Leaks:Sony WH-1000XM4
In the world of active noise-canceling headphones, Sony has established itself as one of the market leaders. Released in 2018, the Sony WH-1000XM3 may not have the catchiest name, but they are easily some of the best headphones you can buy in this niche.
However, while the company may have proven its ANC prowess with the WH-1000XM3, that doesn't mean we aren't interested to see where it goes from here.
Premature or not, we're eagerly looking forward to what Sony will offer with its inevitable WH-1000XM4. Here's everything we know about the upcoming headphones so far!
•Here are the features we're looking forward to
Holding the side of the WH-1000XM3 headphone
As far as wireless headphones go, the WH-1000XM3 are pretty full-featured. They have active noise-canceling, an audio passthrough function, Alexa and Google Assistant are built-in, and you get an impressive 30-hour battery life.
Looking ahead to the WH-1000XM4, what could Sony possibly do to make the successor stand out?
One feature we'd love to see is support for being paired to multiple devices at once. The XM3 can only be connected to one device at a time, meaning that you can't listen to music through your laptop and then take a call on your phone. On the XM4, we'd love to see something like this be made available.
It's also possible that Sony could work some magic and furth extend battery life, or go the Bose route and offer more customizable levels of its noise-cancellation.
This is all pure speculation on our part, but as we learn more, we'll be sure to update this guide accordingly.
•What will Sony do with the design?
Sony's last three generations of WH-1000XM headphones have retained a similar design ever since the XM1 debuted in 2016. It's nothing especially noteworthy, but it's a simple, proven design that gets the job done.
For the XM4, Sony could go one of two routes.
On one hand, the company may keep the same general design around for one more year. As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
It's also possible we'll see a drastic revamp in the design, similar to what Bose did with its Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones 700. It would certainly be exciting if Sony was able to bring that big of a refresh to its flagship headphones, too, but we aren't entirely sure what'll happen on this front.
Sony WH-1000XM3 lying on a table
Source: Daniel Bader / Android Central
So, when can we expect Sony to announce the WH-1000XM4?
The XM3 headphones were first unveiled during IFA 2018 and then made available for purchase a few months later in January 2019. Going back to the WH-1000XM2, those headphones went on sale in June 2017.
Right now, we're expecting the XM4 to be released at some point in either mid-to-late 2020 or early 2021.
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