Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones review: class-leading noise cancellation and audio quality have never been so affordable

As a certified music lover, musician and video editor, having the right pair of headphones is incredibly important. I’ve owned a pair of Sony’s WH-1000XM series headphones since the WH-1000XM3 in 2019 and I’m actually on my second pair of WH-1000XM4’s at the moment.

I wear them A LOT and I’m not sure I’ve ever reviewed a product that I’ve been using for such an extensive period of time so I have plenty of experience with the WH-1000XM4’s. One thing that did shock me was how much more affordable they’ve become. When I bought my first pair of WH-1000XM3’s in 2019 they were £239 / $310, but now when I bought my most recent pair of WH-1000XM4’s earlier this year they were on offer for just £149 / $192.73. So there’s never been a better time to buy a pair as you’re getting excellent value for money with more features and a lower price point, though you may need to be patient and wait for a time when they're on sale.

So let’s get to it! In this review I’ll run through what all of the technical specs mean and also how I’ve gotten on with them over years…

Sony WH-1000XM4: Specifications

• Style: Over ear, closed back
• Connection: Bluetooth / 3.5mm jack
• Driver size: 40mm
• Frequency response: 4-40,000Hz
• Impedance: 16-47 ohms
• Colors: Black, White, Platinum Silver, Midnight Blue
• Comes with: Hard case, 3.5mm audio jack, USB-C charging cable
• Weight: 254g

Sony WH-1000XM4: Design & Handling

The Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones come provided with a hard case and the headphones themselves can swivel and pack flat into the hard case which also has room for the provided cables and accessories including a USB-C to USB-A charging cable, 3.5mm audio cable which measures 1.2m and a plug adapter for in-flight use.

The headphones come fully equipped with some handy features for both plugged-in and wireless use. For a more reliable old-school connection you have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and the headphones come with a 1.2m cable so you can plug in. When turned on, pulling the headphone jack out automatically shuts the headphones off.

Image 1 of 3

I’ve found the wireless Bluetooth connectivity to be very reliable over the Bluetooth 5.0 connection, the range is also impressive at 10m (30ft) and even when I leave my phone in another room I can still maintain phone calls or continue streaming music from it absolutely no problem.

The headphones support NFC for quick connection simply by moving the headphones close to the device you want to connect to. Its Bluetooth 5.0 capability means it can connect to multiple devices at the same time, however it will only stream audio from one, I often find myself having to turn the Bluetooth of my laptop off so that I can hear the audio through my phone when I need it.

The Custom button cycles through Ambient Sound, Ambient Sound Control Off and Noise Cancelling. You can also hold down this button to run through a Noise Cancelling Optimiser which will help the NC work best to the specific external sounds in your environment, from people talking to traffic or the hum of a jet engine – the optimizer targets specific sounds and is remarkably good at eliminating them. It’s not so good that it can totally remove somebody talking loudly right next to you, but it is powerful enough to remove a noisy neighbour’s music coming through the walls or a barking dog and on a recent flight it completely removed the engine hum and chatter of passengers talking in the background so I could enjoy a film in total peace.

When it comes to the noise cancellation the WH-1000XM4 headphones use Sony’s HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1 and also use dual noise sensor technology with microphones on each left and right earcup to accurately capture ambient external sound to cancel it out and let you listen without distractions, though I’ll cover this in more detail in Performance.

In my extensive experience I have found that some of my USB-C cables won’t charge the headphones even though a red LED charging light appears on them. So frustratingly the only option I can resort to is to use the very tiny USB-C cable supplied with the headphones to ensure that the headphones are charged. Honestly, there’s nothing worse than coming back to your headphones after hours thinking they've been charging only to realise that they haven’t received any juice at all. That said, this is a minor blemish on an otherwise impeccable pair of headphones.

However, when the battery is fully charged it seems to last forever. Although quoted for 30 hours – it’s remarkable that even with eight hours of usage a day with the NC enabled I maybe only have to charge them up once a week. You can also extend the battery life to around 200 hours if the NC is switched off. A quick charge is possible in 10 mins to gain five hours of battery life though you’ll need a charger with 1.5A output (which costs extra). All of my smartphone USB chargers at home topped out at 1A so this doesn't look too common. A full charge usually takes around three hours.

