Sony WH-1000XM4C Review: Still Kind of Goated

What’s old is new once more. Sony has officially resurrected its WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones by slapping a “C” on the end. With that extra letter come a few perks worth noting; the $300 WH-1000XM4C have a new sound and a slightly new look.

I never used the original when it was released all the way back in 2020, but if the re-do is anything like the WH-1000XM4 of yore, then I can see why Sony thought this pair resurrection-worthy.

A refresh of wireless headphones from 2020 that have excellent sound quality, great ANC, and a nice new color.

Many things are the same in the WH-1000XM4C as their predecessor, but the sound is not one of them. Sony says it’s upgraded the sound profile in this reboot, and though I’ve never tried the original from six years ago, I really like what the WH-1000XM4C is putting down now.

The stereo separation is excellent. I started by listening to some Latin jazz, and the tracks were panned left and right in a way that was almost jarring at first. Whatever Sony did with the sound profile in this generation, I’m a fan of it. My go-to test tracks like Steely Dan’s “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” sounded nuanced and crisp.

The default EQ is on the brighter side, which I like—higher frequencies like lead guitars and backing guitar sounded especially good, as did vocals. The low end wasn’t the biggest and most powerful, but I’m a fan of wireless headphones that emphasize mids and highs over the low end, so that’s no issue in my book.

In non-rock genres, the WH-1000XM4C sounded good, but maybe slightly less impressive than rock genres with tracks and vocals across a greater number of frequencies. I listened to “Da Funk” by Daft Punk and was pleased but not blown away—maybe it was the lack of punchy low end that I mentioned earlier. Either way, the verdict for me is that this is an excellent-sounding pair of wireless headphones that I think will impress most people, especially for the price.

At $300, the WH-1000XM4C are competing with flagship wireless headphones like Nothing and its Headphone 1 , a pair of headphones that I like. Sound-to-sound I think the Headphone 1 pale in comparison to Sony’s offering.

It’s mostly good news on the audio front, but unfortunately, calling on the WH-1000XM4C is as mediocre as most pairs of wireless headphones. While my voice quality was fine, the person I called reported being able to hear a lot of background noise. Ultimately, they rated the call quality a 6.5 out of 10.

Noise cancellation might not be one of the categories that Sony is highlighting in the WH-1000XM4C, but it’s still a bright spot in this pair. The WH-1000XM4C use the same chip as the first generation, but you wouldn’t be able to tell unless I told you.

I wore the WH-1000XM4C on the subway and on busy New York City sidewalks, and the ANC blocked out a good deal of noise. Not quite as much as the flagship WH-1000XM6 , but still a lot—I would say more than enough for most people. Sony also seems to have dealt with some of the hissing caused by ANC that people experienced in the last generation.