First test Sony WF-1000XM4

Every bud ear’s happy nowadays

With so many fine active noise-cancelling true wireless rivals around, Sony has hit back by making its own in-ears smaller and lighter – while piling on the features

R7 000 / sony.co.za

Sony is the reason there are so many brilliant active noise-cancelling true wireless earphones around right now.

The company kicked the whole thing off in 2017 with the original WF-1000X buds, and since then everyone else has been playing catch-up – some with more success than others. And while the WF-1000XM3s were always near the top of the class, in the two years they’ve been on sale everyone from Sennheiser and Bose to Bowers & Wilkins and now Devialet (see p32) has been trying to take the crown.

But anyone who expected Sony to just fiddle around the edges of a proven design is going to be surprised. The WF-1000XM4 is Sony’s latest demonstration of the state of the art, and it’s an entirely new design, fresh from the ground up. The earbuds themselves are smaller and lighter than before (7.3g per bud) and the charging case they live in is fully 40% more compact than the old model. The packaging is reduced too, and it’s now all paper-based and recyclable.

Despite reducing the physical dimensions, though, Sony has been able to include a stack of new features – from adaptive noise-cancellation to fast pairing for Android and Windows. All the buds have to do now is sound better than all their rivals…

1 aptX’s and Ohs

Wireless link-up is via Bluetooth 5.2, which is right at the cutting edge. There’s support for SBC and AAC codecs, as well as Sony’s own LDAC hi-res offering – good news for Xperia owners. But there’s not a sniff of aptX or any of its derivatives.

2 Get a chip on yourself

The entire audio chain in these buds is new. The V1 processor and its associated amplification are both fresh designs, and once they’ve finished dealing with your digital audio file they pass it to an equally new pair of 6mm full-range neodymium drivers (1).

4 Kick out the slams

The active noise-cancelling will adapt to your surroundings to give you the optimum experience whatever you’re doing. And Sony has also developed some new polyurethane eartips (3) for more passive noise-reduction than ever before.

3 Rockaway speech

Just say the familiar wake word and Google Assistant or Alexa will spring into life – and thanks to the three mics in each earbud (2), voice commands are heard and acted on quickly. Siri is available too, if you want to make things less quick and simple.

5 Squall of Cthulhu

There’s some extensive EQ adjustment available in Sony’s control app, including two slots for your own custom settings. Some of the presets are worth experimenting with, although the one labelled ‘Excited’ isn’t quite as exciting as we hoped.

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24 hours with the Sony WF-1000XM4s Good Meh Evil ‘DSEE Extreme’ claims to make basic audio files sound hi-res. It does not. In fact, this entire control app is great. No other brand comes close. They’re small enough but don’t fit comfortably at the first attempt. Wireless connection is rapid, and they cling on even over more than 10m. Being able to decide on touch-control functions is a nice, er, touch. Five minutes on the mains (or a Qi pad) keeps them working for an hour. You might need those five-minute bursts, though – battery life is so-so. The XM3 charging case was massive; this one will slip into a pocket easily. These buds sound great – natural and informative, with lovely bass.

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And call qualityisflat-outsuperb.You could haveachatduringahurricane. Haven’tyetfoundastyleofmusicthe WF-1000XM4sdon’tthinkisbrilliant.ANC is effective right up until it isn’t. Other buds do a bit better here. The passive noise-isolation offered by the improved eartips is impressive.Sony’s LDAC is a decent codec – with a Hi-Res Audio Wireless certificate.

Techspecs

Audio 6mm neodymium drivers Connectivity Bluetooth 5, USB-C and Qi charging Battery life 8hrs (buds), 16hrs (case) Waterproof rating IPX4 Weight 7.3g each, 41g case

Best buds forever?

So the specs and features are impressive, but what’s it like to hang out with Sony’s new noise-cancellers?

■ Blasting

The sound is really accomplished: balanced, vibrant and articulate. There’s plenty of punch and drive, but lots of subtlety too, and they never let even the finest details escape. ■ Lasting

Battery life is in the ‘good but not great’ category. With ANC on they’ll run for around 8hrs, and there are two charges in the case. So unless you cane the volume you should be OK for a 24hr solo party.

■ Tweaking

Sony’s control app is the best around. As well as adjusting EQ and ANC levels, you can assign specific commands to the touch controls and deploy Speak-to-Chat automatic pausing. ■ Speaking

Sony has put a lot of effort into improving call quality, and a bone-conducting vibration sensor ensures clarity is immaculate. The feed-forward mics even switch off if they detect too much wind noise.

With the arguable exceptions of call quality and app slickness, the Sony WF-1000XM4s aren’t quite the best at anything. But they’re so close to being the best at everything that their all-round game is untouchable. No other true wireless noise-cancelling earbuds are so consistently accomplished across the board.

STUFF SAYS ★★★★★

The best true wireless earbuds around – small(er) is beautiful and this is the complete package

The new Devialet alternative: Gemini

For just a bit less, you can go full-on audiophile… or can you?

R6800 / e-piphany.co.za

■ Yep, there’s room for one more on the ANC wireless bandwagon… and it’s French luxury hi-fi brand Devialet, bounding up to the top deck with a pair of surprisingly inexpensive in-ears that promise high-class sound and hi-tech noise-cancelling. Even if they do look a bit like big clompy boots.

■ Do you like acronyms? You’ll love these. They’ve got EAM (ear active matching), whereby the buds tune their sound to the shape of your ear canals; PBA (pressure balance architecture) to regulate the amount of air inside; and IDC (internal delay compensation) for more accurate ANC in the high frequencies.

■ They should sound amazing, shouldn’t they? But on first listen, the Geminis’ edgy aggression has us wincing. Luckily, a visit to the app’s EQ screen is all it takes to swap ‘excitement’ for something a lot smoother. With dips on the 1.25kHz and 4kHz bands, we’re suddenly in happy hi-fi land: the balance is perfect and the sheer space in the midrange is joyous.

■ Is this the most powerful ANC ever? No, but if you just want to silence general hubbub it’s highly effective. It’s also very natural, cutting evenly across the range so the world seems to be turned down a few notches rather than weirdly hollowed out.

Techspecs

Audio 10mm drivers Connectivity Bluetooth 5, USB-C and Qi charging Battery life 6hrs (buds), 18hrs (case) Waterproof rating IPX4 Weight 7g each, 76g case

There’s nothing special about these buds’ design, charging case, battery life, ANC or app… and the sound out of the box is overhyped. But who cares when what you’re getting here (eventually) is proper hi-fi brilliance for under R7 000?

STUFF SAYS ★★★★★

These in-ears are capable of delectable sonic refinement

Let’s go drippin’ The buds are rated IPX4, so they can stand the odd splash, and they’ll handle calls and voice-assistant commands as well as music.

■ Phones

Devialet’s simple Android/iOS app lets you choose from three levels of ANC and two levels of transparency for when you do want to hear the real world, as well as checking on the buds’ battery levels. ■ Tones

The app’s EQ screen includes a number of presets, but dragging the nodes on the graphic equaliser up and down is much more fun. You can also alter the left/right balance, for some reason. ■ Zones

The buds have touch-sensitive outer surfaces that handle the usual play/pause, ANC on/off and call functions with short or long presses. Double-press functions can be customised in the app.