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At first glance, the new sony 1000XM4’s look identical to the Sony 1000XM3’s. And you wouldn’t be wrong to think that the 1000XM4’s are just a minor refresh of the 1000XM3’s… but there’s actually a lot more going on here both externally and internally and sony has done a great job of refining their already great premium ANC headphones. So today we’re going to check out the Sony 1000XM4’s but we’re going to compare them to the 1000XM3’s and see if its worth upgrading and we’re also going to be comparing them to the Sony 1000XM2’s so you can see how far these headphones have come.
So first off there’s price, Just like the 1000XM3’s and 1000XM2’s before it… the new Sony 1000XM4’s retail for $350. Putting them squarely in the premium ANC headphone category. So if you want to pick these headphones up they’ll be linked down below.
Now before we actually get to the headphones themselves I want to quickly address the carrying case here cause even the case has gotten an upgrade. Now size wise this case is very similar to the two previous cases, but what really caught me by surprise here when I first held this case is just how much sturdier this case is. this case is a lot harder than the previous two cases. And when you open this case up just like before you’ve got a storage compartment that stores your cables and airplane adapter. Now sony could have easily just kept using the 1000XM3’s case and call it a day… but im really happy to see that sony has also been improving their cases along with their headphones. So if you do plan on commuting or traveling a lot with your headphones then you can rest assured that your 1000XM4’s are going to be perfectly safe when they’re in your back pack or carry on.
But now lets get to the headphones themselves, like I mentioned at the top of this video at first glance the 1000XM4’s look identical to the 1000XM3’s but they’re not. The 1000XM4’s do have some significant physical differences from the 1000XM3’s which mainly affects fit and personally im just glad that sony has been refining this design cause the design of the 1000XM2’s is just FUGLY. Now build quality wise the first thing you’re going to notice about the 1000XM4’s when you hold them in your hands is that these headphones have a mostly slate finish to them. Where as the 1000XM3’s are a combination of soft touch surfaces and smooth plastic body panels. Ultimately the build quality of the 1000XM4’s is on par with the build quality on the 1000XM3’s… these headphones feel very sturdy in the hand, there’s a good click when you extend their headband and there’s zero cracking or squeaking when you flex them. But definitely the build on the 1000XM4’s is miles better than the 1000XM2’s.
Now when it comes to fit… this is were we start to see some major progression. First off all of these headphones are big head approved because none of them have a lot of clamping force. But clamping force has never really been a problem for Sony’s headphones… what has been though are their ear pads. The ear pads on the original 1000X’s and 1000XM2’s are very cramped and these cramped ear pads are in large part why a lot of people went with the Bose QC 35’s back in 2016 even though the Sony’s had better ANC and a lot more features. Now the ear pads on the 1000XM3’s are significantly more spacious than the ear pads on the 1000Xm2’s… but their ear pads still might not fit people with larger ears or ears that stick out a lot all that great when compared to other headphones out there. But now with the 1000XM4’s again these ear pads are a little more spacious. Now they’re not as spacious are the Bose NC 700’s but you do notice an improvement over the 1000XM3’s and these headphones should have an easier time fitting a larger section of the population. But another major thing to take into consideration here is that the ear pads on 1000XM4’s have a little less surface area coming contact with your skin than both the 1000XM3’s and 1000XM2’s meaning that their ear pads heat up a little slower, improving comfort. Now during their keynote sony made a big point about saying that they reduced the weight of the 1000XM4’s to help improve comfort. Now granted the 1000XM4’s weigh in at 254 grams making them very easy to forget that you have them on and in general they are rather light weight cause most premium ANC headphones weigh in around 270 to 290 grams… but the 1000XM3’s weigh in at 255 grams so there isn’t that big of a difference as sony made it out to be. However the 1000XM4’s are significantly lighter than the 1000XM2’s which weigh in at a hefty 275 grams. So if you’re someone that is still holding on to their 1000XM2’s I say that the fit and comfort alone on 1000XM4’s is a big enough reason to upgrade. Their ear pads are way more spacious and they’re much lighter. However if you have the 1000XM3’s and they fit you just fine then the fit of the 1000XM4’s isn’t going to be a big enough reason to justify an upgrade.
