Why the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones beat AirPods Max and Bose 700

Why the Sony WH-1000XM4 is still the best noise-cancelling headphones

(Image credit: Sony)

The Sony WH-1000XM4 launched in Baronial 2020 to high expectations, only instantly proved that hype was deserved. Hither was a comfortable, stylish and stellar-sounding pair of headphones consummate with active noise counterfoil (ANC). It was an easy add-on to our best noise-cancelling headphones listing.

What's even more impressive is that information technology still sits in the top spot today. The WH-1000XM4 has both weathered the arrival of new ANC cans like the AirPods Max and continued to fend off older rivals like the Bose 700, all while its price gradually ticks down. Here's why you can still count the Sony WH-1000XM4 as the best noise-cancelling headphones on the marketplace.

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Lower toll, higher value

While the Sony WH-1000XM4'southward $350 launch toll was never exactly doormat change, it was pretty practiced because the competition. The Bose 700 had arrived a few months before at $400, and Sony's cans offered a very similar feature set.

By the time the AirPods Max released with its $549 price tag, the WH-1000XM4 was routinely available for less than $300

Past the fourth dimension the AirPods Max released, with an infamous $549 cost tag that's barely wobbled since, the WH-1000XM4 was routinely available for less than $300. At the time of writing, the WH-1000XM4 is on sale at its joint-everyman-always price of $278, which is a genuine bargain.

Is it non worth paying more? The Bose 700 and AirPods Max practise have their appeal, to the bespeak where we also consider them among the best over-headphones yous tin purchase. But on top of just beingness more affordable, the WH-1000XM4 can outmatch its pricier peers on other metrics besides.

Divine blueprint

The WH-1000XM4 makes just modest tweaks to the blueprint of its predecessor, the Sony WH-1000XM3, just they add up. For 1, it cuts downwardly on weight, and our reviewer Alex Bracetti constitute that the WH-1000XM4 somehow manages to experience a little lighter than the Bose 700, despite the two ANC headphones weighing the same.

Sony also improved the texture of the earcup padding covers, dropping the more than plasticky-feeling fabric of the WH-1000XM3 for a softer end on the WH-1000XM4. Besides being better at shrugging off scratches and other superficial harm, the WH-1000XM4's padding makes for an even comfier fit that the Bose 700 and AirPods Max struggle to beat.

So in that location's the touch controls. The AirPods Max's Digital Crown is great, and using touch sensors instead of more than tactile buttons can be risky, but the WH-1000XM4 really nails its controls. Each earcup features an intuitive and touch panel onto which yous can perform a range of tap, swipe and slide gestures with ease. Notably, the Bose 700 uses a like arrangement, though it doesn't feel quite as responsive as Sony's take.

A amend balance of ANC and sound

It's true that the Bose 700 has very slightly more effective ANC than the WH-1000XM4, while the AirPods Max offers more high-tech audio thanks to its Adaptive EQ and spatial audio features. And yet, the WH-1000XM4 still delivers the best overall balance of direct audio quality with high-grade ANC — along with a few special features of its own.

We've yet to test a pair of over-ear headphones that sounds every bit good every bit the WH-1000XM4 without costing significantly more.

We've notwithstanding to exam a pair of over-ear headphones that sounds as proficient every bit the WH-1000XM4 without costing significantly more. The frequency range is impeccably balanced, and so bass is powerful but not overwhelming and the treble is bright simply non sibilant. Sony'due south headphones also strike the perfect combination of a broad, dramatic soundstage with the ability to reproduce fine, more intimate details.

Too, the racket cancellation isn't that far off the class-leading Bose 700. Only a small scattering of sounds that the 700 blocks out can go far past the WH-1000XM4's highly capable ANC, and it normally takes several of those sounds at once to produce an audible divergence.

The WH-1000XM4 is also compatible with Sony 360 Reality Audio, so information technology too has an object-based surround audio format to counter spatial audio. Together with total EQ customization through the Headphones Connect app and NFC for faster pairing, this is a highly intelligent pair of headphones every bit well as one of the all-time-sounding.

Battery life well spent

Nosotros got 29 hours of ANC-enabled playback from the WH-1000XM4, so longevity is one area in which it'due south overtaken by newer racket-cancelling headphones like the Urbanista Miami (40 hours). However, that'due south a much simpler set, without the WH-1000XM4'due south versatile features and sound performance.

The WH-1000XM4 is also still a lot longer-lasting than its 2 biggest rivals, the Bose 700 and AirPods Max. Both of these are rated for 20 hours of ANC playback, so the WH-1000XM4 will provide you with nearly fifty% more uptime between charges. And did we mention information technology's cheaper?

Bottom line

Different aspects of headphones will matter to different people; ane may be willing to forgo ANC in favor of longer bombardment life, while some other might compromise on condolement if it means getting the best possible sound quality.

What makes the Sony WH-1000XM4 the overall best noise-cancelling headphones is that it comes the closest to having everything: it's extremely comfy, easy to utilize, sounds excellent, cancels noise well, lasts long, comes stuffed with features and costs less than its competitors. It may non be the newest, simply it'southward certainly the greatest.

More: The best cheap wireless earbuds we've tested

James is currently Hardware Editor at Stone Newspaper Shotgun, but before that was Audio Editor at Tom'south Guide, where he covered headphones, speakers, soundbars and anything else that intentionally makes noise. A PC enthusiast, he too wrote computing and gaming news for TG, usually relating to how hard it is to detect graphics bill of fare stock.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/features/why-the-sony-wh-1000xm4-headphones-beat-airpods-max-and-bose-700

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Why the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones beat AirPods Max and Bose 700