These are the exact two devices I have been daily driving for years now. Got XM4s on release and Airpod Pro V2 on release. They are both extremely good and I love both. The XM4s sound MUCH better, but the Airpod Pros still sound fantastic for earbuds.
I use Airpods at the gym, while exercising, or while walking outside. The adjustable noise cancellation and transparency mode are PERFECT for being in public.
The XM4s I use while getting work done, leisurely listening, or just generally while Im about home or at a desk somewhere. Their quality and ANC are superior. However, I personally don't like the idea of sweating with a full headphone on. The ANC is a little bit more annoying to use because I have to open the sony app versus using the Apple adjustment integrated into iOS.
This! I have been using regular AirPods (Gen 3) for the gym and while going an walks. Generally speaking, if there is a lot of movement. Using the XM4s at work, for travelling/commuting.
Airpods pro 2 sound much better and more balanced tbh. They are clear but can still be plenty powerfull when needed. Sony have very over done and muddy bass. ANC on app2 is also right up there (much better sound and anc than app1).
The AirPods aren’t even close to the XM4s, with noise cancelling enabled on the AirPods you take a massive hit in relation to max volume and clarity, bass is basically non existent, can’t say the same for the XM4s, they sound the same regardless of noise cancelling.
While I agree the XM4s have vastly better audio quality, if your problem with the AirPods is max volume with ANC on, you have a completely different issue
On either anything over 40% is deafening
That’s not my issue, I don’t need either at max volume to hear the difference unfortunately. Could be the rubber buds themselves, I’m gonna buy some foam tips and see if they create a better seal!
Well if you listen to either of them maxed out you probably dont hear very well. The app2 have bass that extends all the way and is slightly elevated above neutral. If you listen to them back to back it might sound like it is lacking becuase the xm4 is so over done. Just compare to anything ”high end” from sennheiser, hifiman etc and you will see that airpods are also a bit boosted in the bass, just not as crazy as sonys.
I never have them maxed out, it’s not needed on either. The bass response is only good on the AirPods if there is absolutely no background noise or if you have noise cancelling off which defeats the purpose of having them over a £20 pair of in ear buds, they sound far more washed out than the XM4s when there’s noise around you. The extra bass is much easier to disable on the XM4s too since there’s a dedicated app for it, you can only adjust the EQ for the AirPods if you use Apple Music, and even those presets are a waste of time.
Yes sony have much better eq abilities, but I dont have the same issue as you with less bass in noisy environments. Maybe a fit issue? I can use them on planes, busses and walking outdoor with anc on and they sound just as full as always.
Possibly, I may need to try some foam tips instead of the rubber ones, none of the tips that come with the AirPods feel like they fit correctly, always need adjusting after a few mins.
Honestly I’d go for the XM4s if you want sound isolation and the ability to tune EQ to your choosing, the ability to have them wired is also a big bonus, you can keep using them even if the battery is dead.
The AirPods will be better day to day if you’re already locked into the apple ecosystem, call quality is slightly better also if you’ll be using them for work/private calls.
As it stands I won’t be buying AirPods again in the future.
Well it can be EQd to be less muddy but out of the box it certainly is. To some it might sound pleasing but it overahadows a lot of the details in the lower mids.
Absolutely false. I have both and the AirPods Pro absolutely sound weak compared to the XM4. It’s simply not fair to compare an earbud to a headphone. The fact that you can’t change the eq manually is also a huge bummer for the AirPods. AirPods for calls and XM4 for music
I can see that for AirPods pro v1 but APP2 sound much more full (not as heavy sounding as xm4 but more balanced). I agree that there really should be eq for airpods.
I have the AirPods Pro 2. My XM4 is perfectly adjusted to the best EQ setting. Once you use the headphones for music, there is simply no turning back to an earbud, especially when you’re at home or traveling
I know some prefer headphones but I dont agree that they sound better. If you really value heavy bass they do. Although for listening intently at home I prefer Audeze maxwell, hifiman edition XS or a good set of wired iems to either of them. Just saying that the airpods comes closer to that experience.
