Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) vs Audio-Technica ATH-AD900

The Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) makes for an outstanding Over-Ear Headphone at $229. The Audio-Technica ATH-AD900X, however, while overall a good product for its asking price, doesn't quite manage to stand out from its competition - there are better Over-Ear Headphones that can be found for around $150 available here.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) has done great in quite a few roundups from some of the most highly trusted sources available, such as Tom's Guide, CNET, Laptop Mag, and SoundGuys, which perform high-quality in-depth testing. It got awarded the "Best Sony headphones overall" title by Tom's Guide, "Best of previous generation" by CNET, and "Excellent sound paired with great noise cancelling" by Laptop Mag in their respective roundups. Earning that much praise from such respected sources is undoubtedly an impressive accomplishment.

As for the Audio-Technica ATH-AD900X, it was really well-received by reviewers at SoundGuys, a reliable source that's known for conducting its own, high-quality, in-depth testing. It performed great in its "Best Audio-Technica headphones" roundup and was named its "Best open-back", which, on its own, makes it a product that warrants a closer look.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Over-Ear Headphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Over-Ear Headphones being 7.5 out of 10, whereas the Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) and Audio-Technica ATH-AD900X managed averages of 9.0 and 8.2 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. Audio-Technica ATH-AD900X 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.