Sony WF-1000XM4 Industry Leading Noise Canceling Truly Wireless Earbud Headphones with Alexa Built-in, Black
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Availability:
Only 1 left in stock, order soon!
Arrives
Saturday, Jun 20
Color: Black
Features
- Industry-leading noise canceling bluetooth earbuds with the new Integrated Processor V1. .Magnet : High-power neodymium magnets, Frequency Response (Bluetooth Communication) : 20 Hz20,000 Hz (44.1 kHz sampling) 20 Hz40000 Hz, (LDAC 96 kHz sampling, 990 kbps) / 20 Hz20,000 Hz (44.1 kHz sampling)..Quick Attention : Yes. DSEE Extreme : Yes
- Exceptional sound quality with new Integrated Processor V1 and supporting LDAC codec.
- Crystal-clear call quality, beamforming microphone and a bone-conduction sensor provide clear voice detection even in noisy environments
- Speak-to-chat technology automatically reduces volume during conversations.Note:If you face issue in Bluetooth connectivity please turn off the Bluetooth function for a couple of minutes, then turn it back on
- 8 hours long battery with Noise Canceling
- IPX4 Water resistance
- Multipoint connection lets you connect two devices at once (Available via firmware update)
- Easy wireless charging with Qi technology
- "Sony | Headphones Connect App for Android /iO
- These noise cancelling headphones are Alexa enabled for voice access to music, information, and more. Activate with a simple touch.
Description
Take the next step in truly wireless noise canceling performance and exceptional sound quality. The new Integrated Processor V1 delivers unmatched performance while using even less power. Adding in drastically enhanced call quality, IPX4 water resistance, and up to 24 hours of battery life with wireless charging, the WF-1000XM4 Truly Wireless Earbuds are unlike any other before them.
Brand: Sony
Color: Black
Ear Placement: In Ear
Form Factor: In Ear
Impedance: 8 Ohms
Brand Name: Sony
Model Number: WF1000XM4/B
Model Name: WF-1000XM4
Built-In Media: Wireless Charging Case,USB C charging cable,Three Earbud Tips
Warranty Description: 1 year
Number of Items: 1
UPC: 027242921085
Manufacturer: SONY
Item Type Name: TRUE WIRELESS EARBUDS
Is Autographed: No
Headphone Jack: 3.5 mm Jack
Connectivity Technology: Bluetooth 5.2, USB
Wireless Technology: Bluetooth
Bluetooth Version: 5.2
Color: Black
Theme: Video Game
Item Weight: 41 Grams
Carrying Case Weight: 30 Grams
Unit Count: 1.0 Count
Impedance: 8 Ohms
Noise Control: Active Noise Cancellation
Frequency Response: 40000 Hz
Audio Driver Type: Balanced Armature Driver
Frequency Range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 20 Hz -40 kHz
Enclosure Material: Plastic
Specific Uses For Product: Communication
Antenna Location: Music, Calls, Voice Assistant
Compatible Devices: Bluetooth-enabled Devices
Cable Features: Without Cable
Water Resistance Level: Water Resistant
Carrying Case Material: Hard Plastic
Additional Features: Microphone Included, Sweatproof
Is Electric: No
Headphones Ear Placement: In Ear
Headphone Folding Features: In Ear
Earpiece Shape: Rounded or similar to other in-ear headphones
Control Type: Noise Control
Control Method: Touch
Battery Charge Time: 1.5 Hours
Battery Average Life: 8 Hour
Frequently asked questions
The Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds have up to 8 hours of battery life with noise cancellation on. With the charging case, you can get up to a total of 24 hours of playback. If noise cancellation is off, the battery life extends even further.
Yes, the Sony WF-1000XM4 comes with Alexa built-in, allowing hands-free voice calling, music playback, and access to other Alexa functions.
The Sony WF-1000XM4 incorporates a dual noise sensor technology that captures ambient noise and passes the data to the processor. The HD Noise Cancelling Processor then applies noise cancelling processing in real-time to a range of acoustic environments.
Yes, the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds have an IPX4 water resistance rating, which means they're resistant to splashing water from any direction, making them suitable for use in the rain or at the gym.
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Top Amazon Reviews
Color: Black
These were expensive but when it comes to sound quality and noise cancelling, I don’t want to cheap out and these didn’t disappoint (I think I bought these at full price too at something like 300$). The noise cancelling honestly feels like magic when I turn it on. It still gives me goosebumps. I've used these earbuds nearly every day for like the last year and a half and have had zero regrets in buying them. Pros: Fantastic sound quality, comfortable fit (I've forgotten I was wearing them on occasion), magic noise cancelling, long battery life, durable earbuds, easy touch controls, outside noise isn't blocked at all when ANC is off so others are still easily heard and understood, sound profiles with the app are pretty easy to play around with and offer some good customization. Cons: Foam ear-tips can get really nasty if used at the gym or for extended periods without taking the time to clean them thoroughly, charging case build quality isn't great (creeky plastic and has some give where others are much more solid feeling), possible bluetooth interference from time to time, simultaneous dual device connection isn't really a thing despite the marketing, no tracking method on the case is a bit of a bummer for earbuds this expensive. I’ll jump into the aspects I disliked since they’re easier to write about. I’d tried beats before these and while I also liked those (and at their price points, they are quite competitive) I found these to have superior noise cancelling and were a bit more comfortable to wear for extended periods. I don’t think they’re the most comfortable earbuds I’ve ever used and frankly, if they were any less comfortable I would have returned them and repurchased the beat fit pro’s I’d originally bought and saved a hundred dollars. I did find the Sony pair to be the more comfortable of the two hence why I stuck with them. I think the issue I have with them is that they’re just a bit large and it can be difficult to feel exactly how they’re supposed to sit in your ear. The way you see them pictured isn’t very comfortable for me so I don’t feel like I’m necessarily wearing them “correctly” but they don’t fall out during my gym time and they don’t look like I’m wearing them the wrong way so it’s really just a nitpick. They don’t sit as flush with my ear as I’d have liked. They look fine though in the mirror. I don’t feel self conscious while wearing them in public which I’d worried about when seeing how large they were. *That could make the difference for you if you like to wear earbuds to get some peace and quiet and get a nap in since they’ll be pushing against your pillow and that’ll get uncomfortable very quickly. The ear tip pieces are not the typical silicon material you find on nearly every other set of earbuds, they’re like a type of memory foam. I assume they chose this material to help with the noise cancellation and I’m sure it does provide a better seal between your ear and the outside world but in I’m opinion, silicon would have been better. Reason being that they’re very difficult to clean off the earwax inevitably gets on them. I clean my ears often and you’d think I never did if you caught a glimpse of my earbuds. For whatever reason, the wax really sticks to the foam and it’s difficult to remove. I damaged one of the tips trying to clean it, they aren’t the most durable things. I ended up