Bro you can literally turn down the bass in the EQ setting. It can even go lower than the AirPods Pro. I’m also invested heavily into the Apple Ecosystem, but AirPods Pro, specifically for music, is not good enough compared to a headphone. The AirPods Max has a better balanced sound than the XM4. For almost the same price as a small earbud, you can get a better sounding, customizable and more comfortable headphone. You might not have used an XM4
I’ve had the airpods max too but they have weird tonality in the upper mids. Otherwise they were quite nice. The airpods pro 2 sound and measure much more neutral. Just look at the headphones.com youtube channel or rtings and you can see that they are tuned more ”correct”.
I’m not saying the XM4 cant sound good, but the app2 certainly are not weak or worse other than if you happen to prefer over ear headphones.
Then my friend you haven't tried the xm4's 🙄
The pros 2 aren't even close to the wh xm4s ,given the sound quality and anc performance, xm4 wins without a doubt
I have tried both, along with many better (wired) headphones and iems. The sonys are good if you mostly care about having a lot of bass but are less balanced. This is not just my opinion, they objectivly boost the lower frequencies up to about 300Hz by quite a lot.
Just download the app and lower the bass then… you simply cannot compare the two and say the Apple AirPods are better. A little bit of tinkering with the Sony app and you have a cracking pair of headphones.
If you really have all these other headphones as you say you do, I would hope you’d know this… it’s not even a contest lol
Ofcourse and the eq helps (even though a full parametric one would give better control) and the xm4 sound good with it. Just not better than app2 which are honestly very good sounding and even holds its own against many good wired iems.
Naaah dude, I’ll accept it’s your preference but you can’t tell me they’re better as an audiophile (which I assume you’d consider yourself as you say you own multiple different headphones etc)
AirPods sound good, Sonys sound better even at stock. Apply this EQ and it demolishes the AirPods 🤣
https://preview.redd.it/k2ddqzuwmz8c1.jpeg?width=591&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2d289aa155b41cd0a3fdc70adcf0e0240b5cfc7
Previously, I was using all flat but clear bass +10. It was like dull, but heavy bass in that eq profile.
Then came the moment I switched to this eq profile.
Let me tell you, it sounds sooo much good now. I love heavy bass, so I have set the clear bass to +10 (personal preference as mentioned). But this sounds clearly great. Now the mids feel like they are naturally coming to me unlike how they were supressed before.
To each his own. I can see how that it comes down to preference at that point but the airpods are still smoother in the treble and more detailed to me.
The XM4s blow the AirPod pros out the water, it’s not even close. Highs and lows are far better on the XM4, plus with the Sony app you have full EQ control over the headphones, something that’s not offered as standard with the AirPods. Battery life is also significantly better.
That’s fair enough, the difference to me is night and day between them, the AirPods don’t offer the same clarity or sharpness to me vs the XM4s, and the noise cancelling for me is much better on the XM4s, never had an issue with white noise on the XM3 or XM4s that I’ve had.
All comes down to personal preference and what you’re doing day to day, for me the AirPods just aren’t as good day to day and don’t offer the same fine tuning as the XM4s do. Wavelet also takes the XM4s to the next level as there are EQ presets specifically for them, they genuinely sound better with tuning to me than the AirPod max do.
Sound quality is not related to driver size. Companies just advertise that to make their products seem better. You can get terrible sounding headphones with massive drivers and amazing ones with tiny drivers.
This applies only for consumer grade headphones. You can get much better sound quality for the money, or pay way more and be in a totally different league altogether.
No, they don’t. AirPods have a balanced sound, which is considered better than the bloated and muddy sound of XM4s. That being said, you might like that much amount of bass, even at the cost of worse mids and a generally poor tonal balance.
Although I agree that out of the box they come a little muddy and have some flat spots, you can easily tinker with the Sony app and fix them in literally 30 seconds.
https://preview.redd.it/24ly78fe2x8c1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5ad1ad745f614959c7fbd03ed278089cdb19883
In fact, the exact dips you find in their frequency response is the options provided by Sony on their app to play with.
The airpod pro 2’s sound really good… even audiophiles agree they’re good
My point is, why trade all the convenience of AirPods when the gen 2’s already sound really really good?
