Sony Announces Noise Canceling Earbuds WF-1000XM4
Sony officially announces the noise-canceling earplugs WF-1000XM4. The specifications of the earplugs appear to correspond entirely with the information that came out early. The WF-1000XM4 costs 280 euros and is available later this month.
Sony announces with the WF-1000XM4 a set of earplugs that have active noise cancellation, have an IPx4 rating, communicate via Bluetooth 5.2 and which you can listen to for about 8 hours continuously, even if you use noise canceling. The specifications correspond to those from a video that already leaked at the end of May.
Sony uses new 6mm drivers in the WF-1000XM4, which are controlled by the equally new V1 processor. The drivers are about 20 percent larger than those of the WF-1000XM3 and the new processor should ensure that the noise canceling works better, while the chip requires less energy.
Sony has also designed a new housing for the WF-1000XM4, which should ensure that caps have a better fit. In addition, the WF-1000XM4 has an Automatic Wind Noise Reduction mode, which should ensure that you hear less of the wind when you walk outside. In addition, the WF-1000XM4 has Adaptive Sound Control, which adjusts noise canceling to the ambient noise. The latter technique is not new, and can be found in more headphones and earplugs from Sony. The WF-1000XM4 can handle the sbc, aac and ldac codecs and can use DSEE Extreme, a technique that attempts to recover the information lost in lossy music.
The WF-1000XM4 has a Speak-to-Chat function, which means that the music pauses when the wearer starts speaking. In addition, the wearer can pause the music via a touchpad on the right earcup. Furthermore, both earplugs contain a sensor, so that the music can also be paused by removing one or both earplugs from the ear. The WF-1000XM4 supports Google’s Fast Pair function and Microsoft Swift Pair, which makes pairing the earbuds faster with an Android and Windows device.
The batteries of the WF-1000XM4 are charged in one and a half hours and last for 8 hours if you use noise canceling. If you have the noise reduction off, the earplugs will last for about 12 hours. That’s different if you keep listening continuously. If you listen without a break, the earplugs will last 5.5 hours with ANC and 6 hours without. However, after 5 minutes of charging, you can listen for another hour. The earplugs can be fully charged two more times via the supplied case. The case can be charged via the standard Qi protocol, or wired via USB-C.
The WF-1000XM4 is available in Black and Silver and has a suggested retail price of 280 hours. The earplugs will be in stores later this month.