Sony WF-1000XM4 Truly Wireless  Headphones Review

These buds have a more rounded and less bulky look than their predecessor, the Sony WF-1000XM3 Truly Wireless. There's a circular copper accent on each earbud, which has a microphone in the center. These headphones come in two color variants: 'Silver' and 'Black'.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 are decently comfortable headphones. They have a lightweight fit that doesn't enter your ear very deeply. They come with three differently-sized pairs of ear tips, and their foam design helps conform to your ear canal to help get a better seal than silicone ear tips. That said, some users have reported that the bud shape can put pressure on your the lower part of your inner ear, which becomes uncomfortable over time. If you're looking for smaller Sony buds with a more comfortable design, try the Sony WF-1000XM5 Truly Wireless or Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless instead.

These buds have unremarkable controls. Like the Sony WF-1000XM3 Truly Wireless, they have easy-to-use touch surfaces on both earbuds. You get audio feedback and voice prompts for some commands. Unfortunately, the control scheme doesn't include volume or voice assistant functions, although you can add them in the app. The touch surfaces are very sensitive, so it's easy to register a command accidentally. The earbuds also automatically switch to talk-through mode when you answer the phone, which is annoying in a noisy place, but you can easily turn noise cancelling back on with the onboard controls.

On the right earbud:

• Single tap: Plays and pauses audio.
• Double tap: Skips the track forward.
• Triple tap: Skips the track backward.

On the left earbud:

• Single tap: Cycles between ANC mode and talk-through mode. This function can be customized in the app so that it also allows you to turn these features off.
• Press and hold: Activates 'Quick Attention' as long as you have your finger on the earbud. Turns down your audio and allows you to hear ambient sound.

On the either earbud:

• Double tap: Answers and ends a call.
• Press and hold: Rejects an incoming call.

Because of their in-ear design, they have a very breathable fit. They don't trap heat against your ears, so you won't sweat more if you wear them for a workout.

These buds are very portable since they're small and lightweight. You can easily put them inside most pockets or bags without an issue. They also come with a solid hard carrying case.

The carrying case is good. It's not as well-built as the case that comes with the Sony WF-1000XM3 Truly Wireless since its lid feels a bit flimsy. However, it's smaller and has magnets inside to help keep the earbuds in place. It can easily fit into most pockets and bags. If you're looking for earbuds with a more compact case, try the Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 have a great build quality. Like other high-end headphones like the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless, they feel well-made and are sturdy enough to survive accidental drops and falls without taking too much damage. They're also rated IPX4 for resistance against minor water exposure like light rain. Their carrying case's lid feels a bit loose, which is disappointing.

These buds have a stable fit. The foam ear tips help them stay in place once you find the right size. They don't have stability fins and aren't as stable as the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Truly Wireless, but they won't fall out of your ears during a jog in the park.

• Sony WF-1000XM4 in-ear headphones
• 3x foam tip sizes
• Charging case
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable
• Manuals

The Sony WF-1000XM4 have a smooth and warm sound profile. While they lack a thumpy low-bass, their mid-range is fairly well-balanced, so vocals and lead instruments are present and clear. However, their treble range is very underemphasized, so sibilants are especially dull and lispy. If you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking. If you prefer a more neutral sound from your headphones, you can try these custom EQ settings. You can also find a comparison between this custom EQ setting and the headphones' default setting here. All the presets seem to dip at 7.5K in the treble range, and there doesn't seem to be a way around this, even when using a custom EQ. As a result, the default 'EQ OFF' setting results in the best treble response. Also, we did some subjective listening using a Samsung phone with an AAC codec, and you can clearly hear the underemphasized treble in songs.

These results are based on the headphones' performance with firmware version 1.1.5. You can see a comparison of their frequency response using version 1.1.5 versus 1.2.6 here. You can also see a comparison of their frequency response using firmware version 1.2.6 versus 1.3.3 for the left and right drivers separately. The original results are in red, while a blue line for the left driver and a green line for the right driver represents the new 1.3.3 results. However, the firmware updates didn't significantly change the headphones' sound performance.

Note: There's a slight discrepancy between the left and right drivers in the raw frequency response graphs due to how the files were processed. However, all other graphs are correct, and this difference won't be audible to most users.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 have outstanding frequency response consistency. Once you achieve a proper fit and seal using one of the foam ear tips, you'll receive consistent bass and treble delivery each time you use these headphones.

The bass accuracy is great. Although the response is slightly lilted, the bass doesn't overwhelm the rest of the mix. They deliver adequate warmth, making them a solid choice for genres like jazz and classical. However, they still lack thump, rumble, and boom, so if you're looking for more bass, you'll want to consider buds like the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 instead.

These buds have great mid accuracy. The range is fairly flat, ensuring your mixes have clear vocals and lead instruments. However, the mid and high-mid are underemphasized, weakening the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments and nudging them to the back of the mix.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 lack a lot of treble. Unlike similar in-ears like the Jabra Elite 5 True Wireless, the response is very underemphasized across the range. In the last verse of The Βeatles' song Eleanor Rigby, violins lack presence and seem veiled, while sibilants like S and T sounds, as well as cymbals, are dull.

