"With a completely new design and many improvements, they are hard to beat."
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Great sound quality
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Good battery life
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Great noise cancellation
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LDAC bluetooth codec
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Wireless charging
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May not fit small ears
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Something is missing in high-end details
Sony's highly anticipated successor to its highly rated WF-1000XM3 True Wireless Noise-Canceling Earbuds is finally here: The WF-1000XM4 is priced at $ 280, and it even addresses our very few criticisms of the XM3 with a slew of improvements – some big, some small.
Has Sony set a new benchmark for the true wireless world yet again, or is there still work to be done? Let's get into that.
Video review
What's in the box
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
First of all, kudos to Sony for developing packaging that should be adopted as the industry standard. The XM4 comes in a tiny box that avoids all of the flashy lettering and glossy prints you see on boxes from companies like JBL and Soundcore. This allows each piece to be recycled or composted.
The only hint of plastic is in the thin outer packing tape that holds the two halves of the box together. Once opened, there's no way to close it again, but I'll bet most people toss their earbud packs away anyway, which is really the whole point.
Inside you will find the WF-1000XM4 already stowed in its charging case, a short USB-C charging cable, two additional sizes of foam earplugs (the media are pre-installed) and a printed manual.
design
Sony WF-1000XM3 (left) and WF-1000XM4 Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
As much as we praise the WF-1000XM3, they always had one big caveat: they are some of the bulkiest buds you can buy that aren't specifically designed for aggressive training. This applies to the earphones and their charging case with a copper tip.
The WF-1000XM4 earbuds are 10% smaller than the XM3, which is good, but not earth-shattering. The charging case, on the other hand, is 40% smaller and now also offers wireless charging as an option. This is a big deal. The case still isn't small for AirPods Pro, but it's not the weird man anymore when you look at the rest of the real wireless options. I can now conveniently call it a pocket bag – which I can't say about the XM3.
The touch-sensitive interfaces are now much easier to type.
The case lid opens easily and stays open on its own until you close it, which it does with a satisfactory click. But getting the earbuds is surprisingly tedious compared to the XM3 due to the incredibly strong magnets and the narrow shape of the charging port. On the plus side, these magnets also grab the earbuds as soon as they get close to the jacks and reinsert them immediately and safely.
The other big change is the shape of the earbuds themselves. For years Sony has used the same capsule shape for its true wireless earbuds, with most of the case sticking out clearly from your ear. For the XM4, Sony designers tried something completely different and created a more compact, rounded case that fits much tighter. It looks a lot better in my opinion, although there may be some disagreement about the look of the prominent copper-capped microphone housings. And not just optically: The touch-sensitive user interface now takes up almost 100% of the exposed part of the earphone, which makes typing more easy. With the XM3, you had to make sure your fingers were connected to a small touch-sensitive circle.
I'm not a fan of touch controls in general, but the XM4 could turn me into a convert.
It's also worth noting that with the XM3, Sony fixed one of our other small flaws: the lack of water resistance. With an IPX4 rating, the XM4 are officially sweatproof for the gym or wherever you want to take them with you.
Comfort, controls and connections
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
I find the WF-1000XM4 quite comfortable to wear, but I'm not sure everyone will agree. The new shape is designed to fit inside your concha – the cavity that leads to the ear canal. But the XM4 are pretty big. If you have small ears, you may not be able to put them in all the way. The XM3, in comparison, has a much smaller "footprint" in the concha, to use an awkward metaphor.
The XM4 feels bigger to my ears than most of its top competitors, including the Jabra Elite 85t, Apple AirPods Pro, Master & Dynamic MW08, and JBL Tour Pro +.
The foam earplugs adapt to the shape of your ear better than silicone: you don't have to struggle to find a suitable set.
If your ears can accommodate the larger shape of the XM4, you will be rewarded with a very secure fit. There's a lot of surface contact, and once in place, it's not going anywhere. They inspire much more confidence than their predecessors.
While the XM3 was available with silicone earplugs, the XM4 only comes with memory foam. They mold to your ear shape better than silicone, which means you probably won't have to struggle as much to find a set that fits. But they also create a stronger feeling of having an object in the ear canal, and they degrade faster than silicone.
I'm generally not a fan of touch controls, but the XM4 could turn me into a convert. The generous size of the touchpad makes typing easy, accurate and fast.
I'm less enthusiastic about Sony's control customization scheme that it has retained from the XM3. The headphones app groups the controls by function: environment, playback, volume and none. Since each earbud can only be assigned to one control group, you have to select your two favorites. Do you want to control playback and volume? You cannot change the ANC mode. Like ANC control and also playback? Volume is no longer available. JBL does the same, so this situation isn't unique to Sony, but I would prefer more flexibility à la carte.
At least for Android users there is a workaround. The XM4 enables wake word access to both Google Assistant and Alexa when using a phone with Android 6 or higher. Each of these voice assistants can adjust the volume for you. So when you choose playback and environment for your physical controls, you can always say, "Alexa, turn up the volume."
Wear sensors let you pause and resume playback automatically whenever you remove or reinsert the earbuds, and they work really well and are quick to respond to changes. If it bothers you, you can turn it off in the headphones app.
The frequency response is strong end to end and the bass has incredible depth.
The XM4's excellent bluetooth connection works very smoothly and allowed me to place 12 or 15 meters between the earbuds and my phone before the connection started shaking. In contrast to the XM3, which occasionally gave me tiny dropouts of half a second, the XM4 never missed a blow. I just wish Sony had found a way to incorporate bluetooth multipoint that allows you to connect the earbuds to two devices at the same time. Sony's full-size WH-1000XM4 can do this, but it's still a rarity in the world of earbuds.
