Product Info

Product details of Sony WF-1000XM4 Wireless Earbuds – Evolved Digital Noise Cancelling | 24H Play Time | Truly Silent | Hi-Res Audio | Wireless Charging [ Aihome ]

Design, features

The new case supports both fast USB-C charging and Qi wireless charging, bringing Sony’s earbuds to current industry standards. The case is pretty simple, but robust.

The ear tips are among the biggest improvements to this generation. Sony made the choice to go with polyurethane foam instead of silicone, which does a few things. Foam isolates noise significantly better than rubber and it conforms to the ear more easily, making for a better fit.

You get the usual infrared sensor for automatic pause and play when you take the buds off or put them back in. There are four beam-forming microphones and a bone-conduction sensor that work in tandem for better voice pickup during phone calls.

Each bud has a touch-sensitive area – a tap on the left circles through Ambient Sound mode and Noise Cancellation. Tapping the right plays and pauses playback. Double tap for the next track and triple tap for the previous.

Audio quality, noise cancellation, fit and battery life

The Sony WF-1000XM4 are easily the best-sounding earbuds we’ve ever tested here at HQ. The 6mm driver delivers better sound, courtesy of a 20% larger magnet and a new high-compliance diaphragm.

Music comes in rich and bold from end to end. Bass is ever-present, giving music a nice foundation, without becoming overbearing. The midrange is very detailed throughout and there’s volume to spare. Seriously, these are by far the loudest earbuds we’ve had here

Sony has tuned the WF-1000XM4’s ideally – striking a good balance between crowd-friendly bassy and loud, but also mature. Instruments and vocals are a standout.

The sound quality of the WF-1000XM4’s feels as if it belongs to much larger cans. There’s nothing of the tinny stretched-thin sound you get from TWS earbuds trying to be more than they are physically.

Sony claims up to 36 hours of combined battery life from the WF-1000XM4’s, which is a 4 hour improvement over their predecessors. What’s more impressive is the claim of 8 hours from the buds with ANC on, up from 6 hours on the outgoing pair.

We got close to Sony’s numbers. 7 hours of continuous music playback at full volume with ANC on. You can expect up to 12 hours without ANC.

Quick USB-C charging delivers an hour of playback from 5 minutes on the cable. A complete top-up took about an hour and 20 minutes.