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So for while now sony has been killing it when it comes to ANC headphones. And in general if you’re looking for a pair of premium ANC headphones than the Sony 1000XM4’s are a good option and if you’re looking for a pair of mid tier ANC headphones then the Sony XB900N’s are a good option as well. But now that we have the new Sony 1000XM4’s the differences between these two headphones is a little more significant than when we would compare the XB900N to the previous 1000XM3’s. So today we’re going to be comparing these two headphones an see which ones right for you.
Now first off there’s price. The new Sony 1000XM4’s has a retail price of $350 putting them squarely in the premium ANC headphone bracket. Where as the XB900N’s have a retail price of $250 but since they are a little over a year old now they do like to constantly go on sale for $178 making them a great buy at that price. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these headphones up they’ll be linked down below and if you want to learn more about either of these headphones please watch their full review cause we’re only going over their main differences.
But now lets address the carrying cases here… unfortunately the XB900N’s come included with a carrying pouch so if you do plan on commuting a lot with your headphones then I highly advise that you invest in a harsh sell carrying case. Where as the 1000XM4’s come included with a really good hardshell carrying case thats going to keep your headphones perfectly safe if you cram them into an already over stuffed backpack or carry on.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves. In general both of these headphones have the same build quality. They’re both mainly made out of plastic, they both feel sturdy in your hands and they both have zero cracking or squeaking whenever you flex them. But these headphones do feel different. The XB900N’s body is mostly made of this textured plastic… where as the 1000XM4’s have more of a slate finish to it and then there’s soft touch on the caps of these ear cups. Overall… yes the 1000XM4’s feel more premium in your hands than the XB900N… but personally I do prefer the feel of the leatherette on the XB900N’s over the leatherette found on the 1000XM4’s. The leatherette on the XB900N’s feels a little more supple where as the leatherette on the 1000XM4’s feels plasticy. Overall both of these headphones have decent build quality but personally I did expect a little more from the 1000XM4’s where as the XB900N’s build quality is perfectly acceptable for mid tier ANC headphones.
Now when it comes to fit, both of these headphones should fit most people just fine. Now both of these headphones are big head approved cause neither of them have a lot of clamping force. And when it comes to weight… both of these headphones weigh in at 254 grams making them very light weight cause most ANC headphones in these categories weigh in between 270 to 290 grams. So both of these headphones are easy to forget that you have on and they aren’t super noticeable when you’re walking around with them on. But when it comes to their ear pads… they are a little different. Now the ear pads on both of these headphones are just as spacious as one another and they fit me just fine. But if you have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot then you’ll might want to go with something else like either the Bose NC 700’s the Sennheiser PXC 550-II or even the Surface Headphones 2. But one crucial detail to point out here is that the ear pads on the XB900N’s do have a little more surface area coming in contact with your skin than the 1000XM4’s do. So the ear pads on the XB900N’s do heat up a little faster. Now neither of these headphones have an over heating problem but the XB900N’s do a heat up a little faster than the 1000XM4’s especially when you’re walking around with them on. But one last thing that I do want to point out here is going to have todo with looks. In general these headphones look very similar to one another… But I do prefer do look of the 1000XM4’s specially cause their headband is more low profile than the headband on the XB900N’s. Now the headband on the XB900N’s isn’t super bulbous like either of Bose’s headphones… but the more low profile the better. But with all that being said… when it comes to fit I do gotta say the 1000XM4’s do manage to edge out a win here specially cause of their ear pads that have less surface area coming in contact with your skin. But other than that both of these headphones should fit most people just fine.
But now lets talk about tech specs… both of these headphones charge via a USB C port as they should. And when it come to battery life both of these headphones are really good. The 1000XM4’s have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on where as the XB900N’s have an advertised battery life of 35 hours with their ANC turned on. And you can always stretch out the battery on both of these headphones if you use them with their ANC turned off.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity theses where things get very different. The 1000XM4’s can finally be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap from your phone to your computer. Where as the XB900N’s can only be connected to 1 device at a time. Now ultimately its not a huge deal if your headphones can hot swap from one device to another but it is really nice to be able to.
