SonyWH-1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones - 30 hours battery life - Over Ear style - Optimised for Alexa and the Google Assistant - with built-in mic for phone calls - Black

I’ve been using the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones daily, often for more than six hours at a time, and they’ve earned a permanent place in my life — not just as headphones, but as a daily productivity and sanity tool. When I bought them, I was looking for something comfortable, smart, and fully immersive. I’d read the glowing reviews, watched all the YouTube videos praising their noise cancellation, smart features, and battery life, and truthfully, I expected a great experience. What I wasn’t prepared for, though, was just how integral they would become to my daily routine — or how the only genuine flaw I encountered turned into a small DIY success story. Straight out of the box, the sound quality floored me. Crisp trebles, warm mids, and deep, weighty bass that doesn’t muddy the mix — the 40mm drivers and Sony’s DSEE Extreme technology really deliver a rich, full-bodied audio experience. And then there's the ANC. Sony’s QN1 processor is industry-leading for a reason. It’s not just that it silences background noise — it creates an almost eerie quiet that lets you fall into whatever you're listening to, whether that’s music, podcasts, or even silence itself. The Adaptive Sound Control, which adjusts the noise-cancelling profile based on whether I’m sitting still, walking, or commuting, is surprisingly intelligent, although I mostly lock it into full noise-cancelling mode when I’m working.Now, here's the honest part. I loved these headphones from the start — but within the first few days, I hit a snag. I wear them for very long periods, mostly during work sessions at my desk. After about two hours of continuous use, I noticed a strange pressure pain on the top of my head, right where the headband rests. It wasn’t sharp, but it became persistently distracting — and over time, downright uncomfortable. For reference, I have a slightly larger-than-average head and no hair to act as padding, which certainly didn’t help. I tried adjusting the size, angling the band differently, even shifting the cups slightly each hour, but nothing fully solved the problem. It wasn’t a deal-breaker, but for a premium product like this, I wanted full-day comfort. That’s when I began hunting for a solution — and ultimately, I created one myself using a custom double-layer memory foam cushion.What I did was purchase two slim memory foam headband pads from Amazon, ones that wrap around using Velcro. They were inexpensive and looked somewhat generic, but I noticed reviewers praising the pressure relief. The key was stacking them. I trimmed one slightly so the two pads could nest on top of each other without sliding. I then wrapped them carefully around the headband, aligning the seam at the back to maintain a clean front edge. I tested a few different setups before settling on this exact configuration. The double layer provided the soft depth needed to prevent hotspot pain, and the memory foam distributed the headphone's weight evenly across the top of my head — finally eliminating the discomfort that had plagued me during long sessions. It looked a bit chunkier than the original sleek headband design, but function beat aesthetics here. I also matched the black colour, so visually it blends in well unless you look closely.With that issue out of the way, the XM4s truly hit their stride. They became my go-to headphones for everything — Zoom calls, writing marathons, deep work, language listening practice, audio editing, Netflix nights, and even meditative silence in noisy environments. The wearing detection is one of those underrated features I didn’t know I’d appreciate so much. I take the headphones off and the music pauses automatically; put them back on, and it resumes — no fiddling, no friction. The touch controls also feel intuitive after a week or so of muscle memory, letting me swipe to adjust volume or skip tracks, and double-tap to answer or end calls. I know some people complain about accidental brushes causing unintended commands, but I rarely experience that since I’ve learned to remove them using the cups, not the sides. Battery life, too, deserves a paragraph of its own. I can go almost an entire week without charging — even with hours of daily use. The 30-hour capacity isn’t an exaggeration. If I use the headphones for around six hours a day, that gives me five full days before I need to even think about plugging in. Charging is also fast — 10 minutes gives about five hours of playback, which has saved me more than once when I forgot to charge overnight.In terms of connectivity, the WH-1000XM4s deliver flawlessly. I run them primarily via Bluetooth on my laptop and phone, often using the multipoint feature. This lets me stay connected to both at the same time — so I can listen to Spotify from my laptop and still take calls from my phone without switching devices. The connection is rock solid, with no noticeable lag, dropouts, or sync issues. I’ve also used them with the included 3.5mm cable when flying or plugged into an amp, and the sound quality remains excellent, if slightly less immersive