Do Beats Headphones Still SUCK?

step into my office Linus take a look at my wares yeah I'm pretty sure I'm the one who paid for them okay so here's what happened we were gonna review the Microsoft Surface headphones because we were intrigued Microsoft wait a second pay for these they sent them to us okay these ones yes look I think the other ones and these well I paid for these which hurt as much as paying for all the other ones combined yes okay so basically what happened was we were gonna review these and Microsoft sent us a review sample two three weeks after everyone else's reviews were already up and we were like okay we need a new angle so we're gonna turn it into a four way roundup of the premium noise cancelling over ear headphones on the market this time not failing to include Sony's offering the WH 1000x em threes so James has prepared sort of a blind taste test of sorts I guess you only need your ears though your vine wouldn't matter no it wouldn't and you know what else wouldn't matter if you guys listened to this message from our sponsor honey honey actually that would matter a lot honey helps you save money when you're shopping online and it's free just download their browser extension at the link in the video description and start saving money on popular websites like Amazon you might have heard of them [Music] I want to unbox these ones no yeah okay so each of us will start with one of the sort of well established players okay well I mean I guess arguably this is well established but maybe not with our audience so much so I've got the Sony WH 1000 XM freeze and I have the Bose QuietComfort 35 s version choose Google assistant these are similar but yours is kind of nicer I like this this has got like kind of a crush resistant that press is quite a bit yeah this divider actually serves a couple of purposes you have one of these though uh yeah actually oh and you can see you can actually see what's in yours Sony's done a good job of their case here so you holds your you got your air airplane adapter yeah mine are just sitting in there you've got your three-and-a-half millimeter jack in case you're a caveman and your phone still has one of those on it you've got I don't like how short this cable is but check this out USB type-c charging on the Sony love that everything USB type-c all the things please it's all it's equally short but it's also micron P okay let's do let's open up the beats on this and the surface I'm expecting this to be like the greatest unboxing experience of all time because from what I've heard about the headphones themselves it better be the greatest unboxing experience of all time I've got it upside down I got this I'm expecting steam to come out no change the way you hear sound to make these headphones sound better okay I'm being a jerk I'm being a jerk I actually haven't tried the nice headphones in a long time in fairness it's pretty robust feeling it doesn't have like an actual reinforcement no it's not low-profile you can actually see like compared to the sony it is quite a lot thicker and same goes actually for everyone everyone else well these guys went with the wider ladder do these even fold though they don't fold they don't fold what okay so I just get this cable okay so three and a half mil and I just want throw it in there enough no oh but I do get a nice long charging cable micro-b USBC nice and then I get a carabiner industrial design wise I would say these are like the dad hat of headphones what Dad hat he doesn't understand that dad hats are in I mean I just mean they're not that flashy or modern they're kind of the standard they still look great matte black is always a good idea and honestly you're no more dad hat than these yeah I am those are smoother one thing that stands out about these to me is you hear that that's brutal [Music] nice swiveling ear cups though and same here one thing they've done well is look how deep the cushioning on the top bar is squeeze mine yeah actually not I'm not impressed with that set but everyone knows bows are comfortable over long periods yes they are and part of it is that they they grip the side of your head a little bit more I feel like these are relying a little more on the top headband maybe then the cutesy 35s do I think it is just the way these seal around your ears under grab lunch your head but it's not uncomfortable they've basically got it perfect alright alright this is what I'm really curious about though because I've tried those I've encountered these before these are heavier did you see there is almost no padding on the headband that click that satisfying they nailed that these don't fold at all oh nice headband though it's basic ratchet no swivel yeah I feel do the ear ear Cubs do a bit right not much oh really yeah barely when you take them off you want them to go on your shoulders level and stuff like that oh you seem like the kind of person who actually used to wear over the ear headphones in public these don't go as big as the other ones either see they didn't get the they didn't get the cottage force right I feel like those aren't really even over here they're like somewhere between on your and over here my ears touch the drivers and it's like just a hard plastic that's a really pair and that over time that can be uncomfortable really nice foam on the ear cups though although I don't know if it's quite as nice as the Sony's Sony's have just like this spectacular memory foam on here I'd be more comfortable the office with those than on the bus if you're trying to get laid this is these are what you need headband a little bit on the skinny and not padded enough side for me but I think they've done a better job with a clamping pressure oh we haven't tried any head bag tests give me like a oh those are done already whoo not bad they hold pretty well give me these though okay that's both clear victory well okay Sony one I would say Bose I'd say both to tie for third then cuz I don't think either of them really stands out to me so the second ranking is feel and comfort and we're going so many bows in first then surface land beats and then for the head bang test clear ass victory [Music] everyone else lose or fail hide for a second I'm calling all the others a fail so who can go with that if you want whatever so right now what we're testing is interacting okay so play pause skip go back turn the volume up and down okay so I actually have buttons on the bows up and down for volume and then you double click this to go forward triple clicker to go back single click for play and pause what's new is this button which would it's called the action button you can toggle between noise cancelling on noise canceling off or you can use it to activate the Google assistant so one tap will the Google assistant will tell you your notifications and stuff and if you hold it down you're gonna summon the assistant and then you can talk cool oh wait wait wait wait there's one more thing only the bows have this and I actually think it's huge an actual toggle for on so my navigation is all handled via touch then okay so that's volume as a beeping when you do can't hear you volume down volume down volume down going down does it go bbbbbb yes it does how do you feel I actually don't mind it now there is a physical button back here that I just found so that would be for my assistant try a double okay so with that button you found at the back it's the same deals with the bows where if you don't hook up the Google assistant asks her button for turning on noise cancelling and then ambient and then off it toggles through them but if you do hook up the Google assistant you lose that and you use it to