Now even though I like the new slate finish and improved fit on the 1000XM4’s… something that I do gotta point out here is the leatherette on these headphones. Just like their predecessors, the leatherette on the 1000XM4’s still feels very synthetic. Now the leatherette on these headphones is passable but it just doesn’t feel as nice as the leatherette on a lot of other premium ANC headphones out there and even some mid tier ANC headphones.
But now lets talk about tech specs, battery life wise things haven’t really changed but these headphones are still pulling some very impressive numbers. All of these headphones have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on which is a little above average and you can stretch them out to 38 hours if you use them with their ANC turned off.
Now both the 1000XM4’s and 1000XM3’s charge via a USB C port which is a given at this point… where as the 1000XM2’s charge via a micro USB port which is a little inconviente at this point. And also the newer models do have better fast charging than the 1000XM2’s. If you charge up the 1000XM2’s from a dead battery for 10 minus therye only going to get you 1 hour of playback time where as with both of these newer headphones they’re going to get you 5 hours of playback time from that same 10 minute charge.
But one major upgrade the 1000XM4’s have finally gotten is that they can finally be simulationously connected to 2 devices at the same time so you can finally easily hot swap from one device to another. Where as with these other two headphones and a lot of other sony headphones that are currently one sale, they can only be connected to one device at a time.
However there is one small trade off… if you want to be able to connect to multiple devices with your 1000XM4’s then they’re strictly going to use AAC. Now if you’re an iPhone user this doesn’t matter cause iPhone top out at AAC… but if youre an Android user you won’t be able to use LDAC which is Sony’s high res audio codec. If you gotta use LDAC with your 1000XM4’s then they can only be connected to one device at time.
Now while we’re on the topic of audio codecs… the 1000XM4’s have support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC. And unfortunately they are loosing APTX and APTX HD support which is something the 1000XM3’s and 1000XM2’s do have. But in general it does look like sony is phasing out APTX as a whole cause some of their more recent headphones have also lost APTX support. But like I said, if you’re an iPhone user this doesn’t matter.
But what does matter is that when it comes to watching movies of videos on your phone these headphones have zero latency across the board whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device. And these headphones still have zero latency to them even when they’re connected to two devices at the same time which is important to point out cause some headphones do develop some latency when they’re connected to two devices at the same time.
However, even though these headphones don’t have any noticeable latency to them when you’re watching movies or videos on your phone, tablet, or computer… you still can’t use them to monitor your audio wirelessly in like final cut pro cause they do have a noticeable latency to them. So for that you do want to use a wired connection. Which thankfully these headphones still have an easy to reach 3.5 millimeter audio jack.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these headphones. First off I gotta point out that thankfully these headphones are still using 40 millimeter drivers just like the 1000XM3’s and 1000XM2’s. And its important to point this out cause the WH-CH710N’s are using 30 millimeter drivers and the H.ear On 3’s are using 25 millimeter drivers which really did end up reducing their bass. Now for all intents and purposes the 1000XM4’s sound identical to the 1000XM3’s… but both the 1000XM4’s and 1000XM3’s sound better than the 1000XM2’s cause they have far better clarity and don’t suffer from any distortion on the higher end. Now in general the 1000XM4’s are a pair of good sounding headphones and they’re going to be able to please most people. From a technical side these headphones have good clarity, they have a decent sound stage and decent instrument separation, the highs don’t get tinny and the bass never bottoms out. But the soundstage sound the 1000XM4’s hasn’t been improved from the 1000XM3’s so there are plenty of other headphones out there that sound more open. And just like on the 1000XM3’s the bass on the 1000XM4’s airs more on the physical side and doesn’t resonate all that much to induce goose bumps like some other headphones out there can. But nonetheless like I said these headphones are definitely people pleasers because thank to their fully customizable EQ you can make them sound however you want. If you like a neutral EQ or vocals heavy EQ you can do that or if you like a bass heavy EQ you can also do that. And the bass on these headphones is going to physically rattle your head a good amount and it should satiate most people. Now personally I just like using these headphones with their stock EQ but I do like switching these headphones over to a more bass heavy EQ when im going to watch movies with them cause having that physical bass on these headphones does add an extra level of imersivness to what ever you’re watching. However, if you are an android user who really wants to use their own EQ with their 1000XM4’s im very happy to say that these headphones still continue to use LDAC even when you’re using your own EQ. Cause with the 1000XM3’s if you wanted to use your own EQ setting on an android device then they would revert to using SBC. And unfortunately the 1000XM3’s just don’t sound as rich or as full when they’re in SBC than when they’re using LDAC. But for iPhone users you’re going to top out at AAC, so no matter what EQ you use the 1000XM4’s will continue to use AAC on an iPhone.
