Now that the Sony 1000XM3’s are little over a year old now… they’re now starting to go on sale for $300 and some times go on sale for $280 if not a little less. And even though there are a whole bunch of other recently released ANC headphones… The Sony 1000XM3’s are still my favorite and most recommended pair of ANC headphones… and if you want to pick these headphones up they’ll be linked down below. But the 1000XM3’s still have room for improvement… and perhaps the biggest question most people have is is it safe to get these headphones right now cause when are the Sony 1000XM4’s coming out?

Now as of recording this video, there haven’t been any substantial leaks surrounding the Sony 1000XM4’s. But if Sony were to announce the 1000XM4’s its highly likely that they would do so at IFA 2020 which takes place in Germany in September. Now IFA is Europes version of CES and its where Sony announced the 1000XM3’s and the 1000XM2’s. And when Sony announces their 1000XM4’s they’re going to want make a big deal about it pretty much cause they know they’ve got it pretty good with their 1000XM3’s. 

Sony knows that theres currently a lot of credibility behind the 1000XM3 name. Just look at their latest truly wireless earbuds… the WF 1000XM3’s. Now these are the successors to the WF-1000X’s… and logic would dictate that these earbuds would be called the WF-1000XM2’s. But like I just said, sony knows that theres a lot of credibility behind the 1000XM3 name so they just skipped it and went straight to WF-1000XM3. So what im getting at here is that Sony isn’t just going to randomly drop the 1000XM4’s… they’re going to be very public about them. 

And besides, Sony already announced their new h.ear on 3’s at IFA 2019 which are due out in early 2020 and im willing to bet that the next pair of headphones to be announced afterwards will be the Sony WH-CH710N’s… the successors to the Sony WH-CH700N’s cause they already quietly dropped their WH-CH510’s. And im willing to bet that the WH-CH710N’s will be quietly released in the spring like the WH-CH700N’s were in 2018. So just looking at sony’s current pipeline I think a September 2020 release for the 1000XM4’s is more likely.  

But like I just said, the Sony 1000XM3’s are my preferred and most recommended pair of ANC headphones. And if your main concern is active noise cancellation performance for traveling then the Sony 1000XM3’s are hands down the way to go. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.

Like you may have just seen, the 1000XM3’s block out over all the most amount of noise here. Now some headphones might come close to blocking out around the same amount of road noise, but where the Sony’s really make a name for themselves is when it comes to blocking out chatter AKA random higher frequency sounds which are usually harder for ANC headphones to block out in general. And when it comes to the over all performance of the ANC on the 1000XM3’s… its really good. First off the 1000XM3’s block out a lot noise with very little to no cabin pressure unlike the Bose QC35’s which are notorious for having a lot of cabin pressure, and also the microphone array on the Sony’s do a great job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors. 

And also, the 1000XM3’s have the best ambient mode cause it sounds very natural, theres no hissing in the back ground, and unlike a lot of other headphones… the ambient mode on the Sony actively blocks out sudden loud spikes in noise saving you from jump scares. Which is one of those small things that you miss when you don’t have it any more. 

But like I’ve said the Sony 1000XM3’s still have room for improvement. First off I want to stress that the 1000XM3’s are a pair of good sounding headphones and thanks to their fully customizable EQ you can make them sound how ever you want. If you like a neutral sound signature you can do that or if you like a bass heavy sound signature and want to physically feel your bass you can also do that. But the Sony’s could sound better. Specifically the Sony’s could have a wider sound stage and have better instrument separation. Cause compared to the rest of the competition everything on the Sonys sounds a little close together and detail can sometimes get lost. But something I would really like to see improved on the 1000XM3’s sound quality wise is their bass. Now the bass on the Sony’s is the type that thumps against your head… but I would like if the bass on the 1000XM4’s would resonate more like the bass on the Momentum 3’s. 

Another thing that the Sony 1000XM3’s could do better is their comfort. Now the Sony 1000XM3’s are big head approved cause they have very little clamping force and personally I can wear these headphones for hours on end and forget that they’re there. But I know these headphones aren’t going to fit everyone, specifically cause their ear pads are so cramped. The ear pads on the 1000XM3’s are not suited for people who have larger ears or ear that stick out a lot. And even though the ear pads on the 1000XM3’s fit me fine… a little extra room wouldn’t hurt anyone.

But since we’re on the topic of ear pads… I would also like to see leatherette quality on the 1000XM4’s be improved cause the leatherette on the 1000xM3’s feels very synthetic, very plasticy. I even feel that that leatherette on the Sony XB900N’s feels better than whats found on the 1000XM3’s. I just think its crucial that sony improve the leatherette quality on the 1000XM3’s cause a lot of other headphones out there have significantly better feeling leatherette which jut gives off the impression of higher build quality. 

And the last two major things I want to see improved on the 1000XM3’s is that I would like these headphones to support simultaneous multi device connectivity so that you can hot swap from one device to another… and obviously the mic. 

Cause the mic on the Sony’s sounds very muffled

And if sony wants to be competitive they need to get a better microphone cause Bose takes the microphone on their headphones very seriously. 

But over all like I said the Sony 1000XM3’s are still my preferred and most recommended pair of ANC headphones especially for constant commuters or flyers who are really concerned about active noise cancellation. But the Sony 1000XM3’s could sound better and they could fit better. But as of recording this video in December 2019 I would feel comfortable picking these headphones cause the earliest that I would expect to see the Sony 1000XM4’s would be in September 2020.