removing the silicon ear tips from an older pair of earbuds and using them to replace the memory foam tips. I found them to be more comfortable to wear, easier to get a good fit in the ear, and faaaar easier to clean. The degradation of the noise cancellation wasn’t *that* significant. I did flip between the two types of tips a few times to see the difference and it wasn’t much. It’s a personal preference really, I don’t think the tiny loss in noise cancellation outweighs the easier cleaning. **Edit from future me* Good god, please use silicon ear tips. I made the mistake of squeezing a foam ear tip and I discovered that they act just like little sponges where they absorb all the sweat and ear wax that gets near enough. Wiping them down isn't good enough with foam tips.. you have to literally wring them out and wow was that disgusting. That's with *any* foam ear tips though, not specific to these earbuds. I haven’t really messed around with the equalizer settings all that much. I found a suggested setting on YouTube and tried it out and have since increased the bass some but have left the other settings as they were. It’s pretty easy to change them if you’re into that. Battery life seems great. They haven’t died on me yet and I’ve used them for several hours in a session before when I’d listen to podcasts or use them at home to game with. My advice, try the beats pro fit before jumping up to these. Those had great sound quality and noise cancellation but the little silicon but that holds it in your ear became really uncomfortable for me after half an hour or so. If that doesn’t bother you, then you can probably save yourself the hundred dollars and get those instead. I don’t think the improvements in sound quality and noise suppression on the Sony’s is worth another hundred dollars. But again, these are great earbuds and if you’re willing to spend the money, you’ll get fantastic sound, noise cancellation, and a tolerably comfortable fit. Whether or not that’s worth 50% more for over the competition that has almost the same sound quality is up to you. ***Update*** 1 year and some months later I still recommend these headphones. A year on and they're still fanastic for me but there are a few small issues that have cropped up that I'm not sure existed earlier on in my use with them. The most annoying of which is that I will periodically just lose the sound while gaming for a period of 10 seconds or so. It sounds a bit like that trope where someone's pretending they're going through a tunnel and losing the signal so I wonder if I'm getting some kind of bluetooth interference from another piece of tech in my apartment building. It's not an issue that ruins the product or anything but on occasion I have gotten frustrated with it enough that I took them out and used my wired headset for the remainder of my game session. I think another thing to note with these earbuds is that they're easy to drop and the way they fit into the case often means you'll have to pick them back up because you tried to put them in the wrong side. I'm a cluts so naturally have dropped them dozens of times and on hard surfaces but despite that they still work (nearly) flawlessly. The other issue I have with them is that they're marketed as being capable of being connected to two devices simultaneously when in reality, they're really not. You have to jump through too many hoops for this feature to actually work like it's advertised to. It's not a deal breaker but it does mean that if you use them with multiple devices you'll have an extra step to go through to connect them since they'll often end up paired with the wrong one. Disappointing and inconvenient but again, not a deal breaker. They're still great earbuds.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2022 by Connor
Color: Black
These earbuds were worth every penny. If you read the reviews you'll see the salient features -- impressive sound quality, long battery life, great noise canceling, etc. It's all very much true. The noise canceling for example is nothing short of amazing. It's basically as good as my WH-1000XM4s. I couldn't believe it when I first experienced it. So, you can trust the reviews on those points. I want to point out a few things that I've noticed from about a month of daily use. For context, these are my first Sony earbuds; I've used a lot of the Samsung buds but I've never tried the Apple buds. My impression of earbuds is that there's a lot more of a personalized experience - the fit, the sound, etc. depends so much on each person. So, here's my experience. First, the software (on Android) has a feature that will let you test which of the earbud sizes best fits your ear. This feature alone fundamentally changed my experience with these earbuds - I discovered that my ears take different sizes! I have no idea how common that is, but it's just one of those things I would never have realized on my own. I just knew earbuds never fit! Following the software's recommendation on which size to use for which ear, these buds fit and they never fall out. It's the first time in my life I've been able to trust the earbuds sitting in my ear. Without the overall excellence of the earbuds on top of this feature, I think it would be a bit of a gimmick. But for me it made all the difference in how usable these were. Chewing, speaking, etc. don't dislodge them. Every so often I'll give a twist to secure them. But it's night-and-day different from any earbuds I've ever used before. Second, the material on the earbuds is like a memory foam -- squishy and malleable -- as opposed to the silicone I've encountered on other similar products. I much prefer the memory foam! It seems to adapt and stay better to my ear, at least. I do think it puts a bit of stress on the skin and that can lead to a bit of discomfort after long periods of time using them. I also think they're a little more difficult to clean. They may need to be replaced more often as the material breaks down. But, for me these have been minor issues in comparison to how they fit and stay in the ear. I've worn them hours at a time without trouble. Third, in the negative column, there are some interesting/weird artifacts in the sound stage sometimes. In some cases there's a weird edge on voices like we're sitting inside a tin can or something. I've also noticed a short "whooshing" sound just before sound starts or ends. Both are subtle but noticeable and I did not experience anything like it in the WH products I've owned (the over-ear Sony headphones). They may be specific to settings that I haven't figured out yet. In both cases, I noticed it but it hasn't really bothered me. I do wish I had known about it before buying! Last, I wish it were easier to switch between devices. It's not that it's terribly difficult; you long-press both earbuds for 5 seconds, and they go into pairing mode. But, I think the target audience for these earbuds probably switches pretty often between phone and laptop (and in my case, add a few more devices) -- so the tediousness of that otherwise pretty simple process gets amplified from repetition. (To illustrate the perceptual distortion, when I was typing this out I originally put 10 seconds because it feels like "forever". But, I decided I should just look it up and found that it was only 5 seconds!) In practice, the issues I described haven't stopped me from reaching for the WFs over the WHs more and more consistently over the last month. These are hands down the best earbuds I've ever owned or used, and approaching the best portable personal audio solution in general for the price point. I paid full price and I have zero regrets. It's a truly impressive product.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2021 by Spencer Kellis
