So for while now sony has been killing it
when it comes to ANC headphones. And in general
if you’re looking for a pair of premium
ANC headphones than the Sony 1000XM4’s are
a good option and if you’re looking for
a pair of mid tier ANC headphones then the
Sony XB900N’s are a good option as well.
But now that we have the new Sony 1000XM4’s
the differences between these two headphones
is a little more significant than when we
would compare the XB900N to the previous 1000XM3’s.
So today we’re going to be comparing these
two headphones an see which ones right for
you.
Now first off there’s price. The new Sony
1000XM4’s has a retail price of $350 putting
them squarely in the premium ANC headphone
bracket. Where as the XB900N’s have a retail
price of $250 but since they are a little
over a year old now they do like to constantly
go on sale for $178 making them a great buy
at that price. Nonetheless if you want to
pick either of these headphones up they’ll
be linked down below and if you want to learn
more about either of these headphones please
watch their full review cause we’re only
going over their main differences.
But now lets address the carrying cases here…
unfortunately the XB900N’s come included
with a carrying pouch so if you do plan on
commuting a lot with your headphones then
I highly advise that you invest in a harsh
sell carrying case. Where as the 1000XM4’s
come included with a really good hardshell
carrying case thats going to keep your headphones
perfectly safe if you cram them into an already
over stuffed backpack or carry on.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves.
In general both of these headphones have the
same build quality. They’re both mainly
made out of plastic, they both feel sturdy
in your hands and they both have zero cracking
or squeaking whenever you flex them. But these
headphones do feel different. The XB900N’s
body is mostly made of this textured plastic…
where as the 1000XM4’s have more of a slate
finish to it and then there’s soft touch
on the caps of these ear cups. Overall…
yes the 1000XM4’s feel more premium in your
hands than the XB900N… but personally I
do prefer the feel of the leatherette on the
XB900N’s over the leatherette found on the
1000XM4’s. The leatherette on the XB900N’s
feels a little more supple where as the leatherette
on the 1000XM4’s feels plasticy. Overall
both of these headphones have decent build
quality but personally I did expect a little
more from the 1000XM4’s where as the XB900N’s
build quality is perfectly acceptable for
mid tier ANC headphones.
Now when it comes to fit, both of these headphones
should fit most people just fine. Now both
of these headphones are big head approved
cause neither of them have a lot of clamping
force. And when it comes to weight… both
of these headphones weigh in at 254 grams
making them very light weight cause most ANC
headphones in these categories weigh in between
270 to 290 grams. So both of these headphones
are easy to forget that you have on and they
aren’t super noticeable when you’re walking
around with them on. But when it comes to
their ear pads… they are a little different.
Now the ear pads on both of these headphones
are just as spacious as one another and they
fit me just fine. But if you have larger ears
or ears that stick out a lot then you’ll
might want to go with something else like
either the Bose NC 700’s the Sennheiser
PXC 550-II or even the Surface Headphones
2. But one crucial detail to point out here
is that the ear pads on the XB900N’s do
have a little more surface area coming in
contact with your skin than the 1000XM4’s
do. So the ear pads on the XB900N’s do heat
up a little faster. Now neither of these headphones
have an over heating problem but the XB900N’s
do a heat up a little faster than the 1000XM4’s
especially when you’re walking around with
them on. But one last thing that I do want
to point out here is going to have todo with
looks. In general these headphones look very
similar to one another… But I do prefer
do look of the 1000XM4’s specially cause
their headband is more low profile than the
headband on the XB900N’s. Now the headband
on the XB900N’s isn’t super bulbous like
either of Bose’s headphones… but the more
low profile the better. But with all that
being said… when it comes to fit I do gotta
say the 1000XM4’s do manage to edge out
a win here specially cause of their ear pads
that have less surface area coming in contact
with your skin. But other than that both of
these headphones should fit most people just
fine.
But now lets talk about tech specs… both
of these headphones charge via a USB C port
as they should. And when it come to battery
life both of these headphones are really good.
The 1000XM4’s have an advertised battery
life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on
where as the XB900N’s have an advertised
battery life of 35 hours with their ANC turned
on. And you can always stretch out the battery
on both of these headphones if you use them
with their ANC turned off.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity
theses where things get very different. The
1000XM4’s can finally be connected to 2
devices at the same time so you can easily
hot swap from your phone to your computer.
Where as the XB900N’s can only be connected
to 1 device at a time. Now ultimately its
not a huge deal if your headphones can hot
swap from one device to another but it is
really nice to be able to.
However if you do want to be able to hot swap
with the 1000XM4’s then you are going to
lose LDAC support if youre an Android user
and you’re going to have to use AAC instead.
