Sony’s release of the WH-1000XM4C marks a surprising return to an older headphone design, blending nostalgia with new electronics and regulatory compliance, but its pricing strategy raises questions about market positioning.
Sony’s WH-1000XM4C are an unusual launch: a return to an older design at a moment when the company already has a newer flagship in the range. What Hi-Fi? described the move as both welcome and puzzling, and that is a fair reading. The original WH-1000XM4 earned a strong reputation when it arrived in 2020, and Sony is now reviving that platform with updated electronics and compliance for the new battery rules shaping the wireless headphone market.
The practical appeal is clear. Sony has kept the familiar foldable chassis, which many users preferred to the WH-1000XM5’s more rigid design, and it has also brought the XM4C into line with replaceable-battery requirements that will affect the category from next year. According to Sony’s press release, the model arrives alongside refreshed mid-range and entry-level wireless headphones, underlining that this is part of a broader range update rather than a one-off nostalgia exercise.
Pricing is where the strategy becomes harder to read. The WH-1000XM4C launches at £219, $300 or AU$449.95, a figure close to current WH-1000XM5 pricing. That places Sony’s two premium noise-cancelling models in uncomfortable proximity, particularly as the XM5 is expected to reach end of life in February 2027 because it does not comply with EU battery regulation 2023/1542, which requires portable batteries to be removable by the end user.
Sound will determine whether the XM4C is a sensible revival or a short-lived overlap. Sony has said the tuning has been revised through digital signal processing, but the hardware remains the same, unlike the WH-1000XM5, which uses smaller 30mm drivers rather than the 40mm units in the XM4 family. Creative Bloq and TechRadar both note that Sony is trying to modernise the older model with updated noise cancelling and a new 10-band EQ, but the real test will be whether those changes close the gap to the newer set or simply sharpen the case for waiting for discounts.
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