Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) vs AKG Y50 (2016)

The Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) has done great in a couple of roundups conducted by highly trusted sources that perform objective in-depth testing, like Tom's Guide, SoundGuys, Laptop Mag, and CNET - it earned the "Best Sony headphones overall" title from Tom's Guide, "Best ANC" from SoundGuys, and "Excellent sound paired with great noise cancelling" from Laptop Mag. Any product that's held in high regard by such reliable sources should be considered by anyone that's looking for a Closed-Back Headphone at this price point.

As for the AKG Y50BT (2016) - it impressed reviewers at PC Gamer, a trustworthy source that conducts solid hands-on testing. It did great in its "Best headphones for gaming in 2020" roundup - in fact, it earned its "The best headphones for gaming on a budget" title, which, on its own, indicates a certain level of quality.

To get a better idea of how they fare when compared directly to each other, we analyzed review scores of sources that tested both. Expert Reviews, for example, preferred the Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018), while What Hi-Fi? rated both of them the same.

We also took a look at which sources had the best things to say about them. We learned that the Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) got reviewed the highest by Tech Advisor - it gave it a rating of 10, while the AKG Y50BT (2016) most impressed reviewers at What Hi-Fi?, which gave it a score of 10.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Closed-Back Headphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Closed-Back Headphones being 7.4 out of 10, whereas the Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) and AKG Y50BT (2016) managed averages of 9.0 and 9.0 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) vs. AKG Y50BT (2016) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.