Sound quality
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The WF-1000XM4 sounds great. The frequency response is strong end to end and the bass has incredible depth. I guarantee that whoever uses them will enjoy their rich and full sound signature.
But as I jumped back and forth between the XM4 and XM3, something became clear: the XM3s show clearer upper mids and high frequencies, which give the vocals a little more presence. It also adds a level of power that the XM4 seems to lack.
These observations are based on factory settings without EQ adjustments in the Sony Headphones app. Switching the XM4 to “Bright” or “Treble Boost” helps a little, but even then I think the XM3 is better overall for clarity.
Will you notice if you just hear the XM4? I doubt it. It's only when you put the two of them next to each other and listen to each other track by track that it really becomes clear.
The XM4 are the first true Sony wireless earbuds to support the company's high quality LDAC Bluetooth codec. In theory at least, you should use it to reproduce far more nuances than the XM3, which only works with the much lower SBC and AAC codecs. In addition, the XM4 features DSEE Extreme, Sony's latest version of its excellent digital signal processing technology, which can upscale compressed digital music such as MP3s to a far higher quality.
To be clear, the difference between these two siblings is really a matter of taste. The XM4 does a better job of low-end details that you can really hear when songs layer the bass guitar, drums, and low-end synthesizer. Too often these elements get smeared together, but the XM4 lets you hear them clearly which is a real delight. So think of the XM4 as an alternate take on Sony's superb sound quality, but aimed at those who want to hear extra detail at the bottom.
Noise cancellation and transparency
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Sony's noise cancellation technology has always been great, and the WF-1000XM4 manages to improve on it. Sony claims that the built-in V1 processor chip in the XM4 improves the XM3's ANC performance across the board, reducing external noise across the audible spectrum. I tend to agree.
The XM4s aren't just better at masking sound; they're better at making it invisible.
One of my benchmark tests for ANC is running my loud bathroom fan, which makes both low-pitched and high-pitched noise. Then I turn ANC on and off to hear the differences and repeat the process at different distances. The XM4 is an ace in this test, killing almost 90% of fan noise at 3 feet and 100% when I'm sitting right in front of the bathroom.
But the XM4s aren't just better at masking sound; they're better at making it invisible. Some ANC systems kill external noises but introduce new ones, such as: B. a low hiss that can be heard when no music is playing. The XM4's ANC system is very quiet, which is what you need when you need to concentrate in a noisy environment and don't want music to drown out these noises.
Apple's AirPods Pro have built a solid lead over the WF-1000XM3 in this area, but the XM4 has once again leveled the playing field. But the XM4 is still not as effective at suppressing wind noise as the AirPods Pro, even with Sony's optional wind noise reduction system.
The transparency mode is also more convenient to use thanks to the new talk-to-chat function. It uses sensors to find out when you are speaking and automatically turns on transparency mode while you pause your music. I thought it worked really well. The headphones app lets you toggle them on and off, adjust the sensitivity, and decide how long to keep the transparency on after it detects your voice.
Battery life
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
When fully charged, Sony claims eight hours of playtime with the ANC on and an impressive 12 hours when it is off – a large increase over the XM3's six and eight hour capacity, respectively. Several features, like wake word access to voice assistants and wind noise cancellation, will reduce these numbers, but by and large I found them to be correct.
The XM4 also gets a faster quick charge option: a five minute quick charge adds another hour to playtime, while the XM3 took 10 minutes to gain 90 minutes of playtime. The charging case contains enough juice for two full charges, which gives a total listening time of at least 24 hours before you have to go looking for a power outlet or a wireless charging mat.
Compatibility with voice assistants
Sony has always been agnostic about voice assistants on their headphones: you can use your phone's built-in assistant or switch to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.
Android users even get something that was a rarity with wireless earbuds: the ability to trigger Alexa or Google Assistant by simply saying their wake-up words. I've tried both assistants and it works just as well as the Google Pixel Buds or the Amazon Echo Buds, with each assistant responding quickly and accurately to my voice commands.
Call quality
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Calling up the WF-1000XM4 is good. Most competing noises, such as traffic, are effectively neutralized, as is wind noise, which was a weakness of the WF-1000XM3. It's not perfect: when the earbuds try to correct for those external noises – especially wind – it can make it sound like you're talking through multiple layers of fabric. But since that's preferable to the annoying whistling of the wind, I think it's an improvement.
During a call, the earbuds automatically deactivate ANC, but you can still turn it back on or switch to transparency mode, which is not possible with all earbuds during a call.
Our opinion
Sony has taken the already excellent WF-1000XM3 and made significant improvements across the board with the new WF-1000XM4. While the new shape can cause some fit issues for some, they are some of the best true wireless earbuds you can buy.
Is there a better alternative?
Function by function, it's hard to find a range of wireless earbuds that can really compete with the WF-1000XM4, but there are better options for certain functions.
The AirPods Pro and Bose QuietComfort earbuds are better for ANC and transparency, with the Bose shining particularly brightly for call quality.
The Master & dynamic MW08 deliver a more nuanced sound quality with better clarity.
And now that Sony is still selling that WF-1000XM3 For a discounted price of $ 180, they're still worth considering if you're okay with some missing features like wireless charging and water resistance.
How long will they last?
Sony backs the WF-1000XM4 with a one year warranty, but I expect they will last for many years. Both the processing quality and the materials are excellent. The foam earbuds will likely need to be replaced every six months with regular daily wear, but this is not uncommon.
Should you buy it?
Absolutely. If you are looking for wireless earbuds with fantastic features, great ANC, and fantastic sound quality, you can't go wrong with the WF-1000XM4.
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