So, after owning the XM2s for the longest of time and now rocking the AirPods Max I
figured it would be a good time to review the XM4s and answer the following questions:
How good are they?
How much better are they compared to the older model?
What makes them the king of noise-canceling?
Are they as good sounding as they are good at separating you from your surroundings,
etc, etc?
In this video we will go over the improvements over the older model, the new sensors, of
course, sound quality, as well as comfort, multi-device support, and a lot more...oh
and of course the pain point for people with big heads like me - comfort.
Let me start with an upfront conclusion and in the meantime feel free to roam around the
video using the provided timestamps.
In short, the XM4s are great headphones, but I do feel that they are overhyped.
They are excellent at noise-canceling, which is perhaps their selling point, but I don't
think they are exceptional sounding nor as comfortable as I'd wanted them to be.
Comfort is of course subjective, but even other people around me come to the same conclusion
that although light, the clamping force on the ears may bring discomfort over longer
use.
Don't get me wrong, they sound great and are a lot of fun to listen to, but as with my
older pair, I wouldn't resort to them if I was looking for accuracy.
I would grab them any time I want to space out from all the noise and I would take them
if I was traveling and that I think is still what makes them unique.
The combination and proven recipe for durability, complete and compact package, battery life,
and all-around knowing-what-to-expect performance.
So, let's dig deeper.
Hey guys, this is E, and if you are new to the channel, welcome.
My name is Iskren, and most people call me E, and let's start with what's new and improved.
First off, we have larger cushions and an upgraded, softer headband.
The Champaign color is a bit muted compared to my old pair which makes it is easy to see
the difference between the models.
This color is a bit more neutral, a bit more grey, and maybe a bit more cheap-looking and
boring if you ask me but it does make the headphones fit better on any setup.
Also, there's less shiny coating and everything is matte and overall cleaned up here and there.
Personally, I would go for the matte black color with copper accents...I think it looks
wonderful.
The cushions are soft, providing great padding, and the headband is improved as well this
time around.
Just as before the headphones can collapse to take less space in the case.
Overall, these headphones are very light.
More noticeable here is the USB-C charging port and the well improved tactile buttons.
Where the older model was difficult to use and find the flush buttons, this one is a
lot easier to work with because I can now feel what I want to press.
With the XM4, we also have new sensors and 5 new microphones which should help with the
noise canceling and call quality.
With the new proximity sensor, these headphones will now automatically pause once you take
them off and will fall asleep after a while which is important.
In all fairness, this proximity sensor doesn't always work tho.
For it to work properly, you have to take them off the decorous way.
Quick removal and using non-traditional tactics sometimes may not trigger the pause functionality.
It is still better than the old model which would stay on unless I specifically turn them
off, which by itself is a slow process, and more often than not, especially if I get interrupted,
they would stay on until they run out of battery.
That is almost no more with the XM4s and I am glad.
Aside from the improved, buttons we still have a touch-sensitive right ear cup, providing
tapping for assistant trigger and something that Sony calls Quick Attention.
Basically, as soon as you put your hand on the cup, the music fades away, noise-canceling
turns off, or transparency kicks in and you can hear whatever is happening around you
- in most cases a quick conversation.
I was surprised at how good it works because it's really snappy.
There's barely any delay and it makes this a really useful feature.
More useful than any of the other gimmicks that come with those headphones...like Adaptive
Sound Control that learns my location visits, supposedly, preemptively adapting the sound
upon visiting my points of interest...and Speak-to-Chat which as Sony explains stops
the music and lets in ambient sound so I can conduct a conversation.
The problem with that is, first off it is slow to trigger, meaning if someone comes
in and tells me something, I wouldn't be able to react and hear it and even when I speak
back, it takes a second to turn on if it turns on at all.
I have probably a 50% success rate with this feature and I wouldn't put it on the resume.
Also, coming back to the touch-sensitive ear cup, I am not a fan of it.
If I want to use the headphones in bed, although sensitivity is much improved it still leaves
this uneasiness in me that I might trigger my voice assistant or something else by accident.
