i-review-the-things

[i-review-the-things]

Sony WH-1000XM4

Amazon recently had a sale for the Sony WH-1000XM4s so I was like: why not? 

tl dr: amazing for average consumers ( I am one :) ), most problems can be fixed by holding custom and power buttons for seven seconds to initialize product. Quality control is cool, headphones sound great, very comfortable, long battery

The actual review: Amazon usually sells these headphones for $343-ish. I lucked out and got them for $270 and they’re still on sale. 

Disclaimer that this review is not sponsored in any way. I bought these headphones because I genuinely wanted to see if they lived up to the hype.

 Everything sounds great on paper, if you are interested in the spec sheet, you can find it here. Assuming you know what these headphones are supposed to be capable of, I’ll start with my experience:  

In the box: You get the case, super compact, especially because it makes use of the headphones’ ability to fold. You also get a two-jack airline adaptor and a usb-c charging cable. My personal favorite addition is the auxiliary cable so that I can use my headphones even when they’re off as normal wired headphones.

ANC: I completely overestimated the capabilities of the ANC, but they are also somehow better than I expected.  Allow me to elaborate: these headphones will not cancel out someone screaming right next to you, but it will do a stunning job at making them sound like they are two rooms over. Play some music at at least 15% volume, and you won’t be able to hear anything.  Source: My mom keeps calling me for dinner and has to physically touch me for me to realize it. While making the sounds around me sound like bad airline intercoms, the ANC excels cancelling constant sounds e.g. low frequency hums and any humming in general. I put my headphones in and I can’t tell if the air conditioning and my computer fan is on anymore. The app gives me the option to adjust the ANC to my liking, so when I’m outside, I can still hear my surroundings. You have the option to turn on adaptive ANC, which lets the ANC adjust based on your movements and location.  However, I have decided to keep this function off because I’d much rather toggle it manually with either the app or using the custom function button on the headphones. All in all, great experience.  I’m baffled when I take these out and realize how much noise there actually is.

Next up: The sound quality.  I normally listen at pretty low volumes to prevent hearing loss but man, these headphones get so incredibly loud at 100%.  It’s like having your own car speakers on your head. The sound quality is pretty leveled with a slight bump in bass, but with the app, you can customize however you want. All of the sounds are crisp and clear and I have no issues with sound quality whatsoever.

Battery: I literally charge these for an hour and they are fully charged. I use these for 5 hours straight and according to the battery gauge, they have only lost 10% battery life. I am blown away.

Comfort: The clamp force and headband weight are precisely balanced and don’t make me feel uncomfortable at all.  I experience virtually no fatigue when wearing these headphones. The earcups are soft and so are the headbands, made of some sort of leather and foam. I want a pillow made out of these. The only complaint I might have is that they get hot at some times, but that is just because I’m locked in my room 24/7.  Outside, they never get stuffy.

Lastly, Build Quality: I personally got the Midnight Blue selection and it is looking fine. The sleek design looks great on any type of person. The gold/bronze accents on the case zipper and headphones are the cherry on top. I could swagger with these all day long. The headphones can be flexed and twisted far beyond what I thought they would be able to withstand.  

Totally worth the money.  If you can afford it, buy it.

Thank you for reading my review :))