony WF-1000X, using the button on the left earbud, you can switch between three different modes – complete noise cancellation, some noise cancellation and no noise cancellation. And we thought it worked pretty well. In complete noise cancellation mode, I couldn’t even hear that Jeff, who was sitting about 10 feet away from me, was saying at about 60-70% volume level. In some noise cancellation mode, I could hear that he was talking but couldn’t really make out what he was saying.

Good Noise Cancellation w/ the WF-1000X

Further, you can download the Sony Headphone Connect app, which provides even more customization options. For example, within the app, you can choose voice mode, which just lets in voices or you can choose Sony’s Adaptive Sound Control, which adjusts the noise cancellation intensity bases on what you’re doing. Adaptive Sound Control uses gyroscopes within your phone to determine whether the earbuds should be in walking, running, staying or transport mode.

However, we found that this feature is not quite perfected yet. It could recognize when I started walking but it would take awhile to recognize that I had stopped and should now be in staying mode. Still, we thought the actual noise cancellation with the Sony earbuds was pretty good.

SEE ALSO: Top 5 Best Truly Wireless Earbuds 2017

Price

Sony has Bose beat on price as well. The WF-100X have an MSRP of $200, although we’ve already seen them discounted as of late [check price on Amazon].

The Bose SoundSport Free on the other hand have an MSRP of $250 [check price on Amazon].

AUGUST 2018 UPDATE: The price of the SoundSport Free earbuds have dropped by $50. Click the link above to check the current price.

EQ Customization

Within the Sony Headphone Connect app, there’s a few more things you can do that’s not available with the SoundSport Free. First, you can choose whether audio quality or Bluetooth stability should be the priority. This might be helpful if you’re in a crowded place like an airport where connections are often unstable. Next, Sony offers several different preset EQ profiles for you to choose from. For example, if you like heavy bass, you can choose their Bass Boost setting. Sony also allows you to customize the EQ settings to your preference as well.