Now when it comes to controlling your music, just like before the 1000XM4’s have a touchpad on the right ear cup. You can swipe up or down to adjust the volume, and pro tip you can also swipe up or down and hold to continuously raise or lower the volume and you can swipe front or back to skip through your music. And the touchpad on these headphones is easy to use and they have a large percentage of accuracy. There’s a slight learning curve at first and on occasion your are going to get missed inputs… but the touchpads on these headphones aren’t problematic.
But one new feature the 1000XM4’s have is that they now have wear sensors so when you take you’re headphones off they’ll automatically pause you’re music and when you put them back on they’ll start playing again. Now personally im not a fan of wear sensors so im glad to see that you can easily turn them off through their app. But I do want to point out how janky this exposed wear sensor looks. There are plenty of headphones out there that have wear sensors who’s sensors are inconspicuous. So it kind of feels like the wear sensor on these headphones was an after thought.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. This is basically what put sony on the map and its the main reason why the 1000XM3’s have been so popular. Just like before the active noise cancellation on the 1000XM4’s doesn’t change how your music sounds at all. Which still does happen with a lot of headphones out there namely the bowers and Wilkins PX7. The active noise cancelation on the 1000XM4’s also doesn’t have all that much cabin pressure like lets say the Bose QC35’s. And just as you’d expect the 1000XM4’s are blocking out an impressive amount of noise. 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 are blocking out an impressive amount of noise. But unfortunately from my findings I can not say that the 1000XM4’s have improved active noise cancelation from the 1000XM3’s. From this controlled test where all of these headphones are blocking out the same audio samples in the same room I can’t help but feel that the ANC on the 1000XM3’s is a little better. When it came to blocking out road noise or the constant low frequency sound the 1000XM4’s have a bit of a high pitch tone to them in the background where as the 1000XM3’s don’t. And when it came to blocking out chatter or the random higher frequency sound the 1000XM4’s let in noticeably more chatter in than the 1000XM3’s. Now obviously before running these tests I ran the noise canceling optimizer on all of these headphones but for right now I gotta say that the ANC on the Sony 1000XM3’s running their 4.5.2 firmware out performs the Sony 1000XM4’s running their 2.0.6 firmware which is the latest firmware at the time of this recording. Ultimately im just splitting hairs here for differences most people won’t even notice cause the 1000XM4’s have impressive active noise cancelation period.… But we are going to have to revisit the ANC performance on the 1000XM4’s after they get another firmware update.
Now when it comes to the ambient mode on these headphones, thankfully the ambient mode on the 1000XM4’s hasn’t been changed. The ambient mode on these headphones sound very natural, there’s zero hissing in the background which is super important for when youre watching movies or videos on your phone, and the microphone array on these headphones pick up zero to very little wind noise when walking out doors. And that applies for when these headphones have their ambient mode or active noise cancellation turned on. But one of the biggest reasons why I like the ambient mode on these headphones so much besides being able to adjust how much noise these headphones let in… is that these headphones have an active ambient mode which is still pretty rare these days. Basically when you have the ambient mode on these headphones turned on they’re going to actively block out sudden spikes in loud noises saving you from jump scares. But let me just show you what im talking about. And slight headphones warning.
