The successor to Sony’s WH-1000XM3 has been hotly-anticipated for sometime now, with information for the WH-1000XM4 being drip-fed to users in recent times via a number of leaks. Now, Sony has confirmed a #ListenwithSony event for the 6th of August 2020, with the company teasing: Something exciting is coming your way.
While the event hasn’t been confirmed as a launch for Sony’s upcoming headphones, it does seem rather likely—especially with a new promotional video for the WH-1000XM4 being leaked ahead of time on Sparrow News. Have a look:
Like its predecessor, the WH-1000XM4 will feature the QN1 processor to provide “industry-leading” Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), alongside a new feature: Wearing Detection. This will work in a similar way to the Apple AirPods, where playback will pause when you take off the headphones and resume when you put them back on.
Along that same line of thought is Speak-To-Chat, which also pauses playback when the headphones detect speech—again, playback resumes when you’re done. The video also appears to confirm leaked details from before, too, with an upgrade to Sony’s DSEE HX technology. DSEE EXTREME, as it’s called now, will offer “real-time audio upscaling” based on the genre of music you’re listening to, and even the type of instruments used.
We’re also expecting to see the addition of multi-point connection support, which will allow for users to connect up to two devices to the WH-1000XM4 headphones—and switch between them without having to disconnect from one device first. However, do note that you probably won’t be able to use Sony’s high-quality LDAC Bluetooth feature if multi-point is turned on.
Design-wise, the WH-1000XM4 looks practically identical to the WH-1000XM3. In fact, it looks like Sony’s upcoming ANC headphones are more of an incremental upgrade over its predecessor, with the same 40mm drivers, and even the same battery life estimates and charging times (a 10 minute charge gives you enough juice for 5 hours of playback).
The device has already been through Brazilian and Malaysian regulatory agencies, so the upcoming launch is one that has certainly been expected for awhile now. If pricing remains the same as the WH-1000XM3, we could possibly be seeing a new king in the ANC wireless headphones space in a matter of days.
So, what do you think? Personally, I’m looking forward to see if Sony has any additional upgrades that have slipped under the radar—after all, the Sony WH-1000XM3 is still one of the best ANC headphones to pick up, even in 2020. If you’re interested to watch the launch, you can do so on Sony’s official YouTube channel on the 6th of August 2020, 11pm (MYT).
