The Meze 99 Classics is the over-ear headphone from the company Meze. These headphones have been around for a while and it’s got a bit of audio nerd cred they’ve got a bunch of awards. A lot of peoples are pretty interested to check this thing out a couple of other things worth pointing out though is that not just does this thing have some audio nerd cred in terms of sound. It’s also got they’ve put a lot of attention into the build and the aesthetic of this headphone.
On the other hand here we’ve got one of the most popular pairs of headphones out there in the market the Sony WH1000XM3. The XM3 is top-of-the-line noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones and frankly, it sets a benchmark in the market with its performance and reliability.
| MEZE 99 Classics | Sony WH1000XM3 |
| Terrific looks | Amazing Noise canceling |
| Great balanced sound | Sony has fixed most Mark 2 |
| Comfortable to wear for long periods | Generous battery life (30 hours) |
| Wires limit mobility | Mediocre call quality |
| No Active Noise | No on-ear sensor |
General
| MEZE 99 Classics | Sony WH1000XM3 | |
 |  | |
| CHECK PRICE | CHECK PRICE | |
| Brand | MEZE | Sony |
| Type | Over Ear | Over Ear |
| Colors | Walnut/Gold | Black & Grey |
| Weight | 260 g | 380 g |
| Connectivity | Wired | Wireless / Wired |
MEZE 99 Classics
The 99 Classics are the product from the brand name Maze and it is a long time since it’s available in the market. It is basically a wired over-ear headphone. If we talk about the weight it weighs around 260g and they are fairly light in weight. They come in the market with basically two color options Walnut and Green.
Sony WH1000XM3
The Sony WH1000XM3 is one of the most popular pairs of headphones available in the market and you can guess their popularity with the Sonys brand name. Sony WH1000XM3s are basically wireless Bluetooth headphones. They have designed as an over-the-ear Bluetooth headphone which weighs around 380g and they have served in the market with two color options Black and Grey.
Features
| MEZE 99 Classics | Sony WH1000XM3 | |
| Dimensions | 240 x 110 x 220 mm | 226.6 x 187.15 x 76.2 mm |
| Impedance | 32 Ohms | 16 Ohms |
| USB | 3.5mm | 3.5 MM |
| Microphone | Yes | No |
| Music Controls | Yes | Yes |
| Quick Charge | No | No |
| Stereo speakers | No | No |
MEZE 99 Classics
Let’s talk about the sound and features of the Maze 99 classics just overall we think this is a pretty nice sounding headphone with a couple of surprises. Surprise number one you will not a big surprise but a nice surprise is that these things are very very easy to drive in fact these things drive even more easily than my Phillips Fidelio X 2’s so that you could listen to it on mobile devices. So you’re not gonna have any issue driving the 99 classics we are pretty much any source and we think that’s pretty nice. Another nice surprise and this is kind of where we’re gonna get into my slight bias against closed-back headphones is that my expectation with a closed-back headphone is that you’re going to get a narrow soundstage with not a ton of separation and that’s not the case with every closed back. And you know that but that’s still kind of what we expect with closed backs and one of the reasons why peoples prefer open headphones but thankfully we can say here with a Maze 99 classics the sound presentation is actually surprisingly open and spacious there’s pretty nice layering and separation and all the sounds in a way.
Sony WH1000XM3
This headphone comes with lots of features but Sony’s Adaptive Sound Control remains something exceptional. During this mode, the headphones check your level of action and automatically determine the proper noise-canceling mode. You can further customize those profiles by utilizing Sony’s great Headphone Connect app. In situations wherever it’s inaccessible to start Sony’s app, you can manage the headphones’ active noise cancellation utilizing the NC/Ambient switch toward the left-hand ear cup. The sound quality of Sony products is always the best in the market this product not an exception for that so it has a very good sound quality and can enjoy your music for long hours by using them.
Design
| MEZE 99 Classics | Sony WH1000XM3 | |
| Type | Over Ear | Over Ear |
| Wireless | No | Yes |
| Noise Cancelling | No | Yes |
| Weight | 260 g | 380 g |
| Foldable Design | No | Yes |
| Adjustable headband | Yes | Yes |
MEZE 99 Classics
These things are made out of wood real wood and they also claim on their website and this is kind of interesting is they don’t use glue in the manufacturing process. Now does that have anything to do with sound no it’s just kind of nice we don’t know glue feels cheap and not using glue they use screws and stuff like that just it gives you a sense of what kind of market this headphone is in? The 99 classics are not cheap the 99 classics are one of the better-built the nicer the most nicely built headphones you’ve ever used and that that’s kind of like a combination of you know nice materials that give more comfort. It’s a comfortable headphone and it just looks good.
So materials wise the outer cups here are we believe a real wood and that is nice they look nice and they feel nice overall the headphone is pretty lightweight. You’ve got a metal band going edge to edge it’s all metal you’ve got these little metal we don’t even what you want to call it metal mounts. Here basically everything on the outside of this headphone is either wood or metal or this nice leatherette and frankly, it just makes it a nice headphone to hold and even to wear so we mentioned that it’s a lightweight headphone that doesn’t feel especially heavy on your head.
Sony WH1000XM3
The general build of it and generally we think this is a very very nicely built headphone and you can see it just aesthetically. We think it is pretty attractive just the overall shape and stuff to it we think they’re doing a pretty good job. The build materials are all plastic but it’s a very nice feeling plastic like the plastic has got kind of a soft rubbery feel to the outside of it.
There’s don’t have any high-pitched sound or anything everything swivels comfortable the pads are not especially plush right there’s not like it doesn’t seem like it’s a memory foam or anything like that and frankly, they’re pretty soft. But it does make it overall we think pretty comfortable to wear it’s also surprisingly lightweight compared to some other over-ear headphones that you’ve tried they are we mean they’re kind of bulky looking frankly but in terms of weight in terms of comfort we thought they were above average for sure. Well in terms of weight I think it’s below average for sure that’s what we meant to say and the WH1000XM3 is an over-ear-fitting headphone.
Connectivity
| MEZE 99 Classics | Sony WH1000XM3 | |
| Bluetooth | No | Yes 4.2 |
| Battery Life | – | 30 hrs |
| Bluetooth Range | – | 9.1 m |
| NFC | No | Yes |
| Multi-Device Connection | No | No |
MEZE 99 Classics
The Meze 99 classics are the pair of them with the wired connectivity and with using them there is a simple plug and play scenario for you so it is very easy to plug your headphone with your favorite device and enjoy your music also the company provided a number of cables with it for your convenience.
Sony WH1000XM3
On the other hand, the Sony WH1000-XM3 is a wireless Bluetooth headphone and it works with Bluetooth version 4.2 and it will get a connectivity range of about 10m. In terms of battery life, it will return you a total of 30 hours of battery on a single charge which is quite impressive for an overhead headphone.
Which is better!
Both of these headphones have a very good build quality and look. But in terms of sound quality, features, and connectivity options the Sony WH-1000-XM3 is a way better choice than the MEZE Classic 99. The XM3 is more suitable for your activities like traveling, office work and also it has good practicality.
