An everyday life without headphones? Unthinkable for many people! Especially over-ear models often convince with a comfortable fit and great sound. The wireless Sony WH-1000XM4 is right at the forefront. Even in 2022, the over-ear is one of the best and most popular noise-cancelling headphones with Bluetooth on the market. COMPUTER BILD’s WH-1000XM4 test reveals why. Are you generally looking for the best Bluetooth headphones or rather the best in-ear headphones? COMPUTER BILD has also tested these for you.
The best noise canceling headphones
Phillips
Details about the test
Per
Beautiful, detailed sound
Clever controls
against
A little heavy
ANC with air up
Apple
Details about the test
Per
Very natural sound
Superior noise cancellation
Yamaha
Details about the test
Per
Decent sound
Great 3D technique with different profiles
against
A little bulky and heavy
Fiddly Bluetooth connection
Sony
Details about the test
Per
Pleasant sound
Sits comfortably
against
360 Reality Audio limited to a few tracks
Sony
Details about the test
Per
good sound
Smart noise cancellation
against
Bass too loud from the factory
360 Reality Audio limited to a few tracks
Devil
Details about the test
Per
Clear and detailed sound
Good battery life (37.5 hours)
jabra
Details about the test
Per
Long battery life (37 hours 48 minutes)
Good noise cancellation
against
A little heavy
Automatic does not always work correctly
Evil
Details about the test
Per
Balanced sound
Very good noise cancellation
against
A little warm under the upholstery
Sennheiser
Details about the test
Per
High wearing comfort
Detailed sound
against
Slightly short battery life
A little heavy
Nura
Details about the test
Per
Hearing test on board
Clean sound
against
Combination of over-ear and in-ear takes some getting used to
Complete List: The Best Noise Canceling Headphones
Great design, long battery life
The large headband headphones are unobtrusive and simple, but well made. Thanks to soft padding, it sits comfortably and the headband can be easily adjusted. The Sony can be folded up for transport, and a sturdy bag is included in the scope of delivery. In addition to the charging cable (USB-C), it contains a headphone connection cable, so that the WH-1000XM4 can also be used without Bluetooth – for example for on-board entertainment on airplanes. An adapter to a double plug is also included. When it comes to battery life, it goes one better than its predecessor, the Sony WH-1000XM3: In the test, it played a crazy 38 hours and 24 minutes of music when fully charged, beating its predecessor by seven hours.
Sony automatically pauses
Control is essentially by tapping and swiping with your fingers, the earcups are designed as touchpads. On the right side, vertical swiping changes the volume, horizontal swiping takes you to the next or previous music track. The music stops with a tap of the finger, and this is also used to answer calls. Hold your hand on the right ear cup and the Sony headphones turn down the music volume and direct calls through to you. What’s new is that the WH-1000XM4 can now automatically pause the music and forward calls as soon as you say something – for example to order a coffee. Sony calls this “speak-to-chat”. Everyone has to decide for themselves to what extent it is appropriately polite to keep the headphones on during conversations.
This is how noise canceling works
The setting for the routing of calls is made in the “Sony Headphones Connect” app (for iOS and Android). There you can set how strong the noise canceling effect should be – separately for a wide variety of situations. For noise-canceling, microphones capture the ambient noise, while the headphones reproduce opposing sound waves. This anti-noise and the ambient noise are superimposed in such a way that they cancel each other out. On the train, for example, noise cancellation that is as effective as possible is desirable, while on a walk you may want to be able to hear more of your surroundings. The strength of the noise canceling can be set accordingly in the app.
In addition, the Sony specifically mixes in the voice frequencies of the outside noise, so that announcements on the platform, for example, remain understandable. Other ANC headphones can do this too, but the Sony can also automate this in the app: the app recognizes whether you are sitting or walking, whether you are on a plane or in a café. Accordingly, it switches to appropriate modes with the noise canceling and transparency settings you have stored. With a slight delay, it worked pretty well in the test. For noise cancellation, Sony uses a new chip in the WH-1000XM4 (Noise Canceling Processor QN1), which dampens ambient noise even more sensitively with 700 control steps per second. This was also shown in the test, with the XM4 model higher frequencies and speech penetrate even less than with the predecessors.
New features in the Headphones app
A new feature in the app is the ability to assign specific settings to different locations. When the user reaches their workplace, the headphones automatically switch to the appropriate mode. Or on your favorite bench in the park or in the train lounge – a practical extra. What is new is the optimization for “360 Reality Audio”, a surround sound process specially designed for headphones. The app uses photos to capture the anatomy of the user’s ears. They play a crucial role in spatial sound perception. One and the same voice sounds different depending on the position – different from the front than from behind, because the ear cups influence the sound. In the case of headphone playback, this possibility of differentiation does not apply, as the sound travels almost unaffected from the auricles directly into the auditory canals. In order to give the headphone sound a more realistic spatial impression, the app adjusts the sound accordingly – sound events that you should locate behind you, as opposed to noise sources far to the side or directly in front of you. The crucial catch: The feature requires appropriate recordings, which not every streaming platform offers. If it does, the result sounds fascinatingly clear, authentic and much less like headphones than usual.
Sony WH-1000XM4 great sound
Little has changed in the basic sound tuning of the Sony WH-1000XM4. It sounds warmer and more powerful than the original version, but not overly bass-heavy, but always precise. In addition, there are neutral mids with unadulterated voices and a great fine resolution without cymbals and hissing. Users can sensitively change the sound to taste in the app. Class!
Pleasant sound
Sits comfortably
360 Reality Audio limited to a few tracks
Sony WH-1000XM4 review: conclusion
Even the predecessors of the Sony WH-1000XM4 convinced frequent travelers with great sound and effective noise cancellation. The current model builds on this seamlessly. Little has changed in terms of structure and sound quality, both of which were already great. The additional possibilities in combination with the app are practical, “360 Reality Audio” is fascinating – but does not work with all streaming services. The long battery life is extremely good. test grade: 1.8. In the meantime, the price has even changed: instead of around 380 euros at the beginning, the Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones only cost just under 270 euros (as of February 2022).