The outside of the right ear cup supports touch gestures and for the most part I really like this, with the ability to swipe up or down to adjust volume or left and right to skip forward or backwards songs and double-tapping to pause. This works well with apps like Youtube and Spotify.

Speak to chat is a new feature that turns off the noise cancellation when it detects you are speaking to someone, to save you from removing the headphones to have a conversation. But this can be quite distracting and frustrating when this feature activates and you’re in the middle of recording voiceover. However it can be disabled within the app, or by holding two fingers against the touch pad – you’ll hear the message “Speak-to-chat deactivated”.

Another new feature is a proximity sensor within the left ear cup which detects when the headphones have been removed from your head and automatically pauses your music. This is a new addition from the M3’s and at first I was sceptical about it because it seemed a bit of a gimmick and means there’s less padding in the left ear cup, however I haven’t noted comfort to be affected and it is actually quite useful not having to manually pause music when you remove the headphones as they do it automatically for you, and resume when you put them back on.

Sony WH-1000XM4: Performance

The Sony WH-1000XM4’s gave a solid performance in pretty much every area, the comfort is very good, though perhaps not quite as comfortable for very long editing sessions as its headband is narrower than some of the other models in our buying guide. That said, the sound quality with its DSEE Extreme™ and LDAC is outstanding, the battery life is also excellent, though it is a little annoying that you have to use the Sony Headphones Connect app to get the most out of them.

I always love letting friends and family try my WH-1000XM4’s and watching their faces as they react to the noise cancellation. I was on a flight to Tokyo recently with DCW editor James Artaius and I let him borrow my headphones and he was blown away by how they completely removed any background chatter and jet engine hum. The Atmospheric Pressure Optimising feature also made sure they were comfortable to wear over this 15 hour long haul flight.

I’m on my third pair of WH-1000-series headphones and on average they're lasting me about three years, though they are really tested with eight hours of use everyday. And for a product that I use everyday, £50 a year for an essential part of my work equipment, I really can’t complain. I suppose if you went for a pair of headphones without noise cancellation you would expect them to last longer as there are less features that could go wrong, however my old headphones still work perfectly fine so long as the noise cancellation is turned off.

My previous pair of WH-1000M4’s lasted three years and they still work as a regular pair of headphones, though the noise cancellation now gets caught in an ear-piercing feedback loop. I’m sure this is just a hair or piece of dirt on one of the microphones but even after cleaning I’ve been unable to fix. Speaking of cleaning however, it is super easy to take the padding off the ear cups and gain access to the speakers and microphones for regular maintenance and dusting.

I use the WH-1000XM4’s regularly for making phone calls as it’s much more comfortable than holding a smartphone to your ear for long periods. The audio quality for phonecalls is usually pretty good, though friends and family have noted that my voice can sound a little glitchy and distorted at times, though this is a rare occurrence.

To get the most out of the headphones you’ll need to use them with Sony’s Sound Connect app as this unlocks features like Personal Noise Cancelling Optimizer which tailors the sound to your unique characteristics such as your head size, hair and whether you wear glasses or not. Whilst the 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer analyses your ear shape to create your own personal spatial sound field and further enhance the sound quality for each individual.

Sony WH-1000XM4: Verdict

With six years of daily usage with the WH-1000XM4 headphones and WH-1000XM3 cans before them, I’m not sure I’ve ever had more experience reviewing a single product.

When I forked out for the latest model recently I was pleasantly surprised at how much they’d come down in price since 2019, I picked mine up on sale for £150 so they cost much less now and you’re also getting more features and better noise cancellation than ever! It’s for good reason I’ve been stuck with the Sony brand of headphones for the past six years – the audio quality and noise cancellation is absolutely first-class.

Whilst not specifically made as a pair of monitoring headphones, they won’t have the clearest and most detailed audio compared to other headphones specifically made for monitoring due to the closed back of the Sony WH-1000XM4 which is essential for blocking out external sounds for the noise cancellation, however they are a brilliant everyday pair for everything from listening to music whilst editing your pictures and videos for long periods or even taking to the gym or wearing on public transport.

The noise cancellation on these headphones is where they excel as it’s the best I’ve used to date and can easily cut out background noise – handy when recording video and listening to your audio on location, or when in need of some peace and quiet whilst editing in a busy cafe.

Check out alternative options in our guide to the best headphones for video editing, and also in our rundown of the best headsets