Sony leak suggests it’s rebooting some of its best ever headphones to compete with Bose and Sennheiser — but I’m not sure the predicted price is going to be cheap enough | Daily Reports Online

ByDaily Report August 20, 2026

A WH-1000XM4C leak suggests successors to the WH-1000XM4 are coming
They could have a similar design, Bluetooth 6.0 and a 34-hour battery life
They’re expected to cost around $290 / £215 / AU$410

Sony appears to be bringing back its multiple-award winning WH-1000XM4 headphones in a new and more affordable incarnation. The new model, leaked via a data sheet seen by Winfuture-de, is designed to compete with affordable ANC headphones from the likes of Bose, Sennheiser and the growing number of impressive Chinese audio firms.

We gave the original Sony WH-1000XM4 ANC headphones five stars in our original review, calling them the best headphones ever made at the time, and they topped our best noise cancelling headphones recommendations for many months after their successor, the Sony WH-1000XM5, launched.

The new model is seemingly designed to be more affordable — and while it looks almost identical, there are some key differences between the new WH-1000XM4C and the original. The price is expected to be around $290 / £215 / AU$410, which is significantly lower than the previous model: at launch it was $349 / £349 / AU$549, and even now it’s commanding prices of around $249 / £199 / AU$399.

Sony WH-1000XM4C vs Sony WH1000XM4: what’s the difference?

The new WH-1000XM4C to ship with 40mm drivers, BT v6.0 and ANC.🔋 Up to 27 hours with ANC / 34 hours without⚖️ 253g weight🎧 4–40,000Hz frequency rangeSony is reportedly targeting a price of around €250, significantly below the original €379 launch price.#Sony pic.twitter.com/Jg1matjK9t August 19, 2026

The most important specifications appear to be unchanged: Winfuture reports that the new WH-1000XM4C headphones have the same frequency range of 4 to 40,000Hz and a similar weight of 253g (8.9oz). The looks are identical too, but if you look closely you’ll see that the NFC logo on the left earcup is no longer there. Presumably that’s one of the changes made to keep the cost down.

Battery life is seemingly shorter too, but not awfully so: the leaked spec sheet says 27 hours with ANC on and 34 hours with it off. That would be four hours less than the original, but it’d still be decent enough for commuting and casual listening.

The leak suggests the drivers will once again be 40mm, so the sound quality should be very similar to the originals. Bluetooth has apparently been upgraded to 6.0.

Those are all the details we’ve got so far, but a previous leak suggested a planned retail price of €250, which is about $290 / £215 / AU$410.

That’s a lot less than before, but it still prices the new Sonys above key rivals such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones, the even more affordable second generation Bose QuietComfort headphones, the typical deal price of the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, and the ludicrously good value 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51.

The new Sonys are likely to sound better than the Sonoflow — I’ve never heard a Sony headphone that didn’t sound great for the price tag — but Bose’s ANC headphones rule the roost right now and they’re going to be tough to beat.

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