Pairing the XM4s is typical for most Bluetooth headphones.
You have to long-press the power button until you hear the female sound "Pairing".
This time around, the headphones come with the option to be paired with two devices at
the same time, which should mimic what Apple has to offer with AirPods, although not as
sophisticated.
In theory, I should be able to listen to music on my computer and then switch to a phone
call when it comes in and then come back to my music on my computer when done talking.
And yes, it works as advertised...but only on two devices and there's no automated switching,
meaning that I have to select on my phone to reroute the sound to the headphones when
I answer the call.
Kudos to bringing back the music from the computer afterward.
The XM4's can be used as you go, no need to install the dedicated app, but if you want
to truly experience their potential and maybe experiment with some of the presets and extra
features, then the provided app is a must.
The app itself is straightforward.
I would personally get rid of things that don't work 100% of the time.
For example, I never managed to convince Adaptive Sound Control that I am no longer staying
sitting on a sofa and I honestly don't see much of a difference it makes if I analyze
my ears or not...aside from the fact that if I have to analyze my ears I look like a
total dork.
All jokes aside the EQ settings are useful and more useful to me is turning off the touch
sensor control panel.
Now, calling them kings of noise-canceling is not by accident.
The Sony's are great at eliminating the majority of distracting sounds, however, switching
between ambient sound on and off really makes almost no difference to me.
Also, this ambient sound or transparency mode can't offer what for example the AirPods max
can provide in that department even with the new number of integrated microphones.
See, I don't necessarily hear better my surroundings, but rather head them as if I have some hearing
difficulties - sort of like trying to eves-drop on a conversation thru a thin wall.
For a comparison, turning on transparency mode on the AirPods Max feels as if I have
super hearing abilities - as I could focus on a slow-motion fly buzzing in the other
room.
Turn on noise canceling on the Sony's however and they really shine...almost like being
in space (not that I've been there...but still...it sounds epic ).
The call quality is on par with most Bluetooth headphones.
I wouldn't rave about it that much and it really depends on your surroundings while
on conversation, but for the most part, the person on the other side can expect decent
enough quality.
Now, let's talk about comfort.
For the longest of time, I considered the old XM2 headphones decently comfortable...that
was until I purchased my Audio Technica set which to me are way better for longer use.
The XM4's are technically improved, but I wouldn't say that they have changed much when
it comes to comfort.
Although light, I still feel pressure on the tip of my head and for the most part squeezing
pressure on my ears, which is annoying.
I have a big head, but it seems that side pressure is also present when friends of mine
test them as well.
Sure, perhaps it is something to get used to for most people, but to me, it is a deciding
factor and reason I haven't used my older Sony's unless I really need to isolate myself
with the awesome noise-canceling they have.
Battery life is a strong suit of the XM4's.
Although Sony claims 30 hours, tests prove some 20% reduction in that number which is
still admirable.
Keep in mind that the previous model XM3's which are still available to purchase online
actually are claimed to last a bit longer, but in any case, you won't make a mistake.
The price of the XM4 is around $350 and I think that is one of the reasons I would call
them overhyped.
There's a lot of competition in that price range and headphones that can offer way better
sound quality (sure without noise-canceling) but for far less.
Also, for $100 less, you can still get the older Sony XM3 model which are no slouch when
it comes to noise-cancellation and support even more codecs, which as it seems is better
for non-Apple users.
I'll make sure to put some of my recommendations below as well as a great article from the
Soundguys where you can see in detail the difference between XM3 and XM4.
Also, we are about to do a blindfold headphones test where we will ask a bunch of people to
rate some of the most popular headphones brands, like these exact Sony's and Apple's latest
AirPods Max, so now might be a good time to subscribe to the channel and click on the
bell icon.
Depending on when you are watching this, if that video is already released, it will be
linked in the description below.
So, what's more, important to you?
Noise-canceling, comfort, or sound quality?
Let me know down below.
As always, it’s been an absolute pleasure, This is E
Over and out