Customer Ratings & Reviews

TL:DR - these are the best ANC headphones you're going to get. The Sony XM3's were considered by many to be the best headphones around, and the XM4's have improved upon those in basically every way. Better ANC (slightly), better battery (significantly), better voice quality (more mics and ANC). Let's get into the details. In the box - you get - quick start guide - legal/warranty documentation - a free trial for 360 audio - a very nice carrying case - the headphones - charging cable (shortest on Earth) - 3.5mm cable - 3.5mm adapter for airplane use - setup These headphones are pretty straightforward , power them on and follow the voice prompts to connect to your first device, then you're good to go. The Sony headphones app is required for customization and updates, and yes there is an update available out of the box. Thankfully updating was pretty quick so no issues there. - Build quality? In the past year I've used 6 different wireless headsets on a regular basis, and the XM4 are somehow one of the lightest ones out there. The headphones have a kind of matte finish and are built from this I don't know how to describe it - high end plastic? I know plastic sounds cheap but these definitely feel premium. The headband is very sturdy and super soft, pretty slim too compared to some other brands out there. The earcups are super soft and large, big enough for me and I have a giant head. The buttons on the left earcup are a bit stiff but have a satisfying click when you press them. They feel great. battery life - uh ... long. i don't know what they're advertising but I've been using these for 3 or 4 days for hours a day every day and I haven't had to charge them yet. I also always keep ANC which makes this even more impressive. I did charge them after I first set them up because they shipped with roughly 70% battery. But fortunately charging was both fast and accomplished via usb-C, though I didn't use the laughably short cable. Seriously the cable is so short as to be useless. Why even ship with that cable? It's just more e-waste in waiting. ANC - So the good stuff - the big thing here is the active noise cancelling. Sony may well have the best ANC tech in the business, IMO they definitely do. Turning on ANC to full creates a separate world in a way that is just miles ahead of anyone else on the market. I haven't traveled with these since ... pandemic, but I imagine these will do just as well on a plane as the XM3s. So yeah ANC top notch. touch controls - The XM4s also have touch controls which I usually hate, but here it just works. I have two other headsets with touch controls and it's a feature I never use, mainly because inputs happen unintentionally interrupting audio or ending calls. It's too finicky. The XM4's have no problem accurately raising/lowering volume skipping ahead/back on tracks. It's great. A double tap on the right earcup is play/pause and will answer/end calls. By far the coolest touch control is one that sounded useless and gimmicky when I first read about it BUT, it's easily one of my most used features. Need to quickly listen to your surroundings? Maybe you think you heard a noise or someone talking to you? Just place your hand flat against the right earcup and boom, volume dropped way down ANC deactivates/ambient sound is cranked up and you can hear and interact around you without having to take your headset off or fiddle with any other controll. I use this all the time. I often have my hands full or will be walking the dog and need to talk to someone and can't take the headphones off pause, but just putting my hand, or writs, or arm whatever ... up against the earcup and the world instantly (and I mean instantly) comes back to life. It's great. I don't know if I should call this touch control, but another very cool feature that works surprisingly well, take your headphones off and the audio automatically stops. Pop them back on and the audio resumes. This works perfectly every time, and the headphones will even shut off if you haven't used them for awhile (time customizable in the app) sound quality - In short, it's awesome. There's some trickery in the app that automatically adjusts the sound profiles based on what you're listening to, and I've never felt the urge to mess with this. Music is accurate and clear, and the bass is deep but super clean. No weird distortion even at higher volumes. And yes for you bassheads out the XM4s will not disappoint. There are numerous options to get more bass, but for me even the most modest boost is too much if still free of distortion. I've tested this on a windows 10 pc, Apple TV4k (with movies and tv shows in different apps), an android phone and a 2019 iPad pro and the sound is amazing across the board. With or without ANC on the sound is great. Music, youtube, movies, tv, podcasts, whatever you're listening to will sound great. call/voip quality - the voice quality isn't going to win any awards for fidelity. Frankly the XM4s sound a lot like any other wireless headset mics, but! What is special is the noise cancelling this performs on your voice. Wind, boisterous family members, loud pets, loud vehicles, loud appliances (even a blender) are muted to a very dim background hum. I was really impressed with how well the XM4s cleaned up background noise on my end. Completely unexpected, but 100% appreciated. other things - you can plug these in with the supplied 3.5mm jack to any device that has one ... I've never used this and don't plan on it, but it's nice to have the option. the headphones are a collapsible design and also allow you to rotate the cups (in one direction) so that they can lay flush on a flat surface. the app - the app gives you access to a host of features that I'm still exploring, but here are some highlights - EQ with presets and 2 custom profiles - automatic ANC/ambient balance (more on this) - speak to chat - just start talking with your headphones on and media is paused, ambient noise is amplified and you can have a conversation without touching anything or removing the headphones (more on this) - multi device pairing! something desperately lacking from the XM3 - custom fit - custom listening environment so let's go in order The automatic ANC control is pretty great when it works, but depending on the environment you're in this might be more trouble than it's worth. The XM4 is constantly listening to your surroundings and adjusting the ANC in real time (that's how ANC works), but now they will also determine how much ANC you need at any given moment based on external noise. Great in practice but the execution isn't quite there yet for me. Every time there's a change you get an audible beep (can be disabled) to let you know that it made a change. When I tried to disable this feature completely to have manual control over ANC the app kept turning it back on, which was infuriating. After a restart of both app and headset this problem went away, but this is still a bug in my book and needs to be fixed before this tech is truly useful. Speak to chat- works, but it's not very good. When you start speaking it takes a few words for the headphones to realize you want to talk before kicking in and amplifying ambient noise. This isn't a huge problem as most people are generally aware of what they're saying when they open their mouths and shouldn't need to hear it. However when you're done speaking it can take up to 30 seconds for your media to resume. You can control this in the app and set it to 15, but that's still a long time to wait for your media to come back, and you'll likely just hit resume. This is a great idea, but still needs some work multi device pairing! this works as you might expect, either pair manually or install and use the app on a second device. Pairing seems to take awhile on my devices when I power my headset on and there's no rhyme or reason as to which one pairs first. But once you're connected it all works perfectly. I can watch Netflix on my Apple TV late at night, get a call and instantly the headphones pause my media and switch over to my phone. It's exactly what I've always wanted. The problem is that I can only pair 2 devices, which yes is a 200% more than I could previously pair, but why not 3? or 10? or more? I have so many devices I'd like to use these with, but pairing/unpairing is a pain. Still if you're only using 2 devices with these you'll be set. Works like a charm. there's a custom fit program that you can run on your phone that uses your phone's camera to analyze your ear shape and optimize sound. This sounds amazing and super futuristic, but I have yet to successfully get it to work. Maybe my ears are too weird, they're certainly too big, or the app struggles with different cameras ... I don't know, but I can't comment on this one because I haven't been able to get it to work. custom listening/sound profile - now this does work and it's so good. The app analyzes the outside and inside environment (including the atmospheric pressure within your headphones) to give you the best, most comfortable listening experience possible. And it works. Just great. Everyone should do this. You can manually increase or decrease the pressure created by the seal on your head caused by ANC. With a giant head, giant ears, and glasses, the XM4s still are the most comfortable headset I have. This is impressive conclusion: buy them That's a lot of info, which is why I put the TL:DR at the top. These are easily the best ANC headphones I've personally ever used. The overall sound quality, construction, useful features (and some not so useful), comfort, and great battery life make these a no-brainer. Do you want the best ANC headphones in the world? Well you've found them.

