Details Leaked on Sony’s New Top-Of-The-line Headphones. Don’t Hold Your Breath for a Game-Changer

The release of Sony’s next-generation noise-canceling headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4, seems imminent.

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The release of Sony’s next-generation noise-canceling headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4, seems imminent. The current Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones have been due for an upgrade for a while and there have been rumors circulating about the Sony WH-1000XM4 over the past couple of weeks. And just yesterday Walmart published a listing for the Sony-WH1000XM4, which was first spotted by Laptop Mag, with a bunch of specs.

Before you get too excited, the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones are expected to be pretty similar to the current Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones in almost every way, including how they look, feel and sound. The battery life of the Sony WH-1000XM4 isn’t expected to be much better (if at all), either. The main difference has to do with audio quality — the Sony WH-1000XM4 are expected to sound way better.

The big detail that was revealed via the Walmart slip-up is that the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones are expected to have a something called Precise Voice Pickup Technology. The technology will use the headphone’s built-in microphones and advanced audio signal processing to help deliver a clearer-sounding voice call to the other person on the line. That’s right, it’s designed to improve the call quality for the person you’re talking to, but not essentially improve the call quality for the person wearing the headphones.

The Bose Headphones 700, which are the gold standard for call quality in a pair of noise-canceling headphones, are integrated with a similar kind of technology; but they also have a voice isolating technology so that you can hear the call more clearly. Obviously, all the details about the Sony WH-1000XM4 and how they work will aren’t officially locked in quite yet but it’s going to interesting to see how the Sony WH-1000XM4 and the Bose Headphones 700 stack up. The advantage of the Sony WH-1000XM4 is that they’ll likely be a little bit more affordable than the Bose Headphones 700, which cost $400.

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