due to the lack of processing. The microphone for phone calls isn’t studio-quality, but it’s crisp and clear enough that I’ve had multiple callers say I sound better than when using my mobile mic — a nice bonus. And then there's the Speak-to-Chat feature, which automatically pauses playback when it detects your voice. I disabled it after a week — not because it didn’t work, but because I found it a bit too sensitive during humming or muttering. Thankfully, Sony lets you toggle all these smart features off in their mobile app.Let’s talk about the app, because Sony’s Headphones Connect is actually useful — not a clunky afterthought. From here, I fine-tuned the EQ to better suit my music preferences, disabled Speak-to-Chat, adjusted ANC levels, enabled LDAC for high-res audio, and even programmed ambient sound profiles. I also did the ear pressure relief test, which automatically tweaks noise cancelling for people sensitive to pressure changes — a brilliant touch. It’s the kind of thoughtful detail that shows Sony really designed this with long-term users in mind. Now, in terms of build quality — these are light yet solid. The headband adjustment sliders have just the right amount of resistance. The ear cups rotate and fold flat into the sturdy carry case, and everything feels durable, with no squeaks or rattles after well over a year of daily use. The earpads are plush and seal beautifully. They do get warm after 2–3 hours, but not to a sweaty or suffocating level. I clean mine weekly with a damp cloth and a bit of isopropyl spray, and they’ve held up very well. I expect to replace the pads after a couple of years, but so far, they’re in perfect shape.Now, for all the praise, are they perfect? No. If I had to nitpick, there are a few points that might matter to others — although none are deal-breakers for me. First, the headband padding, as mentioned, isn’t ideal for larger or bald heads straight out of the box. It’s fine for short bursts, but you may need to mod it, as I did, for marathon sessions. Second, the touch-sensitive controls, while elegant, can be fiddly in rain or with gloves. And third, the WH-1000XM4s don’t support aptX — which might be a letdown if you’re on a device that doesn’t support LDAC. That said, unless you’re an audiophile doing side-by-side codec testing, the difference is negligible to most ears. Finally, although the call quality is good, it’s not the very best in loud environments — the beamforming mics do their job, but I wouldn’t use these for professional broadcast calls in busy cafés. That said, for home offices or light ambient noise, they’re excellent.Even with these small quibbles, I can say with total honesty and confidence: these are the best headphones I’ve ever owned. I tried models from Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, Sennheiser, and JBL — and while some matched in audio quality or comfort, none offered the same complete package of battery life, customisability, ANC brilliance, and sheer daily usability as the XM4s. They’ve improved my productivity, concentration, and even sleep during travel. I’ve worn them on trains, planes, park benches, in bed, and through entire workdays without interruption. And thanks to my little two-layer foam cushion mod, they’re now as comfortable as clouds. When I sit down at my desk, they go on — and they often don’t come off until dinner. There’s something incredibly reassuring about a product that just works, every single day, without fuss or failure. For a pair of headphones I bought to “just listen to music better,” they’ve become one of the most indispensable tools in my personal and professional life.The Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones are not just a top-tier audio product — they’re a full experience. They’re a productivity enhancer, a mood stabiliser, a travel companion, a meditation cocoon, and a daily comfort. Even with the initial head pressure issue, which I solved with a two-layer foam wrap, I have zero regrets — and I still give them full stars. If you’re someone who uses headphones heavily, values sound quality, wants powerful noise cancellation, and appreciates customisable smart features that fade into the background after setup, these are worth every penny. I’d buy them again without hesitation, and I’d recommend them to anyone who wants a true long-haul pair. They may not be flawless out of the box for everyone, but with a tiny tweak, they’re near perfect — and for me, they are, hands down, the best headphones I’ve ever had.

Prefer to have a good headphones set for when traveling, as find when on trains and especially planes, my earbuds can be as good as useless at time, so wanted to upgrade my wireless Bluetooth headphones.This set comes up ALOT in all the review websites and lists as the best noise canceling headphones for traveling, and can completely agree with this.Very easy to connect the bluetooth with your devices, and a good size that are not to big and are rather compact that you can store them away for when traveling and they will not take up much room.Got them via Amazon Prime day where they were below £100, so excellent value for money if you can get them just at the right moment,Very sturdy and durable, so will be using these for a long time I expect.