Color: Black
These earphones—when they work—are very good. The battery life is great. And they fit in my ears and stay in surprisingly well. It’s disappointing that Sony doesn’t offer wider codec support: e.g. any of the aptX codec family. The charger case is an abomination, having apparently been designed with a rubberized coating specifically engineered to rub off as easily as possible and become ugly after mere days of non-abusive use (literally just resting in a pocket with no keys). The mere fact that companies sell the equivalent of cell phone cases for these things is an indictment in itself. At least Sony improved upon the XM3 charger case by realizing that it might in fact actually be useful to have a flat bottom so that the stupid thing can actually sit upright and be used in a somewhat non-idiotic upright manner. I don’t know what they were thinking with the XM3 design. Okay, now it’s time to discuss “crippling hardware problems in Sony’s various noise-cancelling headphones that they refuse to acknowledge or fix despite those issues being widely reported and known about for multiple years”. I noticed that whenever I enabled ANC (noise cancelling), the right earbud would continually make an odd constant noise: kind of like static, or wind noise, or that weird sound you hear in your ears sometimes after swimming for too long. No amount of troubleshooting would alleviate the problem with the right earbud. I tried everything. So, the only option was to literally get a replacement for the entire set of earphones. Wonderful. What’s particularly obnoxious about this, is that across the Internet, many many people on forums and support boards are aware of this widespread problem. It affects, at the very least, this product (WF-1000XM4), as well as the last two generations of over-ear noise cancelling headphones (WH-1000XM3 and WH-1000XM4), and possibly other products too. Yet, Sony never acknowledges the problem or fixes the underlying issue. It even spans across distinct models of headphones released at different times with a redesign in between! (WH-1000XM3 to WH-1000XM4) I guess they didn’t think fixing this issue was worth including in that redesign. For whatever reason, Sony would rather users be baffled about the problem and eventually have to go through a product replacement, than to put a simple freaking knowledge base article on their website acknowledging and describing the problem, and then actually FIX the problem (whether it be via a hardware change, or a firmware update, or whatever). No; Sony would prefer that users are forced to cast about to third-party forums to even find out that this is a common problem. And then for all the customers who had it happen outside of warranty coverage, it’s up to random people on the Internet to discover for them that—at least for the over-ear headphones—literally shoving a silica gel desiccant pack somewhere inside the headphones seems to alleviate the issue in many cases. (No, I did not just make that up. That is literally the community-recommended fix. And it’s obviously infeasible for the true wireless earbuds like WF-1000XM4.) “Industry Leaders” don’t pull this kind of crap. Sony needs to step up their quality control, pull their heads out of their respective dark resting places, and actually acknowledge problems like this one and at the very least *attempt* to do something to resolve the design flaw itself, instead of ignoring customers on their support forum and continuing to manufacture the same broken junk when they *know* it’s broken. UPDATE (Nov 2022): After just under a year of owning my actually-working set of XM4’s, the right-side earphone very suddenly lost a tremendous amount of battery life (down to, at best, maybe ~33% the battery life of the left earphone) and also started to become noticeably hot after charging. Fortunately I was still just barely within the 1-year limited warranty period, so I filed a warranty claim and Sony was willing to provide a full product replacement. Unfortunately they do not offer any sort of “advance replacement” (many companies offer this: basically they send you the replacement product first and then you send back the defective unit once you get the replacement one), so I had to go a few weeks on backup headphones, which was annoying. They did at least provide free return shipping though, so there’s that. Not very confidence-inspiring to have this sort of sudden problem arise after under a year. Most likely it’s a problem with the lithium ion battery in the earphone going bad suddenly; or possibly the charging circuitry in the case lost its mind and started doing something like over-charging the earphone battery past the maximum point, or short-circuiting it and over-discharging it, or something of that nature. EARWAX ISSUES! Another thing that had started to substantially bother me by this point, is earwax problems. I personally have white-person-type “wet” type earwax (orange and gooey); due to a genetic quirk, the vast majority of Asians have “dry” type earwax (not as orange and more flaky, rather than gooey/liquidy). I am starting to think that Sony, being a Japanese company, may make design decisions that unintentionally presuppose dry-type earwax (since I imagine almost everyone at Sony HQ has that type of earwax). So here’s what the earwax problem is. I don’t have excessive amounts of earwax, and I do a pretty good job of keeping my ears clean. Nevertheless, I have that orange gooey/liquidy type of earwax. I need to digress for a moment to explain some parts of the earphones so this will make sense. The “business end” of the earphones (the part where the sound comes out) is sort of a tube, jutting out from the body of the earphone; and that tube contains a little cylindrical piece of dark gray foam (which I will call the “plug”, since I never could figure out its official technical name). Note that the foam earphone tips (small/medium/large) are a distinct thing from the “plug”; the tips are the vaguely-donut-shaped bits that fit around the tube and seal up against your ear canal. Okay so here’s what happens: when the earphones are properly in my ears (nice and tight, not loose and letting in extra outside sound etc), the end of the foam “plug” is maybe only a couple millimeters recessed relative to the end of the foam earphone “tip”. And what happens is that my gooey/liquid type earwax basically soaks into the “plug” foam as if it was a sponge. (Yeah, it sounds gross, but that’s just what happens.) And at a certain point I started being concerned about why one of my earphones was noticeably quieter than the other. Turns out, the earwax soaking into the foam “plug” like a sponge fills the tiny holes in the foam, reducing and eventually even blocking sound from coming through. So what I learned that I had to do as a basic maintenance step, once a week or thereabouts, is to take off the earphone tips; use a toothpick or other pointy object to “grab” the end of the “plug” foam cylinder; stretch it out the end of the “sound tube” as much as feasible without ripping the glue that secures it at the base of the tube; and then “wring out” the stretched-out “plug” as if it was a sponge by squishing it inside a tissue. The tissue would always show a decent amount of orangey liquid absorbable after doing this. And then I’d stuff the “plug” back into the sound tube, put