Sony WF-1000XM4 premium wireless earbuds launched in India; will take on AirPods Pro at a price of Rs 19,990
The WF-1000XM4s are the most premium wireless earbuds that Sony makes, today.
Sony is finally bringing the WF-1000XM4 wireless earbuds to India, over six months after global launch. Good news is, Sony has kept their pricing in line with international which means, the XM4s are essentially undercutting the Apple AirPods Pro in the country with a price of Rs 19,990 (the AirPods Pro with MagSafe charging currently retail for Rs 24,900).
The WF-1000XM4s are the most premium wireless earbuds that Sony makes, today. A key USP of these earbuds is the brand’s in-house V1 chip, but there are upgrades across the board (over the XM3s). The new earbuds have a better finish and the charging case has a smaller footprint. Audio quality and noise cancellation have been improved, too.
The XM4 earbuds support Hi-Res audio over LDAC codec that is superior to typical Bluetooth audio. They also support Sony’s 360 Reality Audio. Their DSEE Extreme feature can meanwhile rebuild compressed audio to something that is close to Hi-Res in quality using AI, Sony says.
With the V1 chip, these earbuds are said to maintain active cancellation of high-end frequencies and cut noise levels up to 40 percent better than the XM3 headphones. The earbuds are also designed to reduce wind noise with the help of a new automatic wind detection feature.
Internally, the diaphragms are (now) bigger and better with Sony’s improved 24-bit amps that use 20 percent larger magnets. The setup gives better cancellation signals at lower frequencies and can produce seemingly better bass as well. Their proprietary polyurethane foam tips also aid passive noise cancellation.
Fast pairing support with Windows and Android is available. Plus, they come with Sony’s “Speak-to-Chat” feature that, we must say, works like magic. Basically, these earbuds can automatically lower playback volume when they detect you’re speaking.
For voice calls, the earbuds have a bone-conducting sensor and beam-forming mics to pick up voice clearly even in noisy environments. Support for Alexa and Google Assistant are also on-board here.
The XM4s are claimed to last up to 8 hours with noise cancellation enabled. The carrying case can completely recharge the earbuds twice. Even a quick 5 minutes charge is enough for 1-hour of playtime, Sony says. They support Qi wireless charging. They are IPX4 certified, too.
The Sony WF-1000XM4 wireless earbuds will be available starting 16th January, 2022.