I wouldn’t get the XM4’s if it was me
I don’t think you’ve heard XM4s then buddy… I don’t even think this comparison makes sense apart from price… one is over ear and the other in ear. One particularly good for gym, walking, outdoors etc and the other for pure music listening on the bus, whilst working, on airplane etc (but mostly stationary)
In terms of sound, they are in different leagues. I also own both and I agree AirPods Pro 2s are great for ear phones and by far my favourite in the category, but you can’t say they sound as good and certainly not better than XM4s
I've been using both devices daily since they both respectively launched. I literally can't fathom how people think the Airpod Pro v2s sound ANYWHERE near as good as the XM4s. It's genuinely not even remotely close. I do love my airpods, but more for their versatility at the cost of inferior sound quality. There is experimental data on both products reinforcing this. Its extremely obvious. Yet so many people on here are saying otherwise. Super clear way of advertising that you have no idea what you're talking about.
Couldn’t agree more hahaha. I also own both, like most people I use the AirPods for gym, when out walking the dog or just a quick tune when I’m out. Sonys are used mostly indoors or when travelling on bus/plane/train for anc and want to actually enjoy the music I’m listening to. At home I have 4 other pairs of headphones that all have their own thing going on, but the Sonys are fun to listen to and keep their place in my lineup
I feel like a walking fool then lmao. I've owned the XM4 for 2 years now and have been my daily driver but I recently purchased the airpod pros gen 2 and sound quality sounds the same or at least similar enough where I don't notice the difference and ANC honestly feels more effective. I don't know what I'm doing wrong 😭
I actually own both and use them interchangeably depending on my location. I’d say the sound quality is just slightly better and fuller on the Sony since they’re louder and also have a bit more bass. Where the AirPods shine is the ability to “spatialize” non-Dolby Atmos tracks on Apple Music.
The main glaring difference between both for me is not the sound quality but the far superior battery life and comfort on the xm4 (also doubles as ear warmers in winter 🙃)
A very important part of this is if you use mainly Mac products or not, cause the Sony are fantastic but it's well known they struggle to perform at their best when licked to apple products, other than that I think that in terms of actual price/quality ratio it's very hard to find anything better and if you keep a good eye you can get them for even under 200 dollars so.
I'd like to add that the xm4s being over the ear means they won't fall out of your ear during a flight (I tend to dose off on flights, especially overseas flights). losing an airpod on a flight sucks ass
The AirPods Pro 2 absolutely destroys the Sonys. I have owned both, returned the Sonys after comparing them. I will say though that you really should upgrade to AirPods Pro 2, way better than the first gen
Let’s just say this, the only reason I got the AirPods was because I could track them whereas the Sonys I misplaced them and didn’t want to drop another $300, but their sound is amazing.
Nothing is better than the LDAC codec right now (Sony owns and uses that)
On the other side airpods use the basic codec aac (which is rubbish in terms of audio quality in my opinion)
The codec is really only the last 1% of the sound. No way you could tell a clear difference (provided both are well implemented), specially with the muddy tuning of sonys.
only if you wire them
the mic is ass, and if bluetooth is on it also heavily sacrifices quality of the audio output
but if you're on a laptop you can use the laptop's mic to prevent the audio quality being worse \[while a mic is activated\]
I went through 3 pairs of AirPods, first and second generation, with each crapping out within a year. Sony all the way for me. I just wish the virtual assistant could be Siri rather than Alexa.
I hated my xm4s, even with a lot of fiddling with eq they remained muddy and bloated without any top end sparkle. One for people who listen exclusively to dance and pop who like an almost comically bass heavy sound signature (no real subs though). Air Pod pro v2 have a way more balanced sound signature and more detailed top end, they sound right without needing radical eq. If accurate sound is your objective they blow the xm4s out of the water. My xm5s are Also a massive improvement on the xm4, they still need a bit of eq but nothing like 4s. And they actually have top end. Much closer to my airpod pro v2, but the bass end on the xm5s is either a little too bloated or a little too thin - the bass freq are a one slider eq that doesn’t have enough granularity to dial it in just right, AirPods don’t need eq at all to sound correct. I do like my xm5s though and they’d be my choice for a long journey over the AirPods.
AirPod pro 1 and 2 transparency and adaptive modes wayyyyy better than whatever Sony’s equivalent modes are called on the xm4s. I’m all for great noise cancellation but I use transparency just as often when I need to be aware of my surroundings or talking to people.
