These older Sony headphones do a fantastic job of blocking out the noise, without you taking a big hit to your wallet.
I’m easily distracted and overwhelmed in public settings. If I’m going out to a park or mall, I often put in a pair of earbuds to drown out some—but not all—of the ambient noise out, ensuring that I don’t get overwhelmed while still being able to keep an ear on my surroundings. When I forget them, I tend to get agitated quickly, and that just makes it so I need to go home.
This sort of overwhelming noise is doubled in places like airports. There’s so much going on with people rushing to their terminals, announcements, and so on that the noise can quickly overwhelm me, even if I’m just sitting at my terminal. Moreover, I don’t need to listen to my general surroundings on an airplane, and I can’t exactly drop everything to go home and re-center. I needed some something that would make travelling less stressful.
One day, a colleague recommended the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones. I was skeptical at first—the price was well beyond what I’ve spent on headphones in the past, and the noise-cancelling couldn’t be that good, right?
Still, I bit the bullet and picked them up when they were on sale. I’m no longer a skeptic, as these headphones were worth every penny, and then some.
Noise-Cancelling is Key
What makes the Sony XM4s such an essential pair of travel headphones for me is the active noise-cancelling (ANC). Everything when you’re traveling is loud—airports, airplanes, people themselves, you name it. The noise can kill my focus at the best of times, while other noises (such as a baby crying) can stress me out and spike my anxiety.
You might be able to drown some of this out with normal headphones or earbuds, if you pump the volume up. But I don’t like listening to music at a high volume, not to mention it potentially disturbing others nearby. So, ANC is king when it comes to traveling, and Sony does ANC so well.
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Active noise-cancelling headphones can drown out the outside world and let you immerse yourself in your favorite music, podcast, or audiobook.
We’ve often praised Sony’s ANC, especially in our Sony WH-1000XM5 review. Even if XM4s are the previous model, the noise-cancelling is top notch. I’m able to block all but the loudest of noises easily, and—perhaps more importantly—the headphones can tell when I’m walking or talking and turn the ANC off. So when I’m walking between terminals, I can still listen to my music, but I can also hear what’s going on around me. To me, this sort of feature is worth its weight in gold.
Still Great, Even After Two New Iterations
As stated above, Sony WH-1000XM4s are one of the older models of these headphones, and with the release of the WH-1000XM6 headphones, the XM4s are two iterations old now. If you’re used to yearly smartphone releases, it may seem like a bad deal to pick up an older product like this. But headphones don’t age the same way smartphones or computer components do.
While it’s true that the XM5 and XM6 models have improved on the active noise cancellation over the XM4s, this older model is no slouch. I’m not an audiophile by any means, but to me, these headphones sound great and tackle the noise-cancellation well enough to drown out the noise I need them to. And, to be quite honest, I like the design of the WH-1000XM4s over newer models.
But older models also mean they cost less than the latest and greatest. Having just been released, the XM6s are going to cost you a pretty penny at $448. Since the XM4s are an older model, you can often find hefty discounts on them. As of the time of writing, the XM4s are on sale for $228, and this is not an uncommon price slash on the headphones.
While $228 is still a big investment, half the price of the Sony XM6 model is a much easier pill to swallow.
If you plan on traveling, you owe it to yourself to get a pair of these headphones, or another pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Even if the price seems steep, it’ll be worth the investment.