Can't decide between Sony WF-1000XM4, Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, and Google Pixel Buds Pro
Mtw3 are on good sale at Amazon
More on reddit.comSony WF-1000XM4 vs Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
If you're a huge audiophile you probably shouldn't be going for true wireless earbuds. I don't have the Bose Earbuds to compare with unfortunately but I'll at least give you my opinions of the XM4s, having owned the WF-1000XM3s, Bose SoundSport (ones with the connecting wire), and VMODA over-ears and I listen to a lot of music.
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The XM4s sound amazing but I didn't like the default sound profile all that much, I use Wavelet with a Sony WF AutoEQ and the bass boost or treble boost settings depending on if I'm listening to electronic or acoustic/metal music. But if your biggest concern is sound quality you should probably be looking at the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 or Master & Dynamic MW08 which seem to be ranked higher in terms of sound pretty much everywhere you look. Also more expensive I think though.
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I personally love the fit of the Sonys, they don't stick out much, don't get loose during workouts, and I have had no discomfort wearing them for hours at a time. But I've also seen many posts on this sub about hating the way they fit or having it hurt their ears. I think I have big ear canals for reference. My fiance hates sticking headphones in her ears and doesn't like them if that helps.
Note: I bought Comply foam tips made for the Sony WF series headphones because I wasn't a fan of the half-foam tips that come with the buds. Made a world of difference for comfort and ANC imo.
3) The noise cancellation is really nutty (w/ the comply foam tips which fill your ear canal really well). When I put them on it feels like I'm stepping into an empty void. Are they as good as over-ear headphones? No, but it's pretty damn close. I've used WH-XM3s and Bose QC35II and the difference is pretty negligible. But again, this 100% depends on how well they fit in your ears, and I didn't get a great fit from the tips that came with the earbuds.
4) Battery is above average for true wireless earbuds but there are no earbuds that last an entire day on a single charge. I easily get 6-8 hours out of them (I keep the DSEE HX upscaling turned off because it's a huge battery suck and made no discernable difference when streaming Spotify on the highest quality setting, also listen at like 80%+ volume) on a single charge but I'd be surprised if you got past 8. Idk what your definition of "all day" is.
I realize this is only half of the review but as I have no reason/desire to promote Sony unrealistically, hopefully this helps you a little.
More on reddit.comBose QC buds vs Sony WF-1000xm4 buds
Ive recently bought the sony WF-1000xm4 as an upgrade for my bose qc earbuds and i was disappointed with the sony.
*Pros of bose earbuds -anc of bose earbuds is superior -ive used bose earbuds for 1+ yr, the fit and the way it feels secured on my ear is better -after 1hr of use of wf-1000xm4, i felt pain on my ears which i barely experience on the bose earbuds even if i fell asleep wearing it.
*Cons of bose earbuds -sony has better battery life -sony sound is slightly better than the bose qc earbuds -sony has more features
P.s. i decided to stay with bose qc earbuds and will sell the wf-1000xm4
More on reddit.comAnyone own both the QC earbuds and Sony WF-1000XM4?
I have both. I have only been using the 1000XM4 for a few days, but my initial impressions are that they do have the better sound quality. I have an Android (Note 9) so I enabled LDAC. Everything just sounds cleaner on them than the Bose QC buds and there is also an app EQ which really helps to tune the sound how you like it. The noise cancelation is just as good as the Bose buds but they are both outstanding. I also really like the talk feature where if you start talking, the Sony buds will pause the music and allow you to hear. There is a slight delay but it still works pretty well. The one downside is if you like to sing to yourself, you will want to disable that. Also, the customizable controls are better. Sony actually allows you to go back a track!
The one downside is they don't feel as comfortable to me. I really got to like rubber earhook tips on the Bose where the Sony are foam tips and sit deeper in your ear. Not saying they are really uncomfortable but I know some people can't handle that in ear seal feeling you get.
More on reddit.comDo these earbuds support Bluetooth multipoint?
Neither the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds or Sony WF-1000XM4 supports Bluetooth multipoint, but both quickly switch devices simply by tapping on the name of the earbuds in your Bluetooth settings. If you’re looking for a list of devices that support Bluetooth multipoint, check out our full article on Bluetooth multipoint.
Do these earbuds support mono playback?
Yes, both the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds and Sony WF-1000XM4 support mono playback through a single earbud. However, mono playback on the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds is limited to the right earbud only.
What if I don't need noise canceling?
If you like being able to hear everything going on around you, there are a couple of options out there that might work for you. The Sony LinkBuds and Apple AirPods (3rd generation) don’t have noise canceling or even passive isolation from ear tips, so it’s easy to hear your environment.
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I'll be using whichever I get daily, including exercising at the gym and jogging. I was leaning towards QCII but I keep hearing about connectivity issues. For Sony I heard it may be too heavy and fall out often while working out, and I heard the pixel to be less comfortable than QCII.
