Sony WH-1000XM4 vs Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless: Which Headphones Are Better?

Tested using Methodology v2.0

Updated Nov 14, 2025 05:06 PM

See Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Review

Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless Picture

TypeOver-ear

Noise CancellingYes

EnclosureClosed-Back

Bass Amount Very Emphasized (5 dB)

WirelessYes

TransducerDynamic

Treble Amount Balanced (0 dB)

MicYes

Sound Signature Warm

TypeOver-ear

Noise CancellingYes

EnclosureClosed-Back

Bass Amount Very Emphasized (7 dB)

WirelessYes

TransducerDynamic

Treble Amount Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)

MicYes

Sound Signature Warm

Recommended in 6 articles:
Noise Cancelling
Headphones
Over-Ear
3

Recommended in 8 articles:
Budget And Cheap
Budget Noise Cancelling
Commuting
5

Our Verdict

Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless

Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless

The Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless are better headphones than the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless. The Sony are more comfortable and feel better built. Additionally, they feature an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life when not in use. That said, the Anker have a longer continuous battery life and a better full range noise isolation performance.

Variants

WH-1000XM4 (Black)
WH-1000XM4 (Midnight Blue)
WH-1000XM4 (Silver)

Soundcore Life Q30 (Black)
Soundcore Life Q30 (Midnight Blue)
Soundcore Life Q30 (Sakura Pink)

Review

See Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless Review

Check Price

Black

WH-1000XM4

Black

Soundcore Life Q30

Midnight Blue

WH-1000XM4

Midnight Blue

Soundcore Life Q30

Silver

WH-1000XM4

Sakura Pink

Soundcore Life Q30

Main Differences for

Sports And Fitness

Threshold

0.10

Sports And Fitness

7.4

7.0

Stability

7.0

6.5

Comfort

8.0

7.5

Full Comparison

Sports And Fitness

7.4

7.0

Travel

8.4

7.6

Office Work

7.8

7.2

Wireless Gaming (In Development)

5.9

5.8

Wired Gaming (In Development)

7.5

7.0

Audio Reproduction Accuracy

7.9

6.7

Noise Isolation

9.3

8.3

Microphone (In Development)

5.8

6.2

Frequency Response Consistency

8.1

6.0

Sound

Sound Profile

Normalization Frequency

400 Hz

550 Hz

Bass Amount

Very Emphasized (5 dB)

Very Emphasized (7 dB)

Treble Amount

Balanced (0 dB)

Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)

Sound Signature

Warm

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Frequency Response Consistency

8.1

6.0

Consistency L

Consistency R

Std. Deviation

0.80 dB

1.32 dB

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Raw Frequency Response

Raw FR L

Raw FR R

Bass Profile: Target Compliance

7.6

6.9

Bass Profile: Target Compliance

RMS Deviation From Target

5.2 dB

6.8 dB

Low-Frequency Extension

20 Hz

Low Bass

4.49 dB

6.68 dB

Mid Bass

5.5 dB

7.97 dB

High Bass

5.6 dB

5.1 dB

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Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance

8.9

8.2

Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance

RMS Deviation From Target

1.58 dB

2.39 dB

Low Mid

1.24 dB

2.36 dB

Mid-Mid

-0.07 dB

-0.93 dB

High Mid

-1.15 dB

-2.62 dB

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Treble Profile: Target Compliance

8.4

8.8

Treble Profile: Target Compliance

RMS Deviation From Target

3.01 dB

2.63 dB

Low Treble

-1.71 dB

-0.34 dB

Mid Treble

1.38 dB

2.4 dB

High Treble

-2.88 dB

1.06 dB

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Peaks/Dips

7.9

7.3

Peaks/Dips Graph

Peaks

1.2 dB

1.45 dB

Dips

1.46 dB

2.18 dB

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Stereo Mismatch

8.7

6.4

Frequency Response Mismatch

Phase Response Mismatch

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch

0.03 dB

0.86 dB

Weighted Frequency Response Mismatch

1.11 dB

1.37 dB

Weighted Phase Mismatch

1.5°

2.5°

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Group Delay

8.5

3.1

Group Delay

Weighted Group Delay

0.6 ms

2.1 ms

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Cumulative Spectral Decay

CSD

PRTF

3.5

6.4

PRTF

PRTF Accuracy (RMS Deviation)

3.11 dB

2.54 dB

PRTF Size (Avg.)

8.34 dB

6.44 dB

PRTF Distance

1.8 dB

7.8 dB

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Harmonic Distortion

7.7

8.8

Harmonics Levels

THD Ratio

WHD @ 94 dB SPL

0.23%

0.11%

WHD @ 104 dB SPL

0.80%

0.23%

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Electrical Aspects

Impedance

Sensitivity @1kHz-1V

115.1 dB SPL

110.8 dB SPL

Bluetooth Max SPL

104.6 dB

102.0 dB

Virtual Soundstage

4.1

0.0

Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling

On/Off

Speaker Modeling

On/Off

Room Ambience

Head Tracking

Virtual Surround

360 Reality Audio

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Test Settings

Firmware

2.6.0

02.10

Power

Connection

Bluetooth

Codec

SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz

Test Instrument

Audio Precision APx517B

EQ

Off

Default

ANC

Transport

Tip/Pad

Default

Microphone

Integrated

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Design

Style

Design Picture 2

Type

Over-ear

Enclosure

Closed-Back

Wireless

Yes

Transducer

Dynamic

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Comfort

8.0

7.5

Comfort Picture

Weight

0.6 lbs

0.58 lbs

Clamping Force

1 lbs

0.9 lbs

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Controls

7.6

7.5

Controls Picture

OS Compatibility

Not OS specific

Ease Of Use

Good

Decent

Feedback

Decent

Call/Music Control

Yes

Volume Control

Yes

Microphone Control

Channel Mixing

Noise Cancelling Control

On/Off

Talk-Through

On/Off

Additional Controls

Voice Assistant

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Portability

6.1

6.2

Portability Picture

L

7.4" (18.8 cm)

