We've reviewed a lot of true wireless earbuds this past year, and one thing is clear: cheap earbuds are getting good. However, expensive earbuds are also improving. Case in point, the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds. These buds retail for $280, but you get what you pay for. I'm still going back to the XM4s months after wrapping up the review because they're just so good. They represent a high mark in audio, ANC, battery life, and more. That's why they're the best true wireless earbuds of 2021.
If you want all the nitty-gritty details, you should peruse our full review of the 1000XM4s. The gist is, the WF-1000XM4 earbuds have almost every feature you could want in TWEs. There's noise-canceling, USB-C and wireless charging, fast pair, solo mode, and it even comes with fancy foam ear tips. Audio quality is superb, and I applaud Sony for including high-quality LDAC support, which was missing in its last TWEs. The only omission is no support for multipoint. That makes it a little more annoying to switch between devices, but I can forgive that because the rest is spot on.
The noise-canceling performance is also supernaturally good, approaching the quality of the WH-1000XM4 headphones, and it's gotten better since launch. At launch, the ANC could "skip" on occasion. It was subtle but distracting. I reported the bug to Sony, they confirmed it, and a firmware update shortly after launch solved the issue. I'm just not used to that kind of attentiveness, and I seriously doubt you'd ever see anything like that with a pair of cheap no-name buds.
These earbuds won't quite match the audio quality of good over-ear headphones, but they're still the best in-ears I've ever used. Sony says it adjusts earbud tuning based on the music that's popular at release time, and that means more bass in the XM4s. It doesn't sound overpowering on the low end like some buds, though. Sony's tuning seems great overall, and you can listen to hi-fi tracks with LDAC support. That shaves a few hours off the 8-hour battery life quote, but that's a good starting place. These earbuds still last most of a workday with high-quality audio and ANC enabled.
Sony managed to slim these earbuds down considerably compared to their predecessors. They're still big earbuds, though. Some will find them too large and uncomfortable, but I'm able to wear them for a few hours without issues. The XM4s are IPX4 rated, and I can confirm that. I recently dropped a bud in a snowbank, and it took me a few minutes to find it, but it was still playing and continues to work fine. Despite being rather chunky earbuds, the case is on the small side—it fits in the tiny fifth pocket of my jeans.
Plus, they don't cause my skin irritation like Samsung's latest earbuds. I thoroughly appreciate earbuds that don't cause my skin to blister. I'm not saying that should be the deciding factor for you, but I'm a bit apprehensive about Samsung's earbuds now. That's why I'm not praising the Buds Pro right now.
These are spendy earbuds, but we've already seen some solid discounts that get the price closer to $200. At that point, the 1000XM4s are an easy purchase. They're currently down to about $250, which is still reasonable. Even if they were full price, I'd still recommend them.