So even with everything thats going on in the world right now that doesn’t seem to
be stoping sony with any of their product launches. And today we have new leaks surrounding
the highly anticipated Sony 1000XM4’s that will compliment the leaks we saw last month.
So first off we have a screen shot of Walmart’s inventory manager having the 1000XM4’s listed
as retailing for $350. Which is good news cause at least that means that sony won’t
be increasing the price of their headphones. And also a product page on Bestbuy’s site
featuring the 1000XM4’s went live for a while before getting taken down.
So since best buy has a product page ready to go and it seems like Walmart is getting
ready to take inventory… I think we could be seeing a late May or June release for the
Sony 1000XM4’s. Sony will probably do that same thing with the 1000XM4’s like they
did with the WH-CH710N’s and WF-XB700’s. First they announced them and then 2 weeks
later they went on sale.
Now from the looks of these images we got of the 1000XM4’s these headphones aren’t
going to looking very different on the outside from the current 1000XM3’s. They have the
same over all shape and unfortunately the ear pads haven’t been changed that much…
they look a little different from the 1000XM3’s but they don’t look all the much roomier.
Which is a shame cause I would like the ear pads on the 1000XM4’s to be a little more
spacious so that they can better compete with the Bose NC 700’s comfort wise. Cause like
I’ve said in the past, I actually find the XB900N to be comfortable than the 1000XM3’s
cause they have roomier ear pads. But it does seem like the headband on the 1000XM4’s
is going to be a little thinner than the headband on the current 1000XM3’s.
But over all the 1000XM4’s are going to be an internal spec bump from the 1000XM3’s
just like how the 1000XM2’s were an internal spec bump from the original 1000X’s. And
I wouldn’t expect a design overhaul of Sony’s headphones until the 1000XM5’s. But with
all the being said here’s what we can expect from the 1000XM4’s.
Bestbuy’s listing confirms that the 1000XM4’s will still be using 40 millimeter driver’s…
so they haven’t been changed to the 30 millimeter drivers like the WH-CH710N’s or the Hear
On 3’s… they’re now using bluetooth 5.0 but I wouldn’t get my hope up for full
on simulatainous multi device connectivity like on the Bose NC 700’s or many other
headphones cause even though the 710N’s are also using bluetooth 5.0 they can still
only be connected to 1 device at a time… And it looks like APTX support
is out the door.
Now from the leaks that we saw last month we can expect the 1000XM4’s to be more power
efficient than the 1000XM3’s so I think we’ll see a minimum advertised battery life
of 35 hours with ANC turned on just like the 710N’s or maybe we might even see a 40 hour
battery life on the 1000XM4’s cause they’re their most premium headphones.
Now Sony’s new Speak to Chat feature which was first mentioned on the quick start guide
that was leaked last month for the 1000XM4’s still hasn’t been fully explained… but
personally im really looking forward to the 1000XM4’s cause we could see some serious
ANC performance improvements on the 1000XM4’s. Which is insane cause the 1000XM3’s already
have amazing ANC.
Now ive been using the 710N’s for a bit now and ive been working on my review of them.
Now as a sneak peak ive already put the 710N’s through an ANC test. Now as you’d expect
the 710N’s block out more noise than the 700N’s… but surprisingly the $200 710N’s
block out a little more noise than $250 XB900N’s. But so that you can see for yourself we’re
going to jump into an ANC Test.
So like I just said, the 710N’s block out noticeably more noise than 700N’s which
is awesome! But the 710N’s have no problem keeping up with the XB900N’s and even manage
to block out a little more noise than the XB900N. Now its not a huge difference but
you would think that Sony would have a bigger performance delta between the 710N’s and
XB900N and make sure that the XB900N have noticeably better Active noise cancelation
than the 710N’s.. but they don’t.
So I feel that if sony is confident enough to put this type of ANC performance into their
entry level ANC headphones we could be seeing some major ANC improvements on the 1000XM4’s
cause first off sony needs to give people with 1000XM3’s a reason to upgrade, Bose
and Sennheiser aren’t too far behind when it comes to ANC performance, and sony might
be feeling the pressure cause Apple’s new ANC headphones could be right around the corner.
So I don’t think that we’ll have to wait all the long for the Sony 1000XM4’s. I think
right now it looks like we’ll see a mid may announcement and then they’ll get a
released a few days later. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re hard to get at launch
cause of our global health situation. Now the 1000XM4’s are going to be mostly a spec
bump from the current 1000XM3’s. I think we can expect better battery life, I think
we could see some serious ANC gains, and there’s that Speak to chat feature.
Now if you’re looking into getting a pair of ANC headphones right now I would definitely
hold off from getting the 1000XM3’s cause the 1000XM4’s are right around the corner.
But if you are looking for a deal than the 1000XM3’s are still a bargain and one of
the best ANC headphones out there if you can get them
on sale for $278 or less.