Sony finally reveals new WF-1000 XM4 wireless buds

Since 2019, every other audio brand has attempted to reach the noise-cancelling summit set by Sony's WF-1000 XM3 earbuds. Many have failed over the years since but more recently brands like Bose have come close to knocking Sony off its noise-cancelling throne. Rather than cede its crown to competitors, Sony has finally revealed the next step in its wireless earbud series, the Sony WF-1000 XM4, promising a more compact design, eight-hour battery life with ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) and improved call quality, all propped up by a new V1 Integrated Processor for digital noise cancelling.

The Sony WF-1000 XM4 true wireless earbuds will retail at $449.95 and are available in Black or Platinum Silver. That gets you the buds, the charging case, a USB-C to USB-A charging cable and three sizes of noise isolation earbud tips. The WF-1000 XM3 wireless earbuds launched at $399, so there's a slight price hike for the upgrade. That said, you can currently find the WF-1000 XM3 for as low as $261.59 through retailers like Amazon. We'll have a better idea of what kind of WF-1000 XM4 deals are available closer to release but already you can pre-order them for as low as $389 through JB HI-FI.

Sony is advertising a mid-July release date for the Sony WF-1000 XM4 true wireless earbuds but JB HI-FI's pre-order page claims you'll be able to get your hands on the new buds from Friday, the 16th of July 2021. So mark it down in your calendar.

So confident in their new true wireless earbuds, Sony is offering a pre-order exclusive 14-day "Love Them or Your Money Back" promotion with the XM4 earbuds. Essentially, if you pre-order the buds before the 16th of July, Sony will refund your money if you're not 100% happy with the upgrade.

The biggest upgrades to the Sony WF-1000 XM4 earbuds seem to be to the noise-cancelling processor, battery life and form factor. For all the WF-1000 XM3's strengths, it was a chunky unit, weighing in at a whopping 77g (buds and charging case). Sony seems to have slimmed things down significantly, with the WF-1000 XM4s weighing around 41g in total. Sony has also introduced support of its own LDAC high-resolution audio codec. The WF-1000 XM4s also offer some water resistance this time around, rated IPX4, which should protect your buds from water splashing from every direction. Here's a quick rundown of the most important specs.