🏆 Review score: 4/5
🏅 Editor’s Choice Award
✅ Pros
🎧 Almost 1:1 recreation of Sony’s iconic 80s Walkman headphones
📦 Faithfully reproduced box makes for a perfect display shelf item
🪶 Super lightweight and comfortable
🥁 Surprising bass that keeps you immersed in the beat
💰 $59 price makes for the perfect (self) gift
❌ Cons
〰️ Shrill highs and thin mid-bass
🔈 Max volume is still fairly low
The Shortcut Review
Sony has revived a true icon with the Sony MDR-3R. They’re practically identical to the original Sony MDR-3 headphones that came bundled with the brand’s original Walkman TPS-L2 player. The only updates here are a pair of new neodymium drivers and a USB-C plug instead of a 3.5 mm jack.
Using the Sony MDR-3R feels like a total blast from the past. They’re super lightweight, with a frame made of a few thin pieces of metal and plastic. The headband applies just enough clamping force to keep the headphones in place. This makes the fit supremely comfortable.
I didn’t come in with any high expectations for sound quality, but the Sony MDR-3R impressed me with a surprising amount of bass that kept me bobbing my head to songs like “Can I Kick It?” Highs unfortunately sound a little shrill, and the mid-bass is thin, but you won’t really notice these imperfections unless you’re listening in a quiet room.
The Sony MDR-3R are unsurprisingly light on features. These on-ear, open-ear headphones don’t offer noise isolation or noise-canceling, so these aren’t the headphones to use if you want to fully drown out the real world. I also often push these headphones to max volume just to compensate for road noise and other real-world distractions, and even then I sometimes can’t clearly hear the Sony MDR-3R.
For $59, the Sony MDR-3R headphones are a fantastic 80s throwback to wear around town and display on your shelf with the original box. Just keep your expectations for sound quality in check, as these on-ear headphones lack any noise-dampening features and can’t match the fidelity of modern headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2.
Should you buy the Sony MDR-3R?
✅ Yes, if…
🎧 You’re nostalgic for Sony’s original Walkman headphones
📻 You want a fantastic 80s throwback to wear around town and display on your shelf
🎭 You need the perfect prop to complete your Patrick Bateman or Peter Quill cosplay
❌ No, if…
Noise cancellation, noise isolation, or any kind of noise dampening is important to you (get the Sony WH-10004C instead)
You want audio perfection (get the Sony WH-1000XM6 instead)