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Sony WH XB910N Review

Amir Ghods
Publish: August 28, 2024
Headphones

Pros

✅ Great Battery Life

✅ Comfortable

✅ Ambient Sound Mode

✅ 360 Reality Audio

Cons

❌ ANC is only acceptable

❌ Too much bass for most people

❌ Low Quality Microphone

Overview

The Sony WH-XB910N belongs to the series of headphones that Sony has specifically designed for those who love deep bass. The letters “XB” stand for “Extra Bass,” indicating the powerful bass performance of this model. Many people also believe that this headphone is an affordable alternative to Sony’s high-end WH-1000XM4.

After our testing, this headphone earned a spot on our list of the best headphones for bass, and we awarded it the title of “Extra Bass” as well. However, its strong bass isn’t its only feature. This headphone also offers fairly good active noise canceling. While its noise cancellation isn’t on par with high-end, professional-grade headphones, its performance is impressive for its price range.

We borrowed this headphone for testing and put it through various examinations over a 20-day period. You can read the results of our tests in this article.

Why is Techowant Trustworthy? At Technowant, we scientifically test headphones in our dedicated headphone testing studio to ensure accurate and reliable evaluations. For more details, you can read about our headphones Testing Method.

Sony WH-XB910N Review: Design

When you take a general look at the Sony WH-XB910N, its design is very similar to the Sony WH-1000XM4 and WH-XB900N, both of which are available in black and navy blue. However, in terms of details, this headphone is significantly different from its high-end counterpart, the XM4. The button layout on this model is not as sleek and minimalist as the XM4, and it features two prominent gray Sony logos, which, in our opinion, don’t add much to its aesthetics.

The body of the headphone is made of compressed plastic, which, when touched, does not give the premium feel of high-end models. The ear pads are made of synthetic leather (vinyl), which is not the best choice in terms of comfort. Simply put, Sony has attempted to create a budget-friendly version of the WH-1000XM4 with this design.

Comfort

The WH-XB910N weighs 250 grams, and when placed on your head or around your neck, it doesn’t feel heavy. The headband and hinges are designed in a way that prevents excessive pressure on the head. The ear cups also swivel, allowing users with different head and ear shapes to adjust the fit.

However, if you use this headphone for an extended period, the synthetic ear pads can cause sweating and become damp, which is not a pleasant experience (we’ve all been there!). Additionally, when one of our glasses-wearing friends tried the headphones, the arms of their glasses interfered slightly with the ear cups achieving a perfect seal.

The next issue we encountered during testing is that you cannot wear these headphones during workouts that require extensive movement, such as sprinting or playing tennis. The headphone’s grip on the head is only firm enough to stay in place during regular activities.

Accessories

Inside the box, this headphone comes with a zippered fabric carrying case, allowing you to store the folded headphones securely. This case only provides protection against scratches and dust and is not designed to withstand heavy pressure or impact.

Additionally, the case includes dedicated space for storing the USB-C charging cable and a 3.5mm audio cable for wired use.

Controls

For controlling these headphones, both physical buttons and a touchpad have been incorporated. The power button and ANC mode button are physically placed on the left ear cup, while the touchpad is located on the right ear cup. Each of these buttons can perform multiple functions. For convenience, we have compiled a table below outlining the buttons and touch commands for controlling these headphones.

Location	Button / Gesture	Function
Left Cup	Power Button (Single Press)	Battery Percentage Announcement
Left Cup	Power Button (Hold for 2 Seconds)	Turn On/Off Headphones / Enter Bluetooth Pairing Mode
Left Cup	ANC/Ambient Button	Toggle Between ANC and Ambient Mode
Right Cup	Swipe Up	Increase Volume
Right Cup	Swipe Down	Decrease Volume
Right Cup	Swipe Forward	Next Track
Right Cup	Swipe Backward	Previous Track
Right Cup	Double Tap	Play/Pause Music / Answer or Reject Calls
Right Cup	Place Hand on Right Cup	Activate “Ambient” Mode

Connection

This headphone supports AAC and SBC codecs, and Android users can also take advantage of the newer LDAC codec, which offers higher audio transmission quality compared to other codecs.

