Sony WF-1000XM4 Review

The long wait is over! Ever since the rumor of the next earbuds from Sony had surfaced I had been resisting my urge to updgrade my Samsung Galaxy buds to Galaxy Buds+ or pro.

I wanted to get the a wireless earbuds that is good for listening to music and Sony hands down had the best rating.

For nearly a year I have been putting off upgrading my earbuds. And the pandemic made the wait easy because my commute was eliminated altogether.

So finally I got my hands on the new Sony WF-1000XM4.

Before diving into the review some photos of the earbuds in all its glory.¹

Review

This review is just my take on what I think about this pair of earbuds.

I liked the looks of it but when it is on my ears I don’t like it that much mainly because it is protruding and isn’t concealed.

Coming from non ANC earbuds, ANC is just too good! When I played music(~30% volume) and had ANC on, I could barely hear me typing away on my mechanical keyboard. It is that good!

Ambient noise feature be it on my Samsung buds or this one doesn’t feel natural to me. Some times it accentuates unnecessary background sound which I am not a big fan of but it is pretty decent!

Sound is what I purchased these buds for and I wasn’t disappointed. Compared to Samsung Buds it is a world of difference. The music to my ears felt well balanced. Bass was also to my liking!

The mic quality on these were also good in the limited calls that I made with these.

The battery life on these are pretty solid, I had it on for 3 hours playing the music I like and it only drained ~30% battery which leads me to believe that it will well on course to getting me the advertised up time.

The biggest flaw which is pointed on pretty much on all the reviews online is the fit. I was hoping I would be lucky enought that these would fit my ears without any issue but that wasn’t the case. Every single time I had to plug them in I spent a good chunk of time trying to get it to fit snug, twisting and turning just to make sure that it won’t fall of my ears. And this was every single time I wanted to plug them in. Even after doing that I noticed my ears were starting to pain after prolonged use(>30 minutes). So all the positives that this earbuds had not negated when it came to fit and comfort aspect, which is shame really because everything else about this earbuds is perfect to me.

Because they aren’t comfortable on my ears I think would end up returning them. $305 (with taxes) would have been so worth the price if only they fit well and were comfortable to wear(without giving me ear pain). I really wanted these to be my go to earbuds for next couple of years sadly that thought came to a premature end!

TL;DR

The almost perfect ear buds if only Sony had gotten the fit and comfort part nailed!