However if you do want to be able to hot swap with the 1000XM4’s then you are going to lose LDAC support if youre an Android user and you’re going to have to use AAC instead. Now if youre an iPhone user LDAC support doesn’t matter cause iPhones top out at AAC. And in general both of these headphones are going to use AAC no matter what if you’re an iPhone user.
Now while we’re on the topic of audio codecs… the 1000XM4’s have support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC which is Sony’s own high res audio codec. Where as the XB900N’s have support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC just like the 1000XM4’s but they also have support for APTX and APTX HD. But sony is currently phasing out APTX support in favor of LDAC on their newer headphones.
But more importantly, when it comes to watching movies or videos on your phone both of these headphones have zero latency across the board whether youre using an iPhone or android device. And if you want to you can always still use a wired connection with either of these headphones cause both of these headphones still have easy to reach 3.5 millimeter audio jacks. Now I know this sounds obvious but I do like to point it out cause some manufactures are starting to remove the audio jack on some of their headphones.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these headphones. Now both of these headphones sound the same when it comes to clarity, sound stage and instrument separation. And since both of these headphones connect to Sony’s app you can make other of these headphones sound how ever you want. If you like a neutral or vocals focused EQ you can do that or if you like a bass heavy EQ you can also do that. But where these headphones really differ is when it comes to their bass. The bass on the 1000XM4’s should be able to please most people who want to physically feel their music cause the bass on these headphones has a good kick to it. But the bass on the XB900N’s on a whole other level. Having the clear bass slider on the 1000XM4’s set to 10 is like having the clear bass slider on the XB900N’s set to 4. If you want you make it so the XB900N’s rattle your head way more than your average pair of headphones. And having all of this bass can be a lot of fun from time to time. And personally I really like using the Extra Bass on the XB900N’s when im watching movies with them cause it adds an extra level of immersivness to what ever youre watching. Its like having a sub woofer strapped to your head. But the extra bass on the XB900N’s can get old after awhile, so if you don’t want to use it you don’t have to but its there if you want it.
But there is one major this to point out here thats really going to affect my android users. Now like I mentioned earlier if you’re an iPhone user both of these headphones are going to use AAC no matter what which is great. But if youre an android user… I do gotta point out the XB900N’s do go from using LDAC to using SBC if you change their EQ. And unfortunately the XB900N’s just don’t sound as rich as they do when they’re using SBC versus when they’re using LDAC. Where as the 1000XM4’s will continue to use LDAC or AAC no matter what EQ youre using depending on whether you have their smiluationous connectivity turned on or off.
So overall if you’re an iPhone user both of these headphones sound good and they should be able to please most people. But personally I do prefer the XB900N’s cause of their Extra bass feature. But for my android users just keep in mind that using your own EQ on these headphones does mean you’ll be stuck with SBC which just doesn’t sound as good as either AAC or LDAC.
Now when it comes to controlling your music both of these headphones have touch pads. You swipe up or down to adjust your volume and you swipe front or back to skip through your music. Now for the most part both of these headphones have a high level of accuracy. But on occasion you will get missed inputs. But these touchpads aren’t problematic. However I do want to point out that I do find it easer to use the touch pad on the XB900N cause since this touch pad doesn’t have soft touch my finger glides much easier.
But something the 1000XM4’s have that the XB900N’s don’t is that they have wear sensors. So when you take these headphones off they’ll automatically cause your music and when you put them back on they’ll start playing your music again. Now personally I don’t care for wear sensors on any of my headphones so I just turn them off.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. Now in general, the ANC on both of these headphones doesn’t have a lot of cabin pressure which is good for comfort. It doesn’t change how your music sounds. But just as you’d expect the Sony 1000XM4’s block out way more noise than the XB900N’s. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
So like you may have just seen, the Sony 1000XM4’s block out way more noise than the XB900N’s across the board. And I also included the entry level Sony WH-CH710N here because they also block out a little more noise than the XB900N. Now just keep in mind the WH-CH710N’s are newer than the XB900N’s cause they were released in the spring of 2020 where as the XB900N’ were released in the summer of 2019. So what im getting at here is that Active noise cancellation on the XB900N isn’t their strong suite. Its useful for like when you’re at home… but if you are looking to block out the most amount of noise here you are better of going with the 1000XM4’s.