the tips back on, and any reduction in volume would be mitigated. The problem with all of this is that NOWHERE in any of Sony’s manuals or online documentation or anything, is there ANY mention of this issue (let alone an official procedure for the approved way to clean it out). It seems clear that Sony simply never even considered the possibility that this might be a problem for non-Asians who don’t have dry-type earwax. Yet I discovered that this was the problem I was having, as well as the way to fix it, based on forum posts by community members complaining of reduced volume who eventually DID figure out the situation (totally separate from Sony). And unfortunately, stretching/pulling on the foam “plug” to get it out far enough to where you can squeeze out any soaked-up earwax is very clearly something which was never intended to be done by product users, and risks detaching (and maybe even losing) that important little piece of protective foam which is merely held in place by a tiny dab of glue at the base of the sound tube and can’t be reattached if the glue connection is broken. So, if your genetics are such that your ears have that annoying sticky gooey “wet-type” earwax rather than the flaky “dry-type” earwax, it’s likely that you may encounter reductions in volume from time to time that can only really be resolved by stretching that foam “plug” out and wringing it, which is (a) something you’re unlikely to realize is even the problem/solution at all in the first place unless you get lucky and find a forum post or this review or whatever that mentions it; (b) an annoying and arguably gross thing to need to do as regular maintenance; and (c) something that Sony clearly never anticipated that end users would need to do, and which may very well result in the “plug” breaking free and becoming lost, which is almost certainly something they would consider user-inflicted damage based on improper maintenance (because the maintenance procedures in the product documentation don’t seem to even consider you’d ever need to do anything like this and the product clearly wasn’t designed with it in mind). So, beware the dreaded earwax sponge effect and the issues it presents.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2021 by Justin G
Color: Black
Sony is always leading the way for electronics.. that may be my personal opinion but I’ve also had Sony products since 1995 and I am the type of person that when I see a brand that works, I do not stray away. Regardless.. these are the flagship TWS earbuds around.. I am being unbiased when I say mehh… I will keep this review short. Sound quality/Call quality.. extensively great.. having the adjustable EQ, makes it so much better to enjoy music that you love. I listen a broad spectrum of music and they do not disappoint by any means. They can provide clean and clear bass when you want them to, or be bass heavy. Just slide that “Clear Bass” to the right and you’ll not be disappointed, as they still provide clean sound that’s totally not overpowered with the bass all the way up. Even at flat, the highs, mids and bass tones are natural and warm.. they are rich. Though these don’t provide a soundstage like over the ear headphones do which may be a downfall to some people. The call quality though, is to me, better than the top of the line Jabra 85T.. I have had those before myself, and was let down. People can hear me very clearly, rarely do I have to repeat myself if not at all. Voices are clear, they’re not muffled or sound far away by any means, which me being a trucker, having the cleanliness and clarity is a must have when on the road. It is very weird though, when you do receive a call, the sound changes I’ll explain that below. Sound modes.. the ANC, I hardly ever use because they seal in your ear well enough that ANC, in my case, is almost obsolete. I wear them in off mode every day.. they provide enough seal and passive noise reduction being “in ear” more than let’s say Apple AirPods Pro, that you won’t need ANC. Transparency mode is really nice to use. If I’m out and about running errands, I leave the transparency mode on so I can hear what’s around me at all times. Sometimes though, with certain sounds, or wind it can sound like you have a solo cup over your ear so not everything is going to sound clear. I usually take one out when I am talking to someone to be courteous, because they do give you a sense that you’re talking too loud when in reality you’re not talking loud enough which can make people have to ask you to repeat yourself. Overall, the ANC is great, it’s not something I use or care to truly use unless needed but it’s a great feature to have if you like to use it. Li Ike I mentioned above, it does have this sound mode that turns on when you receive a call. It’s not transparency mode, but it’s like a hear your own voice mode. For some reason the volume every time I connect these earbuds the ringer is on the lowest volume setting. The only way I know I’m receiving a call is when the sound mode changes from off, to the “hear your own voice” sound mode. It goes from hearing barely anything to like a 50% transparency mode that makes it sound like you’re in a tunnel. Battery life… This is the flagship of any earbuds… I’ve worn these for 10-12 hours some days, and with the sound mode in Off, they did not die or reach “low battery”.. I had them at 60% battery life one day, and 8 hours later the voice prompt finally said “low battery” and that was at 20% battery left in both earbuds. They do last a very long time. Mind you I have mixed usage.. music, movies, phone calls/etc, and they still have outlasted any other pair I’ve had. I cannot speak for battery length in ANC/transparency mode, but I can say that they do outlast anything. Tap control… be weary, that while they are functional, you have to tap the earbuds just right for them to recognize the functions you wish to have them perform. They seem to be proprietary to the center of the earbud, as I’ve tried tapping just outside the center and nothing happened. This may be cumbersome to a lot of people who like having tap controls.. I barely use them except to change sound modes, and play/pause whatever I’m listening to or watching at the time. Comfort… this is a let down… I’ve been wearing AirPods Pro’s since they came out. To me, they are the most comfortable earbuds I’ve had. And I declare that to Apples design of the tips and earbuds to your ears rather than having an eartip contour or expand your ear canal to fit.. while these do have comfort, the foam tips, they aren’t gonna last long and while they provide comfort, it’s just not enough. I ordered a pair of Eartune U-Ellipitical eartips that changed everything. To anyone looking for better eartips, the Eartunes are what you need, as they are designed with a more oval shape to contour to the ear canal a lot better. With the ear tip change, they will however, these earbuds still provide discomfort elsewhere.. where they sit in your ear overtime will cause a burning sensation.. the first few days wearing them I had to take them out after a few hours because my ear canal, and the area where these sit were making my ears burn pretty bad.. I still have some days where I feel some burning, it’s not as bad but it’s still enough where I find myself taking them out for a while to give my ears some relief, and that’s where a lot of other earbuds may prevail in comfort compared to these. Overall, if you’re a sound guy, you want top of the line ANC, and a superior battery life and can live with small