Multipoint Update! Sony WF-1000XM4 Firmware 2.0.0 - ANC Affected?
We have a new firmware for the Sony WF-1000XM4 (that’s been a long time coming). Firmware 2.0.0 brings multipoint pairing to the Mark 4s, a feature which arrived on the LinkBuds S almost 3 months ago!
Multipoint Connection Test
Testing the XM4’s new multipoint connection feature, connecting it to various devices, it does seem to work quite well. There were no signal drops or stuttering, and it does maintain an LDAC connection on the phones that support LDAC. Like the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Switching between devices is also as you would expect. You’ll first have to pause your audio on one device, then press play on the other.
So multipoint works as expected, but are there any changes to the Mark 4’s performance, such as its sound, noise cancelling and call quality?
Sound quality - No Change
In terms of sound quality, frequency sweeps before and after the update show that there are no significant changes to its sound, as you can hear in these sound samples.
Call Quality - No Change
Comparing its call quality to before the update (firmware 1.6.1) under very loud cafe style background noise, and some wind noise coming from a fan, there are no changes either in both quiet and noisy conditions. Call quality samples here.
Active Noise Cancelling - Slight Change
So, in terms of active noise cancelling, there seems to be a small change. Maybe it cancels a bit more mid-range noise, which means voices will sound a bit more muffled. But it is not enough to notice unless you compare its performance A-B. ANC samples here.
Battery
Does the multipoint feature added in this update affect the Mark 4’s battery? In my testing on both iOS and Android devices, it only has a marginal impact even when multipoint pairing is active, yielding 6 hours and 49 minutes playing Spotify on loop at 60% volume. Watch this video for a deeper analysis.
Conclusions
Overall, this update does not have much of an impact on the XM4’s key performance metrics. And now that it has multipoint pairing, it also makes the Mark 4s much better value for money, even in 2023. And I’m saying this despite the battery-related issues that I’ve had with the initial batch of the XM4. Mine is an out of warranty replacement unit from Sony, and it works perfectly. So my confidence in the XM4, in this particular product, has been restored.
That being said, since there are rumors now that the WF-1000XM5 might be launching this August, if you can wait that long, you might want to hold back on purchasing the XM4. Otherwise you can either go for the XM4, or the LinkBuds S, which is very close to the XM4s in terms of performance. But it's cheaper, and with much better call quality.
To find out what exactly happened with my old XM4 unit (the one that I bought as soon as it came out), watch this video below.
