Sony has made the best even better. With a bunch of seemingly small changes, the company has further improved its already stellar headphones. The WH-1000XM4 sounds great and the custom ANC automatically adjusts if you choose to let it.

Powerful custom ANC; Immersive sound with punchy bass; Automatic pausing when you speak; Multi-device connectivity

Pricey; 360 Reality Audio is still limited; Adaptive Sound Control requires location sharing

Top-notch in terms of both noise cancellation and sound quality, it's hard to find a better listening experience

Superb active noise cancellation and overall sound quality; multipoint Bluetooth pairing; auto-pause; relatively comfortable for most people

Expensive

When the team at Sony introduced their first pair of 1000X headphones, they were competing in a market overwhelmed by big brands like Bang & Olufsen and Bose.

Proprietary audio technology for great sound, AI enhancements to compressed music, Adaptive sound control, Smart listening for convenience, and wearing detection, 30-hour battery life with 10-minute quick charge, Multi-device pairing, App connectivity, Touch controls are easy to use, Amazon Alexa...

Not many upgrades from the previous, No waterproofing, No APTX support

There has been a battle waging for years between Bose and Sony for the title of best the wireless active-noise canceling cans. After more than a week of intensive time with the new Sony WH-1000XM4 I think it is clear we have an undisputed winner.

Stunning audio performance; Immersive active noise-cancellation; Quick attention mode; Speak-to-chat option; Very long battery life; Simple; reliable touch controls

360 Reality Audio requires a compatible music service

Sony continues to serve up some of the finest noise-cancelling headphones on the market – the WH-1000XM4s will be tough to beat

Dynamic; detail-rich sound; Sensational sense of timing; Lightweight; comfy and clever

No IP rating; No aptX support

Simply the best all-round noise-cancelling headphones you can buy

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

“Same price, even better features. Sony's WH-1000XM4 are what perfect looks like.”

Very comfortable; Excellent sound quality; Excellent noise canceling; Very good call quality; Very good battery life; Bluetooth multi-device pairing; Handy; customizable features

No aptX or aptX HD

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.

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

No aptX/aptX-HD

Sony adds AI smart functionality and even better noise cancelling to its flagship WH-1000XM4 Bluetooth headphones

The 1000X series of headphones win awards year-on-year and that trend is likely to continue. The WH-1000XM4 wireless ANC over-ear headphones bring one word to mind - superb. With an enhanced feature set that makes many rivals look stone age, these over-ears provide excellent audio playback even with...

Superb music playback with noise-cancelling on or off; Great battery life and fast-charge capabilities; Packed full of useful features; Very comfortable to wear

Not worth upgrading if you already have the XM3; No aptX or aptX HD support