Sony WF-1000XM4 Truly Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphone - Up to 24 hours battery life -Optimised for Alexa and Google Assistant-with built-in mic for calls, Black

A little time ago I decided to move on from my 2009 Sony NWZ X1060 Walkman with 32GB. It has given me sterling service over the years with excellent audio quality and good active noise cancellation in a small package.I have read every review around for the leading ANC Bluetooth earbuds. These led me to the Sony WF-1000XM4. There seems to be an almost uniform acclaim that these earbuds are among the very best for build quality, audio, noise cancellation and battery life.Build quality: solid, robust, well madeAudio: very good.I did my testing using a Samsung Tab S6 Lite. I used highest quality MP3 files (320 Kbps) and FLAC files (lossless CD quality i.e. 1411 kbps). I tested using all three codecs: SBC (up to 320 kbps), AAC (up to 250 kbps), LDAC (up to 990 kbs). The WF-1000XM4 does not support aptX. I tried all three codecs with FLAC and MP3. Not surpisingly, MP3 sounded the same with SBC and LDAC. It was a little thinner with AAC. Also, as expected, FLAC only showed an improvement with the LDAC codec. My music is about 90 GB as MP3 (used for portable devices) and 300 GB as FLAC (used for my home HiFi). I decided that, for me, MP3 and SBC was the way to go for a portable device. I adopted the ‘Priority for Stable Connection’ option since the quality option only works with LDAC and I would not be using it.I then tried to connect to my Moto G7 phone. I had VLC (for video) and PowerAmp (for audio) installed. I could play music from both apps but the buds only controlled VLC. I could not figure any way to shift the control to the other app, so since VLC plays video and audio I uninstalled PowerAmp. I then realised that many tracks were distorting badly. The same tracks were fine on the Samsung. I tried the audio player built into File Manager + with no distortion. The problem was that the VLC equaliser was ‘on’. As soon as I set it ‘off’ the distortion went away and the phone sound was the same quality as the tablet.I played around with the phone’s equaliser. The equalizer ‘off’ setting was lacking in brightness for my ageing ears and the Bright profile was a little too bright. I felt the need to create an equalizer profile with clear bass set to 3 and the equalizer to 0, 2, 3, 4, 4. That may not be to your taste but I liked it.Video: There is a small sync delay with all codecs. I found that, with SBC, I had to delay the audio in VLC by 50 msec to achieve sync, so no problem for me.Noise cancellation: I have had a lot of experience with different noise cancelling earphones. The most important first step is that they must form a good seal in the ear canal and prevent sound leaking in and out. These fit me beautifully and are very comfortable. They are effective even before engaging ANC. But with that turned on, sitting in my garden became pure joy: absolutely no lawnmowers, no screeching seagulls, and no high-revving motorbikes, leaving me with perfect silence in which to enjoy my music.Controls: Simple and effective. The only criticism I have is that I cannot control volume from the buds without sacrificing other controls that I want. On both my devices I dedicated a new home page to the buds with widgets for VLC and the earbuds plus the AudioBar widget to provide onscreen volume control.Battery life: Sony’s claims look to be accurate.Range: I can connect reliably up to ten metres outside and in the home.Conclusion: Good things come in a small package.

I've been using these for several months now as an upgrade from the WF-1000XM3's. These are absolutely a worthy upgrade. They are in my opinion, very comfortable, the ANC is top notch, and the sound from these is every bit as excellent as you may have heard this is subjective of course. I have had absolutely no trouble with the bluetooth, using my android phones, "P30 Pro" and "Xiaomi M11" alongside the Amazon Music unlimited HD app. The Sony headphones app to go with these is excellent and provides all the functionality/enhancements you could wish for to support your earbuds. The battery life is also fantastic.The other buds I use are the Anker Liberty Pro 3s. These are also an excellent option and are considerably cheaper. They also have an great app to go with them. They have good ANC and a very clear sound to them, I would also absolutely recommend them. However the Sony Wf-1000xm4 buds, provide a wonderful warmth and clarity to the tone, that the Liberty Pros do not have, indeed I have yet to experience anything close to Sony's warm and clear signature sound the same way from any other manufacturer. So they will always rate as No1 for me as long as this quality along with everything else I've mentioned is kept to the same high standard. In my opinion, buy them, you won't be disappointed. (obviously ensure to use the right eartips for a good seal and to get the best sound quality).Highly RecommendedI will now make an addendum to my earlier review on the early release version of these buds. Just a few weeks ago, I started to suffer the dreaded battery drain problem on my left bud. They charge, but the left bud drains very quickly now. To be fair, I have been using them for 2 years, but at the price paid I hoped for longer before problems set in. Such a shame, they are out of warranty and I can no longer get a free replacement.I have however managed to get a brand new set of same for £150. These were manufactured this year (2023) and do not at this point seem to suffer with the battery problem. Indeed it is stated that they will not suffer with this issue. Time will tell. I truly enjoy the sound of these buds, they really are that good. They are in my humble honest opinion still some of the absolute best on the market, and I've tried many options.Everything I said in my initial review still holds true. So I am not going to rush into getting the Xm5 set for a while. I shall ensure any manufacturing bugs are ironed out first. Then I'll consider it. Until then, I still highly recommend these as they are an excellent choice. Do be sure of course to get ones with a 2023 manufacturing date on them if possible. Look around too, as you should be able to get a very good deal on them now the XM5s are out.