If you are here, I am assuming you already know that a new model of Sony’s noise cancelling headphones named Sony WH-1000XM4 is right around the corner. We have seen leaks from Walmart, Dell Canada which suggested the possible release date to be 23rd to 24th June. Despite our hopes, it didn’t happen.
Around the same time we had a few leaks from different sources, a YouTube video which reviewed the unreleased WH-1000XM4 came out from a Vietnamese YouTuber. (A YouTube channel owned by an audio store in Vietnam to be more specific….)
The entire video was in Vietnamese, without English subtitles. In this post I would like to share some of the details I managed to translate using Google Translator (yes, I used it.) and a little help from my Vietnamese friend.
The first review of WH-1000XM4 to appear in YouTube
As I mentioned before, the video was in Vietnamese. The title was “rên tay tai nghe SONY WH-1000XM4 chỉ 1 chiếc duy nhất tại VIỆT NAM | Siêu phẩm chống ồn 2020”. Google Translator tells us that the title of this video in English would be something like “Hands on review for the only WH-1000XM4 in Vietnam | The best noise cancelling of 2020”.
The video has already been taken down. I would appreciate any links to the video if available.
There is a sensor which detects when the headphones are taken off
Now, from some leaks, we already new that WH-1000XM4 will have a feature that automatically stops your music when the headphones are taken off. This leaked feature is now almost confirmed since we can see there is a type of sensor on one of the ear cups. (marked red)
There was a different leaked video of Sony’s Connect app and it appeared to have a feature “Automatic Power Off”. The app even states “Pauses when headphones are taken off”.
WH-1000XM4 will look like the WH-1000XM3
I was able to recover from the video that WH-1000XM4 will look 95% identical.
In fact, NFC and SONY’s logo appears to be located at the same spot.
Of course, you will be able to charge the WH-1000XM4 with USB type-C cable
The ability to customize the side button
The button which had a print “NC/Ambient” looks like will be replaced with “CUSTOM” on the WH-1000XM4.
A leaked app screen has a section where you can assign different functions to the “CUSTOM” button.
I guess not everyone used the air pressure optimizer, which can be activated by holding the NC/Ambient button at the moment. So for those, you will be able to assign something different. Not to mention that options are limited.
The headband became longer
The reviewer have mentioned that the headband became longer. I am not sure how this will improve the noise cancelling, but I am sure it will make a huge number of people happier with their longer headband.
WH-1000XM4 will support Bluetooth 5.0
A feature called speak to chat
There is another feature called “Speak-to-Chat” which is not entirely clear yet.
Release date
It was actually mentioned that WH-1000XM4 will be released on the 23rd of June in this video. But as we are aware, that wasn’t the case….
A post reddit have also listed a few points.
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Pressure sensors (which you see inside the left earcup) to improve ANC considerably (this guy also confirmed the ANC enhancement)
- New chipset DSEE (Besides upscaling the received audio files, this chipset, with a new technology called SRE/SRI, helped to analyze and upscale these audio files IN REALTIME.
- New technology used in microphone named “Precise-Pickup” which improves the conversation via microphone significantly (by combing 5 different microphones on WH-1000XM4)
- Other technologies he mentioned will be introduced in the next videos (such as Adaptive Sound Control, better battery, …)
Thanks for visiting. That’s all I have to share for now. I will update this post as we get more information about the WH-1000XM4. Please excuse my writing. English is my third language… See you next time! Japanese version of this post can be found here. Amazon is doing some deals around Sony WH-1000WH3.
