Speak-to-Chat works well (and stops you singing); Noise cancellation even better than before; Wear detection a much-needed addition; They sound fantastic with any genre;

Expensive; Samey design might put people off upgrading;

Simply the best all-round noise-cancelling headphones you can buy

Speak-to-Chat works well (and stops you singing); Noise cancellation even better than before; Wear detection a much-needed addition; They sound fantastic with any genre

Expensive; Samey design might put people off upgrading

Sony adds AI smart functionality and even better noise cancelling to its flagship WH-1000XM4 Bluetooth headphones

It’s quite simple: the WH-1000XM4s improve in numerous ways on the best noise-cancellers going. If you have cash to burn and need some new cans, these are our number one pick. What’s trickier to tackle is whether or not XM3 owners should think about upgrading. While it’s true that features like automatic wear detection and multipoint connection are hard to relinquish once you have them, they’re probably not enough to justify another £350. And Speak-to-Chat, smart as it is, is inessential when there are already so many control options at your disposal. You’ll no doubt be able to pick up the old but just as great-sounding model at a very good price come Black Friday. Still, these headphones are the best of their kind ever released, and it’ll take something special to knock Sony off its perch.

Speak-to-Chat works well (and stops you singing); Noise cancellation even better than before; Wear detection a much-needed addition; They sound fantastic with any genre;

Expensive; Samey design might put people off upgrading;

Supremely comfortable, with a transparent musicality that suits any genre of music, Sony’s WH-1000XM4 noise cancellers are the wireless headphones to beat in 2021.

Class leading noise cancellation; Transparent musical performance; Inventive AI features; Light and comfortable;

Sonically same as XM3; No Bluetooth aptX;

There has been a battle waging for years between Bose and Sony for the title of best the wireless active-noise canceling cans. After more than a week of intensive time with the new Sony WH-1000XM4 I think it is clear we have an undisputed winner.

Stunning audio performance; Immersive active noise-cancellation; Quick attention mode; Speak-to-chat option; Very long battery life; Simple; reliable touch controls

360 Reality Audio requires a compatible music service

Sony released its superb WH-1000XM3 noise-canceling headphones in 2018, and they still frequently top lists for the best noise-canceling headphones you can buy. But competitors haven’t been sitting idle: Bose’s Noise Canceling Headphones 700 are neck and neck with Sony for noise cancellation and...

Sony’s best noise-canceling capabilities yet; Improved voice quality; Support for two simultaneous Bluetooth connections

USB-C port cannot be used for audio; No significant design changes after two years; Cold-weather improvements are unproven

The Sony WH-1000XM4 deliver excellent noise-cancellation and surprising sound quality all in a lightweight, comfortable design. While they don't look significantly different from their predecessors, a number of new features including multipoint pairing, DSEE Extreme upscaling, conversational...

Improved noise-cancellation; DSEE Extreme audio upscaling; Multipoint pairing; Auto-play/pause and conversation awareness

Imperceptible design changes; Not water-resistant; Call quality still isn’t perfect; Singing can pause the music

Sony WH-1000XM4 are the best noise cancelling headphones you can buy. By keeping the sound as good as it always was to satisfy music lovers and adding some extra features tech heads wanted, Sony manages to keep its nose just in front of Bose, Bowers & Wilkins and Beats by Dr. Dre.

Lively; balanced and detailed sound; Insane noise-cancelling; A full suite of cutting-edge extra features

Can get trebly under the wrong circumstances; No aptX or aptX HD support – seriously Sony?

Our first impressions of hands-on time with Sony's new WH-1000XM4 hheadphones....