Sony WH-1000XM4: release date, leaks and all of the news you need to know
It’s easy to forget that, not too long ago, the noise-cancelling headphone market was entirely dominated by Bose. Not so anymore. Now, every audio brand worth its salt is in on the action, and there’s no more sought after pair than the Sony WH-1000XM3s (pictured above). Their popularity is understandable: the WH-1000XM3 headphones are so good, they’ve won back-to-back What Hi-Fi? Awards since their launch in 2018. They’re still great headphones now, but with the likes of Sennheiser and B&W also now carving out slices of the premium noise-cancelling headphone pie, it’s inevitable that Sony will release a new version very soon - and we can’t wait to see what they do with them. Thanks to a recent FCC filing (thanks, The Verge), we know the WH-1000XM4 headphones are on the way, but when can we expect them, how much will they cost and what improvements will they offer? Here we’ve rounded up all of the rumours, news and some of our own theories so you can get up to speed in no time at all. It seems likely that Sony will officially announce the WH-1000XM4 headphones during this year’s IFA show in September, as this is the event that was used to launch all previous versions - the MDR-1000X, WH-1000XM2 and WH-1000XM3. If previous form is followed, the new model should be available to order practically as soon as it's announced. If we were the bettings sorts, we’d put our money on Sony’s IFA press conference taking place on Friday 4th September 2020 and the WH-1000XM4 headphones being announced on stage. We’d also wager that the Sony WH-1000XM4 price will be £330 ($350), as that’s exactly how much each one of the three previous pairs in the series has cost at launch. Of course, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the WH-1000XM4s will be announced at a special event (MWC is no longer an option) before IFA 2020 (FCC filings do tend to appear quite close to product launches) and that they’ll cost a lot more or less than £330, but Sony’s extreme consistency with the series so far gives us a fair amount of confidence in our predictions. But are we even correct in assuming that the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones will be called ‘WH-1000XM4’? We believe so, yes. Not only has each model in the series followed the format, with the ‘M’ being short for ‘Mark’ and the number representing the entry in the series (so ‘M4’ is ‘Mark 4’), the FCC filing dug up by The Verge in January has an ID code of ‘AK8WH1000XM4’. That makes it extremely likely that the model number will be ‘WH-1000XM4’, although it’s not impossible that Sony could relegate that to the small print and use a more catchy name in its marketing. We think that’s unlikely, though - the previous models hardly appear to have been held back by the naming convention. Send us products for review [email protected] Our website https://avatmos.com/ Our Shopping Store https://www.jumia.com.ng/av-atmos-store/ Social Media Handles https://avatmos.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/AVAtmos https://www.instagram.com/avatmos https://m.facebook.com/AVATMOS Follow me on https://m.facebook.com/immaculate.mbaezue https://www.instagram.com/immaculatembaezue/ https://mobile.twitter.com/IMbaezue Topping NX1s Hi-Res Digital HiFi Portable Headphone Amplifier http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/2WnewnGG OneOdio Studio Pro 50 headphones http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/mzA3sXeY The Edifier W830bt headphones http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/mzHzHNqY My Filming Rig For This Channel http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/3Orelhig Denon AVR-X8500H 13.2-channel AV Receiver Marantz AV7705 11.2CH 4K Ultra HD AV Surround Pre-Amplifier with Dolby Atmos DTS:X IMAX Enhanced Auro-3D Home Cinema 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos setup Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 Klipsch RP-280F Tower Speakers R115SW with Denon AVR-X6300H
It’s easy to forget that, not too long ago, the noise-cancelling headphone market was entirely dominated by Bose. Not so anymore. Now, every audio brand worth its salt is in on the action, and there’s no more sought after pair than the Sony WH-1000XM3s (pictured above). Their popularity is understandable: the WH-1000XM3 headphones are so good, they’ve won back-to-back What Hi-Fi? Awards since their launch in 2018. They’re still great headphones now, but with the likes of Sennheiser and B&W also now carving out slices of the premium noise-cancelling headphone pie, it’s inevitable that Sony will release a new version very soon - and we can’t wait to see what they do with them. Thanks to a recent FCC filing (thanks, The Verge), we know the WH-1000XM4 headphones are on the way, but when can we expect them, how much will they cost and what improvements will they offer? Here we’ve rounded up all of the rumours, news and some of our own theories so you can get up to speed in no time at all. It seems likely that Sony will officially announce the WH-1000XM4 headphones during this year’s IFA show in September, as this is the event that was used to launch all previous versions - the MDR-1000X, WH-1000XM2 and WH-1000XM3. If previous form is followed, the new model should be available to order practically as soon as it's announced. If we were the bettings sorts, we’d put our money on Sony’s IFA press conference taking place on Friday 4th September 2020 and the WH-1000XM4 headphones being announced on stage. We’d also wager that the Sony WH-1000XM4 price will be £330 ($350), as that’s exactly how much each one of the three previous pairs in the series has cost at launch. Of course, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the WH-1000XM4s will be announced at a special event (MWC is no longer an option) before IFA 2020 (FCC filings do tend to appear quite close to product launches) and that they’ll cost a lot more or less than £330, but Sony’s extreme consistency with the series so far gives us a fair amount of confidence in our predictions. But are we even correct in assuming that the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones will be called ‘WH-1000XM4’? We believe so, yes. Not only has each model in the series followed the format, with the ‘M’ being short for ‘Mark’ and the number representing the entry in the series (so ‘M4’ is ‘Mark 4’), the FCC filing dug up by The Verge in January has an ID code of ‘AK8WH1000XM4’. That makes it extremely likely that the model number will be ‘WH-1000XM4’, although it’s not impossible that Sony could relegate that to the small print and use a more catchy name in its marketing. We think that’s unlikely, though - the previous models hardly appear to have been held back by the naming convention. Send us products for review [email protected] Our website https://avatmos.com/ Our Shopping Store https://www.jumia.com.ng/av-atmos-store/ Social Media Handles https://avatmos.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/AVAtmos https://www.instagram.com/avatmos https://m.facebook.com/AVATMOS Follow me on https://m.facebook.com/immaculate.mbaezue https://www.instagram.com/immaculatembaezue/ https://mobile.twitter.com/IMbaezue Topping NX1s Hi-Res Digital HiFi Portable Headphone Amplifier http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/2WnewnGG OneOdio Studio Pro 50 headphones http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/mzA3sXeY The Edifier W830bt headphones http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/mzHzHNqY My Filming Rig For This Channel http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/3Orelhig Denon AVR-X8500H 13.2-channel AV Receiver Marantz AV7705 11.2CH 4K Ultra HD AV Surround Pre-Amplifier with Dolby Atmos DTS:X IMAX Enhanced Auro-3D Home Cinema 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos setup Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 Klipsch RP-280F Tower Speakers R115SW with Denon AVR-X6300H