Pocketable audio powerhouses, the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds deliver fantastic sound, build quality and ease of use. There are one or two small hiccups, but nothing that really detracts from their overall appeal if you can live with the price.

With an all-new design and tons of improvements, they're very hard to beat.

Sony's true wireless WF-1000XM4 earphones pair excellent audio performance with class-leading active noise cancellation.

Sony not only has a fantastic set of true wireless headphones, the app that accompanies them delivers scads of its own great features and benefits.

While one might quibble whether Sony’s new earbuds are the best noise cancelers in the business, they’re either CEO or COO. In other words, they’re large and in charge. They also offer reams of battery life, a comfy fit, a relatively slim design, and some of the best sound in the wireless genre. Even at $280, that’s a helluva package.

Sure, the touch controls are finicky and the smart features are stupid, but you can get used to the former and disable the latter. Once you do, these are the closest thing to perfect that you'll find on the market today. If you can stomach dropping three Benjis on a set of earbuds, then you'll absolutely love them.

The excellent Sony WF-1000XM4 have subtly improved with firmware upgrades and have also seen some discounts. That earns them a belated CNET Editors' Choice Award.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 are the wireless earbuds upgrade we’ve anticipated, with better aesthetics, sound, noise cancellation and battery life.

Sony has managed to create one of the most feature-rich TWS IEMs with the WF-1000XM4. Given that the smart features work irrespective of the platform (something Apple Airpods and their variants can’t say), the WF-1000XM4 further distinguish themselves from the pack.

It feels a little like Sony overheard all the times I recommended the old WF-1000XM3, and took my caveats to heart. 2021's WF-1000XM4 are smaller, lighter, sound better and last longer, and their ANC gets you so close to what Sony does with its full headphones that the reasons not to buy them are vanishingly small.

The WF-1000XM4 earbuds are even more expensive than the last-gen buds, and those were by no means cheap. However, your $280 buys you the best true wireless earbuds I've ever used. The audio is superb, ANC is supernaturally good, and the battery life is better than most of the competition. I also like that Sony included high-quality foam tips instead of silicone. There are only three sets, but that should be enough for everyone to find a workable fit.

The sound of the buds is really excellent. It’s got the kind of instrument separation that opens up new details on familiar songs you missed with inferior buds. The default balance is terrific, as well. Sony doesn’t lean to heavily into the bass because it doesn’t have to. The headphones sound terrific across a wide range of music varieties, as well as podcasts.

If you’re an iPhone user, you’ll miss out on some platform-specific features offered by the cheaper AirPods Pro. The Apple earbuds connect easier, support more Spatial Audio features (like head tracking), and easily switch between devices. It’s up to you how much you value those kinds of usability features because they can’t offer the same kind of customizability as the Sony buds can.

These Sony buds are among the best noise-cancelling earbuds I’ve tested, and you won’t feel like you need to grab over-ear headphones when you want to really listen to an album — these buds check all the boxes for music lovers whether you’re on the plane, on a run or just listening to tunes at home.

The fact that the XM4s have outstanding noise cancelation is barely a surprise. The foamy tips provide great insulation and the 6 mm drivers are enough to pump out both your rocking tunes and the frequencies needed to create the ANC effect. Mechanical hums from anything that may annoy you are all but gone once you put these in. Curiously enough, high-pitched sounds (like bird chirps) were passing through with seemingly little effort. But I in no way found them distracting (ugh, nature) once I actually pressed "play" in my music app.

Sony leads the pack when it comes to active noise-cancellation, and the WF-1000XM4 are the finest implementation of the technology yet. If you commute by train, live in a noisy neighbourhood, or just enjoy the sensation of being cocooned in a silent, womb-like aural void, these earphones are a cut above every other rival out there.

I’d pick the Sony WF-1000XM4 wireless earbuds over any similarly priced rival for their incredible sound and bliss-inducing noise cancellation alone. Their design, durability, and battery performance are also commendable and so are their app-enabled features and controls.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds are 10% lighters than the Mark 3 version with a 40% smaller charging case. The headset has many of the technologies and features of the larger over-the-ear WH-1000XM4 in a form factor that some of us prefer more. They are not inexpensive at $279.99, but the amazing audio performance, crystal-clear calling support, useful technologies, very long battery life, and more make the Sony WF-1000XM4 an extremely compelling earbud solution and I highly recommend them.

Sony nearly did it again. The company has dominated both over-ear and true wireless product categories for the last few years. It has a knack for creating a compelling combination of sound quality, noise cancelling performance, customization and features. None of the competition comes close to what the WF-1000XM4 offers in terms of what the earbuds can do for you automatically with features like Adaptive Sound Control and Speak-to-Chat. These are almost the complete package, if only the new ear tips offered a better fit. Even the best of the three pairs included in the box never felt truly comfortable. I only found relief when I grabbed the silicone tips from the M3 instead, and most people won’t have access to those. It seems so simple, but if you mess it up, a basic thing like ear tips can nearly ruin otherwise stellar earbuds.

What I discovered is that the WF-1000XM4 earbuds are excellent for people who want premium earbuds capable of performing equally well in a wide variety of scenarios. In my experience, they performed well in an office setting, during a commute, outside while walking the dog, and traveling (by noisy airplanes, buses and trains).

Where I'd like Sony to improve is in the comfort department. This was an issue with the previous WF-1000XM3 as well for different reasons and with the WF-1000XM4 it's the stiff foam tips that come in limited sizes that are the culprit. More size options or a choice of silicone tips would certainly be welcome and not too much to ask for the price.

