Sony WF-1000XM4 Review: The BEST ANC Earbuds PERIOD!

This year, the Sony WF-1000XM4 comes in some sort of recycled material but it still made me laugh when I saw how much paperwork Sony included once you open it up. In the box, you get the XM4, underneath that you have quick start information and underneath that card, you get a bunch of booklets including one about the 360 Reality Audio feature. Sony supplied some accessories too, so you have large and small earbud silicone tips as the medium is pre-installed. Finally, you get a small USB C cable for charging it.

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The 1000XM4 has been redesigned to be lighter, so both the earbuds and the charging case are lighter than their predecessor. Besides just looking really slick with its black and bronze color combination, The buds fit really snug, so providing you choose the right ear tip sizes, you’ll be fine. In fact, in the app, Sony provides a feature where it can scan your ears to help you find the perfect earbuds tip size for you. It offers a stable fit so you can wear it out running and they won’t fall out or become loose as you move around. The case is Qi wireless-ready so you can also charge your buds wirelessly.

The setup process is easy depending on the device you’re using. Compatible Android devices support Fast Pair making it super easy to connect to your device, there’s no multipoint function but Sony says they could update the XM4 if they see it as a necessity and it’s also easy to pair with your computer too. Oh, It’s IPX4 waterproof rated!

One of the main reasons people buy the 1000 series is for its noise cancellation capabilities and the 1000XM4 doesn’t disappoint. It’s actually the best noise cancellation on any earbuds I’ve tried before. It features an integrated processor V1 that improves noise cancellation, that combined with a new driver, and dual noise sensing microphones, you are in for a treat if you get to try them out yourself. One microphone feeds forward and the other feeds back and using that processing power in the V1, noise is analysed on the fly to deliver excellent noise canceling.

With that V1, it’s not just about noise cancellation. It’s also about improved sound quality too. You get a new 6mm drive unit with a 20% increase in magnet volume, and this produces uncompromised sound quality and when there’s wind noise, automatic wind noise reduction mode kicks in and suppresses it to make sure that doesn’t affect your listening experience either.

I feel that the second reason people always recommend the 1000 series is for its excellent sound quality. Again, the XM4 excels and it’s one of the best there is. It supports High-Resolution Audio Wireless, thanks to LDAC, providing you have a device that supports LDAC and you set the sound to Priority on Sound Quality in the headphones connect app, and there’s also DSEE Extreme for upscaling music to the best it can be in real-time.

The XM4 supports 360 Reality Audio which in a way is very similar to Spatial audio, but you will need an audio source that is optimised for it like TIDAL for example. This is amazing once you get it set up and you will need the headphone connect app to do this process.

Sony says you can expect 8 hours of use from your headphones, and a further 16 hours from the case and during my use, it’s very close in most cases, but I’ve never listened to music for that long at once, so the main thing for me was that it lasted me the day comfortably and without charging overnight, I still had plenty left. I also left my charge case at the office and the buds didn’t drain massively overnight. The auto switch-off feature worked really well here.

A 5-minute quick charge will also give you up to 60 minutes of play time, and the Sony | Headphones Connect app will notify you when your charging case drops below 30%.

Using it for phone calls was a pleasure, no issues on the other end of my calls and vice versa. Using Precise Voice Pickup Technology and a bone-conduction sensor, it picked up my voice clearly and accurately. Using Beamforming technology, the microphones are calibrated to only pick up sounds from your mouth.

Other features include the adaptive sound control that will recognise where you are and adjust your sound accordingly and there’s also a speak-to-chat feature where it automatically pauses music when you speak. I found this very useful when I get into my Uber or when I’m in a shop ready to pay for my items, however, sometimes, it picks up other things and pauses my music and this can quickly become annoying. There’s proximity sensors for when you take your buds out so that your music is paused and it’s also designed with gaming and TV in mind, so there’s no latency, the ear buds are touch sensitive so you can tap to play, or pause or change track for example and you have Alexa and Google Assistant support too.

#WF1000XM4 #Sony

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