Improved audio, more effective noise cancellation and smart new features make the Sony WH-1000XM4 the over-ear headphones to beat

Class-leading noise cancellation; Supremely comfortable; Excellent audio quality;

Lack water resistance; Microphone quality could be better;

Improved audio, more effective noise cancellation and smart new features make the Sony WH-1000XM4 the over-ear headphones to beat

Class-leading noise cancellation; Supremely comfortable; Excellent audio quality;

Lack water resistance; Microphone quality could be better;

Improved audio, more effective noise cancellation and smart new features make the Sony WH-1000XM4 the over-ear headphones to beat

Class-leading noise cancellation; Supremely comfortable; Excellent audio quality;

Lack water resistance; Microphone quality could be better;

It’s quite simple: the WH-1000XM4s improve in numerous ways on the best noise-cancellers going. If you have cash to burn and need some new cans, these are our number one pick. What’s trickier to tackle is whether or not XM3 owners should think about upgrading. While it’s true that features like automatic wear detection and multipoint connection are hard to relinquish once you have them, they’re probably not enough to justify another £350. And Speak-to-Chat, smart as it is, is inessential when there are already so many control options at your disposal. You’ll no doubt be able to pick up the old but just as great-sounding model at a very good price come Black Friday. Still, these headphones are the best of their kind ever released, and it’ll take something special to knock Sony off its perch.

Speak-to-Chat works well (and stops you singing); Noise cancellation even better than before; Wear detection a much-needed addition; They sound fantastic with any genre;

Expensive; Samey design might put people off upgrading;

The Sony WH-1000XM4 deliver excellent noise-cancellation and surprising sound quality all in a lightweight, comfortable design. While they don't look significantly different from their predecessors, a number of new features including multipoint pairing, DSEE Extreme upscaling, conversational awareness and auto-play/pause using a built-in sensor all help the WH-1000XM4 claim the title of best headphones in 2021.

Improved noise-cancellation; DSEE Extreme audio upscaling; Multipoint pairing; Auto-play/pause and conversation awareness;

Imperceptible design changes; Not water-resistant; Call quality still isn’t perfect; Singing can pause the music

To improve upon what were considered to be the best noise-cancelling headphones seemed like a tricky task, but the WH-1000XM4 do exactly that, making the XM3 feel slightly dated in doing so. They sound better, noise-cancelling is excellent and they're one of most comfortable headphones to wear. The XM4 raises the barrier even further. Sony has outdone itself here.

Superb audio; Great noise cancellation ; Comfortable fit, lightweight design; Useful smart features;

No aptX/aptX-HD;

Supremely comfortable, with a transparent musicality that suits any genre of music, Sony’s WH-1000XM4 noise cancellers are the wireless headphones to beat in 2021.

Class leading noise cancellation; Transparent musical performance; Inventive AI features; Light and comfortable;

Sonically same as XM3; No Bluetooth aptX;

Comfortable on the ears, excellent noise canceling, I highly recommend this product!

Great for my grandson.

Ive been using noise cancelling headphones for a few years (Plantronics Backbeat Pro), and upgraded to these ones. The jump in active noise cancelling performance between these is absolutely stunning. Peoples voices turn into a quiet barely audible tinny sound (far, far superior to the BB's), and background hum is utterly gone. The first words out of my mouth when hearing the noise cancelling performance while people were speaking…well, they cannot be repeated here. Lets just say, im very impressed. Music performance is good, not too bass heavy. The reviews are right, these are the best out there.