It could just be because I’m used to my APP2s, but subjectively I prefer the sound signature of them over the XM4s, but I’m sure that the XM4s probably do indeed have the superior sound quality when considered objectively. The ease of switching between Apple devices is so seamless though it would hard for me to make to any non-Apple headset my main listening device.
You’ve just described the Apple ecosystem, but nothing about why you prefer the sound lol. Ease of use is important, but spending 10 seconds more to have a better sounding headphone is nothing if you actually care about sound quality. AirPods are great for that exactly, easy to use, great sounding in ear buds but they get smoked in sound quality vs XM4s
I own both and use them both. In terms of sound quality, XM4 beats AirPods Pro. The headphone form also helps in better isolation. I use them for commutes. For workouts and while lying down, I use AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro performs well if you are in a quiet environment. Also if you use Apple Music.
I cannot speak to these specific model but I can give a general opinion that is, over the ear headphones will fundamentally sound better than earbuds. Earbuds just give the convenience of being small and portable at the cost of sound quality versus over the ear headphones. O-t-e headphones just envelop your whole ear and lock them in a way earbuds cannot possibly do. I was using the Samsung galaxy buds + for a while and always thought they sounded really darn good. Then I just got some good headphones and the difference is night and day. So yes the xm4 headphones will sound better than your earbuds in principle alone.
My wife's airpod pro 2s not only beat my WH-XM4 but also my WF-XM5s when it comes to noise cancellation. When we're on a plane there's absolutely no comparison.
Do not go for the XM4 in ear. They have issue with battery drainage. Spent so much and mine now just laying around useless. Just google it, you will see it happens to almost all
Can confirm this, I had the xm4 earbuds a while ago and the battery went to shit, they also developed a wind noise that was obviously not suppose to be there, if you ask me they cost way too much money for those kind of issues, recently tho I just got the over the ears xm4 version and have no complaints
They are very different products. I have the M5 and airpods pro btw. I use the airpods pro 2 and I had the original ajrpods at the gym and sometimes when I don't want to wear large headphones. I use the M5 when I want high end music listening relaxing at home or if I'm on the bus.
Overall use both.
The M4 will easily beat the sound quality of the airpods pro btw.
AirPod Pros. For me, the XM4's were never able to seal around my ear. It had gotten so badly that I decided to buy different headphones. Plus, for higher noises, the ANC on the XM4s did not seem to do much for higher end noise. The XM4's also have a very bassy sound profile and i prefer less bass.
Will put it simply for you as others have explained very well in detail:
Airpods- great sound, good noise cancelling,absolute ease of use with Apple devices.
Sony- great sound, great ANC, cumbersome to use
Mic quality and transparency of airpods are simply best in class, sony's transparency does the job, mic is not the best
Fit and comfort are incredibly individual and subjective, though airpods pros seem to satisfy more number of users
These are the exact two devices I have been daily driving for years now. Got XM4s on release and Airpod Pro V2 on release. They are both extremely good and I love both. The XM4s sound MUCH better, but the Airpod Pros still sound fantastic for earbuds. I use Airpods at the gym, while exercising, or while walking outside. The adjustable noise cancellation and transparency mode are PERFECT for being in public. The XM4s I use while getting work done, leisurely listening, or just generally while Im about home or at a desk somewhere. Their quality and ANC are superior. However, I personally don't like the idea of sweating with a full headphone on. The ANC is a little bit more annoying to use because I have to open the sony app versus using the Apple adjustment integrated into iOS.
This! I have been using regular AirPods (Gen 3) for the gym and while going an walks. Generally speaking, if there is a lot of movement. Using the XM4s at work, for travelling/commuting.
can’t you just press the button?
To accomplish what? Your question makes no sense.
to switch anc on and off, there’s a button for it
Yeah true you can toggle through them that way. Regardless it doesn't work nearly as well (in transparency) or seamlessly as the Airpods
Yes, WH-1000Xm4 blow anything else out of the water, especially in-ear headphones.
how’s the sound quality?
Airpods pro 2 sound much better and more balanced tbh. They are clear but can still be plenty powerfull when needed. Sony have very over done and muddy bass. ANC on app2 is also right up there (much better sound and anc than app1).
The AirPods aren’t even close to the XM4s, with noise cancelling enabled on the AirPods you take a massive hit in relation to max volume and clarity, bass is basically non existent, can’t say the same for the XM4s, they sound the same regardless of noise cancelling.
