Great sound, but the mic performance falls short
June 23, 2021
I just purchased these hoping they would not only be great headphones, but great for phone calls as well. The noise canceling feature for me is very good, and better than that of my Apple AirPod Pros, which are decent. The sound quality is quite similar, but I did notice the ability to get louder with these than the AirPod Pros. However, when I called my sister to try out both headsets to compare performance, these Sony headphones were not good. I sounded clear and crisp to her, but they let in so much of the ambient background noise that it was very loud and distracting to her. In comparison, my AirPod Pros let in very little, so that there was no distraction and no issue for her. Those also made my voice sound as crisp and clear as these. What surprised me the most was when I put my iPhone Xs Max on speakerphone, the built-in mic on the phone filtered out just as much as the AirPod Pros, which was again WAAY more than these Sony headphones. That was a very pleasant surprise for my phone's speakerphone, but unfortunately a big disappointment for these Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones. To be clear, the call was made directly through my iPhone, no other apps involved, so nothing else can be blamed but the headphones themselves.
I do enjoy the app and many features of the headphones: having the speak-to-chat option, being able to connect to 2 devices at once, pausing when the headphones are taken off, being able to silence everything and hear the ambient noise by merely putting my hand over the right earphone. Plus the voice of the assistant is very pleasant. They also seem quite comfortable to wear so far. There's a little pressure on the top of my head (I have a larger than average head), but the cups are wide enough that they side around my ears and cause no pressure or discomfort there. If it weren't for the mic issue on calls, these would be incredible headphones! Unfortunately the mic issue is just too BIG to overlook. One of my main reasons for purchasing these was to have great headphones with a great mic. I need these for work calls and videoconferencing most of the work day. I can't have headphones that don't have a good mic on them. Sony, how could you make such a great product, but drop the ball on the call mic? I will be returning these.... Read More
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