Sony WH-1000XM4 review – Sound Guys

The Sony WH-1000XM4 is finally here. Their predecessors, the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones, stole the crown from Bose back when they were first released back in 2018and weve been waiting for a successor since then. Now Sony has released the new and improved headset that adds multipoint connectivity at the expense of aptX. But is it enough to compete in a crowded field of noise cancelling headphones?

In the box youll find everything you need to use the headphones.

In the box youll get the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, a hardshell carrying case, a 3.5mm audio cable, airplane adapter which is a nice touch, and a USB-A to USB-C charging cable.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 dont look too different from the originals except for a few slight tweaks.

While the WH-1000XM4 headphones are almost identical in looks to their predecessor, there are some new features tucked away inside. Bluetooth multipoint makes them just slightly more convenient in everyday use by letting you connect to two devices at once (more on that later). It makes it easy transitioning from listening to music while working at your desk to watching a YouTube video on your phone, and back again, all without opening your Bluetooth settings. This was one of the biggest complaints with the WH-1000XM3, and having it here in the Sony WH-1000XM4 is definitely going to make plenty of people happy, with one big caveat. If youre going to use multipoint, both connected devices need to use the AAC Bluetooth codec.

The addition of Bluetooth multipoint means you can stay connected to two devices at once.

Aside from the ability to stay connected to two devices at once theres also a few new features you can only access if you download the Sony Headphones Connect app, such as the speak to chat functionality. When turned on this will pause your music whenever the headphones detect that youre speaking. While it definitely works, the feature treads a fine line between useful and annoying, especially considering how sensitive the detection is.

I found this more of an annoyance than a useful feature.

For example, while listening to a podcast, the headphones paused the media when I chuckled at a joke. Youre never really aware of how many weird sounds you make until youre wearing a pair of headphones that pause your music each and every time you make one. It could be useful to some people, but many will probably just turn it off.

The headphones have a new sensor in the left earcup that will auto-pause your music when you take them off.

Along the same lines is the auto-pause feature, which stops playback when you remove the headphones. On the inside of the left earcup is a small sensor that detects when youre wearing the headphones or not, and pauses music when you take the headphones off. Is it a must-have feature? Absolutely not, but its the kind of subtle touch that youd expect from a $350 pair of headphones and Sony nailed it here.

The actual earcups are also slightly thicker than the previous pair, which results in better isolation even when noise cancelling is turned off. On the other hand the headband itself is thinner with a little less padding, and I have to say I felt the difference here. While these are definitely comfortable, there was an ever-present pressure at the crown of my head that only became more pronounced with longer listening sessions.

The headphones controls havent changed much. Both earcups are still touch-sensitive and you control playback with a series of taps and swipes. Unfortunately, the double-tap to pause function only actually works some of the time. Swiping to control volume and skip between songs works seamlessly, but for some reason the headphones struggle to register taps. Sometimes its easier and quicker to simply take off the headphones and let them auto-pausethe pause functionality worked roughly 25 percent of the time for me.

Cupping your hand over the left earcup activates ambient mode which is still one of my favorite features.

Cupping your hand over the left earcup activates ambient mode, which is still one of my favorite features. It dramatically lowers the music and uses the microphones built into the headphones to play whats going on around you. Not a huge deal for anyone still spending most of their time at home like I am, but super useful if you need to quickly catch an announcement from the pilot or train conductor while commuting.

The earcups are slightly larger than the previous version and the padding is a little less plush, but still comfortable.

If you were hoping for an improvement in noise cancelling with the WH-1000XM4, these are going to make you very happy. Somehow, the team at Sony made the ANC even better than before.

The WH-1000XM4 are better than the WH-1000XM3 when it comes to noise cancelling.

Plots like the one above give a rough idea of how much noise is cancelled across the audible spectrum of 20Hz 20kHZ (the limits of human hearing). Taller peaks in the chart above correspond to more noise being removed. The WH-1000XM3 wasnt a slouch where the noise canceling was concerned, but the Sony WH-1000XM4 is better in its ability to attenuate lower-frequency sounds like the low hum of an air conditioner, or the constant rumble of a jet engine.

Pairing to the Sony WH-1000XM4 is as simple as tapping your phone to the back of the NFC logo on the left earcup and following the prompt that appears on your smartphone. If your smartphone doesnt have NFC, youll need to pair the old fashioned way by going into Bluetooth settings.

