Sony’s WF-1000XM4 wireless earbuds are smaller, lighter and better-sounding than before
Best buds, better?
Sony’s WH-1000XM4 headphones remain our over-ears champ, and as we were rather fond of the WF-1000XM3, earbuds too, we’ve been eagerly anticipating their successors. Predictably called the WF-1000XM4 (still way too long, but at least Sony is consistent), these true wireless noise-cancelling earbuds have been totally redesigned, eschewing the boiled sweet-like appearance of the XM3s in favour of a smaller and lighter bud, which comes with three noise-isolating earbud sizes that you can test in the Headphones Connect app. There’s a new processor too, which offers automatic wind noise reduction among its improvements, plus a new driver unit and Hi-Res wireless audio support with compatible handsets via LDAC. Familiar features such as Quick Attention, adaptive sound mode and automatic wear detection return, while Speak-To-Chat, which debuted on the XM4 headphones, makes its way into the buds. This will automatically pause your audio when you speak if enabled. Despite their smaller size, Sony is promising the same battery life of up to 24 hours on the £250 WF-1000XM4, while eight hours with noise-cancelling turned on is actually a couple more than you got with the previous earbuds. You can pre-order a pair now. We’ll have a review very soon.
Matt Tate
Contributor 