Pairing Instructions

To pair the headphones with your phone:

Turn off the headphones first.
Press and hold the power button for a few seconds until the blue LED light starts flashing twice at a time.
At this point, the headphones enter pairing mode, allowing you to connect them to your phone or any other device.

Sony WH-XB910N Review: Sound Quality

As indicated by the XB (Extra Bass) label in its name, the Sony WH-XB910N is specifically designed for bass enthusiasts. Sony’s primary target audience for this headphone is people who love deep, powerful bass.

Naturally, when you listen to music with this headphone, the most striking feature is its heavy bass. However, the emphasis on bass affects other frequencies, making them less prominent. As a result, you don’t get a perfectly balanced sound where all elements of the music are heard with clarity and precision, alongside a strong, well-defined bass.

Frequency Response Chart

If you closely examine the frequency response graph of this headphone, the imbalance across frequencies is quite noticeable.

In the 30 to 40 Hz range (sub-bass), the dB level exceeds 20 and even goes beyond the chart. Additionally, in the bass frequency range (50 to 200 Hz), there is a 5 to 15 dB deviation from our preferred frequency curve, meaning the bass in this range is significantly boosted.

On the other hand, in the 400 to 1000 Hz range, which typically represents the body of acoustic instruments and vocals, the response falls up to 7 dB below the normal range. This imbalance between the bass and midrange results in many sounds being overshadowed in the music.

To mitigate this issue, the manufacturers boosted the 1,000 to 8,000 Hz range to enhance clarity. However, this adjustment compromised the high frequencies, forcing them to drastically lower the dB level beyond 10,000 Hz to prevent excessive sharpness and harshness. If you look at the chart, you’ll notice a steep drop-off after 10,000 Hz, which was done to create a relative balance in the sound signature.

Listening Test

To test and analyze the sound quality further, we listened to three songs from different genres using this headphone.

To challenge the Sony WH-XB910N right from the start, the first choice was an acoustic track: Ghost in My Guitar (feat. Chris Stapleton). Most acoustic songs feature crisp, well-stereoized guitars and clear, transparent vocals. However, due to the excessive bass of this headphone, the clarity of the vocals was reduced, and the acoustic guitar was barely audible, while the drums and bass dominated the soundscape.

The second song was Karma by Taylor Swift, in the pop genre. Again, the clarity of Taylor’s vocals and hi-hats was somewhat diminished, but the bass was incredibly enjoyable—both powerful and well-matched with the kick drum—to the point that I didn’t want the song to end. I genuinely enjoyed the listening experience.

The third song was SOMETHING ABOUT YOU by PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake, in the hip-hop and rap genre. In my opinion, this headphone was made for this kind of music. Everything sounded great, the vocals weren’t overly bright (which is typical for this genre), and the drums and bass were well-tuned. The headphone checked all the right boxes for fans of hip-hop and similar styles.

So, if you’re a fan of acoustic or classical music, this headphone may not be the best choice for you. However, if you enjoy dance, fast-tempo pop, and hip-hop, you should definitely consider buying it.

Improving Sound with the Equalizer

You might be wondering whether it’s possible to customize the sound using the equalizer in the headphone’s app and reduce its excessive bass. The answer is yes, to some extent but even with adjustments, you won’t achieve the ideal sound quality found in Sony’s high-end headphones.

To fine-tune the sound:

First, enable the “Clear Bass” option and reduce the bass.
Increase the midrange frequencies slightly to enhance vocal clarity and give acoustic instruments more presence.
If you still find the sound lacking in clarity, try boosting the high frequencies slightly.

