[section_title title=Conclusion]Conclusion
At £230 the Sony XBA-H3 are certainly fighting out a different battle of worth compared to where most of us would look for some new ‘phones. If you are in the market for some new earphones at this price, though, I personally couldn’t gush over these more after my experience reviewing them.
The XBA-H3 have produced the best sound i’ve had the comfort and pleasure of using across all my devices. I had gone off earphones and moved onto headphones as a general rule of thumb, but after using the XBA-H3 I think I may look at some earphones again. The sound the XBA-H3 deliver for their size is unbelievable and the comfort and fit that comes with them can’t be beat without going fully-custom, I would think. I honestly could have wrote a lot more and about every new take on albums I have after using the XBA-H3 because over the past two weeks i’ve generally done nothing but listen to music where possible just to get the most out of the XBA-H3 whilst I can.
If there is anything to be said negatively about the XBA-H3, for me, it would be the configurable system. They feel too delicate to encourage swaps often between the mobile enabled cable and not. Not only that, the modules themselves are encased in plastic. Part of the reason I moved towards headphone is that earphones tended to break after a year or so from usage with me and the XBA-H3 doesn’t knock that nagging feeling aside, and after splashing over £200 on some earphones something a bit sturdier than plastic would be nice.
Another thing I picked up on during my time with the XBA-H3 is that around the ‘net, the entry level ‘XBA-H1’ – which can be had for under £100 – seems just as well thought of, offering a different sound rather than a ‘lessser’ one. Now this wouldn’t surprise me at all given it’s coming from the same line, and I think anyone considering spending small fortune on some new earphones would do well to test both sets out.
To round out this review, though, I have loved using the XBA-H3 over the last two weeks. I approached them with a good deal of cynicism when I arrived and they’ll be leaving me happily shamed. I mentioned in my introduction the XBA-H3 look to beat you into submission, and here I am battered, bruised and longing for more and with that in mind, they’ve earned the Play3r performance award!
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Performance
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Design
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Value
Summary
The XBA-H3 are without a doubt the best earphones I have ever used, but at £230 they’re not cheap either. Given my experience with the XBA-H3, and looking at thoughts on the web, the significantly cheaper X1’s may be worth your time instead.