Now if youre an iPhone user LDAC support doesn’t
matter cause iPhones top out at AAC. And in
general both of these headphones are going
to use AAC no matter what if you’re an iPhone
user.
Now while we’re on the topic of audio codecs…
the 1000XM4’s have support for SBC, AAC,
and LDAC which is Sony’s own high res audio
codec. Where as the XB900N’s have support
for SBC, AAC, and LDAC just like the 1000XM4’s
but they also have support for APTX and APTX
HD. But sony is currently phasing out APTX
support in favor of LDAC on their newer headphones.
But more importantly, when it comes to watching
movies or videos on your phone both of these
headphones have zero latency across the board
whether youre using an iPhone or android device.
And if you want to you can always still use
a wired connection with either of these headphones
cause both of these headphones still have
easy to reach 3.5 millimeter audio jacks.
Now I know this sounds obvious but I do like
to point it out cause some manufactures are
starting to remove the audio jack on some
of their headphones.
But now lets talk about listening to music
with these headphones. Now both of these headphones
sound the same when it comes to clarity, sound
stage and instrument separation. And since
both of these headphones connect to Sony’s
app you can make other of these headphones
sound how ever you want. If you like a neutral
or vocals focused EQ you can do that or if
you like a bass heavy EQ you can also do that.
But where these headphones really differ is
when it comes to their bass. The bass on the
1000XM4’s should be able to please most
people who want to physically feel their music
cause the bass on these headphones has a good
kick to it. But the bass on the XB900N’s
on a whole other level. Having the clear bass
slider on the 1000XM4’s set to 10 is like
having the clear bass slider on the XB900N’s
set to 4. If you want you make it so the XB900N’s
rattle your head way more than your average
pair of headphones. And having all of this
bass can be a lot of fun from time to time.
And personally I really like using the Extra
Bass on the XB900N’s when im watching movies
with them cause it adds an extra level of
immersivness to what ever youre watching.
Its like having a sub woofer strapped to your
head. But the extra bass on the XB900N’s
can get old after awhile, so if you don’t
want to use it you don’t have to but its
there if you want it.
But there is one major this to point out here
thats really going to affect my android users.
Now like I mentioned earlier if you’re an
iPhone user both of these headphones are going
to use AAC no matter what which is great.
But if youre an android user… I do gotta
point out the XB900N’s do go from using
LDAC to using SBC if you change their EQ.
And unfortunately the XB900N’s just don’t
sound as rich as they do when they’re using
SBC versus when they’re using LDAC. Where
as the 1000XM4’s will continue to use LDAC
or AAC no matter what EQ youre using depending
on whether you have their smiluationous connectivity
turned on or off.
So overall if you’re an iPhone user both
of these headphones sound good and they should
be able to please most people. But personally
I do prefer the XB900N’s cause of their
Extra bass feature. But for my android users
just keep in mind that using your own EQ on
these headphones does mean you’ll be stuck
with SBC which just doesn’t sound as good
as either AAC or LDAC.
Now when it comes to controlling your music
both of these headphones have touch pads.
You swipe up or down to adjust your volume
and you swipe front or back to skip through
your music. Now for the most part both of
these headphones have a high level of accuracy.
But on occasion you will get missed inputs.
But these touchpads aren’t problematic.
However I do want to point out that I do find
it easer to use the touch pad on the XB900N
cause since this touch pad doesn’t have
soft touch my finger glides much easier.
But something the 1000XM4’s have that the
XB900N’s don’t is that they have wear
sensors. So when you take these headphones
off they’ll automatically cause your music
and when you put them back on they’ll start
playing your music again. Now personally I
don’t care for wear sensors on any of my
headphones so I just turn them off.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation
on these headphones. Now in general, the ANC
on both of these headphones doesn’t have
a lot of cabin pressure which is good for
comfort. It doesn’t change how your music
sounds. But just as you’d expect the Sony
1000XM4’s block out way more noise than
the XB900N’s. But so that you can see for
yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC
test.
So like you may have just seen, the Sony 1000XM4’s
block out way more noise than the XB900N’s
across the board. And I also included the
entry level Sony WH-CH710N here because they
also block out a little more noise than the
XB900N. Now just keep in mind the WH-CH710N’s
are newer than the XB900N’s cause they were
released in the spring of 2020 where as the
XB900N’ were released in the summer of 2019.
So what im getting at here is that Active
noise cancellation on the XB900N isn’t their
strong suite. Its useful for like when you’re
at home… but if you are looking to block
out the most amount of noise here you are
better of going with the 1000XM4’s.
