Premium noise-canceling headphones typically demand $400 or more, and Apple’s AirPods Max is sitting at $549. Sony just quietly dropped the WH-1000XM4 to an all-time low of $198 on Amazon (down from $348), which makes these legendary headphones roughly three times cheaper than AirPods Max and significantly less expensive than current Bose or Sonos models.
Sure, Sony released the newer 1000XM6 but the upgrades are incremental at best, and this model cost more than double what you’ll pay for the XM4 right now. For daily commuting, office work or travel, the 1000XM4 delivers the same core noise-canceling technology that made Sony’s 1000X series the benchmark everyone else tries to match.
Why the XM4 Still Competes with Newer Models
Dual noise sensor technology employs external and internal microphones on each earcup to pick up and eliminate ambient noise with surprising accuracy. External mics pick up external noise such as airplane engines, traffic, or air-conditioning systems, and internal mics are listening for what actually ends up in your ear and make adjustments on the fly. This dual-pronged attack creates an area of silence that’s truly impressive, eliminating low-rumble growl of engine noise and higher-pitched chatter of nearby conversations. Noise cancellation of the XM4 stays on par with the XM5 and XM6 in practical application, where the variance is slight enough most people would only pick up on the difference by direct comparison.
Battery life stretches to 30 hours with noise cancellation active which covers multiple cross-country flights or weeks of daily commuting before you need to recharge. Quick charging adds another convenience layer: a 10-minute charge via the included USB-C cable delivers five hours of playback, so even if you forget to charge them overnight, a quick top-up during breakfast gets you through the day. This battery performance beats AirPods Max which manage around 20 hours and lack any fast-charging capability.
Speak-to-Chat is one of those features where you think it’s just gimmicky until you actually use it every day. The headphones sense you beginning to speak and instantly mute your music and lower noise cancellation so you can hear the person on the other end perfectly. Once you’ve finished speaking, music plays again instantly once silence has lasted for some seconds. This comes in super handy for short conversations with baristas, coworkers visiting your desk, or your family questioning you, so you don’t have to physically mute and take off your headphones to have short conversations.
Excellent call quality results from five integrated microphones and sophisticated audio signal processing that separates your voice from noise. Those on the receiving end of calls are able to hear you naturally even where the situation is noisy, e.g., on busy roads or windy situations. Beamforming technology in the microphone array zeroes in on your voice and mutes the noise, and this is key where you are working from home or where you take your calls while commuting.
Multipoint connection allows you to pair the XM4s with two devices at once so you can be connected to your laptop to get your job done and your phone so you can take calls. Audio seamlessly switches to whatever device actually has content playing, so the phone call cuts your laptop music without you having to switch it by hand. This ends the constant dance of re-pairing your single-connection headphones have to go through every time you switch between devices.
At $198, the 1000XM4 represents roughly 36% of the price you pay for AirPods Max but provides the same or superior noise cancellation, increased battery life, and additional features.
