Sony WF-1000XM4 review: great earbuds for music fanatics

Sony has released a new version of its premium in-ear headphones. We were introduced to the Sony WF-1000XM4 in-ears and we are happy to share our findings with you in our Sony WF-1000XM4 review.

Sony WF-1000XM4 review

According to Sony, these new in-ear earphones are fantastic and let you experience music like never before. We will test in practice whether this will actually be the case. In any case, it will not lie with the improvements that Sony has added to the XM4.

In the package

In the small environmentally friendly box you will find the Sony WF-1000XM4 in-ear earphones. These are stored in a case that also serves as the charger. The built-in battery of the case ensures that you always have charged in-ears available. In addition, a number of extra caps of different sizes are included for the ideal fit. In the small box we also find some booklets with information. A small USB cable is also included so you can connect the case to your computer or USB charger.

In use

Sony has released the WF-1000XM4 as the successor to the WF-1000XM3. In addition, the company has given various new technology to the XM4. Including the DSEE extreme audio processor, which are also incorporated in the WH-1000XM4 headphones. With this processor, lower quality audio can still be processed at high quality.

To set up the Sony WF-1000XM4 headphones, you need to insert both in-ears into the ear. Then press both the left and right earphones for about 5 seconds. You will hear a voice say “Bluetooth pairing”. After this, you can choose the headphones on your smartphone or tablet. As you may have noticed, the earphones are touch-sensitive and therefore offer extra functionality.

For example, you can pause or resume the music using the right earpiece by tapping it once. The left ear lets you switch between ambient sound mode and noise canceling. With ambient sound you hear the environment around you, which can be useful when you are walking. With noise canceling you filter out all the noise and do it in an amazingly good way.

To get the most out of these in-ears, it is recommended to download the Sony Headphones app. Through this app you can adjust more settings such as the sound profile and you can see exactly what percentage of battery you have. The application also helps you set up 360-degree virtual sound, available through services such as Deezer and Tidal.

The wearing comfort is very pleasant, thanks to the included buds you can find your optimal fit. While walking or running, the earphones also stay in place and you don’t have to worry about suddenly losing an in-ear. If you want to be sure that you have found the ideal fit, you can do a test via the Headphones app to check whether the XM4 fits perfectly!

Sound quality

We are very enthusiastic about the sound quality and the details that these WF-1000XM4 earphones produce. Bass lines come into its own and these ears are also very strong on vocal, mid and high. While listening you really get the feeling that you are being taken in by the music. Combined with the noise canceling feature, you really feel like you’re in a different musical world. We have listened to different genres of music and these earphones from Sony do not disappoint in any genre.

Although Sony does not support the aptX HD codec, Sony does use the LDAC codec that delivers 24-bit/96kHz audio to the in-ears. Coming back to the noise cancelling, this is able to filter out row noises from, for example, the train excellently and wind noise is also almost filtered out. If the wind blows hard, you will suffer more quickly from the “flapping” sound.

Battery life

Nothing but praise for the battery life, with an average use of 2 hours per day, we have about 10 days on a full charge. After that, we fully charged the case again, which is handy is that with a short charge you can quickly go ahead with the in-ears for an hour. Handy if you forgot to charge the case and need to go to a meeting.

Sony WF-1000XM4 Review

For 279 euros you have a set of in-ear headphones that take you on a journey through the music. With fantastic sound quality and good battery life, you actually have everything you could wish for from in-ear headphones. Still, the use of in-ear headphones remains something personal, because you have to love them. Sony’s WF-1000XM4 in-ears are pleasant to use and feature-rich. If you are someone who quickly loses their wireless in-ears, it might be a shame to spend so much money.

You can find the Sony WF-1000XM4 in the stores of Coolblue, Amazon, MediaMarkt and Bol.com.