However like I mentioned in my full review. In this controlled test where all of these headphones are blocking out the same audio samples I did find that the 1000XM3’s running their 4.5.2 firmware were blocking out more noise than the 1000XM4’s running their 2.0.6 firmware which is the latest firmware at the time of this recording. So even though the ANC on the 1000XM4’s is great I do feel sony could do better and we are going to have to revisit their ANC after they get a firmware update.
But now lets talk about the ambient modes on these headphones. Now the ambient mode on both of these headphones sounds very natural and they both have zero hissing in the background which is super important for when tour watching movies with these headphones. But over all the ambient mode on the 1000XM4’s is better than the ambient mode on the XB900N’s for 2 key reasons. First off the 1000XM4’s do a much better job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors and also the 1000XM4’s have an active ambient mode meaning that they’ll actively block out sudden spikes in loud noises saving you from jump scares. But let me just show you what im talking about. Slight headphones warning.
So like you may have just seen when the 1000XM4’s detected that loud noise they turned their ambient mode off and then when that loud noise stoped that turned their ambient mode back on. Now personally I love when headphones have an active ambient mode cause it does save you from jump scares. Where as the XB900N’s just let in everything. And this can also really come in handy when you’re working at home with your headphones on and your dog starts barking when the UPS man comes around.
Now another new feature on the Sony 1000XM4’s that isn’t found on the XB900N is speak to chat which I like to think of as an extension of their ambient mode which works a little like this.
But ultimately for me speak to chat is just one of those gimmicks that im just not going to use. Now speak to chat doesn’t get activated when other people are talking around you it, does a great job of rejecting that. But if you do decide to use speak to chat on these headphones then you have to be completely silent. Speak to chat on these headphones will get activated if you’re singing along to your music, if you’re thinking out loud even very quietly, and it’ll also get active if you start laughing.
Now even though yes you can quickly turn speak to chat on or off directly on these headphones by pressing two fingers on their touch pad as well as through their app. I still find it to be more of a nuance rather than helpful when my headphones stop my music when I utter a few words. Just cause I say thank you when im getting off the bus or checking out at the deli it doesn’t mean I need my music or podcast to stop. So personally I just permanently just keep speak to chat on these headphones off.
And if I am going to have a quick conversation with someone I do prefer to use quick attention cause I have full control over it. Cause if you fully cover the touch pad on either of these headphones they’re going to lower the volume of your music and let in all of the ambient sound around you like this
And then when you let go they’ll go back to normal again. Now even though I do prefer quick attention over speak to chat… it could be better. The problem with quick attention is that you gotta constantly keep the touch pad covered on either of these headphones. And if you’re going to try to talk to someone like this… this both looks and feels very awkward. Sony has to change it so that when you fully cover their touch pad for a full second the headphones will get looked into quick attention… you can let go and have your conversation with you hands free like a normal human and then when you’re done you can double tap on the touch pad and the headphones will go back to normal again.
And im making a big deal about this cause sony can easily make speak to chat better on all of their headphones by applying a simple change which they can then push out to all of their headphones through a software update.
But finally here’s the microphone test and this isn’t Sony’s strong suite. Now I feel the microphone on the XB900N is usable for like a quick phone call in a quite room but my voice does sound very muffled.
Now even though my voice does sound better on the 1000XM4’s my voice still doesn’t sound super clear. However this microphone does a great job of blocking out ambient noise. Cause right now I have this AC unit turned on and if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear that AC unit. But if we were to switch back over to the Sony 1000XM4’s its gone.
But with all that being said… there are some important differences to take into account here if you’re trying to decided between these two headphones. Now obviously the 1000XM4’s are the better option here for constant commuters cause of their Superior Active noise Cancellation, Active ambient mode, slightly better sounding microphone for phone calls and included hardshell carrying case. But the 1000XM4’s also have simulations connectivity which is super important for power users and they also have wear sensors and speak to chat. And when it comes to sound they should be able to please most people.
But if you’re somebody that really likes bass then you’ll definitely want to go with the XB900N. The Extra bass feature on the XB900N is a lot of fun to listen to from time to time and it also adds an extra level of imersiavness when watching movies with these headphones. And besides if you don’t plan on constantly commuting with your headphones then these should be perfectly fine.