There was a mix reaction among ProWellTech staff when Sony's WH-1000XM4 was announced last week. There was excitement among those looking for new headphones and disappointment for those who had recently purchased a different pair. The product's predecessor is universally regarded as some of the best over-ear headphones you can get for the price, so the biggest question, actually, was what do the new ones bring to the table.
So let me tell you right away. If you own the WH-1000XM3, congratulations. You've purchased a very good pair of headphones, the ones that rightfully helped take Bose apart from its long-standing position as a frequent traveler's frequent purchase. And no, you don't need to rush in and update if yours are still pending.
The original headphones have entered the world quite fully formed and, after two years, this update is more of a refinement of an excellent product. But the additions go a long way in maintaining Sony's commercials as the reigning champion of noise-canceling Bluetooth over-ear headphones. The 1000XM4s are hard to beat.
The new headphones look more or less exactly the same as their predecessors. They're not the most amazing pair of over-ear headphones for your money (that award could go to Sennheiser or Bang & Olufsen). I appreciate the relative simplicity compared to the comparable Bose Quiet Comfort model. Honestly, when it comes to things like long-haul flights, the less flashy the better.
The headphones are surprisingly lightweight - something I first noticed when I had the opportunity to try out the M3 during a meeting in a boardroom with Sony executives a couple of years ago. The new units have a little more padding and are extremely comfortable. I say this as someone who struggles with over-ear headphones for whatever reason. As of this writing, I've been wearing headphones for most of the four days.
There were breaks in the marathon, of course. The nature of the form factor means they're not really ideal for, say, going for a walk or falling asleep. The former is particularly the case in recent times here in New York, where it regularly reached temperatures in the 1990s. However, to eliminate the noise of all the hassles of the house, they are great. And when we all start flying the plane again, they'll be excellent for that too (thanks in large part to the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack for back seat entertainment).
The other element that has allowed almost continuous use is the ability to pair the system with two devices at the same time. This, frankly, has been a big sore point for a number of headphones I've been using recently, requiring the user to go into the device's settings and manually select the headphones. Using the iOS app, I have paired the M4 to the phone and to the top of the desktop and am able to seamlessly switch between sources. You'd be surprised at how liberating it is. Just make sure your sound level is comparable on every device or you'll end up with an unfortunate blast.
Like the M3, the sound quality is excellent, delivering a full sound image no matter the genre. The sound is honestly quite comparable to the previous model, and that's fine. Nura's truly excellent sound profile technology holds the top spot for me, but these new Sony's deliver excellent sound for an everyday pair of headphones.
Again, the real focus, however, is Sony's truly excellent noise cancellation. The feature was the M3's true secret weapon against Bose's dominance in the category. The new models make a quantum leap by detecting ambient sound about 700 times per second via the system-on-a-chip and actively adapting to counter it. The system also features the addition of Noise Canceling Optimizer.At first glance, the feature works similarly to noise optimization on other systems. Press and hold the button and send an audio signal to your ear, meowing things like seal quality and atmospheric pressure (for airplanes, mainly) to offer a more personalized found profile. It adds up to truly excellent noise cancellation and a great overall audio experience.
There are loads of other cool features that may or may not be useful in your specific scenario. For example, I found myselfimmediately disabling Talk in Chat, which stops playback when you speak. A nice feature in theory, but I live alone, so the only time it would trigger is if I cough, laugh, or subconsciously find myself singing along to the music. More useful for my needs, however, is a feature that lets in ambient sound when covering the right ear cup with your hand. Ambient sound sent to the headphones via a microphone still sounds a little unnatural, but it does the trick.
I also found myself turning off location tracking, because, frankly, enough of my gadgets already know where I am. Also, adding noise that adjusts based on familiar places is nice, but not really worth it for me, especially in these days when I leave my apartment a lot less than I'd like to admit. Also, I don't really like seeing the location tracking icon in the corner of iOS 11.
The Google Assistant and Alexa are integrated too, but again, not the features I tend to use a lot in a pair of headphones. I would say that I also turn them off to save battery, but with a claimed life of 30 hours, honestly I was fine on that front. Charging via USB-C, meanwhile, will give you a full five hours of playback in about 10 minutes.
At $ 350, they're about the same price as their predecessors, which means they're not cheap. But it would be hard to find a better pair of wireless over-ear headphones in their class.
