First Listen: Sony announces WF-1000XM4 earphones – they are spectacular

Oh boy, the audio gurus at Sony have been at it again and they’ve kicked this one out of the park. Today Sony reveal their latest in-ear noise cancelling headphones – the Sony WF-1000XM4 – and I’ve got them in my ears right now – WOW.. Just WOW.

The depth of the sound profile, perhaps better described as a width – I just don’t know how to tell you how full the sound seems to me.

I’m listening to music on Tidal, my go to for high-quality, though I did notice Apple’s “Spatial” audio has turned on, and it’s damn well better than Tidal to my ear and really makes these Sony’s give me the feeling I’m just sitting in the room with musicians.

They are lighter, smaller – the Sony WF-1000XM4 are a completely different headphone to their predecessor.

I’m going to tell you up front I can’t really account for the capabilities of the Noise Cancelling with these. Sure I ran some tests, yes they blew me away – but in my experience there is nothing that emulates the true experience of being at 30,000 feet and blocking out the sound of jet engines.

But, given I believe Sony to be the industry leader in Noise Cancelling, the fact they say they’ve stepped it up a gear gives me great confidence for my next flight.

These earbuds have an 8 hour battery life, with another 16 hours in the charging case, which itself is capable of being wirelessly charged.

Plus, that case, it stands up. Stupid, but damn I hated that the last one didn’t.

Why do these sound so good?

Technology folks. The Sony WF-1000XM4 support High-Res Audio wirelessly, using LDAC the now industry adopted coding technology. This allows for a transfer rate of 990kbps, three times more than traditional Bluetooth, and it makes a difference.

I’m no audiophile, by any measure, but the clarity, yet full sound of these Sony WF-1000XM4 is amazing.

Most of that is down to a new V1 integrated processor, along with the simple audio design and 6mm driver. Spectacular.

Pairing is easy, and can be done within the Sony headphones app.

And that very app is one of the benchmarks for headphones of any brand. The level of detail is amazing within it.

The adaptive sound control for Sony WF-1000XM4 accounts for where you are and adjusts to suit, and most importantly all the touch controls on each ear are customisable.

Importantly, these wireless earphones have the very feature which stood Sony out from the rest several years ago – the touch to listen feature allowing you to hear a conversation without taking out the headphones.

Likewise, these feature the new “Speak-to-chat” feature. Love the idea, but for me, it hates me singing. If you work in an office, it’s utterly brilliant to ensure you can have chats and listen to music seamlessly without touching the earphones.

The absolute bottom line is, these are outstanding. Best in class, great value, despite the $449.95 price tag on the Sony WF-1000XM4.

Available next month in Black or Platinum Silver.