To pair a second device, its a similar processexcept the headphones wont automatically enter pairing mode when you turn them on since theyre already paired to another device.

To pair to a second device:

The Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones opt for a slightly thinner headband.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 are rocking Bluetooth 5.0, have Bluetooth multipoint, and support SBC, AAC,and Sonys own LDAC, which has the highest streaming quality possible if youre willing to deal with a somewhat less-stable connection. If youre using something that isnt compatible with any of these codecs then it will default down to SBC, which is the most basic codec shared by all Bluetooth audio devices. Devices that dont have Bluetooth at all can always connect via the included 3.5mm audio cable too.

Represented is the max transfer rate (kbps) of each respective Bluetooth codec (greater is better). Each waveform depicts a transfer rate of 100 kbps.

However, multipoint capability is only available if youre using AAC, and not LDAC or SBC. Depending on what youre looking to do it might be worth it, but its not for me, as I spend most of my time using at least two devices.

The WH-1000XM4 have a ton of Bluetooth codec options but thankfully still have a place for a standard 3.5mm audio cable as well.

I live in a fairly average-sized two-bedroom apartment, and in my testing I didnt have any issues with range. While the headphones connected to my laptop I was able to walk around my entire apartment with no skips. The same held true with my Pixel 3 smartphone which managed to remain connected regardless of which pocket the phone was in.

Lower notes in deep voices wont come across as loud as some of the higher ones, but the mic is still more than good enough for phone calls.

The microphone on the Sony WH-1000XM3 was good, and there isnt much different here. There is a slight drop off in the frequency response under around 150-200Hz which isnt unusual for Bluetooth headphones, but its more pronounced than on the previous version. Its likely an attempt to keep the proximity effectthe pesky phenomenon that makes some podcasts and other recordings overly bassyat bay. It should still be good enough to get you through your phone calls and Zoom meetings.

Sony WH-1000XM4 mic demo:

While the app isnt the prettiest it does give you access to all the customization options you need and even some special features.

To get the most out of the WH-1000XM4 headphones, you will have to download the accompanying Sony Headphones Connect app that I mentioned earlier. While youre able to rip the headphones out of the box and use them as is, you wont be able to customize anything about them or use some of the cooler new features unless you use the app. For example, the second button on the headphones can be customized to either activate the assistant on your phone or toggle noise cancelling.

Unfortunately, you cant have bothand downloading the app is the only way to choose whichever one you want. These are compatible with both the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa so whichever one you prefer you can use these seamlessly.

The headphones can be customized to either activate the assistant on your phone or toggle noise cancelling on/off, but not both.

There are two other features unique to the app: noise cancelling optimization and 360-degree sound. While the noise cancelling is already excellent out of the box you can optimize it for whatever situation or level of air pressure youre currently in via the app. You can also adjust the mix of ambient sound thats fed through the headphones to your ear, so you can hear whats going on around you. Of course, you can always cup your hand over the right earcup to allow a full passthrough so you can order a cardboard-tasting lunch from the friendly flight staff in economy class.

In the app theres also a way to EQ the headphones to sound how you want them to. This isnt exactly a new feature, but downloading the app is the only way to access it.

A slightly cooler feature thats only available via the app, is access to Sonys 360 Reality Audio. This is a new way of mastering music Sony has really been pushing and admittedly: its pretty awesome. You can only stream it on high-quality music services like Deezer, Amazon Music HD, or Tidalif youre already a subscriber, these are just that much more attractive, but if youre on Spotify youll be missing out.

When it comes to battery life, Sony claims these will get you about 30 hours of constant playback which is the same as the previous WH-1000XM3. In our testing, we play music on a constant output of 75dB with active noise cancelling turned on and we found that these lasted exactly 19 hours and 59 minutes (sorry Sony, we test down to the minute).

This is obviously still great and more than good enough for most people, but I found it odd these dont last as long as their predecessors, which clock in at about 24 hours. Its entirely possible that as the unit we tested is a pre-production unit, theres some software gremlins yet to be solved, so well re-test and update this review once the production unit comes in.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 charge via USB-C, and the quick charge feature will get you five hours of playtime after only 10 minutes of charging, which is fantastic if youre already late to catch the bus or train.