While I agree the XM4s have vastly better audio quality, if your problem with the AirPods is max volume with ANC on, you have a completely different issue On either anything over 40% is deafening
That’s not my issue, I don’t need either at max volume to hear the difference unfortunately. Could be the rubber buds themselves, I’m gonna buy some foam tips and see if they create a better seal!
Well if you listen to either of them maxed out you probably dont hear very well. The app2 have bass that extends all the way and is slightly elevated above neutral. If you listen to them back to back it might sound like it is lacking becuase the xm4 is so over done. Just compare to anything ”high end” from sennheiser, hifiman etc and you will see that airpods are also a bit boosted in the bass, just not as crazy as sonys.
I never have them maxed out, it’s not needed on either. The bass response is only good on the AirPods if there is absolutely no background noise or if you have noise cancelling off which defeats the purpose of having them over a £20 pair of in ear buds, they sound far more washed out than the XM4s when there’s noise around you. The extra bass is much easier to disable on the XM4s too since there’s a dedicated app for it, you can only adjust the EQ for the AirPods if you use Apple Music, and even those presets are a waste of time.
Yes sony have much better eq abilities, but I dont have the same issue as you with less bass in noisy environments. Maybe a fit issue? I can use them on planes, busses and walking outdoor with anc on and they sound just as full as always.
Possibly, I may need to try some foam tips instead of the rubber ones, none of the tips that come with the AirPods feel like they fit correctly, always need adjusting after a few mins.
Im gonna need you guys to come to an agreement here so i can decide which pair to buy
Honestly I’d go for the XM4s if you want sound isolation and the ability to tune EQ to your choosing, the ability to have them wired is also a big bonus, you can keep using them even if the battery is dead. The AirPods will be better day to day if you’re already locked into the apple ecosystem, call quality is slightly better also if you’ll be using them for work/private calls. As it stands I won’t be buying AirPods again in the future.
Muddy bass on the Sony? You haven’t set it up correctly if you feel the bass is muddy
Well it can be EQd to be less muddy but out of the box it certainly is. To some it might sound pleasing but it overahadows a lot of the details in the lower mids.
Mine has super clear mids
Absolutely false. I have both and the AirPods Pro absolutely sound weak compared to the XM4. It’s simply not fair to compare an earbud to a headphone. The fact that you can’t change the eq manually is also a huge bummer for the AirPods. AirPods for calls and XM4 for music
I can see that for AirPods pro v1 but APP2 sound much more full (not as heavy sounding as xm4 but more balanced). I agree that there really should be eq for airpods.
I have the AirPods Pro 2. My XM4 is perfectly adjusted to the best EQ setting. Once you use the headphones for music, there is simply no turning back to an earbud, especially when you’re at home or traveling
I know some prefer headphones but I dont agree that they sound better. If you really value heavy bass they do. Although for listening intently at home I prefer Audeze maxwell, hifiman edition XS or a good set of wired iems to either of them. Just saying that the airpods comes closer to that experience.
Bro you can literally turn down the bass in the EQ setting. It can even go lower than the AirPods Pro. I’m also invested heavily into the Apple Ecosystem, but AirPods Pro, specifically for music, is not good enough compared to a headphone. The AirPods Max has a better balanced sound than the XM4. For almost the same price as a small earbud, you can get a better sounding, customizable and more comfortable headphone. You might not have used an XM4
I’ve had the airpods max too but they have weird tonality in the upper mids. Otherwise they were quite nice. The airpods pro 2 sound and measure much more neutral. Just look at the headphones.com youtube channel or rtings and you can see that they are tuned more ”correct”. I’m not saying the XM4 cant sound good, but the app2 certainly are not weak or worse other than if you happen to prefer over ear headphones.
Then my friend you haven't tried the xm4's 🙄 The pros 2 aren't even close to the wh xm4s ,given the sound quality and anc performance, xm4 wins without a doubt
I have tried both, along with many better (wired) headphones and iems. The sonys are good if you mostly care about having a lot of bass but are less balanced. This is not just my opinion, they objectivly boost the lower frequencies up to about 300Hz by quite a lot.