As much as I love these earbuds, they do have one flaw that makes them not for everyone: They’re bigger than many other options. (The AirPods Pro manage to be smaller by hiding some of the noise-canceling tech in the stem, which XM4s don’t have.) If the most important thing to you is finding something lightweight for your workouts, I’d suggest the Jaybird Vista. And if simplicity is your goal and you don’t want to mess around with an app (and you’re an iPhone user), you’re better off with AirPods.

The active noise-canceling experience is on par with our top pick, and we’ll continue to test them alongside each other. While we prefer Bose’s ear tip, Sony’s provide a comfortable experience that takes a bit longer to get used to. If $279.99 is a bit much but you want the Sony audio experience, we’d look at the WF-1000XM3. They’re still on the market for $229.99.

The XM4 is the whole package for true wireless earphones. If its industry-leading noise-canceling technology for $279 won’t convince you then perhaps the impressive 360 reality audio features and high-resolution Bluetooth will. The battery life is better than ever, and the sound quality even shows its improvements without resorting to EQ. Even then, with the amount of customization Sony offers, the only place to beat it is in native audio quality. With the XM4 it is getting harder to do that.

Sony continues to lead the industry with its noise-cancelling technology, and when paired with new memory foam eartips, the WF-1000XM4 is remarkably effective at tuning out the world around you.

If you want the best true wireless earphones, the Sony WF-1000XM4 has to be in the discussion among the most popular models. It has its foibles, but it's probably the most mature stab at the true wireless design that includes ANC. Still, the price is tough to surmount.

If you want the absolute best active noise cancellation in truly wireless earbuds, the answer is an emphatic yes. Sony has built a new chip it calls the V1 into the 1000XM4s that brings their noise cancellation capabilities to impressive new heights. These earbuds do a better job than the AirPods Pro and even slightly outperform Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds at hushing nearby noise. It’s now reached a point where the NC on these feels nearly as effective as Sony’s premium headphones. Impressive stuff.

They still have a terrible name, but are smaller, easier to fit and more comfortable, last longer and are much more pocketable than their best-in-class predecessors. They support the hi-res LDAC Bluetooth format with Android, which is rare for earbuds, and sound just as good with iPhones and other devices.

The Sony WF-1000XM4’s improvements over the previous generation keep them a strong contender against popular rivals like the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds and Jabra 85t. With a slim, easily pocketable case, good battery life, and a pleasing default sound profile, most people looking for a portable set of true wireless earbuds with solid all-around performance won’t be disappointed.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 are some of the best sounding, best noise canceling earbuds you can buy. They’re not without their quirks, and call quality is still an area of improvement, but they remain one of the most impressive sounding earbuds available today.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 is a flagship true wireless headset in every sense, and has one key factor that sets it apart from other products in this segment – LDAC Bluetooth codec support. This makes it particularly well suited to use with Android smartphones, and the sound quality on offer is indeed among the best that you can get with this form factor. Good active noise cancellation, a functional app, and useful features such as speak-to-chat, Quick Attention mode, and voice assistant support help make this a capable true wireless headset.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 wireless Bluetooth earbuds offer quite the phone call experience. Whereas most wireless earbuds offer pretty abysmal call quality, these buds offer reliable, high-quality calls with noise cancellation measures that actually work. The sound quality of these buds in general is pretty good, as is their overall performance. The downsides are that they aren't the most secure, and therefore run the risk of falling out during physical exercise.

The Sony WF1000XM4 are very good for commute and travel. These decently comfortable and lightweight in-ears can easily fit into most pockets or bags without a problem. They also have over 10 hours of continuous playback time, and there are two additional charges in their carrying case if you need them. While they have an ANC system, it does a sub-par job of blocking bus and plane engine rumbles. It does a much better job of reducing commuter chit-chat, though.

Excellent noise reduction and sound quality. Quick pairing on Android, Windows. Wireless charging case. Industry-leading eight hours of battery life.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds are the complete package, offering first-rate sound quality, effective ANC and numerous useful features

Sony find more improvements with their premium true wireless in the WF-1000XM4. It’s better in terms of and comfort; the feature set is extensive, the noise cancellation is impressive, and they sound fantastic.

Sony's successor to the well received WF-1000XM3 earbuds are a cut above thanks to their crystal clear sound and excellent noise cancelling. If you want a new pair of in-ear headphones that aren't Apple's AirPods Pro, the WF-1000XM4 are definitely worth a closer look.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds bring excellent audio and call quality, eight hours of battery life, powerful ANC, and a host of smart features to a smaller, more comfortable pair of earbuds.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds will become a city-dweller’s best friend, with noise-canceling technology that will revolutionize how you can listen to music and experience the world around you. It also has pitch-perfect audio quality, so you can become immersed in sound as you run, walk, or jog.

Sony has sure hit its stride now, first with the superb WH-1000XM4 over-ears, now followed-up by these exemplary WF-1000XM4 in-ears. There are so many new features in these true wireless earbuds that they're even worth considering as an upgrade over the last generation - something that we rarely recommend.

They might be at the premium end of the wireless earbud market in terms of price but the Sony WF-1000XM4 really do offer the most premium experience with astonishingly good sound and countless features.

While Sony asks you for a pretty penny for the WF-1000XM4 earbuds, it's worth every cent. Sony's sound quality is blissful, the ANC leads the market, and the battery on the buds is wonderful and the case can triple it.

While now surpassed by the new XM5, the WF-1000XM4 remain musical all-rounders at a very attractive price

Sony is largely responsible for the rude health of the active noise-cancelling true wireless in-ear headphones market, and with the WF-1000XM4, the company has combined performance, ergonomics, and build quality more effectively than ever before. They’re not perfect, but as an overall package they’re hard to beat.