The flat bass response allows for more clarity in the lows even if theyre not as strong.

Sound quality for the Sony WH-1000XM4 is one of those subtle things Sony also improved over the last model. Thats not to say that the XM3 headphones sounded badthey sound greatbut the older model definitely has more of a consumer-friendly bump in the low end. The difference between the bass notes in the WH-1000XM3 and the newer WH-1000XM4 is subtle, there is less emphasis on everything lower than middle-C with the new XM4 headphones.

The flatter frequency response in the lows translates to a sound that doesnt get a huge bass boost like youll find on some other headphones. While it isnt for everyone, most people (besides bassheads) wont have a problem here. If you do want more low-end emphasis, you can always just change the EQ preset in the app.

As is, the bass is perfect for subtle performances like Bachs Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor by Hilary Hahn, where the low notes hit at just the right volume. The rumbles at the beginning of Pixel Empire by Madeon also sound great, and you can hear the variations in the rumbles throughout the intro.

That same attention to detail carries over to the mids. This can help vocals stand out from instrumentation because everything isnt as loud, and comes in handy when listening to genres like rock, where vocals can be hard to hear over the guitars.

The lyrics in Constellations by Darwin Deez are clearly audible throughout the entire song regardless of whats going on. Cymbals, shakers, and claps throughout the song also benefit from the slight increase in volume. In short, these sound great.

While the WH-1000XM4 are clearly great, there are other options worth considering. All of the following picks are more or less in the same price range, so if youre looking to save a lot of money, check out our list for the best noise cancelling headphones under $100you wont get all the bells and whistles, but there are still lots of great options.

The headphones have a small NFC logo on the left earcup for easy pairing.

Theyre older, but the Sony WH-1000XM3 are hardly yesterdays trash. These headphones sport top-notch noise cancelling, A+ battery, and mainly only trade the multipoint Bluetooth for the addition of aptX and aptX HD support. If lack of multipoint doesnt matter to you, you might as well save yourself some cash and pick them up when they inevitably go on sale.

Bose redesigned its flagship headset from the ground up in order to make it more appealing to the modern listener.

If you just want a gorgeous pair of over-ears that will get the job done, the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are still some of sleekest headphones Ive reviewed. Theyre more expensive and have fewer codecs, but their minimalist design looks really nice, though performance still lies with Sony.

The Shure Aonic 50 includes a protective carrying case that takes up a great deal of space.

The Shure AONIC 50 headphones definitely dont have as much hype as products from Bose and Sony, but theyre awesome. They rock all the latest specs and Bluetooth codecs just like the WH-1000XM4, can use a USB-C cable as a wired connection, and they also look pretty damn great too. The premium build quality, great sound, and impressive noise cancelling earned these an editors choice award. However, they are more expensive at about $399USD, so this is definitely the upgrade pick.

The headphones can lie flat but lack any folding hinges.

Microsoft came out swinging with the new Surface Headphones 2. They dont sound as great as the Sony WH-1000XM4 and the noise cancelling isnt up to par. But they have superb multipoint connectivity, intuitive controls, and a sleek design. They also cost about $100 USD less than the Sony WH-1000XM4.

The PXC is a great, portable headset for listeners in need of silence wherever they go.

The Sennheiser PXC 550-II lack a few of the top-tier features youd expect of headphones in 2020 (like USB-C charging), but for $199 USD theyre an almost-unbeatable pick. Youll get a sleek design, superb noise cancelling, Bluetooth multipoint, and great sound quality to boot. Definitely give these some consideration if youre not sure how much money you want to spend.

The headphones have hinges so you can fold them to toss in your bag and the earcups can rotate 90 degrees.

If youre in the market for the best pair of Bluetooth headphones you can get, then yes, the Sony WH-1000XM3 should be on your shortlist. The previous WH-1000XM3 are still one of our most recommended headphones, and Sony made them even better. Bluetooth multipoint makes them way more convenient, and subtle improvements to the noise cancelling and sound quality make these a compelling buy.

If you have the Sony WH-1000XM3 already, there really isnt a huge need to upgrade unless you absolutely need multipoint connectivity. However, if youre looking to invest in your first big pair of noise cancelling headphones, almost everyone will love these.

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Sony WH-1000XM4 review - Sound Guys