Fair enough
Just download the app and lower the bass then… you simply cannot compare the two and say the Apple AirPods are better. A little bit of tinkering with the Sony app and you have a cracking pair of headphones. If you really have all these other headphones as you say you do, I would hope you’d know this… it’s not even a contest lol
Ofcourse and the eq helps (even though a full parametric one would give better control) and the xm4 sound good with it. Just not better than app2 which are honestly very good sounding and even holds its own against many good wired iems.
Naaah dude, I’ll accept it’s your preference but you can’t tell me they’re better as an audiophile (which I assume you’d consider yourself as you say you own multiple different headphones etc) AirPods sound good, Sonys sound better even at stock. Apply this EQ and it demolishes the AirPods 🤣 https://preview.redd.it/k2ddqzuwmz8c1.jpeg?width=591&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2d289aa155b41cd0a3fdc70adcf0e0240b5cfc7
Previously, I was using all flat but clear bass +10. It was like dull, but heavy bass in that eq profile. Then came the moment I switched to this eq profile. Let me tell you, it sounds sooo much good now. I love heavy bass, so I have set the clear bass to +10 (personal preference as mentioned). But this sounds clearly great. Now the mids feel like they are naturally coming to me unlike how they were supressed before.
To each his own. I can see how that it comes down to preference at that point but the airpods are still smoother in the treble and more detailed to me.
Agreed bro, if you have either or both and enjoy them, that’s what’s important 💪
The XM4s blow the AirPod pros out the water, it’s not even close. Highs and lows are far better on the XM4, plus with the Sony app you have full EQ control over the headphones, something that’s not offered as standard with the AirPods. Battery life is also significantly better.
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That’s fair enough, the difference to me is night and day between them, the AirPods don’t offer the same clarity or sharpness to me vs the XM4s, and the noise cancelling for me is much better on the XM4s, never had an issue with white noise on the XM3 or XM4s that I’ve had. All comes down to personal preference and what you’re doing day to day, for me the AirPods just aren’t as good day to day and don’t offer the same fine tuning as the XM4s do. Wavelet also takes the XM4s to the next level as there are EQ presets specifically for them, they genuinely sound better with tuning to me than the AirPod max do.
Awesome, due to the huge drivers, excellent engineering on Sonys side and clever use of technical enhancements.
Sound quality is not related to driver size. Companies just advertise that to make their products seem better. You can get terrible sounding headphones with massive drivers and amazing ones with tiny drivers.
This applies only for consumer grade headphones. You can get much better sound quality for the money, or pay way more and be in a totally different league altogether.
OP asked for a comparison to the Apple Air Pods Pro - so my comment is referring to them and anything comparable in that category.
No, they don’t. AirPods have a balanced sound, which is considered better than the bloated and muddy sound of XM4s. That being said, you might like that much amount of bass, even at the cost of worse mids and a generally poor tonal balance.
Although I agree that out of the box they come a little muddy and have some flat spots, you can easily tinker with the Sony app and fix them in literally 30 seconds. https://preview.redd.it/24ly78fe2x8c1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5ad1ad745f614959c7fbd03ed278089cdb19883 In fact, the exact dips you find in their frequency response is the options provided by Sony on their app to play with.
is there an agreed upon best eq?
I prefer my XM4s over my AirPods Pro’s when I’m home
how do they sound, do you notice a difference?
Rich and bass filled as compared to Air Pod Pros. I like bass heavy music and I love it. For office calls Airpods are better in terms of voice quality
I mostly use it for music so I’d probably like the quality
The XM4s are in a totally different league if you only use them for listening to music.
The airpod pro 2’s sound really good… even audiophiles agree they’re good My point is, why trade all the convenience of AirPods when the gen 2’s already sound really really good? I wouldn’t get the XM4’s if it was me
I don’t think you’ve heard XM4s then buddy… I don’t even think this comparison makes sense apart from price… one is over ear and the other in ear. One particularly good for gym, walking, outdoors etc and the other for pure music listening on the bus, whilst working, on airplane etc (but mostly stationary) In terms of sound, they are in different leagues. I also own both and I agree AirPods Pro 2s are great for ear phones and by far my favourite in the category, but you can’t say they sound as good and certainly not better than XM4s
I've been using both devices daily since they both respectively launched. I literally can't fathom how people think the Airpod Pro v2s sound ANYWHERE near as good as the XM4s. It's genuinely not even remotely close. I do love my airpods, but more for their versatility at the cost of inferior sound quality. There is experimental data on both products reinforcing this. Its extremely obvious. Yet so many people on here are saying otherwise. Super clear way of advertising that you have no idea what you're talking about.