Additionally, the equalizer comes with several preset options, which you can experiment with. However, all of them except for the “Bright” preset still emphasize bass quite heavily.

To evaluate the quality of this headphone (particularly its sound quality) across different groups of users, we selected representatives from nine demographic groups that commonly use headphones. We then asked them to rate this headphone on a scale of 1 to 10.

You can see the results of this survey in the image below.

Sony WH-XB910N Review: Isolation & ANC

The noise isolation and ANC performance of the Sony WH-XB910N are acceptable for its price range, but don’t expect noise cancellation on par with high-end models like the Sony WH-1000XM4 or Sony WH-1000XM5.

ANC

If you look at the blue line in the chart above, you’ll notice that the ANC performs exceptionally well in the 50–350 Hz frequency range, reducing noise by more than 20 dB. However, powerful sounds such as a truck passing by can still penetrate the ANC barrier.

Mid-range frequency performance is acceptable, but sounds like people talking, dishes clanking, or a doorbell ringing can still be heard.
High-frequency noise cancellation is weak, which isn’t surprising since isolation plays a bigger role in blocking higher frequencies. Still, ANC struggles in this range and doesn’t perform as well as expected.

Isolation

The dashed red line in the chart represents passive noise isolation. As shown:

From 0 to 200 Hz, isolation does almost nothing—if ANC is turned off, you will hear all sounds in this frequency range.
Above 500 Hz, isolation improves significantly, reaching its peak at 8,000 Hz, where it reduces noise by up to 45 dB.
This means that if you’re in an environment with strong wind noise or an airplane flying overhead, the headphone’s isolation will effectively reduce those sounds.

Ambient Sound Feature

In addition to noise cancellation, the Sony WH-XB910N also includes an Ambient Sound mode, commonly known as Transparency Mode.

This feature has 20 levels of adjustment in the app.
When enabled, the headphones use built-in microphones to capture and amplify surrounding sounds, making the environment sound much clearer.
In testing, we found that even if people were speaking at a distance, their voices were transmitted very clearly when this mode was activated.

Sony WH-XB910N Review: App

In our opinion, the biggest strength of the Sony WH-XB910N, considering its price, is its app. The Headphones Connect app is available for both Android and iOS, and we highly recommend installing it after purchasing the headphones. This app offers numerous features, giving you greater control over the headphones, especially in managing ANC (Active Noise Cancellation). For example, you can turn ANC on or off, adjust the level of ambient noise, and even enable the Wind Noise Reduction feature, which significantly minimizes wind noise, ocean waves if you’re near the sea, and the sound of passing cars.

One of the most interesting features we encountered in the app is Adaptive Sound Control. With this feature, you can set different locations in the app, and the headphones will automatically adjust between ANC and a specific level of ambient sound based on your listening habits in those locations.

“The friend we borrowed this headphone from explained that after configuring the settings, the headphones automatically activate ANC every time he go for a walk.”

Equalizer

The WH-XB910N also includes an equalizer within the app for sound customization, allowing you to adjust the sound to your preference. Additionally, several preset EQ settings are available if you prefer not to tweak the settings manually. Based on our tests, the equalizer performs well and is user-friendly.

360 Reality Audio

The second interesting feature we encountered in this app is 360 Reality Audio. When you enter this section, the app prompts you to take photos of your ears and face to optimize surround sound specifically for your hearing. Once the optimization is complete, if you have access to 360 Reality Audio-supported services on your mobile device (such as Amazon Music), you can listen to tracks recorded with surround sound technology.

I decided to listen to “Hand of God” by Jon Bellion on Amazon Music using this technology, and it was a fascinating and entertaining experience. It felt as if five speakers were placed around me, each playing different elements of the track, creating a deeper and more immersive listening experience.

