After three generations demonstrating that they are the best making headphones with noise cancellation, Sony returns to the fray with the WH-1000XM4. But if the previous version was already practically perfect headphones, what does this new model have? That is just what I am going to tell you in this analysis.
Sony WH-1000XM4, video analysis
Design identical to the 1000XM3
It's hard to tell them apart. If you try to compare one generation with another, you are going to find a surprise, and it is that it is very difficult to differentiate them. Aesthetically they are very similar, and the only perceptible changes are found in the nfc logo, the Sony logo color… little more. However, we only have to put them on to begin to see, or feel, the first changes.
more comfortable than ever
And is that this new generation is extremely comfortable. The 1000XM3 were already very comfortable, but after several hours of use the ear could end up feeling sore. Now, the M4 have decided to use a slightly softer pad, and this translates into a much more pleasant and delicate grip. They have taken care of details as small as the inside seam orientation, which is now much more hidden and does not give a chance to touch your ear.
The big news
- Proximity sensor: It is basically the element that It allows me to quickly differentiate some M3 from these M4. This sensor is responsible for detecting when you have the headphones on and when you don't. Or ratherwhen you take them off. And it is that if you are listening to music and you remove them, the music stops. And if you put them back on, the music plays again.
- speak to chat: forget to do the hand to ear gesture. Until now, this gesture has served to deactivate noise cancellation and be able to speak or listen to the outside without having to remove our headphones. Well, now you won't even need that. The M4s will be able to recognize your voice, and at that time it will deactivate the noise cancellation and let the ambient noise through.
By default this deactivation lasts 30 seconds, so, if they don't speak again, the cancellation will be activated again after that time. But we can modify it, being able to choose between times of 15 seconds or leave it permanently deactivated until we manually activate it again. We can also define the sensitivity of the voice recognition in high or low sensitivity mode, something that while I have kept it in automatic mode has worked perfectly.
I tried to cough, and the headphones kept canceling the noise. I have spoken, and the cancellation has been deactivated. The problem is that it doesn't differentiate speaking or singing, so if you like to sing while listening to music, you'd better turn this mode off, or else you'll pause the song continuously.
Another problem that I have found is that, having paused a playback, after speaking, the headphones have restarted that playback, so there is no exact control of when to resume the audio.
Legacy hardware
It has the same 40mm drivers than the previous generation, however, a new DSEE Extreme engine has been introduced that improves the conversion of digital files more optimally than the M3 did. This is what Sony says, but in practice you're going to need very trained ears to spot the differences.
Another novelty that Sony wants to implement as a revolutionary technology is 360 Audio. It works, the sound is richer in nuances and allows us to enjoy projections from different points, being able to identify many instruments, but its availability is limited to very few services. We'll find Deezer and Tidal, but there's no Spotify, which I think is the quintessential service that everyone uses. 360 Audio surprises, but there is very little content available, and at the moment it does not seem to be what sets the trend in audio.
A perfect product
In summary, we are facing the perfection of a round product. At the level of audio quality and noise cancellation, the changes are subtle, but everything related to comfort has taken a significant leap. By this I mean that if you already have a 1000XM3, the change probably won't cost you much, unless you're looking specifically at the smart new features that have been included. The improvement in sound quality and noise cancellation is hardly noticeable, but all this goes to show once again that we are facing the best headphones on the market.
View offer on AmazonAnd that, as always, you have to pay for it, so don't be surprised to see your label 380 Euros. The recommendation? If your budget is a little tight, now is the best time to get your hands on some 1000XM3, but if you can afford this new generation, you'll win all round.