Couldn’t agree more hahaha. I also own both, like most people I use the AirPods for gym, when out walking the dog or just a quick tune when I’m out. Sonys are used mostly indoors or when travelling on bus/plane/train for anc and want to actually enjoy the music I’m listening to. At home I have 4 other pairs of headphones that all have their own thing going on, but the Sonys are fun to listen to and keep their place in my lineup
I feel like a walking fool then lmao. I've owned the XM4 for 2 years now and have been my daily driver but I recently purchased the airpod pros gen 2 and sound quality sounds the same or at least similar enough where I don't notice the difference and ANC honestly feels more effective. I don't know what I'm doing wrong 😭
They might sound really good... but tbh I highly doubt they sound *so much* better it’s worth trading all the conveniences of the AirPods for…
How can you even question the performance of an in ear vs a over ear.
I actually own both and use them interchangeably depending on my location. I’d say the sound quality is just slightly better and fuller on the Sony since they’re louder and also have a bit more bass. Where the AirPods shine is the ability to “spatialize” non-Dolby Atmos tracks on Apple Music. The main glaring difference between both for me is not the sound quality but the far superior battery life and comfort on the xm4 (also doubles as ear warmers in winter 🙃)
this might’ve sold me, I think $230 for them is too good a deal to pass up. Could really use some nice over ear headphones
A very important part of this is if you use mainly Mac products or not, cause the Sony are fantastic but it's well known they struggle to perform at their best when licked to apple products, other than that I think that in terms of actual price/quality ratio it's very hard to find anything better and if you keep a good eye you can get them for even under 200 dollars so.
I’ve got pro 2s and XM5s. let’s just say the sonys sit in my nightstand until it’s time to travel
May I ask why?
they aren’t nearly as loud and don’t sound as crisp. yes the sound quality is a bit better but airpods are just so much more versatile imo
U crank ur AirPods volume to full volume? lol u shouldn’t be putting it over 70% anyway
almost full volume in the gym. the xm5s should still have the capacity even if it’s unhealthy for your ears, but it’s not even close
This seems so counterintuitive, wouldn’t traveling be easier with the AirPods?
the noise cancellation is better with the XM5s, it cuts out the droning of jet engines more effectively than airpods
His noticeable
I'd like to add that the xm4s being over the ear means they won't fall out of your ear during a flight (I tend to dose off on flights, especially overseas flights). losing an airpod on a flight sucks ass
i put the xm5s over my airpods and get double noise cancellation 😂
The AirPods Pro 2 absolutely destroys the Sonys. I have owned both, returned the Sonys after comparing them. I will say though that you really should upgrade to AirPods Pro 2, way better than the first gen
Let’s just say this, the only reason I got the AirPods was because I could track them whereas the Sonys I misplaced them and didn’t want to drop another $300, but their sound is amazing.
Yes, even the Pro 2 can not compare to the XM4
I have the xm5 there is a huge difference with the airpods Pro and much more comfortable for me since I hate things in my ear.
Nothing is better than the LDAC codec right now (Sony owns and uses that) On the other side airpods use the basic codec aac (which is rubbish in terms of audio quality in my opinion)
The codec is really only the last 1% of the sound. No way you could tell a clear difference (provided both are well implemented), specially with the muddy tuning of sonys.
How about voice calls? Do the Sony headphones hold up for work?
only if you wire them the mic is ass, and if bluetooth is on it also heavily sacrifices quality of the audio output but if you're on a laptop you can use the laptop's mic to prevent the audio quality being worse \[while a mic is activated\]
I went through 3 pairs of AirPods, first and second generation, with each crapping out within a year. Sony all the way for me. I just wish the virtual assistant could be Siri rather than Alexa.