discomforts.. I highly recommend these for you and they will not disappoint. For those who are looking for an alternative in comfort and comfort being a priority, compared to the Apple AirPods Pro’s, or equally comfortable earbuds, these are not for you.. while the pros may trump the downfall in regards to the small issues in comfort, the comfort may trump the pros for others. Please understand I changed eartips to one’s more similar to the Airpods, but still experienced discomfort. If you’re looking for a balance of everything a TWS can offer/may have to offer, these are definitely a great pair, I just think that maybe the price should be a tad bit lower and I would wait for the next time they go on sale. Update - 12/5/22 After doing some research I found a set of eartips that I recommend for these, Eartune Fidelity U-Ellipse. I highly recommend these to a seriously great extent because they have changed the game for me, and I can comfortably wear the WF-1000XM4s over 10 hours without any issues of burning, itchy or etc. If you purchase these earbuds and the eartips above, you will not be looking for another pair of earbuds for quite some time.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2022 by Tech Reviews
Color: Black
Back in 2019, Sony shook up the ear bud market by offering the oddly shaped but highly effective WF-1000XM3's. They offered great sound with, at the time, effective Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), decent phone call quality, and so much more. If you need evidence of how good these are, Google "best wireless ear buds" and you will still find them on most lists some two years later. I used them for about a year before gifting them to my sister. They were ahead of their time in 2019, on par with the best in 2020, but now find themselves with some serious competition in the premium ear bud space. Since 2019 Apple, Bose, Master&Dynamic, Klipsch, Sennheiser, Samsung, Bowers&Wilkins, and so many more are all offering premium buds with serious tech packed inside of them. Sony had their work cut out if they wanted to regain the title. If you want to skip a long review, Sony has accomplished a great deal here. The buds are outstanding. Sound, ANC, battery, and form factor are all significantly improved and this is coming from the aforementioned great foundation of the 1000XM3's. They aren't perfect but they are really good. I usually do bullet points of my pros and cons but there aren't many cons and I think you guys will likely get the most benefit from comparing these to other premium buds in the market. So here we go. -Sound: Sony is featuring a single very well tuned 6mm driver here. They are really good. Natural is what come to mind here. For buds, they have a nice wide sound stage, rich lows, present mids, and nice crisp highs. Sony has their proprietary 360 surround here again which is really cool when it works. Only certain high quality streaming music apps like Deezer, Tidal, QoBuz, Amazon HD, etc can take advantage of it and then only certain tracks are engineered to work with it. Apple and Samsung's Spatial Audio options are better but it sounds very cool when you experience it. Speaking of premium streaming apps, I need to stop and say this now: Sony is only offering one premium Codec with these and that is their very own LDAC. There is no AptX HD/Adaptive here. It is LDAC, AAC, and SBC. In order to really get the most out of these, you need to upgrade to a service like Tidal, for example, that will put out LDAC audio. It is a noticeable improvement even to my old ears. Apple users are stuck with AAC which is okay and certainly an improvement over the SBC default option. Comparing these to the other premium buds available gets tricky. To me, the new Dual Driver Bowers&Wilkins PI7 are in their own class and at $400, they should be. These compare very nicely to the M&D MW08s and the Klipsch Mclarens. In regard to sound, these nudge out the Bose QuietComforts, the latest Sennheisers, and the UE Fits for me but it is close. Sony bests the Airpod Pros, Samsung Buds Pro, and the Jabra 85ts more easily. Overall, most folks should be happy with sound here. -ANC: It is good here. Very good for buds. In my experience, ear buds are hindered by their lack of physical size and the need for a seal in your ear. Over ears are always better for this reason. To me the Bose QuietComfort buds are the kings of ANC and Sony hasn't done enough to dethrone them. Man it is close though! All of the other premium buds I have mentioned fall in line behind Sony here. It pretty much wipes out everything around you only allowing the most jarring sudden noises in. Music, televisions, conversations, fans, presumably airplane engines are nearly 100% erased. The buds can adjust based on the noise around you. It is all just very well done. It feels right to me to have Sony and Bose lead the ear bud category in ANC quality. After all, they own the over ear category. Well done here. -Calls: This was an area the 1000XM3's showed their age to me. The 1000XM4's fix all of that. To me, these are among the very best in the business on call quality. Apple still owns the crown but, after that, no other bud I have used sound as good on either end of a call. I need more time here to be sure but after handling a handful of calls today, I feel comfortable giving high marks here. I always test calls outside to see how bad wind interference is. Sony really nailed it here. I think. More to come, I promise. -Form Factor: Okay so, for me, this is where the pure glow of the review fades a bit. If there is an area that Sony missed here, it is in pure physical design. They definitely stick out of your ear and they aren't the lightest buds around so they don't feel great in ear for me. For the record, ear buds that hang out of your ears like pegs are a pet peeve of mine. These are not as bad as the Melomania buds (the kings of peg design) in that regard but they are noticeable. Quite noticeable. These aren't as big as the Bose QCs but the Bose have a slimmer profile opting for more of an elongated look that is actually more in line with the last gen Sonys. They come with sort of a hybrid finished foam tips. I don't love them. I will have my own silicone tips on here by the weekend. The touch pad buttons work flawlessly, almost never failing to register a tap. Sony finally gave these an waterproof rating. IPX4 is here so they are sweat and dust resistant. Not best in class but I am glad to see them fix the omission of the last gen on these new $279 set of buds. Lastly, I don't know about the gold accents. Totally subjective I know and I get what Sony is trying to do. I think they are trying to add a little bit of class while breaking up the montony of all black or all white buds. It just feels a little too ostentatious to me. Not a deal breaker but it does make me a bit self conscious. -The App: Sonys app is highly customizable. It allows you to control so much including ANC levels, ambient sound levels (by the way ambient sound here is really good), EQ, and more. You can also mange your personal assistant. If you are an Alexa fan, she is built in and works really well. Google and Siri play well here to. Just depends what you prefer. However, in spite of all of this and in spite of using this app for now two years, I still find it to be one of the least intuitive apps out there. I bring this up because to get the most out of these, you need to use this app especially initially. You will want to use the sound app to start here and you will likely have a little more of a