Six years later, Sony revisits its legendary XM4 headphones

What happened

According to The Verge’s source item, Six years later, Sony revisits its legendary XM4 headphones, Six years ago Sony and Bose were in the middle of a noise-canceling battle, with each new model of headphones better than the last. In the fall of 2020, Sony released the WH-1000XM4 headphones to wide acclaim. They sat atop best headphones lists for years, thanks to their great sound, competitive ANC, and compact size, […] The XM4C (in white) have the exact same visual design as the XM4 (in black) from 2020. | Photo: John Higgins / The Verge Six years ago Sony and Bose were in the middle of a noise-canceling battle, with each new model of headphones better than the last. In the fall of 2020, Sony released the WH-1000XM4 headphones to wide acclaim. They sat atop best headphones lists for years, thanks to their great sound, competitive ANC, and compact size, until they went out of stock. Now Sony has brought them back, with minor improvements, as the WH-1000XM4C. The XM4C look identi

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Technology file for readers following technology, science, product policy, markets, infrastructure, and the public consequences of innovation. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-09-07T16:00:00+00:00.

What to watch

Open questions include whether primary sources issue follow-up statements, whether local or market impacts become clearer, and whether additional reporting changes the timeline or adds material context.

Source

Primary source: Six years later, Sony revisits its legendary XM4 headphones via The Verge. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.