Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) vs Sony MDR-1AM2

The Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) makes for an outstanding Closed-Back Headphone at $229. The Sony MDR-1AM2, however, while overall a good product for its asking price, doesn't quite manage to stand out from its competition - there are better Closed-Back Headphones that can be found for around $330 available here.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) has managed to do great in various roundups conducted by reviewers from highly trusted sources that perform objective in-depth testing, like Tom's Guide, CNET, Laptop Mag, and SoundGuys - it was dubbed "Best Sony headphones overall" by Tom's Guide, "Best of previous generation" by CNET, and "Excellent sound paired with great noise cancelling" by Laptop Mag. Any product that's held in such high regard by some of the most reliable sources should be considered by everyone who's looking for a Closed-Back Headphone at this price.

As for the Sony MDR-1AM2 analysis - it impressed reviewers at Android Central, a source that's known for its objective testing and well-thought-out methodology - it performed great in its "Best Wired Headphones for Samsung Galaxy Note 9" roundup and earned the "Top pick" title.

To get a better idea of how they fare when compared directly to each other, we analyzed review scores of sources that tested both. hardwarezone.com.sg, for example, preferred the Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018), while Head-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 Expert Reviews - it gave it a rating of 10, while the Sony MDR-1AM2 most impressed reviewers at Head-fi, which gave it a score of 8.

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 Sony MDR-1AM2 managed averages of 9.0 and 8.0 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. Sony MDR-1AM2 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.