learning curve than many other apps you have used. It's all here it is just a little convoluted. - Battery: Sony's eight hours on bud claim shouldn't really be a win but it is. That is with ANC on. Here are some of the competitors battery life roughly with ANC active and mixed use (my experience not the spec): Airpods Pro: Around 4 hours. Bose QC: 5.5 hours. M&D MW08'S: 9 hours (the best) Wilkins PI7'S: 4.5 hours. Samsung Buds Pro: 4.5 hours. Jabra 85t's: 6 hours. Sennheiser Momentum TW 2: 4.5 hours. I have only ran these down once but in mixed use (an hour of video and calls / lots of music) I managed just over 7 hours. Now wait, you are probably wondering why only 7 hours? I know I was. Then I realized that I was streaming LDAC for quite some time. No doubt the higher audio quality stream was to blame. Regardless, when you see how these stack up, battery here is close to class leading. The Case gives you another 2 charges before you need to plug in. Very good stuff here. - The Case: I hated the last gen Sony case. Frankly, I think that case design is very important to a good set of ear buds as that is what we really interact with most. Fortunately, Sony took the case design seriously here. You get charging via USBC or Qi wireless. It is made of a soft matte plastic that feels good in your hand. The magnets are strong in the case and on the hinge. I haven't recharged yet and will update times when I do but, for now, suffice to say that Sony has a good case here. I will update as I get more time with these but, for the moment, I am very pleased with what Sony has done here. They have upgraded these in almost every possible way. Sound, connectivity, battery, ANC, and more. All better. Of all of the premium buds we have discussed, I think these are the ones I would pick for most people. The Wilkins sound better but the ANC isn't quite as good, the battery isn't close, and they cost an astounding $400. The Bose have better ANC but don't sound as good. The price is a push there. The M&Ds are maybe the most well rounded competition for these. They sound a little better maybe. They have even better battery life as well but the ANC is very much inferior to these. I have some nitpicks. I wish AptX was here. I wish they could have slimmed these down. They could have gone with silver accents instead of gold. However, when you add everything Sony has put together here up, I just don't think there is a more well rounded option on the market. I will tweak and update this review as I go but you should buy the WF-1000XM4' s with complete confidence. Well done here Sony! ***Update***Okay, so there are a number of additional things. First off, my S21 Ultra will not connect LDAC with these. Working on it. I have been through every step concievable. The irony is that my LDAC capable Soundcore buds, whom license the codec from Sony work fine. Hmm. Not ready to ding a star yet but close. I do allow Sony location access. The buds are capable of remembering how you like your ANC in a particular environment. Say gym versus office. Love that! Speaking of gym, I threw these on for a 30 minute HOT beach run today. Waterproofing is solid so far!! There is more to unpack here for sure. Stay tuned. Also, I think Sony really nailed the voice to pause tech here. Their over ears has this as does the Samsung Buds Pro. Sony's is so much better than the Samsung version. With Samsung's, a cough would often pause my content. Here, only my voice. Say hello to someone and it pauses. Very well done. The sensitivity is adjustable as well of you find it to be to much. So good Sony! ***One month update*** So it has been a month. In the last few months I received the afformentioned Master & Dynamic buds, the latest Amazon buds, and the Bowers & Wilkins buds. As someone that has way too many buds, one of my favorite ways to rate my enjoyment of a set of buds is how often I reach for them. I have used these almost every single day since receiving them. I have grabbed the others occasionally but these have been my primary daily drivers. Sony has just nailed so much here. The ANC, sound, and overall functionality is just so well rounded. These are clearly the best all around buds on the market today. There are others that serve different specific purposes better but none that do everything as well as these. Sony has built something pretty special here. The LDAC connectivity is still spotty for me with my phone but, other than that, there is no area these struggle with. I have even grown to appreciate the look. Mostly anyways. Unlike any other set I own, I don't think it matters what phone you use. Folks on iOS should get these over the Airpod Pros because they sound better and the ANC is better. The Pro's still connect and work better with your iPhone but really, who cares? These just perform better in almost every meaningful way. Folks on Android should get these because there isn't a better all around bud that plays as nice in this ecosystem. We don't have Airpods to fall back on. These are the ones! Buy with complete confidence! July 28th Update: So, a couple more things here. First, I received my second software update for these. Considering that they have been out less than two months and were pretty polished out of the box, that is an impressive level of support from Sony. No other buds I own have been this aggressive with updates. Just so good. Lastly, this thought occurred to me a few days ago and I wanted to share it with you guys: In the last six or so weeks, I have been almost exclusively using these buds. I never do that even when I get something new. A few weeks maybe but I don't think I have ever used one set of buds this exclusively. When I get up in the morning to work out I use my Klipsch Mclarens because they have an IPX7 waterproof rating. When I leave to the office, the Sonys are the ones in my pocket. If these aren't the perfect pair of daily drivers, they are very close. Just so good. Buy them.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2021 Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2021 by HJeffK
Color: Black
I was looking for new earphones specifically for fitness with the main usage test being running. I wanted to test across several price points to see which would be most worth the money. I've only had cheap running earphones before (though I have nicer cans that I use to listen with in other scenarios and some nice wired in ears for when I perform live). I don't really care about noise cancelling. My primary criteria were about comfort (and if it can stay in my ear while running), and the sound quality vs price (how much marginal return do I get per dollar). I ended up picking a premium pair because you can really notice how much more digital/fake the audio sounds when testing side by side, the lower down in price you go. (note: a lot of what I put were just notes I was jotting down while testing them. I try to do a more succinct summary in the first line of each option, and then it gets more rambly/random after that) In the running: Sony WF-1000XM4 $189.00 | Beats Fit Pro - $179 | Power Beats Pro - $179 | Jabra Elite 4 Active - $89 | JBL Endurance Peak 3 - $89.95 | Soundcore Sport X10 - $69.99 | JLab JBuds Air Sport - $69.88 | Golrex $29.99 | BMani T16 $39.99 Here are my thoughts: Power Beats Pro - $179 (149) - My winner overall Sounds great. It is not the best sound I've heard in earphones, but doesn't seem to lack anything. Has good thumpy bass, presence in the mids, and good clarity up high. Nothing to complain about the sound. Big/heavy case (doesn't matter