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Headphones · Sony WH-1000XM

Sony WH-1000XM4

23owners with an opinion
67%of verdicts positive
8/4positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for sound and ease of use; criticized for software and reliability.

What owners wrote

Likes it
I'm curious whether Apple has addressed the tinnitus issue of its ANC technology (or some part of it). I couldn't use neither AirPods Max nor AirPods Pro (1st generation) because they were making my tinnitus noticeably worse. I have no such issues whatsoever with my Sony WH-1000XM4 and a few other ANC headphones I've used.
Recommends it
I don't know exactly how to measure bang for buck, but my Sony XM4s have been holding up well, sound good, are decently comfortable for a day's work, the battery life is good, etc. They do have some annoyances like not always sleeping correctly when left connected to my laptop, but overall they are easy to recommend
Likes it
I have both a pair of the over ear Sony XM4’s and AirPods Pro 2 and I’m not sure I’d characterize the Sony’s sound as “better”, even when using lossless audio. They sound good but the sound profile is mostly just different, with the Sony’s leaning more bassy and the AirPods more balanced. The noise cancellation are neck and neck but the AirPods had much less of that “pressure” sensation when using it. AirPods transparency is just plain better. Comfort for long use sessions is better on the Sony’s. Mic is better on the AirPods.
Doesn’t like it
I disable auto-updates for apps on my phone. The Play Store sometimes notifies me about updates, and I ignore them. Today I hit "Update all". The app for my Sony headphones has now been changed, and has an EULA and opt-ins. Skimming through them, I think Sony now wants to upload titles and artist of music and videos that my phone plays... Oh how fucking wonderful. My WH-1000XM4 is buggy as shit too, I had to disable power-saving (turn off if nothing is playing) because it would randomly switch off in the middle of music playback. And there's a touch gesture to enable "mute when speech is detected", which, when enabled, means when I say something in a Zoom call I can't hear anyone else anymore.. And I can't disable this single gesture, just all gestures in general.
Likes it
> All the already pleasant Linux desktop needs is the kind of hardware ecosystem polish Jobs’ era Apple used to become relevant again. I keep hearing this, over and over again. But I plug in my Magic Trackpad to my GNOME desktop and it works fine. My MX Master 3 works great, and avoids the gesture emulation mode that makes it feel sluggish on Mac. My Nvidia hardware has better driver support on Linux than anywhere else, my Android handset integrates with the desktop better than it ever did on Windows or Mac, my XM4s support the LDAC codec that my iPad and Macbook won't. My old Thinkpad still gets frequent updates and supports all the same software it had at launch. What people really want is brand identity - I get it. It's fun to play as part of the "in-group" fighting against some well-defined evil like Microsoft. That was part of Apple's marketing from the start, there's no need to hide their light under a technical bushel. But Linux simply isn't that, it's never been about the snide remarks or assumption-reaffirming "I'm a Linux" TV commercials. Linux is simply an open software project, warts and all. There isn't any hardware you can buy (or I would argue, even any hardware you can make ) to fix those issues. Switching to Linux a psychological roadblock, even if you consider MacOS to be functionally superior desktop OS. The situation for OSes today is absolutely pitiful, so I understand where the author is coming from here. But they seem to be going through the final st
Neutral
> noise-cancelling headphones + 3m earplugs might work together Sure, any closed back headphones work and cancel out noise very nicely — I tried Sony WH-1000XM4, and they weren't much more effective than a pair of much cheaper closed backs without ANC. I've been living in this combo for many years (using ear plugs 24/7 and changing them as needed, headphones on top when not sleeping), and it's been really helpful in keeping me relatively sane. If you don't care about the sound quality, just set the volume to the max so it can yell through the ear plugs, and you don't have to take them out even when listening to something.
Likes it
The two brands that could have a claim to producing "the model that everyone says are the best" are Bose and Sony. For Bose, the QuietComfort Ultra are the top of the line, but the cheaper/older QuietComfort 45 and 35 are both good too. For Sony, the WH-1000XM4 is the consensus favorite, even though the XM5 is newer. I own the XM4 and the older XM3 and I prefer the XM3 because I like the way it sounds with nothing playing better. I don't know how to describe it but the "silence" of the XM4 with ANC on but nothing playing feels too artificial for me. For office use, though, I prefer the XM4 since it has bluetooth multipoint and I can use them easily with both my laptop and phone without mucking around in settings. I'm changing jobs and going from having my own office to hoteling desks, so I imagine I'll be wearing the Sony's a lot more and I'm not sure if they'll be comfortable enough for all day use. At home or on a plane, I usually need to give my ears a rest every hour or so. I'll give one of the Bose a shot if I can't deal with the Sony's all day. Apple is also very popular. I haven't tried the new AirPods with ANC, but I love the Pros. I have to fuss with them a bit to get a good seal, and they don't stand up to city or airplane use, but they're fine in a relatively quiet environment, and they're so small I pretty much always have them on me. I have no experience with the Max, but from what I've read they can be uncomfortable for some people.