I really like these headphones, 5 stars all round. I'm very fussy with sound, and for years have refused to abandon mid-range wired earphones, because I have found every time I have tried wireless earphones even that are much more expensive than what I consider mid-range wired earphones they've not been up to scratch at all and the price to quality ratio just leaves you feeling queasy. And I hate(d) wearing headphones. But good wired earphones that last more than a few months with extensive use (and you're not willing to whip out a soldering iron to replace jacks, sections of wire etc) now seem very hard to come by. And if you're spending as much as a properly amazing pair of wireless headphones cost like these (now that I'm lucky enough to be able to), you might as well go with these.I have to say, now I'm over some of my unsure-ness, I certainly do not miss untangling wires, getting stuck on things, and the sound of wires slapping against things bleeding through. All are uncomplicated quality of life improvements brought by wireless.I had previously bought SoundCore Q30s (on sale recently at about half price, pretty good), which I was happy-ish with except the sound wasn't really up to it, though definitely decent, the battery wasn't amazing, and overall the sound quality and battery combined wasn't enough to overcome my dislike of wearing headphones.With these Sony's, initially I was underwhelmed by what noise cancellation can do, as sound still bleeds through. But having reflected on it, I really would not like more than this - it already reminds me a bit too much of a recurring soundless nightmare I have and feels a bit claustrophobic and, if paired with stress, anxiety-raising. So the NC is actually perfect for me I think.Other features I find large gimmicky. Speak to chat - fine, until I personally realise I say a few words out loud to myself sometimes, and this makes the feature too annoying to ever enable. Plus for that to be really useful it would be good if it also triggered if other people spoke, but then that also only works in a largely private and quiet home setting. If that was a feature and anyone had a TV on or you had more than one person living with you, it would interrupt your listening a lot. There is "voice passthrough" but it seems to be not be enable-able if you have it on the automatic ambient sound control stuff, which is the one thing I thought was a gimmick but I turned out to really like; it does a very good job of detecting your activity and so far has never got it wrong enough to bother me.Has "Personal Optimizing" or "Atmospheric Pressure Optimizing" actually done anything? Who knows. DSEE Extreme is for most situations for most people not worth the battery-killing side effects.I have also been slowly but surely been getting used to using the hand gestures on the right headphone. Do your best to get used to this, as being able to pause, skip to next, and enable transparent audio this way is a very useful habit to develop. And as much as I prefer tactility (buttons etc), for headphones these sorts of touch gestures just make more sense, and enable software extension and customisability.Other features I have noticed turn themselves off in the app after some time, but this may be an annoying interaction with Huawei's background app stuff or some other thing not directly related to the app.I still resent the death of wires a bit, and prefer to use ethernet etc when possible, but perhaps as battery technology improves and if wireless charging can ever not be so wasteful and/or pointless it will feel less and less inconvenient. Though hopefully technology companies will start providing more replaceable battery options, as I still don't believe that I'm in some ultra-minority of people who wouldn't happily give up waterproofness and less thin phones and so on for that (at least the Fairphone exists, though the compromises taking into account price are too much for most). Let's stop contributing to the depletion of resources and messing up of the environment as best we can. I don't know how easy the batteries on these are to replace.There are features which require additional accounts and data collection which I do not trust (not that it's going to be anything ultra-concerning, but if you don't transparently - i.e. not buried in some mountain user agreement - tell me the absolute limits of what you're going to do with my data I'm not going to choose to give it to you) and will never enable, so I can't report on those.I still hate wearing headphones, especially ones that are heavy enough like these - my main complaint, as I have sensitive ears and it leaves a big divot in the top of my hair. I know they're not super heavy but I listen to audio for such extended periods I really feel the extra weight in a way I don't with my cheap gaming headset. But I'm over it, more or less, now. And when I can't deal with this, I have learned to tolerate the Sony XB700's I bought which for wireless earphones were good enough on the steep over 50% discount I get them at (though I'll never forgive them for the subtle but awful hiss that developed in the left ear!).

These are the most expensive headphones I have ever purchased. They are also the best - and by a wide margin!Sound quality is superb (so clear) and noise cancelling works so much better than I had anticipated.I bought them primarily to listen to music DVDs on our Hisense TV (from our home PLEX media server). I initially connected them just to the TV using Bluetooth but was a tad disappointed. However, I then realised I needed to set them up (and update their firmware) using the mobile App (on a Samsung Flip5 running Android 15).I am now a very happy camper! 😊 😃 😀The current Amazon discounted price of £177 is good - especially when the option to pay in 5 insterest-free monthly installments is available....The headphones come with a compact hardshell case, an audio cable, a USB charging cable (~30 hours play from a 3-hour charge) and an adapter to use when on a plane.