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Wireless Earbuds

Apple AirPods Pro vs Sony WF-1000XM4

Apple AirPods Pro

Apple AirPods Pro

163 reviews

View Product Details

Sony WF-1000XM4

Sony WF-1000XM4

257 reviews

View Product Details

Consumer Reports · Best Back-to-School Sales on Laptops, Headphones, and More

#2 most mentioned

Reddit · r/earbuds

RTINGS · The 7 Best Headphones

#4 most mentioned

Reddit · r/earbuds

#91 most mentioned brand

Reddit · r/BuyItForLife

Best Travel Earbuds For Battery Life

RTINGS · The 6 Best Travel Headphones

Great sound quality with warm, rich sound

Active noise cancellation

Impressive battery life of up to 4.5 hours on a single charge

Easy to use and connect to devices

Lightweight and comfortable fit

Great sound quality

Smart features

Long battery life

Excellent ANC

Pause to speak feature

Not suitable for everyone due to fit

Issues with connectivity reported by some users

Price may be too high for some budgets

Not suitable for some users due to physical or chemical makeup

Initial graphs showed excessive darkness

May not be suitable for those who prefer a brighter sound

Verdict

The Apple AirPods Pro are a great choice for those looking for a truly wireless earbud with active noise cancellation. They offer a warm, rich sound that is suitable for any genre of music and never harsh. The battery life is also impressive, lasting up to 4.5 hours on a single charge. However, some users have reported issues with connectivity and the fit may not be comfortable for everyone.

Verdict

The Sony WF-1000XM4 are a great pair of earbuds that offer excellent sound quality, smart features, and long battery life. The ANC is top-notch and the pause to speak feature is convenient. They are lightweight and comfortable for long periods of time. However, some users have experienced disconnects due to their physical or chemical makeup. Additionally, the initial graphs showed that they were excessively dark.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Battery Life

I really wanted to love these...

You can still hear some loud noises, but those are muted significantly. As for Transparency mode, it amplifies outside noise so you can be aware of your surroundings while listening to music. This was quite helpful while I was walking on the street and did not want to be completely isolated from the outside world. Overall I'd say these two features are a solid 10/10 Battery life: On paper Airpods pro have less battery life than Airpods 2 (4

Not the Airpods Pro Killer I was hoping for

********************* Update ******************************* I returned them because I did not find the improvements in sound quality worth the many sacrifices when compared to my Airpods Pro. In my original review I had also mentioned that the Sony had better battery life, but with LDAC turned ON it's only about 5 hours--not the 8 hours claimed by Sony, which is just a hair longer than the Airpods Pro. Plus, they both have fast charging making the impact of a longer battery life less significant. Finally, Sony failed to fix the ambient noise issue--both with the fading in and out and the general poor performance

Sound Quality

My in-store AirPods Pro Max Impressions

>The Apple AirPods Pro have a fairly neutral sound profile, suitable for a variety of audio content. While they struggle a bit more to produce thump and rumble, they lack less bass than the [Apple AirPods 2 Truly Wireless which have an open-back design

Positive

reddit.com/r/apple

youtube

I'm ditching my AirPods Pros - Sony WF-1000XM4 Wireless Earbuds

Oh, that's really cool. So the noise cancellation is what takes away the actual, like, whirring. But then the wind noise reduction is what takes away ...

Positive

Noise Cancellation

Good pair of bluetooth noise canceling earbuds?

If you’re using them with Apple products, it’s basically a no-brainer buy for the AirPods Pro. The ecosystem integration is absolutely awesome. The noise cancelling is fantastic, and transparency mode is super useful if you need to quickly hear voices or wear them while outside for awareness.

Positive

reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice

Thoughts on 85T earbuds

Definitely better than Sony WF-SP800N and Technics EAH-AZ70W. I have Sennheiser PXC550 and Sony WF-1000XM4 headphones and I would consider the 85T to be right on par with these in terms of ANC alone.

Positive

reddit.com/r/Jabra

Fit

Good sound, poor fit.

The sound quality is good, The in ear fit is not good, I tried all 3 sizes of the supplied silicone ear tips and none fit properly. I tried the proper fit app on my iPhone and could not get an "Okay" on the app. I don't feel they fit securely enough, so I will only use them when I am seated. The Air Pods are not comfortable for any lengthy listening session

So much potential... Sony missed the mark on these and here is why...

As a result, I decided to try some silicone ear-tips and they are SO MUCH BETTER. Why did you not include silicone ear-tips in addition to the foam ones, Sony? The silicone has a much more secure fit, is way more comfortable, and the seal remains regardless of your facial expression. Issue number one resolved for a few extra dollars. 2

Bluetooth Connectivity

Should I get the Sony WF-1000XM4?

Particularly if you're going to use it with an Apple device, consider the AirPods Pro. You'll find a bunch of comparisons online like this

Positive

reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice

For the price... may not be worth it

.. Old Jabras, Senheissers, VMODAs, Apple AirPods (Gen 1 through Pros), Bose QC buds wired, and now on these Sony WF-1000Ms4's

Comfort

Great airpod investment

So I decided to purchase the pros since they won’t slip as easily as the original AirPods (Let me start by saying they came pretty fast, and they were packaged safely!) I’d say this is a great investment, it’s very comfortable and from what I’ve gathered so far on these is you can answer your calls, skip and rewind back with your music as well, it’s very sound proof so if you’re one of those people who do best getting tasks done during work, school, or even at home without noise around you, these are the way to go. I hope this helped someone! :)

Good/bad, sound great, ANC too, otherwise pretty poor. At 120$ OK, not a penny more. YMMV.

These are also in general rather huge. Some might like this, I do not. I want these to tuck into my ears not stick out a 1/4 to 1/2". When rotated into place, they do stay in my ears which is nice

Durability

Pi7 great sound everything else meeeh

I’ve used airpods pro for 6 months heavily, i’ve a/b tested noise cancelling on airpod pro with these...These are better beside a busy road or air con unit

Positive

reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice

The quality of the sound is just amazing. They are a keeper. Take the rest of this review with a grain of salt. Within a control environment the sound is incredible, there is no going back to my old earbuds

Price Point

Apple-level quality at Apple-level price

I’m sorry. I can’t recommend this product. If Sony US team is reading this review and if Sony Japan is designing all the products, please tell the Japan team that you don’t need to make too many half-baked products. You just need to offer 3 tiers of products (aka “good”, “better” and “best”) and focus on making sure they are the best products at their price points

Impressive! Won't disppoint!

I personally find the price point for such a device a little expensive however in direct comparison to other brands and for the top of the range premium device with the range of features provided out of the box, there really is no comparison to be made here if you are willing to pay for the best in this area.

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