However like I mentioned in my full review.
In this controlled test where all of these
headphones are blocking out the same audio
samples I did find that the 1000XM3’s running
their 4.5.2 firmware were blocking out more
noise than the 1000XM4’s running their 2.0.6
firmware which is the latest firmware at the
time of this recording. So even though the
ANC on the 1000XM4’s is great I do feel
sony could do better and we are going to have
to revisit their ANC after they get a firmware
update.
But now lets talk about the ambient modes
on these headphones. Now the ambient mode
on both of these headphones sounds very natural
and they both have zero hissing in the background
which is super important for when tour watching
movies with these headphones. But over all
the ambient mode on the 1000XM4’s is better
than the ambient mode on the XB900N’s for
2 key reasons. First off the 1000XM4’s do
a much better job of blocking out wind noise
when walking out doors and also the 1000XM4’s
have an active ambient mode meaning that they’ll
actively block out sudden spikes in loud noises
saving you from jump scares. But let me just
show you what im talking about. Slight headphones
warning.
So like you may have just seen when the 1000XM4’s
detected that loud noise they turned their
ambient mode off and then when that loud noise
stoped that turned their ambient mode back
on. Now personally I love when headphones
have an active ambient mode cause it does
save you from jump scares. Where as the XB900N’s
just let in everything. And this can also
really come in handy when you’re working
at home with your headphones on and your dog
starts barking when the UPS man comes around.
Now another new feature on the Sony 1000XM4’s
that isn’t found on the XB900N is speak
to chat which I like to think of as an extension
of their ambient mode which works a little
like this.
But ultimately for me speak to chat is just
one of those gimmicks that im just not going
to use. Now speak to chat doesn’t get activated
when other people are talking around you it,
does a great job of rejecting that. But if
you do decide to use speak to chat on these
headphones then you have to be completely
silent. Speak to chat on these headphones
will get activated if you’re singing along
to your music, if you’re thinking out loud
even very quietly, and it’ll also get active
if you start laughing.
Now even though yes you can quickly turn speak
to chat on or off directly on these headphones
by pressing two fingers on their touch pad
as well as through their app. I still find
it to be more of a nuance rather than helpful
when my headphones stop my music when I utter
a few words. Just cause I say thank you when
im getting off the bus or checking out at
the deli it doesn’t mean I need my music
or podcast to stop. So personally I just permanently
just keep speak to chat on these headphones
off.
And if I am going to have a quick conversation
with someone I do prefer to use quick attention
cause I have full control over it. Cause if
you fully cover the touch pad on either of
these headphones they’re going to lower
the volume of your music and let in all of
the ambient sound around you like this
And then when you let go they’ll go back
to normal again. Now even though I do prefer
quick attention over speak to chat… it could
be better. The problem with quick attention
is that you gotta constantly keep the touch
pad covered on either of these headphones.
And if you’re going to try to talk to someone
like this… this both looks and feels very
awkward. Sony has to change it so that when
you fully cover their touch pad for a full
second the headphones will get looked into
quick attention… you can let go and have
your conversation with you hands free like
a normal human and then when you’re done
you can double tap on the touch pad and the
headphones will go back to normal again.
And im making a big deal about this cause
sony can easily make speak to chat better
on all of their headphones by applying a simple
change which they can then push out to all
of their headphones through a software update.
But finally here’s the microphone test and
this isn’t Sony’s strong suite. Now I
feel the microphone on the XB900N is usable
for like a quick phone call in a quite room
but my voice does sound very muffled.
Now even though my voice does sound better
on the 1000XM4’s my voice still doesn’t
sound super clear. However this microphone
does a great job of blocking out ambient noise.
Cause right now I have this AC unit turned
on and if we were to switch over to my lapel
microphone you’re going to clearly hear
that AC unit. But if we were to switch back
over to the Sony 1000XM4’s its gone.
But with all that being said… there are
some important differences to take into account
here if you’re trying to decided between
these two headphones. Now obviously the 1000XM4’s
are the better option here for constant commuters
cause of their Superior Active noise Cancellation,
Active ambient mode, slightly better sounding
microphone for phone calls and included hardshell
carrying case. But the 1000XM4’s also have
simulations connectivity which is super important
for power users and they also have wear sensors
and speak to chat. And when it comes to sound
they should be able to please most people.
But if you’re somebody that really likes
bass then you’ll definitely want to go with
the XB900N. The Extra bass feature on the
XB900N is a lot of fun to listen to from time
to time and it also adds an extra level of
imersiavness when watching movies with these
headphones. And besides if you don’t plan
on constantly commuting with your headphones
then these should be perfectly fine.