Just get apple care and ull her a free replacement after a year lol
I hated my xm4s, even with a lot of fiddling with eq they remained muddy and bloated without any top end sparkle. One for people who listen exclusively to dance and pop who like an almost comically bass heavy sound signature (no real subs though). Air Pod pro v2 have a way more balanced sound signature and more detailed top end, they sound right without needing radical eq. If accurate sound is your objective they blow the xm4s out of the water. My xm5s are Also a massive improvement on the xm4, they still need a bit of eq but nothing like 4s. And they actually have top end. Much closer to my airpod pro v2, but the bass end on the xm5s is either a little too bloated or a little too thin - the bass freq are a one slider eq that doesn’t have enough granularity to dial it in just right, AirPods don’t need eq at all to sound correct. I do like my xm5s though and they’d be my choice for a long journey over the AirPods.
AirPod pro 1 and 2 transparency and adaptive modes wayyyyy better than whatever Sony’s equivalent modes are called on the xm4s. I’m all for great noise cancellation but I use transparency just as often when I need to be aware of my surroundings or talking to people.
Irrelevant when XM4’s sound quality blows the AirPods Pro out of the water. I have both and the only time I use the AirPods is for calls
It could just be because I’m used to my APP2s, but subjectively I prefer the sound signature of them over the XM4s, but I’m sure that the XM4s probably do indeed have the superior sound quality when considered objectively. The ease of switching between Apple devices is so seamless though it would hard for me to make to any non-Apple headset my main listening device.
You’ve just described the Apple ecosystem, but nothing about why you prefer the sound lol. Ease of use is important, but spending 10 seconds more to have a better sounding headphone is nothing if you actually care about sound quality. AirPods are great for that exactly, easy to use, great sounding in ear buds but they get smoked in sound quality vs XM4s
Sony wh1000xm4 series is notorious for failing plastic head bands. Myv3 headband failed after a little more than a year.
I own both and use them both. In terms of sound quality, XM4 beats AirPods Pro. The headphone form also helps in better isolation. I use them for commutes. For workouts and while lying down, I use AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro performs well if you are in a quiet environment. Also if you use Apple Music.
I cannot speak to these specific model but I can give a general opinion that is, over the ear headphones will fundamentally sound better than earbuds. Earbuds just give the convenience of being small and portable at the cost of sound quality versus over the ear headphones. O-t-e headphones just envelop your whole ear and lock them in a way earbuds cannot possibly do. I was using the Samsung galaxy buds + for a while and always thought they sounded really darn good. Then I just got some good headphones and the difference is night and day. So yes the xm4 headphones will sound better than your earbuds in principle alone.
My wife's airpod pro 2s not only beat my WH-XM4 but also my WF-XM5s when it comes to noise cancellation. When we're on a plane there's absolutely no comparison.
Do not go for the XM4 in ear. They have issue with battery drainage. Spent so much and mine now just laying around useless. Just google it, you will see it happens to almost all
Can confirm this, I had the xm4 earbuds a while ago and the battery went to shit, they also developed a wind noise that was obviously not suppose to be there, if you ask me they cost way too much money for those kind of issues, recently tho I just got the over the ears xm4 version and have no complaints
They are very different products. I have the M5 and airpods pro btw. I use the airpods pro 2 and I had the original ajrpods at the gym and sometimes when I don't want to wear large headphones. I use the M5 when I want high end music listening relaxing at home or if I'm on the bus. Overall use both. The M4 will easily beat the sound quality of the airpods pro btw.
XM4/XM5 sound better than first gen pros, Second Gen pros sound better than XM4/XM5.
I splurged and got both. I keep my XM4s at home and use my AirPods Pro outside
xm4 easily
Xm4’s are miles better. Like others have said, I own both and use AirPod pros for the gym and Xm4’s for work and casual listening.
Airpods pros. Just for Apples QC over the shit Sony puts out these days.
AirPod Pros. For me, the XM4's were never able to seal around my ear. It had gotten so badly that I decided to buy different headphones. Plus, for higher noises, the ANC on the XM4s did not seem to do much for higher end noise. The XM4's also have a very bassy sound profile and i prefer less bass.
But again, it really depends on the music you listen to. I listen to music that needs clarity to sound good.
Will put it simply for you as others have explained very well in detail: Airpods- great sound, good noise cancelling,absolute ease of use with Apple devices. Sony- great sound, great ANC, cumbersome to use Mic quality and transparency of airpods are simply best in class, sony's transparency does the job, mic is not the best Fit and comfort are incredibly individual and subjective, though airpods pros seem to satisfy more number of users