Sony WF-1000XM4 Review: The best TWS headset without any shortcomings

Since its large-scale launch in 2016, TWS earphones have swept the entire market with their super convenience. In 2016, global shipments of TWS earphones were only 9.18 million pairs. By 2020, this number has more than doubled 20 times to 238 million pairs. Analysts predict that global shipments of TWS earphones will reach 350 million pairs in 2021.

The most active players in the TWS headset market are naturally the major mobile phone manufacturers, who have quickly seized the market by relying on their inherent advantages of matching with their own mobile phones. However, with the popularity of TWS headsets, people's requirements for them are also constantly increasing. In addition to basic functions, more and more people are beginning to demand functions such as noise reduction, sound quality, and bone conduction, which are the advantages of traditional headset manufacturers.

Sony launched its first TWS headset, the WF-1000X, also known as "noise-cancelling beans" in 2017, and then launched the improved WF-1000XM3 in 2019, which has a built-in Qn1e custom noise-cancelling chip and brings excellent noise-cancelling effect. Two years later, Sony finally launched the latest product in this series: WF-1000XM4.

This time, it’s finally the noise reduction “bean”

The WF-1000X series has always been called "noise-cancelling beans", but the size of the previous generation products is not worthy of this title. However, a netizen's joke is very realistic: "As soon as it came out, it lived up to the first three words of 'Sony is great' - Sony is big."

The WF-1000XM4 has been significantly optimized in size this time, with the charging box reduced by 40%. Compared with AirPods Pro, the charging box of WF-1000XM4 is wider and thicker, and slightly lower in height. Overall, the three dimensions of the two are on the same level. After two generations of improvements, Sony has made the WF-1000XM4 a TWS headset product that fits in your pocket.

The charging box is also equipped with a breathing light, which allows users to more intuitively understand the battery status of the earphones.

The earphones themselves have also become smaller and more exquisite. The weight of a single earphone is about 7 grams, which is more in line with the title of noise reduction "bean". You will not feel your ears falling even if you wear them for a long time.

The WF-1000XM4 uses a round earplug design that fits the human ear better, so it is more secure to wear and can remain secure even with large movements. It is reported that Sony collected a lot of human ear data when designing this headset, and made a mold of the internal shape of the ear, designing the headset to make the most flexible use of the internal space of the ear cavity.

The earphones come with three sizes of earplugs, and users can choose freely according to the condition of their ears. This time the earplugs are made of polyurethane foam, which not only improves the passive noise reduction performance, but also is more skin-friendly and firm, making the earphones less invasive.

For TWS headphones, wearing comfort may be more important than noise reduction, sound quality and other functions. The WF-1000XM4 has also made drastic changes in this regard, making it a product that is very friendly to all types of users.

Easy to operate, stable connection, easy to listen to music and make calls

For TWS headphones, battery life is undoubtedly a very important indicator. The WF-1000XM4 still performs well in this regard. After turning on the noise reduction function, the single battery life can still reach 8 hours. The charging box can be fully charged twice, and the total battery life reaches 24 hours. At the same time, this product also supports fast charging function, which can play music for one hour after charging for 5 minutes.

WF-1000XM4 uses touch control like its predecessor, and the gestures remain the same. However, this time Sony has added a thoughtful feature: "Smart Free-Hand Conversation". When this feature is turned on, the headphones will automatically pause the music and filter in the ambient sound when you are talking, so you can talk without having to manually pause the music.

WF-1000XM4 needs to be used with Sony | Headphones Connect (App). After a simple pairing, you can use functions such as adaptive sound control and 360-degree real-time sound. After turning on 360-degree real-time sound, the switching of sound between the two ears is no longer like a direct "airdrop", but more like a bridge between the two ears, achieving a smoother transition.

Recently, Sony pushed the 1.2.6 version of the firmware update for WF-1000XM4. After this update, the noise reduction performance of WF-1000XM4 has been upgraded, the noise reduction processing is more detailed, and the switching between ambient sound mode and noise reduction mode will be smoother. At the same time, this firmware upgrade also improves the stability of Bluetooth connection, reduces latency, and strengthens signal strength, allowing users to make calls smoothly in crowded places such as high-speed rail stations. In terms of sound quality, this firmware upgrade also makes the headphones and mobile phone systems fit better, bringing more delicate sound quality performance.

At the same time, the Sony Headphones App can also directly control music playback software such as Apple Music, so that setting the headphone functions and listening to music can be done in the same App, without having to switch frequently, which is very convenient.

In terms of connection, the WF-1000XM4 is also very stable. In the test, whether in a crowded shopping mall, a subway with intermittent signals, or an office with a large number of Bluetooth devices interfering, the WF-1000XM4 did not have any noise or even disconnection problems.

The call quality of WF-1000XM3 is not completely satisfactory, but in WF-1000XM4, Sony has added microphone beamforming technology and bone conduction sensors to greatly improve the call quality. I tried to call my family on the subway, and the voices of both parties were clearly presented.

Noise reduction and sound quality: excellence comes with sound

Since it is a "noise reduction bean", the noise reduction performance is naturally the most eye-catching part. WF-1000XM4 uses a new integrated processor V1, which not only absorbs and improves the excellent noise reduction performance of the previous generation processor QN1e, but also combines dual feedback microphones to increase the capture of ambient sound in signal processing, making the ambient sound more natural, with stronger performance and lower power consumption.

