Bill Bennett
Sony WF-1000XM4 noise cancelling ear buds review: https://billbennett.micro.blog/2026/03/29/sony-wfxm-noise-cancelling-ear.html
Bill Bennett: Reporter's Notebook - Sony WF-1000XM4 noise cancelling ear buds review

This story was originally posted in June 2021. At a glance For:Great sound, best wireless ear bud noise cancellation, long battery life.Against:Microphone less than wonderful, expensive, possibly too big for people with small ears.Maybe:Could be more comfortable. You either love of hate the look.Verdict:Excellent if you’re prepared to pay for better noise cancelling and sound quality.Rating:5 out of 5.Price:NZ$500.Web:Sony NZ. Sony’s WF-1000XM4 noise cancelling ear buds are a revelation.

Mar 28 at 10:57pmWeb
Show threadleighelse{}1d ago

@billbennett I considered those.

Currently I have a pair of rebranded (Ultro) no-name Chinese earbuds, which are surprisingly good apart from a weak bottom end.

Now that there's an Android app available, though, I'm thinking that a next pair might be from Apple. But that could be a long time coming, and things will have changed by then.

Show threadBill Bennett1d ago
@leighelse For obvious reasons, particularly during Covid times, the companies didn't want their earbuds back. I still have the Sony ones and a now aging pair of AirPods. I tend to use the AirPods because they are more comfortable, but the Sony ones have a more balanced sound.
Show threadNikT12h ago
@billbennett G'day Bill, review is for WF-1000XM4, image is of the successor model, WF-1000XM5?
Show threadBill Bennett10h ago
@oeightsix Yep you are right. I know exactly how this happened. Have changed it now.
Show threadNikT9h ago

@billbennett nice one - to be fair you can still buy the WF-XM5 where the 4 cleared out a year+ back.

Did Sony send you the WF-1000XM6 or nah? Curious space that 'premium true wireless earbuds not made by Apple' - of all brands, Panasonic's Technics AZ100 are doing well, and deservedly so.

Show threadBill Bennett9h ago
@oeightsix No. That was it. I have seen some low cost alternatives, but the premium market seems to be Apple and Technics.
Show threadNikT9h ago

@billbennett Beats still exists, goes well with Powerbeats for premium sports (Sports AirPods, in not-just-white!), Sennheiser trucks along despite a few missteps with battery issues a while back, Shokz did well to pivot bone conduction success into premium 'air conduction' models, of course Samsung's Galaxy Buds enjoy being the AirPods for Samsung...Bose is Bose.

I feel, until we get user-serviceable battery replacements, premium TWS are a hard sell. Great ANC earbuds exist for $50 today.

Show threadNikT9h ago

@billbennett Perhaps the more interesting question is, have you tried any of the newer form-factors like clip-ons?

See: Huawei Freeclip, Bose Ultra Open, Baseus MC1 / MC1 Pro / XC1 (a lot more going on there than you might expect including a Bose collab), Anker's Soundcore C50i / AeroClip, and the fairly mundane me-too efforts from JBL and Sony. Clip-ons turned out to be a fantastic form factor, work perfectly with glasses, the only headphones you can genuinely forget you're wearing.