These are good for basic listening but have a low bass response even with adjustments

Bose 700 have perfect mic system to attend the calls but I got disappointed with mic in Sony xm4. Daily I am getting complaints while attending the calls that please speak louder your voice is not coming properly.

Purchased this item as an alternative to ear buds that just never seem to fit in my ears, and as a wireless solution. These are quite comfortable over a 2 hour period, and are fairly light weight. When used in a rock concert environment the noise cancellation is simply marvelous, enabling one to hear the music and singing without having one's ears blasted out. There does seem to be a slight pressure on the ear drums in this environment, however. Phone conversations in loud environments are also intelligible for the wearer as well as the remote party. Battery life is excellent, and can be queried at any time by pressing the power button. Bluetooth connections are quick and easy with the app. Overall sound quality is excellent. Only negative is this product is not rated as water resistant as I like to wear them on walks outdoors where precipitation can occur without much warning. Still, there have been no problems experienced so far!

It lasted 7 months before it stopped charging properly. Worst part is this is a known issue and Sony refuses to address it. Would NOT recommend these headphones.

I have provided my review for XM3’s last year and the same would apply for these as well. I feel these are over priced and not worth at all. The sound quality is fine but other things lack behind can’t use it for more than 30 mins ears gets baked with these plastic cups. I already have XB900N’s and thought to give a try as XM4 are new but when compared I felt XM4 are junk and XBN900N far better in quality and price point. By seeing the reviews thought how people liking these.

For the price of the headphones, it has a difficult time connecting to Windows based PCs and Teams applications. The Headphone app is also poorly developed and not too useful. Sony should spend more effort on getting the headphones seamlessly connect to devices.

Good clear sound for the price. These were on sale because a new model. Good quality for the price.

Bought this after i returned bose. But now i feel like i should’ve kept the bose because the sony sounds muffled

Don't buy this . There are some sound issues with this. I am getting the break in Audio while listening through TV blue tooth. Xm3 is far better than this version.

The sound is OK but kind of muddy not good separation in my mind and there is not enough padding on the ear coat so my ears get tired very quickly. I guess Sony is not for me in terms of audio gear.

This is my first pair of nice noise-canceling headphones. They work great. My issues are with pain I am experiencing when I wear them. The top of my head hurts from wearing these. Also, these leave indents in my hair. I am going to try Bose next time.

Noise cancelling isn’t as good as they hype it up to be. While better then the AirPods Pro’s and Bose Qc Earbuds I just don’t think you should justify 350+ on these. You can find better.

These excel at noise canceling but not at call quality on teams and zoom, the people on the other end couldn't hear me and neither could i hear them.

Headphones were great, but after about 6 months, the right side stopped working. Seems to be a loose wire. Very disappointed considering the cost.

I wear them for gaming and they hurt the top cartilage of my ear.

Its a great headset but after using it for awhile it hurts around the ear not so much sounds but thr confort of the headphones

Amazing Headphones, but after just a little under a year of use the bluetooth stopped working. the only thing that works now is the six feature of the headphones

Ordered this product online for holiday gift. Upon opening realized I had received the wrong product, and also had someone else's Shipt sticker attached. Store refused to assist with return due to online order. I have been begging for a refund for months now. Have had to return the fraudulent item twice, multiple calls and chats with customer service and still no refund or resolution. Will NEVER purchase from Best Buy again - online or in store. Absolutely ridiculous circle of frustration. And I'm probably looking at eating the cost of this item because of it.

I bought for a Christmas present for my grandson and they stopped charging and working today February 19, 2026.