Sony WF-1000XM4 leak reveals killer battery life and noise cancellation

(Paradigm credit: WinFuture)

The newest Sony WF-1000XM4 leak is the biggest and most revealing one withal. Reliable German language site WinFuture has reported numerous fundamental details on Sony's upcoming headphones, which from the sounds of things could be a serious best wireless earbuds contender.

In addition to confirming the return of agile noise cancellation (ANC) from the previous Sony WF-1000XM3, WinFuture also revealed the WF-1000XM4's expected pricing, other features and a new, very official-looking promo image.

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The inclusion of ANC isn't a big surprise, given it was a major feature of the WF-1000XM3 earbuds. But too the WF-1000XM4's radically overhauled design, this new model volition apparently make big upgrades to build quality and battery life.

Firstly, the WF-1000XM4 will reportedly exist water-resistant to the IPX4 standard. That should brand the earbuds sweat-proof but not fully waterproof. That'due south still an improvement on the WF-1000XM3, which doesn't take any rated ingress protection at all. Battery life, meanwhile, will jump upwardly to 8 hours of ANC-enabled playback per charge, with another 16 hours bachelor from the charging case.

This contradicts the showtime major WF-1000XM4 leak back in February, which indicated that the new model would share the WF-1000XM3's bombardment ratings of 6 hours per charge with eighteen in the instance. Notwithstanding, if the full 24 hours is the same simply Sony has added more uptime per accuse, that's fine by u.s..

Sony WF-1000XM4 case leak — (Paradigm credit: @mirai160525/The Walkman Blog)

Eight hours of ANC playback would besides be almost double what the AirPods Pro manages.

And this isn't the just advantage Sony's buds could have. WinFuture also reported that the WF-1000XM4 will support Sony's LDAC wireless tech, allowing for higher-resolution audio than regular Bluetooth allows.

While LDAC yet doesn't allow for truthful Hello-Res Audio, it's better for audiophiles than Apple's preferred AAC format; Apple tree recently had to admit that its own AirPods range, even the AirPods Max, won't be able to handle the new Apple Music lossless feature when it launches in June.

The WF-1000XM4's ANC could also get a boost from the new Sony V1 processor, which WinFuture said volition power the earbuds.

And the price for all these upgrades? Allegedly, the Sony WF-1000XM4 will sell for €279 in Europe; no U.S. or U.1000. pricing was noted, though it does look like the WF-1000XM4 will cost more than the WF-1000XM3'due south $230 launch cost.

All that's really left to know is a WF-1000XM4 release appointment, though one other contempo leak indicated Sony could announce the buds before June 9. This would, in all likelihood, give the WF-1000XM4 a caput start on the besides-rumored AirPods iii.

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James joined Tom'south Guide in 2020, bringing years of feel in consumer tech and product testing. As Audio Editor, James covers headphones, speakers, soundbars and anything else that intentionally makes noise. A PC enthusiast, he as well covers the occasional spot of computing and gaming news, usually relating to how hard it is to discover graphics card stock.