The new 6mm driver unit uses a more outstanding flexible diaphragm, which increases the volume of the magnet by about 20%, generating a high-precision noise reduction signal for the low-frequency range, effectively enhancing the performance of low-frequency noise reduction. In addition, the polyurethane foam earplugs are softer and more elastic, which can increase the contact surface between the earplugs and the ear canal, fit the ear canal more closely, and thus effectively isolate high-frequency noise.

Regarding the noise reduction performance of WF-1000XM4, let me first use the most intuitive example to illustrate: I usually use a tea-axis mechanical keyboard for office work, which has a very obvious tapping sound. After turning on the noise reduction mode of WF-1000XM4, I can no longer hear the keyboard tapping sound.

In daily use scenarios, the place with the most noise is the subway. I wore WF-1000XM4 during my commute for several days. After turning on the noise reduction mode, the roar of the subway operation basically did not affect me too much, but the announcements of entering and leaving the station could still be heard clearly. Of course, this is not entirely a bad thing. After all, if you are too immersed in listening to music and miss the station, it will be a bit of a loss.

For wind noise, the WF-1000XM4 is equipped with an automatic wind noise reduction mode, which detects and automatically suppresses wind noise, further identifies ambient noise and eliminates it to a greater extent. Therefore, the effect of listening to music while walking on the street is absolutely satisfactory.

Compared with AirPods Pro, WF-1000XM4 has a slightly better noise reduction effect, and there is another point that I like deeply: ear pressure. After wearing Airpods Pro and turning on the noise reduction mode, I can obviously feel the ear pressure increase, and the whole ear will feel stuffy. If I don’t play music, it will soon become unbearable. Therefore, it is difficult for me to turn on the noise reduction mode for a long time when using AirPods Pro, and I will switch to the transparency mode before taking off the headphones. Although WF-1000XM4 also has problems in this regard, the comfort level has been significantly improved. At least for me, WF-1000XM4 is a product that can be worn simply as a noise-isolating earplug without playing any sound.

As a major headphone manufacturer, sound quality is naturally Sony's strength. The WF-1000XM4 supports LDAC Bluetooth transmission technology, becoming Sony's first TWS headphone to support Hi-Res Audio Wireless, which can restore sound details more efficiently. The headphones are also equipped with DSEE ExtremeTM (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine Advanced) technology, which can improve the quality of digital audio in real time.

Through the combination of these two technologies, the WF-1000XM4 can transmit data at a rate about three times that of AAC or SBC encoding when playing music, making the sound details richer and more delicate.

The WF-1000XM4 can control different sound modes through the mobile phone app, including original sound, treble enhancement, bass enhancement, etc., which can be adjusted at any time according to different songs and personal preferences.

We played the Japanese song "Running Into the Night" in original mode. A major feature of this song is that there are a lot of bass beats in the background music, which is what we often call "dynamics". During the playback, the bass effect of WF-1000XM4 feels more obvious than AirPods Pro, and the accompaniment of the instrument is not covered. At the same time, there is a fast-paced piano performance in the accompaniment of the middle part of this song, and WF-1000XM4 also shows it very clearly, without being covered by the human voice or the sound being blurred.

Another major feature of the song "Running Into the Night" is the clear and expressive female voice, and WF-1000XM4 also retains this feature. Overall, WF-1000XM4 fully displays all the characteristics of this song, and the overall performance is very harmonious.

Then, we played another pure music for testing, also in original mode. This song uses a lot of orchestral instruments, and there is a trumpet performance at the beginning of the song. The WF-1000XM4 processed the sound of this section very loudly. After entering the climax stage, in addition to the loud chorus, there is also a bass accompaniment in the background. The WF-1000XM4 also makes its sound fully presented, which sets off the overall tragic atmosphere of the song.

In general, when playing pop music, the WF-1000XM4 can make the human voice feel very three-dimensional, the high-frequency instruments are delicate, and the low-frequency dynamics are stronger. When playing pure music, the timbres of various instruments also complement each other. At least among TWS headphones, the sound quality performance of the WF-1000XM4 is definitely in the first echelon.

A new benchmark for TWS earphones

After two years of inaction, Sony's new TWS headset WF-1000XM4 brought us a lot of surprises.

First of all, it can be seen that Sony has not compromised on the performance of the WF-1000XM4. Both the sound quality and noise reduction have adopted the current highest technical specifications, making it the "big brother" among TWS headphones today. In terms of function, the WF-1000XM4 is a comprehensive upgrade of the WF-1000XM3. While retaining the advantages of noise reduction and sound quality of the previous generation, it has made up for the shortcomings in calls, making it a truly all-round TWS headset.

In addition to its core product strength, the WF-1000XM4 has also made major upgrades in appearance and functionality, and many humanized designs make it a product with a wider audience coverage.

Sony WF-100XM4 can be adapted to various mobile phone systems, and can achieve excellent noise reduction and sound quality. The only drawback is that the price of WF-1000XM4 has also reached the level of flagship products, so it may not be very attractive to passers-by. But if you want to enjoy the convenience brought by wireless headphones and have high requirements for product functions, WF-1000XM4 is definitely worth the price.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.