Sony’s got a cool new pair of wireless earbuds in the works, and new leaks have revealed some very interesting tech on-board. Alongside LDAC codec support and an IPX4-rating for water and sweat resistance, the new WF-1000XM4s will have a brand new V1 chip specifically to enable next-level active noise cancellation.
Sony’s super-buds
The leaks for the 1000XM4s, provided by WinFuture, provide pretty much all the information we could want on the earbuds. Design-wise they’re stylish if pretty standard looking earbuds. For the moment, it looks like Sony will only be shipping them out in white and black, though a gold version may hit shelves at some point too.
The 1000XM4s are kitted out with an IPX4-rating for water resistance, making them totally splash-proof from all angles. This makes them perfect for jamming out even when you’re caught in a thunderstorm, or on a particularly sweaty run, without worrying about busting them with moisture penetration.
They also support Sony’s own LDAC codec which, in a nutshell, lets you listen to high-quality audio even over Bluetooth. Apple’s been making similar headway in its own sound department.
On the battery front, the 1000XM4s will get you 8 hours of music with ANC (active noise cancellation) and 12 hours with it off on one charge. The case (which you can charge using either Qi wireless charging or the USB Type-C port) will net you two full charges too, so, if we run the numbers, that’s 24 hours of ANC listening and 36 of standard. Not bad at all.
Speaking of active noise cancellation, here’s a quick explainer. Rather than just muffling and blocking external noises, ANC (as the name implies) uses microphones and some fancy frequency magic to detect incoming noise and cancel it out. Sony’s previous WF-1000XM earbuds had the same thing, but the new ones are getting a flashy new V1 processor to make their ANC even more effective.
The WF-1000XM4s will probably go on sale soon. WinFuture reports that the recommended retail price in Europe is €290, which is about R4,900, but we all know that exact price conversion isn’t accurate for tech goods. We’ll let you know when more info surfaces.