Other Features:

✅ Auto-Off Feature (Automatic Shutdown)
✅ 20 Adjustable Levels of Ambient Sound
✅ Focus on Voice Feature
✅ View Connected Devices
✅ Battery Percentage Display

Sony WH-XB910N Review: Battery Life

The Sony WH-XB910N surprised us with its battery life. Based on our tests, this headphone lasts 34 hours with ANC on and 46 hours with ANC off. This level of battery life at such an affordable price is incredible and allows it to compete with high-end headphones.

An interesting feature is that you can even use this headphone in wired mode during emergencies. It also supports fast charging, and in our test, just 10 minutes of charging provided 4 hours of use with ANC enabled.

Sony WH-XB910N Review: Microphone

The Sony WH-XB910N delivered average performance in our microphone test. In a quiet environment like a room, the microphone works well, capturing clear and crisp audio.

However, in noisy environments like a busy street or a crowded office, the microphone’s noise cancellation isn’t very effective. It often struggles to distinguish between your voice and background noise, which can cause your voice to cut out or sound weaker at times.

To help you understand this better, we recorded a human voice in a studio environment with no background noise. Then, we played the sound of a busy street in the same space and recorded again. You can listen to both recordings below.

For more details, check out our headphones testing method.

In Studio:

In Street:

Final Verdict

Nothing Is Expensive or Cheap Without a Reason!

The Sony WH-XB910N may resemble Sony’s high-end headphones in appearance, but after thoroughly evaluating it, we noticed significant differences compared to premium models. However, this doesn’t mean it’s not a good choice. On the contrary, for its price, it offers many excellent and practical features.

✅ Comfort – Extremely comfortable, lightweight, and equipped with soft ear cups and a padded headband.
✅ Feature-rich App – The companion app is highly functional and packed with useful customization options.
✅ Outstanding Battery Life – Exceptional battery performance, competing with some of the best headphones on the market.
✅ Powerful Bass – Delivers a bass-heavy sound that’s youth-friendly, making it a great fit for hip-hop, pop, dance, and rap genres.

However, it’s not without its downsides:

❌ Overpowering Bass – While some enjoy deep bass, it may not appeal to the general audience. Additionally, in acoustic and soft pop tracks, the bass can overshadow other elements, reducing clarity and detail.
❌ Mediocre Noise Cancellation – While acceptable, the ANC is not on par with premium models.
❌ Weak Microphone Performance in Noisy Environments – The mic struggles in crowded places, often weakening the voice or making it inaudible.

If you’re looking for a bass-heavy headphone at a reasonable price, this is a solid choice. However, if you prefer acoustic and softer music styles, this may not be the best option for you.

FAQs

Are There Alternative Headphones to Consider?

Yes, you can consider alternatives like SONY ULT WEAR, and Skullcandy Crusher ANC2 as replacements for this headphone.

If I use the headphones in wired mode, will all features still be available?

No. If you use the headphones while powered off and in wired mode, the bass will be significantly reduced, and features like Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) and all app functionalities will be disabled.

How does the microphone perform in quieter environments like an office?

The microphone quality drastically declines in noisy environments. However, in relatively quiet places like an office, the call quality is acceptable.

Can all music tracks be played with the 360 Reality Audio feature?

No. This feature only works with songs specifically recorded using 360 Reality Audio technology and is available only on apps that support it.

Is the Sony WH-XB910N good for listening to podcasts?

This is subjective, but our answer is no. Podcasts usually have soft background music, and the clarity of the speaker’s voice is crucial. Since this headphone tends to reduce vocal clarity, it may not be the best choice for podcasts.

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Amir Ghods

Welcome to Technowant! I'm Amir Ghods, the owner, passionate founder and author behind this site dedicated to testing and reviewing a wide variety of headphones. With a keen ear for sound quality and an eye for detail, my colleagues and I work tirelessly to provide you with comprehensive reviews and insights. Our goal is to help you find the perfect headphones that suit your needs, whether you're a casual listener, a music professional, or someone seeking the latest in audio technology. Join us on this journey to discover the best in headphone innovation!

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