The WH-1000XM4 are the latest in Sony's popular series of flagship noise-canceling wireless headphones. The 1000XM4 arrive two years after the launch of their predecessor, which received universal acclaim.
With the 1000XM4, Sony has chosen to, once again, not reinvent the wheel but just bring minor improvements across the board and further refine what was already a good product.
The improvements on the 1000XM4 focus largely on the software side, with the inclusion of things like a new noise-canceling algorithm, multi-device pairing, a 'speak to chat' feature, DSEE Extreme, improved voice pickup, and Google's Fast Pair feature, with some new hardware features like an optical sensor for wear detection. Things that have remained the same include the design and battery life. But then some things are missing this time around, such as the lack of aptX and aptX HD codecs.
Design
Visually, the 1000XM4 are identical to their predecessor. They even come in the same two colors, so there's no way to tell them apart when you spot someone wearing them. The only difference is on the inside of the left earcup, which is where the optical sensor for the wear detection sits.
Sony has chosen to retain the basic design of the 1000X series over its many iterations. Version 3 and 4 differ slightly from 1 and 2 but they all have the same unmistakable look.
Aesthetically, it's a very pleasing design with a refined, sophisticated appearance that is discreet enough to be worn outdoors without drawing attention towards them. The ear cups are also quite lean so the headphones don't stick out much from either side. The fit and finish of the materials is also quite good and the 1000XM4 have a lush feel to them.
Aesthetics aside, the functionality of the design also hasn't changed. The headbands are adjustable with a satisfying sliding mechanism. However, one issue with the sliding is that it has to be done when the headphones are off your head. That's because once you wear them, the headbands get bent, which prevents the ear cups from sliding smoothly on the metal rails. It extremely difficult to decrease the length of the band while still wearing them as the mechanism just seems to get jammed when worn.