that much, but I do take these on big hikes so smaller case would have been nicer) I think ultimately will be more comfortable for long use than the Fit pro. The stock medium tips fit fine, unlike the fit pro for some reason. Sounds essentially the exact same as the fit pro which makes sense Beats Fit Pro - $179 I wanted this to be my favorite. It's light, small, has fun color options, and sounds great. But it ultimately was just not comfortable enough to leave in my ears for longer than 45 minutes. This would vary from person to person obviously. Pretty comfortable, but had to switch to the small eartips (only earbuds I had to switch from the medium/stock tips). Stays in the ears well, but I think that the whole thing being in there will get uncomfortable pushing my ears after a while. Really little case which is nice. Really great clarity, feels perfect Can't find any eq in the app, but I didn't feel the need to adjust any eq settings either, every band/frequency was very satisfying, so that's kind of nice not having to set it myself Sony WF-1000XM4 $189.00 I believe this has a slightly fuller sound quality to it. Can't really pinpoint how or why, but seems to be the most superior sound quality of all of them. I thought it might be better bass but that's not it. I can't pick a part any individual component that seem superior, it just has an overall fuller sound There just doesn't seem to be any way that these are going to stay in during a run. Would be great for any non-exercise application, but just wasn't what I was looking for. I would choose these if I were looking for just walk around town kind of earbuds. Jabra Elite 4 Active - $89 Great clarity and bass out of the box. I am the kind of guy who can only really tell sound differences when a/b testing it. If I only listened to these earbuds, I would have been fully satisfied with the sound quality, the comfort, and the security. It's only because I tested it next to the premium models above that I decided not to go with this. But if this is your budget range, these are definitely the winners. Excessively comfortable, like the most comfortable of any of the earbuds (premiums included), and feel like they will stay in on a run even though they don't have any sort of little hook like the soundcore or powerbeats, or over ear hook like the others. Definitely the best ergonomics. Would take this over the JBL endurance or any other in the sub $150 price range. Soundcore Sport X10 - $69.99 more satisfying for non edm music than the other options down below. Better separation for instruments and vocals. Compared against JLabs with blue tips in, the bass is more comparable. Soundcore keeps more clarity than on higher end (albeit a little tinny sounding), than JLabs Bass is definitely much better than JLabs. It does feel a bit more muddy because of the heavier bass, there may have been better vocal clarity with JLabs Everything else seems fine ANC is decent small profile is light, really comfortable and stays in the ears JLab JBuds Air Sport - $69.88 bigger profile, slightly less comfortable than the Soundcore. Bass is lacking out of the box. There's better mid and high clarity on these than the soundcore. Bass improves a noticeable amount by switching to blue tips, but you lose some clarity higher up bass feels punchier in edm in these than x10 These are definitely more satisfying for thumpy edm music than the x10 The sound quality just feels lacking in depth, no matter which eq setting you choose. Has a connected usb charger on the case as a charger (rather than a separate chord to plug into both charger and power), which I don't think I like JBL Endurance Peak 3 - $89.95 Clear vocals and instruments in mids and highs. Slightly more clear and crisp than the soundcore Nice bass as well, (slightly worse bass than soundcore), less satisfying than the sound core on lyrical song but actually has punchier bass on edm Plenty loud (other reviews saying they don't get loud) The equalizer app gives lots of control This bass is also superior once equalized. So both bass and instrumental/vocals have more clarity. After messing with eq, is better than soundcore. This sounded perfectly fine until compared with higher tier, then when a/b compared it sounded a bit more fake, a bit more digital, definitely enough to notice a difference Golrex $29.99 It is okay sound, probably the best in this price range. If you just want something cheap that will give you sound, these are fine. If you care about sound quality even a little bit, it's worth it to get a better headset. There is no clarity at any frequency, just a decent amount of noise. Has an attempted cheap premium look with led interfaces. BMani T16 $39.99 Sounds way below average, worse than the golrex. Really similar packaging and look to the golrex, so they're either just copying each other or made by the same people
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Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2023 by Joe
Color: Black
Issues: I have had these headphones for almost 3 years now. I purchased them back in Jan 2022. On Nov 2022 I had to get a replacement but I cant figure out why from my email (I think it was a charging issue or a software issue). It was very annoying because it took almost 10 days before getting the headphones so I had to buy another pair to hold me over during the shipping. After receiving my new headphones they lasted until Aug 2024 before I am having another issue with the headphones not holding charge. The left headphone dies significantly faster than the right and only last about 35 minutes or so. The microphone is also terrible on these. I have to use my laptop microphone and these never worked well for phone calls. Often people would say they couldn't hear me or I sounded like a robot. Not good for running. These have a weird "clanging" sound you can hear inside of the headphones when you run and its very disruptive. They worked fine for lifting weight and other gym routines. Not good for cardio work. The sound quality when connected to a laptop compared to a phone (with the app) is drastically different. Not sure why this has to be the case but the sound quality and the noise cancellation is worse on a laptop. Maybe better with the app but I cant download the app onto my work laptop. Minor issue but still annoying at times. Positives: Noise cancellation is great. Drowns out coworkers really well. It also drowns out loud machines very well. Comfortable fit and never caused ear fatigue after multiple hours of usage. These were used like a work horse so the charging failure could be due to battery fatigue. These were used 5 days a week for almost 6-8 hours depending. I like listening to music and podcasts during work so these were on constantly and recharged many times. Probably close to 400-500 uses and recharges. Sound quality is great for music. Bass is good and the sound is clean and immersive. Charges very quickly for the amount of usage you get out of them. Easy to deal with customer service (even though the shipping times were stupid long). TLDR: These headphones are amazing and terrible at the same time. For the price I would say they were worth it since I used these mainly for the sound and the noise cancelling but they have their downfalls. Not sure if they have iterated and fixed these issues. I am heavily debating getting the newer versions but I am also looking at different headphones due to the issues listed above.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2024 by Kelsea
Color: Silver