Any and all input is greatly appreciated
Edit update: I've tried both the quiet comforts 2 and the galaxy buds 2 pro. For the, the galaxy puds are outstanding. They fit perfectly in my ears and have never fallen out, aside from when I get really sweaty after jogging for 2 miles. The QC2 already had connection issues within the first hour of using it so the choice was easy for me. Thank you to all who submitted their opinions.
Hey guys, I need some pros and cons for both of these true wireless earbuds. I really like my Bose QC 35II headphones, love the sound quality, noise cancellation, and feel. But I really want to get a pair of true wireless earbuds. Which ones between these 2 earbuds do you prefer.
I am a huge audiophile so quality is very important, also I want them to be able to fit in my ears without worrying that they are about to fall out. Battery life isn't a huge problem for me, as long as they can last me a full day of on/off use I'll charge them while I sleep.
(I don't really care about price between the 2)
So what I am looking for in order is...
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Sound Quality
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Comfort/Fit
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Noise Cancellation
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Battery
Thanks everyone, looking forward to your advice/feedback
If you're a huge audiophile you probably shouldn't be going for true wireless earbuds. I don't have the Bose Earbuds to compare with unfortunately but I'll at least give you my opinions of the XM4s, having owned the WF-1000XM3s, Bose SoundSport (ones with the connecting wire), and VMODA over-ears and I listen to a lot of music.
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The XM4s sound amazing but I didn't like the default sound profile all that much, I use Wavelet with a Sony WF AutoEQ and the bass boost or treble boost settings depending on if I'm listening to electronic or acoustic/metal music. But if your biggest concern is sound quality you should probably be looking at the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 or Master & Dynamic MW08 which seem to be ranked higher in terms of sound pretty much everywhere you look. Also more expensive I think though.
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I personally love the fit of the Sonys, they don't stick out much, don't get loose during workouts, and I have had no discomfort wearing them for hours at a time. But I've also seen many posts on this sub about hating the way they fit or having it hurt their ears. I think I have big ear canals for reference. My fiance hates sticking headphones in her ears and doesn't like them if that helps.
Note: I bought Comply foam tips made for the Sony WF series headphones because I wasn't a fan of the half-foam tips that come with the buds. Made a world of difference for comfort and ANC imo.
3) The noise cancellation is really nutty (w/ the comply foam tips which fill your ear canal really well). When I put them on it feels like I'm stepping into an empty void. Are they as good as over-ear headphones? No, but it's pretty damn close. I've used WH-XM3s and Bose QC35II and the difference is pretty negligible. But again, this 100% depends on how well they fit in your ears, and I didn't get a great fit from the tips that came with the earbuds.
4) Battery is above average for true wireless earbuds but there are no earbuds that last an entire day on a single charge. I easily get 6-8 hours out of them (I keep the DSEE HX upscaling turned off because it's a huge battery suck and made no discernable difference when streaming Spotify on the highest quality setting, also listen at like 80%+ volume) on a single charge but I'd be surprised if you got past 8. Idk what your definition of "all day" is.
I realize this is only half of the review but as I have no reason/desire to promote Sony unrealistically, hopefully this helps you a little.
I've tried the xm4s and a friend's qc buds side by side for the same tracks and different settings for comparison. I'm not an experienced audiophile but there are some differences I can tell you right away.
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Sound Quality : When you tweak the EQ correct for both, you can make them sound almost however you like. But I'd say the xm4's are just a tiny bit better. The xm4 low and high ends seem to have a bit more depth than the bose. I've tried tidal master with LDAC vs AptX but it's hard to tell the difference at all except for a very small selection of songs I've listened to and even then the difference is hard to tell apart. The default eq setting on the xm4s aren't great compared to bose but it's eq tuner is way better than bose.
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Comfort: Bose wins by being easy to fit and is quite comfortable. It took me a day or to to finally learn how to fit the xm4s correctly in the ear (the way xm4s sits in the ear can vary a lot by person and eartip) However, once you find the right positioning and tip, the xm4's are also very comfortable and you get used to it. So if you were to only use either buds for 1 day only, bose wins. But given a week, I'd picks sonys. Ergonomics of the bose aren't great. They are slightly larger and protrude outward compared to the sleek and snug sonys.
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ANC: Sony wins very easily. The combination of the really good noise isolating foam tip and excellent ANC is better than bose. Bose tips don't isolate noise that well compared to the sonys but still manages to do quite well if you remove the tips from the comparison.
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I didn't have the bose for long enough to compare the battery life.
Some things worth mentioning:
The fixed ambient mode during calls on the xm4 really annoys me. It's feature that acts like a bug for me. I personally want all noise removed as much as possible when I take a call not have ambient noise intentionally passed through with no option to switch modes for calls. I didn't get to test this out on the bose but I don't think it has the same issue.
The ambient noise mode switching is better on the sony than on bose. It can be set ambient level, full ANC or off. On bose it has 4 different modes which only cycle through different levels of anc and no audio indicator which mode it's in if you change them.
Overall, I like the sony's more. But the bose isn't far behind.