Neutral
Sony xm4's, they are great headphones! but i never use the noise cancelling feature, because the absence of noise for some reason gives a sensation of pressure and is very discomforting. Don't use the transparency mode either, but its really useful imo. It's hot most of the year where i live, and it turns into a sauna around your ears, didn't think of that when i dropped a couple hundred bucks on it. Also my unit sometimes just momentarily doesn't have sound. For like a split fraction of a second there's no sound, and then it continues like nothing. Seems other people have this issue, i've been able to solve it for short periods of time by toggling the connection quality switch in the sony app. I would recommend the sony WI-C100's, not very expensive, bluetooth, and battery life of 24 hours, plus since its just wireless buds connect together, no sauna during the warm months. Still like using the XM4's the sound quality is amazing.
Doesn’t like it
The Sony WH-1000XM4 approach. Taking them off pauses your stuff. Sometimes that's useful, but on a desktop that's most often just annoying, particularly if you're just itching or adjusting them. More mysterious is that tapping them also pauses, but not always, and not reliably enough to actually use to pause and unpause. Even more mysterious though is the "two finger" tap which changes your headphones mode entirely, so that any background noise stops the noise cancellation. (It calls this "Conversation mode" or something). But any background noise seems to cancel the noise cancellation, so it's less useful than just turning that off. But this feature is easy to accidentally turn on, and it took a lot of googling in frustration to work out how to get it back to the normal operation. God knows what other hidden features these things have, because who bothers to read the manual for a pair of headphones?
Likes it
Wait, can you not just replace the wire? Don't get me wrong the replacement cables can often run like $50 but still, it's not exactly breaking the headphone I love my wxm4s but I'm on my third pair due to battery life. Wish they had user replaceable batteries... Heck at least for the case
Neutral
Yeah, I like my AirPods Pro precisely because I don't need to disconnect them from the previous device to connect to them from the next device. Bose NC 700s and Sony XM4s both have the problem where I need to disconnect from them on an old device before I can connect to them on a new device.
Recommends it
Two things: 1. Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 Bluetooth speaker. Compact and very loud, also has good battery life. Handy on hikes and similar. The waterproofing is excellent and I use it in the shower to listen to podcasts, etc. 2. Sony WH1000MX4 Bluetooth headphones. I was skeptical in getting a full set of headphones as I always preferred earphones. These things have amazing sound quality and noise cancelation which means you don't have to listen to music as loud when outdoors. Battery life is extremely good also. Pricey, but well worth it and highly recommended.
Doesn’t like it
Bluetooth as a standard has the audio device tell the master device what volume it is set at. For whatever reason, devices are almost universally terrible at managing this. For my WH1000 (it’s been the same with the XM2, XM3 and XM4 models), if I switch from my phone to my laptop, the laptop will leave the volume label set to say 80, but set the devices actual volume to 20. The quick fix is to pair it back to the phone, turn it all the way up and resync to the laptop.
Recommends it
Can't speak for OP, but I recently bought a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones and I'm pretty impressed. They don't make me feel the pressure in my ear like some do, and the noise suppression is just about magic. My wife has to text me from downstairs to tell me my kids are fighting even when it's just outside the door to my office, because I can't hear them at all (and I don't turn up the volume on my music). Just turning them on without any music makes it hard to understand someone talking in the same room.
Recommends it
if you are looking for an over the ear, top notch, bluetooth headset, i would recommend the Sony's XM4. i have a pair, they are amazing -- the noise cancelling is so good, it kind of gives me a bit of vertigo.
Recommends itHasn’t owned it
Yeah, no worries, I wasn't even continuing with the argument in my previous reply, I was just curious about XM3 vs. XM4. And on that note, for other people who are interested, XM4 had recently a really good deal on Amazon (US) for something like $250. At that price point, it is def a really good bang for the buck. At least until Airpods Max come out, XM4 are unilaterally imo overall the best pair of wireless headphones with ANC. Not trying to imply that Airpods Max will take over that spot as soon as they get released, they might completely flop and be trash, who knows. But either way, XM4 is currently imo the best, and even if Airpods Max somehow manages to become a magical pair of headphones, XM4 is still a great pair, and is definitely still gonna be a better bang for the buck than Airpods Max (while i pre-ordered those, I don't have any illusions about me not paying the "apple tax" on those). So for anyone hesitating or not into the idea of paying $500+ for wireless headphones with ANC, i heavily recommend Sony WH-1000XM4.