hail the assistant so then you have to use your app on your phone to turn on the ambient and all that stuff I don't prefer it and I'd rather have a physical button personally I tend to agree these I want to try the beats so this is not capacitive these have buttons so you only get the one button so press once to start and stop twice I'm assuming next track it's feels really cheap that was what I noticed too it's nice having a physical button but that it liked the sound of it as you're pressing you hear it in the feel of it is off the field is really cheap another one thing that you can do though allegedly is if you double click and hold you'll fast forward if you triple click and hold you'll go back but I couldn't get it to work on my Android phone maybe it works with the iPhone or something I think so can you even do volume up and down on this here's the beats logo there's an outer ring oh there we go but then it but then you can't use the side right yeah no the sides don't do anything it's so weird that's the thing that's always bothered me about beats why have such a cheap button the thing is that Apple is literally in my mind anyway the king of haptic feedback these are how much 350 they're all 350 ok can I try the surfaces no man I'm trying the surfaces these I think in my opinion are the undisputed interface kings check this out the volume is a knob it's it's really smooth to turn and then on this side you turn it one way for turning up the noise cancellation and you turn it the other way and it turns up the ambient noise so totally I don't have to go into the app like all the other ones you have to go into the app and set that they are also have capacitive ear cuffs for the pausing and seeking but it's both your cuffs so if you can just use either and there's also a mute button on here I do like this that's a nice day it feels good so in Toulouse clear winner for me for the interface yeah oh we should mention these also have Google assistant and Cortana and Alexa integration yeah Cortana there's a separate app you can get Cortana is dead now though you heard about that right yeah Microsoft admits Cortana is an also-ran yeah I'm willing to say I personally I'd give the edge to both just because I don't like touch interfaces as much but I'm willing to say tie here because it comes down to personal preference with the cable that comes with it oops oh and inline remotes inline controls I mean do you disagree would you put this above any of the other three hell no no no no all right this is the airplane sound okay not bad first impressions Wow big difference and that my friends is why bose has so much respect when it comes to noise cancellation with that said I'd say the Sony's cancellation is damn near as good but I don't feel the same pressure on my ears of Bose they've done such a great job of tuning that my face is like this because I just heard the music you were playing I love my little pony's music definitely weaker I don't think these are even working yeah that's on yeah that's that time this is just a much less aggressive algorithm that they're using so they're leaving in some of the higher pitch of the airplane and they're only taking out the low Rumble but that's also why you're not getting that same pressure on the years that you get from the Sony I'd say they're the worst in that regard out of the bunch I don't know I think I kind of like the Sony I think even pressure wise I might prefer this just to totally confuse everybody okay wait we can do there's one more test sure variable high frequency noise is like your worst nightmare I can really hear them fighting it so in terms of loudness I'd say this is about like having the baby about two rows away so he does less to the tonality of the baby cry but probably blocks as much of the wrong ways I think the baby gets more annoying with the surface headphones these are just terrible the noise regulation on these is not are they even on yes they're on if you have to ask that's not a good sign really oh yeah it's on it just sucks that's another clear win for both Bose and Sony in my mind yeah agreed and a clear loss for the honestly these weren't created clear loser clear also third pay that's not second yeah it's not closed it's it's a distant second closed circuit well close to third so yeah let's do let's do a quick listen okay we should listen to the same song though oh you give me one of your songs I'm down I'm down it's pretty crunchy not bad I find the bass a little bit more natural sounding on these oh yeah they're they do have a different signature but little smoother I would say they're pretty similar me too okay withold I find both of these lacking distinctly in completely different ways I find vocals don't really come through very clearly on these no bass no bit ironically you would think that these have would have the most overstated bass but it's not even like muddy and overpowered you know just there's just really nothing there these ones I felt I detected a little bit of distortion I couldn't put my finger on it they were clearly not as good as either the Sony's or the Bose but I preferred them to the beats I felt that these had a wider soundstage these are a little narrower or a little tenure but to be clear I think for a lot of people any one of these would be good enough I agree with that I mean given that most people are fine with like ear pods like truly the ones that just come with your headphone yes I don't think anyone's gonna pick up one of these for a few hundred dollars and say oh well the sound quality simply I mean you're buying them because they're wireless you're buying them because they're noise cancelling and you're buying them because of the interface or the assistant or whatever other features it is that you care about which is why I think honestly when it comes time for the conclusion here it's so much more complicated than just like which one sounds the best is the most comfortable because there's a lot to these so why don't you do your rankings first for them overall overall well I mean sound I think we've got a pretty clear hierarchy don't we once again these two are clearly the best if you're a more discerning listener I'd go for other of these then these then these okay you know I'll let you go first further overall overall overall it's time for overall it's time for the overall overall my overall ranking the Bose number 2 of the Sony number three and I really like this interface but overall number three these these are good I would still buy these the noise cancelling sucks true okay go ahead I'm gonna let you finish good enough for an office good enough for an office they also don't fold so on the go for a plane definitely get these don't buy these every okay so I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna say I'm not even gonna rank - so then between these two I mean it really it comes down to physical buttons versus touch interface but then USB type-c oh yeah and the fast charging Sony there it is you did it Sony you don't even bother Sony or if you don't like the Sony get the Bose but I just wouldn't even if you can if they're beside each other at Best Buy trying both yeah try them both do your research Paul sway is a real-time remote monitoring and management 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Channel: Linus Tech Tips

Views: 4,090,074

Rating: 4.858799 out of 5

Keywords: beats, sony, apple, bose, qc35, WH-100X, surface, microsoft, nc, anc, active, noise, cancelling, best, value

Id: BTsmwR801nQ

Length: 17min 1sec (1021 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 11 2019

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