Sony WH-1000XM4: Early retailer listings confirm last-generation noise cancelling processor for high-end ANC headphones ahead of August 6 release

The WH-1000XM4 is almost here after months of leaks and teasers. The WH-1000XM4, to recap, will replace the WH-1000XM3, which Sony released in 2018. Based on past leaks of marketing renders, the design of the WH-1000XM4 is almost identical to its predecessor. The headphones will still only be available in black and silver, but Sony has thickened the headband among a few other external changes. As a leaked marketing video has shown, the WH-1000XM4 will also support Multipoint connectivity and automatic play/pause functionality.

Last week, Sony teased that it would be announcing "something exciting" related to audio in two days time on August 6. If that was not enough of a teaser, then Sony Japan urged fans to "wait 4 something exciting", so it would seem likely that the WH-1000XM4 is scheduled for release before the end of this week. There had been rumours that Sony would not make the headphones available to order for upwards of a month, but several retailer listings imply that this may not be the case.

Argos UK has published its support pages for the black and silver models, for example, including their catalogue numbers. Searching them on the main website yields no results, though. ELVIA-PRO in Czech has also listed the WH-1000XM4, along with a brief explainer about the headphones. According to the website, the WH-1000XM4 will feature a QN1 HD Noise Cancelling Processor, which is the same one that Sony used for the WH-1000XM3. Additionally, the headphones will support LDAC, Sony's proprietary Bluetooth audio codec. The latter should have been expected, but previous leaks have suggested that the WH-1000XM4 will be based on a MediaTek chip, which would mean no Qualcomm aptX or aptX HD support.