Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Headphones – Sony XM4 REVIEW
Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Headphones – Sony XM4 REVIEW
Are you interested in the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones (or the Sony XM4s)? In this post, I’m reviewing these premium, wireless noise cancelling headphones. I’ll have the unboxing, describe the features, and also share my pros and cons of these headphones.
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Hi, I’m Dr. Derek – audiologist, audio engineer, and musician with ProFitHearing.com bringing you the best insight in today’s latest hearing aids, headphones, and audio technology to improve your life. If you have concerns about your hearing, always consult with your local physician or audiologist.
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Sony WH-1000XM4
Today, I’m talking about the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones or XM4 wireless headphones. For the latest pricing, check out the link HERE. I recently purchased these headphones, and I’m excited to try them out.
Unboxing
When you first open the box, you’ll see the Easy Setup guide with instructions on how to download the app and connect the headphones to your device. The Sony headphones Connect App is available for both Apple and Android.
Included in the box is the carrying case for your Sony XM4s. There’s a pouch on the back and zipper along the side. Inside the carrying case you’ll find the headphones, 3.5 mm audio cable, flight audio adaptor, and USB-C charger.
The headphones swivel and fold so you can easily store them in the carrying case when you’re not using them. The plastic construction is lightweight and comfortable enough for extended wear.
The left ear cup has two physical buttons. The lower button is used for power on/off as well as Bluetooth pairing. The upper button controls the ambient and noise reduction modes. All other adjustments like volume, play, pause, skip forward/backward, or start/end a phone call are doing using the touch controls on the right ear cup. The headphones will also automatically pause your music when you remove them and start playing again when you put them back on. The proximity sensor in the left ear cup and the acceleration sensors in each ear cup provide this functionality.
Sony WH-1000XM4 – Features
Now, let’s talk about the features.
Noise Cancellation
First, the Sony XM4s are great at noise cancellation. Adaptive Noise Cancelling (or ANC) is made possible by the HD noise cancelling processor QN1. Microphones on each ear cup listen to the environmental sounds around you and adjust the signal over 700 times a second to provide the best noise cancellation.
Ambient Mode
You also have ambient mode. This turns on the microphones on the headphones so that sound in your environment is audible. Ambient mode lets you hear what’s going on around you while you’re also listening to music.
Quick Attention Mode
Listen to Ambient Sound (or Quick Attention Mode) allows you to manually enable ambient mode by holding your hand on the right ear cup. The music volume will decrease so that you can hear the sounds going on around you in your environment. As soon as you release your hand from the ear cup, the music will return to normal volume.
Speak to Chat
The Speak to Chat feature pauses your music and enables ambient mode when you start speaking. The music will resume playing 30 seconds after you’re done talking. It can also be enabled manually.
Frequency Response
The Sony XM4s can reproduce sound frequencies from 4 Hz to 40,000 Hz when using the included audio cable or 20 Hz to 40,000 Hz when you’re using Bluetooth.
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0 is available. The Sony XM4 support SBC, AAC, and LDAC Bluetooth audio codecs. You also have DSEE Extreme which uses artificial technology AI to upscale compressed audio to provide additional high frequency fidelity in your music. 360 Reality Audio is also available with premium music streaming services like Tidal. This provides a surround sound audio experience for compatible music files.
Battery Life
The headphone’s internal battery will provide 30 hours of battery life with the noise cancellation active. You can get 5 hours of charge after 10 minutes of charging while a full charge takes approximately 3 hours.
Voice Assistant
The Sony XM4 headphones support voice assistants like Google assistant, Alexa, and Siri.
Multi-point Connection
Multi-point connection lets you pair your headphones to two Bluetooth devices at a time. This allows you to switch between two sources of audio quickly. So, you could listen to music from your laptop and then switch to your phone when you get a phone call.
NC Optimizer
The NC Optimizer or noise cancellation optimizer adapts the headphone’s noise cancellation by how it fits on your head. It takes into consideration things that can impact the fit like your hair and glasses. It also accounts for pressure changes within an airplane.
Now, if there’s certain headphones or earbuds that you want to know more about, let me know in the comments below.
Sony WH-1000XM4 – Pros
OK, so now I’ll share the pros and cons of the XM4 headphones. First for the pros:
Noise Cancellation
The noise cancellation is excellent, so if you’re on an airplane or in public places like a coffee shop for example, these headphones will help reduce the ambient noise level so that you can focus on your music or work.
Comfort
These headphones are light and comfortable for extended wear and they fit snuggly against the head. The secure fit of the ear cups also provides a level of sound attenuation in addition to the noise cancellation feature.
Sound Quality
The sound quality is also great and offers plenty of bass response. You can control this even further with the sound equalization feature within the app.
Auto Pause
These headphones pause music when you remove them, so you can easily resume listening from wherever you left off. Also, if you want to speak to someone while you’re wearing the headphones, you can use the Quick attention mode which turns on the ambient sound. Just hold your hand against the right ear cup to activate and remove your hand to go back to noise cancellation.
Notifications
Whenever you push the physical buttons on the left ear cup, you get a voice notification so you know which mode you’re in. A quick press of the power button gives you a voice notification of the remaining battery life.
Power Off
These headphones also automatically turn off after 15 minutes when you’re not wearing them. So, you’re covered just in case you forget to shut them off.
Controls
The touch controls on the right ear cup for volume, skips, or play/pause are very convenient and easy to use. Also, the app gives you even more control over these headphones if you’d like to use it.
Bluetooth Range
The wireless range is approximately 30 ft line of sight, so you can easily walk around your home and still listen to your Bluetooth device. If you want to listen to a device that doesn’t have Bluetooth, you can use the included audio cable. This audio cable plugs into the bottom and it’s 3.5 mm on both ends which makes it easy if you want to purchase a longer cable.
Sound
One of the surprising pros about these headphones is that they still sound great when the battery’s dead. You won’t have access to things like ambient mode and noise cancellation, but you can still get great audio when using the included audio cable.
Sony WH-1000XM4 – Cons
OK, so let’s talk about some of the cons of the Sony XM4s.
Construction
They have a plastic construction which is typical of Bluetooth headphones, but I’d like to see a more premium build.
Power
The power button is press and hold to power on/off. It’s a small con, but I still prefer to have an on/off switch like my Bose QC35s.
Microphones
Something I noticed is that the microphones in ambient mode distort when there’s loud sounds in my environment. This may not be something you’d notice at all unless you’re around loud sounds. I was using my headphones to listen to music while I was in ambient mode and also playing my saxophone and I noticed the sound of my instrument was distorted.
Notifications
The voice notifications when you press the noise cancellation or ambient noise button can cause you to miss whatever you’re listening to.
Comfort
Also, headphones like this can be bit hot on your ears while you’re wearing them outside while you’re walking or being active.
Speak to Chat
Speak to chat works great for quick conversations when you’re wearing your headphones, however this setting may not be desirable when it’s set to automatically engage. I was listening to some music and I started signing and this setting caused the music level to pause when I didn’t want it to.
Sony WH-1000XM4 – Summary
Overall, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. This is my first pair of Bluetooth headphones from Sony, and I’m very pleased with the sound quality and the easy of use. I definitely recommend the Sony XM4s to anyone who wants premium, noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones. Additional features are available within the app as well as with software updates so that your headphones can have the best sound quality.
So what is it about these headphones that excites you the most? Let me know in the comments below. If you received value from this post, go to https://www.youtube.com/profithearing and check out all the videos on our YouTube channel.
-Dr. Derek