6.9" (17.5 cm)

W

6.1" (15.5 cm)

6.8" (17.3 cm)

H

2.0" (5.1 cm)

1.7" (4.3 cm)

Volume

90.00 in³ (1,474.83 cm³)

80.00 in³ (1,310.96 cm³)

Transmitter Required

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Case

8.0

7.5

Case Picture

Type

Hard case

L

8.3" (21.1 cm)

8.9" (22.6 cm)

W

6.6" (16.8 cm)

7.4" (18.8 cm)

H

2.3" (5.8 cm)

Volume

126.00 in³ (2,064.76 cm³)

152.00 in³ (2,490.82 cm³)

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Build Quality

8.0

7.0

Build Quality Picture

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Stability

7.0

6.5

Stability Picture

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Headshots 1

Angled Picture

Side Picture

Headshots 2

Front Picture

Rear Picture

Top

Top Picture

In The Box

In The Box Picture

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Isolation

Noise Isolation - Full Range

9.5

8.8

Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph

Noise Cancelling

Yes

Overall Attenuation

-27.13 dB

-23.36 dB

Bass

-24.80 dB

-21.30 dB

Mid

-25.37 dB

-19.19 dB

Treble

-31.92 dB

-30.48 dB

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Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios

9.7

8.3

Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph

Airplane Noise Attenuation

-23.51 dB

-18.73 dB

Airplane Noise Isolation Audio

Office Noise Attenuation

-22.93 dB

-19.30 dB

Office Noise Isolation Audio

Street Noise Attenuation

-26.02 dB

-20.67 dB

Street Noise Isolation Audio

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Noise Isolation - Voice Handling

Female Voice 1

Male Voice 1

Female Voice 2

Male Voice 2

ANC Wind Handling

ANC Wind Handling Graph

ANC Wind Noise

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Leakage

7.1

6.2

Leakage

Leakage Audio

Overall Leakage @ 1ft

39.28 dB

43.98 dB

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Microphone

Microphone Style

Integrated

Yes

In-Line

Boom

Detachable Boom

Mic

Yes

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Recording Quality

6.1

6.9

Microphone Frequency Response

Recorded Speech

LFE

269.09 Hz

276.97 Hz

FR Std. Dev.

2.11 dB

2.31 dB

HFE

3,726.47 Hz

4,561.4 Hz

Weighted THD

65.861

2.173

Gain

11.46 dB

5.52 dB

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Noise Handling

5.6

SpNR

SpNR

11.47 dB

12.36 dB

Noise Gate

Speech + Pink Noise Handling

6.0

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample

Speech + Subway Noise Handling

5.0

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample

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Active Features

Battery

8.7

8.9

Battery Type

Rechargable

Continuous Battery Life

37.7 hrs

44.3 hrs

Additional Charges

0.0

Total Battery Life

37.7 hrs

44.3 hrs

Charge Time

2.3 hrs

1.7 hrs

Power-Saving Feature

Auto-Off Timer

Audio While Charging

Passive Playback

Yes

Charging Port

USB-C

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App Support

8.0

App Picture

App Name

Sony| Headphones Connect

Anker Soundcore

iOS

Yes

Android

Yes

macOS

Windows

Equalizer

Graphic + Presets

ANC Control

On/Off

Adjustable

Mic Control

Room Effects

Playback Control

Yes

Button Mapping

Yes

Surround Support

Yes

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Connectivity

Wired Connection

9.9

7.8

Cable Picture

Analog Audio

Yes

USB Audio

Detachable

Yes

Length

4.00 ft (1.22 m)

4.10 ft (1.25 m)

Connector

1/8" TRS

Latency - Analog

0.3 ms

10.0 ms

Latency - USB

N/A

Recorded Latency

Recorded Latency Connection

Analog

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Bluetooth Connection

8.6

8.3

Bluetooth Version

5.010

Multi-Device Pairing

2 Devices

Quick Pair (Android)

Yes

Quick Pair (iOS)

Line Of Sight Range

299.00 ft (91.14 m)

335.00 ft (102.11 m)

Latency - SBC

245 ms

233 ms

Latency - aptX

N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)

N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)

N/A

Latency - LDAC

237 ms

N/A

Recorded Latency

Recorded Latency Codec

SBC

AAC Support

Yes

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Wireless Connection (Dongle)

0.0

Line Of Sight Range

N/A

Latency - Dongle

N/A

Recorded Latency

N/A

PC Compatibility

Analog

Audio Only

Wired USB

Non-BT Wireless

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PlayStation Compatibility

PS4 Analog

Audio Only

PS4 Wired USB

PS4 Non-BT Wireless

PS5 Analog

Audio Only

PS5 Wired USB

PS5 Non-BT Wireless

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Xbox Compatibility

Xbox One Analog

Audio Only

Xbox One Wired USB

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless

Xbox Series X|S Analog

Audio Only

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless

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Base/Dock

0.0

Type

No Base/Dock

USB Input

Line In

Line Out

Optical Input

RCA Input

Dock Charging

Power Supply

No Base/Dock

Check Price

Black

WH-1000XM4

Black

Soundcore Life Q30

Midnight Blue

WH-1000XM4

Midnight Blue

Soundcore Life Q30

Silver

WH-1000XM4

Sakura Pink

Soundcore Life Q30