Sony's WF-1000XM3 come with 24-bit audio processing, which sounded great during my demo. I didn't have a pair of AirPods with me to compare them in audio quality, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Sonys sound better.
The WF-1000XM3 also have noise-cancelling, whereas Apple's AirPods have nothing of the sort. Combined with the in-ear design on the WF-1000XM3, the noise-cancelling chip did a great job of hushing ambient noise.
Noise-cancelling can work during phone calls, too, and can be enabled while you're on a call, which was a frequently requested feature from Sony fans. Sony says the WF-1000XM3 can also cancel out some of your ambient noise for the other person on the call.
Sony said its new Bluetooth chipset improves connectivity over the previous model, too.