These buds have great peaks and dips performance. Most peaks and dips are fairly minor, meaning the headphones can control their sound profile well. There's a slight peak through the high-bass to low-mid, which adds boom to your mixes, although it also adds some muddiness to the mix. A peak in the high-mid to low-treble makes the upper harmonics of these sounds honky and harsh. The deepest dip is in the mid-treble, which dulls sibilants like cymbals.

These headphones have outstanding imaging performance. Sony's high-end products usually have good ergonomics and quality control, which helps ensure quality imaging. However, imaging varies depending on the unit. Our unit's L/R drivers are well-matched in group delay, which ensures tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. Our unit's L/R drivers are also well-matched in phase, amplitude, and frequency response. This helps ensure the accurate placement of sound objects like voices in the stereo image.

Like most in-ear headphones, these buds have a bad passive soundstage performance. Their design means sound fully bypasses your outer ear, which needs to be activated by sound resonances to create a more immersive sound. As a result, your audio seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than speakers in the room around you. Their soundstage also doesn't feel as open as most open-back headphones.

These headphones support 360 Reality Audio, which replaces the Virtualphones Technology (VPT) that their previous generation, the Sony WF-1000XM3 Wireless originally supported. 360 Reality Audio can improve audio quality and create a more immersive audio experience. However, you need to subscribe to services like Tidal or Nugs.net that support this technology and offer compatible files.

These headphones have a good weighted harmonic distortion performance. There are some small peaks in the treble range at normal listening volumes, but it's very hard to hear with real-life content. Most frequencies fall under good levels, resulting in fairly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Sony WF-1000XM4, and our results are only valid when using this configuration.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 have a very good noise isolation performance. Like the Sony WF-1000XM3 Truly Wireless, they have an active noise cancelling (ANC) system, but it offers improved performance. They can block out office chatter and the high-pitched hum of AC units. Unfortunately, unlike other ANC earbuds like the Apple AirPods Pro Truly Wireless, they struggle with bass-range noise like rumbling bus and plane engines. Note that the ANC turns off if you're on a call, and they enter 'Talk-Through' mode so that you can hear your surroundings. You can cycle back to 'ANC on' using the controls.

Note: Some users have experienced a whooshing or wind-like sound when using the ANC, which can be very annoying. While we didn't experience this with our model, please let us know in the forums if you have this issue.

These earbuds have a great leakage performance. Leakage is concentrated in the treble range, which sounds thin. If you like to listen to your audio at high volumes, you won't disturb others around you.

The integrated mic has a disappointing recording quality. Your voice is understandable but lacks body and brightness.

The integrated mic has okay noise handling. It does an adequate job of separating your voice from moderate noise, so you can be understood clearly if you use them for a call at the office. However, loud noise, like a train passing through a subway station, can drown your voice out.

These buds have a great battery performance. They last roughly 10 hours off a single charge, longer than the eight advertised hours. Their case also holds a couple of extra charges. Battery life can vary depending on usage, though. Unlike the Beats Solo Pro Wireless, they're equipped with an auto-off timer to help save power. You can use one earbud while the other charges in the case.

Unfortunately, some users have reported issues with their units' battery life after updating to firmware 1.4.2. They have experienced severe and uneven battery drain. The earbud that drains quicker also becomes much hotter than expected. When we updated our unit to this firmware, we noticed an unevenness in battery drain, but it wasn't to the significant extent experienced by these users. If you've encountered this issue, let us know in the forums.

The | Sony Headphones Connect is a great app. You can customize their sound using their app's graphic EQ and presets and remap the ANC/talk-through, voice assistant, or volume controls to either earbud. You can also use their fit feature to test whether you're using the right ear tips for your ears or turn on or off the auto-off timer, smart-pause feature, or speak-to-chat feature. However, while you can access 360 Reality Audio for a more immersive audio experience, you must subscribe to this service.

You can't use these buds wired. They come with a USB-C to USB-A cable to charge their carrying case.

The Sony WF1000XM4 have excellent Bluetooth connectivity. They support Google Fast Pair and Windows 10 Swift Pair, making it easier to connect to supported devices. Firmware update 2.0.0 also added multi-device pairing, so you can connect to your laptop and smartphone simultaneously. However, unlike the Sony WF-1000XM3 Truly Wireless, they don't have NFC pairing.

These buds support Sony's LDAC codec for high-resolution audio, but you need to use a supported device and the Sony | Headphones Connect app to enable it. Unfortunately, they have high latency on PCs using LDAC as well as SBC codecs, so your audio and video will be out of sync if you use them for gaming or watching videos on your computer. Their latency is a lot less impactful if you're just streaming audio, though.

The Sony WF1000XM4 can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs. However, they don't support any other connection.

The Sony WF1000XM4 come with a hard carrying case with roughly two extra charges. It supports wireless charging and has one input for the charging cable.