Hello everybody and welcome to this microphone test featuring the new Sony WF-1000XM4.
Now just keep in mind this is strictly a microphone test and not a full review.
But in this video we’re going to be testing the microphone on these earbuds in different
controlled environments and we’re also going to be comparing them to a few other earbuds.
But with all that being said we’re going to be starting off with a pair of wired earbuds
so that we can get our baseline.
So these are the apple EarPods… over all I think I sound pretty good.
But in this video we’re going to be testing these earbuds in 3 different scenarios.
First in a quiet room like this.
Then we’re going to be simulating road noise which will be supplying us with a constant
low frequency sound and then we’ll be simulating a coffee shop which will be supplying use
with a random higher frequency sound.
Now even though the wired apple EarPods sound pretty good in a quite room… they do absolutely
nothing to block out any ambient noise cause right now you can clearly hear all of this
road noise.
And the same thing can be said about being in a coffee shop.
My voice sounds pretty good but you can clearly hear all of this chatter in the background.
But now here are the Sony WF-1000XM3’s and we’re starting off with these so that we
can see if there has been any improvement.
Now I general I like and recommend Sony’s headphones a lot… but their microphones
aren’t their strong suit.
Now the WF-1000XM3’s recently got an update that did improve their microphone a little
bit… but I do sound pretty robotic.
Now when it comes to blocking out road noise my voice is still pretty forward which is
a good thing… but you can still hear a decent amount of road noise in the background.
And the same thing can be said about chatter, my voice is still pretty forward which is
a good thing but you can still hear a decent amount of chatter in the back ground.
However this mic does do a good job of muting itself a little bit when you’re not talking
so that it not constantly pumping in ambient noise….
But then when you start talking again you start to hear that chatter again.
But now here’s the star of the show the Sony WF-1000XM4’s.
And over all I gotta say this microphone is a down grade from the WF-1000XM3’s.
First off clarity isn’t as good as with the WF-1000XM3’s and since the highs are
a little pushed down these ear buds do sound a little shallow by comparison.
But the real down grade is when it comes to blocking out ambient noise.
For starters the WF-1000XM4’s are letting in more road noise than the WF-1000XM3’s
but also you voice isn’t as prominent as with the WF-1000XM3’s making it hard to
hear you.
But then there’s also just a ton of static in the background.
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, even though the WF-1000XM4’s are blocking
out the same amount of chatter… your voice isn’t as prominent as with the WF-1000XM3’s
and there’s still that static in the background along side a little bit of choppiness.
But just as with the WF-1000XM3’s when you stop talking this mic will mute itself…
but over all I gotta say the WF-1000XM3’s have the better performing microphone here.
Now I usually don’t do this but since microphone quality usually is a weak point for Sony I
thought id throw in the Sony 1000XM4 headphones who’s microphone is a little better then
their predecessors but could be better.
But id say this microphone sounds a little more like the WF-1000XM3’s then the WF-1000XM4’s
cause of their elevated highs.
However the headphones don’t block out as much noise as the WF-1000XM3’s and there’s
just a bunch of static in the background like im getting hit by wind noise.
But im clearly not.
And when it comes to chatter there still that static in the back ground when im talking
and these headphones are letting in way more noise than the earbuds.
But now lets move on to the rest of the competition starting with the AirPods Pro.
Now just to say time both the AirPods and AirPods Pro sound and perform pretty much
the same.
Now in a quite room id say the AirPods Pro a putting a good emphasis on your voice with
good clarity.
And when it comes to blocking out road noise,
even though the AirPods Pro do let in a decent amount of noise pollution… they do a much
better job of lifting your voice so its much easier to hear and understand you.
And the same thing can be said about chatter, even though you can still hear a decent amount
of chattering the back ground, my voice is the main focus here.
And there’s no weird static in the background when im talking.
Next up are the Galaxy Buds Pro which I feel also have a good sounding microphone but they
do have a little more amplification to them so you’ll might hear a little more of an
echo to them.
Now when it comes to blocking out road noise these earbuds do let in a little more noise
pollution than the AirPods Pro…
But the Galaxy Buds pro do a much better job of putting an emphasis on your voice than
the Sony WF-1000XM4’s.
However sometimes your voice can get a little choppy with the Galaxy Buds Pro
And the same thing can be said about chatter, the Galaxy Buds Pro block out a little less
noise pollution than the AirPods Pro but they put a better emphasis on your voice than the
Sony WF-1000XM4’s.
Albeit your voice can get a little choppy from time to time.
But at least there’s no static in the background.
But now lets switch over to some to come honorable mentions starting with the Jabra Elite 85T’s
which I feel have a decent enough sounding microphone for phone calls but I do wish this
microphone had more amplification to it cause it can be a little harder to hear me some
times.
However this microphone does let in a noticeable amount of road noise
And this microphone also lets in a noticeable amount of chatter in.
So personally I would try to avoid taking phone calls with these earbuds in a noisy
environment.
And over all I do feel the echo buds out perform this microphone.
And then there’s the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s which have a lot of amplification to
them
Now when it comes to blocking out road noise your voice can get very choppy from time to
time.
More choppy than the Galaxy Buds Pro
However this microphone does a very impressive job of blocking out chatter even though it
has a lot of amplification to it.
But finally these are the Oneplus buds and these earbuds really do have a very impressive
microphone.
In a quiet room these earbuds sound great and my voice sounds very natural.
But what’s really impressive is the amount of low frequency sound these earbuds block
out.
You can bearly hear any road noise in the background.
Cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear
all of this road noise.
But if we switch back over to the OnePlus Buds it is severely reduced.
And again when it comes to blocking out chatter these earbuds do a very impressive job as
well.
Cause again if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clealerly
hear all of this chatter.
But if we were to switch back over to the one plus buds it is severely receded and my
voice still sounds great without any echo to it.
So with all that being said, I’d say the microphone on the Sony WF-1000XM4’s needs
a lot of work.
Especially since right now the microphone on their predecessors the WF-1000XM3’s is
out performing them in both clarity and blocking out noise pollution.
If you’re planning on taking lots of phone calls with your earbuds id still recommend
picking up either the AirPods Pro or Galaxy Buds Pro… but still these larger companies
still gotta get on OnePlus’s level.