So like you may have just when these headphones detected that sudden spike noise they stoped letting in ambient noise. And when that noise stopped they started to let in noise again. Personally I love when headphones have an active ambient mode cause it save you from jump scares and it also very handy for when your dog starts barking when the UPS man comes around.
Now a new feature on the 1000XM4’s which sony is really trying to push on these headphones is their new speak to chat feature which is an extension of the ambient mode on these headphones. Which works a little like this.
But ultimately for me speak to chat is going to get filled under the gimmicks folder and im just not going to use it. Now speak to chat doesn’t get active when other people are talking around you which is good. But unfortunately if you decide to use these headphones with speak chat enabled you have to be completely silent. Speak to chat is going to get activated whether you're singing along to your music, thinking out loud even very quietly, and it also get activated when you start laughing which is a big problem especially if you’re listening to the Flagrant 2 podcast.
So overall, the days that I did try to use these headphones with Speak to chat enabled they just paused my music out of nowhere very frequently becoming more of a nuances rather than being helpful. Now the reason why sony developed speak to chat is cause people told them that they wanted to be able to talk to people without having to touch their headphones.
Now just like a lot of other sony headphones out there… the 1000XM4’s still have quick attention where if you fully cover their touch pad they’ll lower the volume the volume of your music and let in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk to someone without having to take your headphones off like this.
And when you let go they’ll go back to normal again. But the problem with quick attention is that you constantly have to keep their touch pad covered. So when you’re talking to someone like this… this feels and looks very awkward. Literally all sony has to do is make it so that when the touch pad is fully covered for a full second the headphones will be locked in quick attention mode and then when you tap on the touch pad they’ll go back to normal again. This small change will make quick attention easier to use and it’ll be a better solution than speak to chat.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now this is an area where Sony’s headphones have really struggled for awhile now. Now yes the microphone on these headphones is an improvement from previous generations but my voice still doesn’t sound super clear. But something these headphones are doing very well is blocking out that AC unit. Cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone youre going to clearly hear that AC unit. But if we switch back over to the 1000XM4’s you don’t hear it at much.
Where as if we were toswtich over to the 1000XM3’s they block out a little bit of that AC unit but you can still hear it in the back ground.
And if we were to switch over to the 1000XM2’s you can clearly hear that AC unit in the background
So even thought the microphone on the 1000XM4’s still isn’t the best it is technically an improvement.
So with all that being said, the Sony 1000XM4’s are still a great pair of headphones and sony is clearly just trying to refine what they know already works. The biggest difference between the Sony 1000XM4 and Sony 1000XM3 is going to boil down to their fit. The earcups on the 1000XM4 are just a little more spacious than the ear cups on the 1000XM3. But other than that there’s really no reason to upgrade or even worry about FOMO. These headphones sound the same, they have the same great ambient mode, and they have the same great battery life. If you were curious about speak to chat ultimately to me its just a gimmick and I doubt that a lot of people are going to use it. But then there’s the active noise cancellation on these headphones… even thought the ANC on the 1000XM4’s is great I can’t help but feel that the ANC on the 1000XM3’s is still a little better. So maybe there needs to be some firmware refinement. And even though the microphone on the 1000XM4’s has been improved it still need work. But nontheless the Sony 1000XM4’s are still a solid pair of ANC headphones and they’re going to be the obvious choice for most people. And if for some reason you’re still holding on to the 1000XM2’s its defneitly time for an upgrade. But nonetheless I still feel the 1000XM4’s still have a little more room for refinement and sony don’t get comfortable. And also will you please just fix quick attention?!