I'm calling it – Cyber Monday headphone deals have peaked with the Sony XM4.
The formerly Award-winning Sony WH-1000XM4 can now be picked up for just £166.25 at Amazon in the Cyber Monday sales.
Black Friday took the Sonys down to their lowest-ever price of £175 late last week, but the retail giant is now offering a further £8.75 promotional discount at checkout that surely won't be around for long. (I've checked it out and it works, by the way.)
Not only that but you also get four months of Amazon's £10.99/month music streaming service for free as well as a 60-day Audible free trial with your purchase. That's some pretty sweet cherries on top of a pretty tasty cake, folks.
This is a great example of why – and when – you shouldn't ignore older products. The five-star Sony XM4 may not be the latest and greatest Sony noise-cancelling headphones – that would be the £245 XM5 – but they are arguably the best-value pair this Cyber Monday and a tremendous buy if you can't afford the XM5.
I wrote that Sony is winning headphones deals this sales period – and that was before this corker came along.
So should you buy the Sony XM4? If you are looking for great-sounding wireless over-ears with active noise cancellation, but the £245 Sony XM5 and £299 Bose QuietComfort Ultra are a little out of your price range, then yes – the Sony XM4 would be my top recommendation alongside the newer Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4, which are down to £180 for Cyber Monday. It's a very tough call between the two, but the cheaper price and freebies give the Sonys a very slight edge in my opinion.
The XM4's successors, the XM5, are now the class leaders in the premium space, but the former flagships remain competitive in the space with a hugely likeable and entertaining musical sound, very decent ANC and XM5-matching 30-hour battery life (or 38 hours without ANC on). They are still very much five-star performers – particularly at this newly discounted price.
You also get useful features that elevate the user experience, too, such as ‘Speak to Chat’, which allows you to talk to someone while the headphones are still on your head. Bluetooth Multipoint lets you connect two Bluetooth devices to them so you can switch between them easily, while ‘Wearing Detection’ automatically pauses playback when you remove the headphones, and then automatically starts again when you put them back on.
All in all, it's a well-rounded spec sheet that doesn't give away their 2020 release date. The fact you can get that as well as competitive sound and ANC quality for just £166.25 at Amazon, with freebies thrown in, goes beyond our expectations for Cyber Monday and proves that older products can, for the right person and budget, be just the ticket.
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