UPDATED REVIEW 1 1/2 years later. These USED TO be the best earbuds I've ever owned - until they died, just outside of the warranty window. I am going to leave my earlier review below because all the original Pros and Cons are still valid. However, after a while, the left earbud battery starts draining at a dramatic speed, way faster than the right earbud. To the point where it takes less than 10 minutes for it to go from 100% charge to zero. I have gone to the Sony website and followed all of their suggested tips to fix this issue, but it didn't work. When I contacted the seller here, on Amazon, they told me "nothing we can do." So, folks, don't buy this product from this seller. A pair of $30 earbuds can die within a year, I don't care. A pair of Sony earbuds, so expensive -- no, they have no business dying so fast. So get yours straight from Sony instead. At least Sony would typically honor their warranty or offer paid but affordable repairs when you are outside of your warranty window. Don't buy it from a seller who will tell you that they can't do anything for you. End of story. ------- I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to earbuds, and I have to say, these are almost unexpectedly good. In the past couple of years, I have tested multiple brands of earbuds, cheap and expensive. These are unquestionably the best. There are a few cons, but the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot. Let me start with the cons: CONS: 1. The memory foam tips are not durable. They certainly provide much better sound isolation than silicone tips would, but be prepared to purchase a bunch of replacement tips right away. 2. Ambient sound could be just a little louder. The level of ambient sound is adjustable (fantastic feature!) but even at its loudest setting, it feels a little too muffled for me. When I am out in the street, I would like to hear the cars approaching and other street noises a bit better, especially if I am jogging. But it isn't bad. I guess I am just used to Buds Pro, which actually amplify external noises a little bit during ambient sound. That's it on the cons! PROS: 1. The equalizer and other adaptive sound settings are incredible. Although be prepared that it won't be excellent right out of the box. In fact, the factory settings might suck. But the equalizer settings are superb, so you should be able to adjust it to your liking very quickly. Your first step is to make sure you identify which ear tips fit you best, as it will make a major difference in your sound adjustment. Once you've got the right size ear tips, you can start adjusting the sound settings on your phone. I would start with the phone's own settings first, and then go to the Sony Buds app and fiddle with the equalizer there. It comes with an app that has a variety of other smart settings. For instance, the level of noise cancellation and the volume of ambient sound can be adjusted. You can also program these buds to recognize the environment you are in, and have a few pre-set operation modes, such as for sitting at your desk at the office versus walking in the street, versus jogging. And the buds will adjust ambient sound, noise cancellation and other features based on your pre-set modes for the above conditions. You can also have several equalizer settings customized and saved. Since I have an Android phone (Samsung, to be exact), I started with first adjusting the sound on these earbuds by going to Samsung's own sound settings and customizing my equalizer through the "Adapt Sound" menu. And then, when that was done, I went into the Sony Buds app and worked with the equalizer there. It allows you to play music straight through that app (via Spotify or whatever else you have) and adjust your equalizer while music is playing, so you can hear the difference right away. For those who don't know how an equalizer works, I strongly advise you to watch a couple of YouTube videos on that first, so that you know what you are doing. A lot of people discard good earbuds and headphones because their sound is "bad" when in fact they just don't know the first thing about setting up the equalizer. I am very picky and demanding in my music settings. I love having such a strong bass that my spine feels the vibration (slightly exaggerating here, but only a little bit), but at the same time I like to hear the vocals loud and clear without distortions. I like hearing high-pitch vocals, and yet, I am not too fond of having excess treble. On most of the earbuds I've tried before, achieving such highly customized sound was impossible. But these Sony buds promised and delivered. I got my settings exactly how I want them, and it is pure heaven. 2. Amazing sound cancellation. Here is what I mean. They don't just cancel out external noises. They are very smart about distinguishing between different types of noises, both incoming and outgoing. And you can program the sound cancellation settings to differentiate between, say, human voices and cars honking. As a result, I can listen to music while vacuuming and not hear the vacuum, but if my roommate talks to me, I will hear what she's saying because that's how I programmed my buds. 3. Excellent sound clarity during phone calls, even in loud surroundings. I was recently riding my bike with wind whistling in my ears, but I could clearly hear the person I was talking to, and the person could hear me just fine. They didn't hear the wind, and my voice was loud and clear, and not cutting out. This, to me, is just unbelievable. I have not been able to get this with any other earbuds. Buds Pro, for instance, are absolutely impossible to talk to in any loud surroundings. Some other brands, cheap and expensive alike, do a good job of muffling background noises but they also muffle your own voice in the process. This is not the case with Sony Buds. They keep my voice clear while muffling everything else around me. I was also recently walking in the street, and there was a siren. Prior to that, I was in the ambient sound mode. When I heard the siren, I tapped on one of the buds to switch them to noise cancelling. I could barely hear the siren while still hearing the person I was speaking to loud and clear, and the person could not hear the siren in my background at all. I have no idea how Sony did it, but my hat is off to them for achieving such high-quality smart sound. 4. Very comfortable. I was hesitant about getting these because they seemed bulky to me. I have very small ears and usually struggle with bulky earbuds. But these are very comfortable, probably mostly because of the memory foam ear tips. Once they are in my ears, they stay there. I've taken them out jogging and bike riding, and they didn't shift at all. Finding the correct size of the ear tips plays a key role here, so you should make sure you got the right size. But once you do, they are comfortable and stay in place for a while. And I didn't notice any burning sensation, or any other sign of earbud fatigue. They stay in my ears for hours, and I am comfortable. 5. The case and the buds hold the battery very well. No complaints there. I am either listening to music or having phone calls all day long, and they hold the battery just fine. 6. A function that I have not personally used: it allows you to sync the buds with two different devices at once. I don't like doing this, but this is probably a great feature for those who might want them connected to the laptop and the phone at once. VERDICT: Superb earbuds. 10/10 would recommend.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2023 by Ania