Sony's True Wireless Earphones Promote Noise Canceling, Battery Efficiency

Sony began taking orders Tuesday for the WF-1000XM4 true wireless headphones. The company spotlighted improved noise-canceling technology -- including automatic wind noise reduction -- that's said to use less power than the previous version. The $279 earphones support Sony’s LDAC Hi-Res audio coding technology, said to transmit three times the data of conventional Bluetooth audio. Beamforming mics are calibrated to only pick up sounds from the user's mouth to limit ambient noise, Sony said, and Google and Alexa voice assistants can be summoned hands-free. The earphones' 360 Reality Audio can be used with participating streaming services on Android and iOS smartphones. Battery life is given as up to eight hours from the headphones, 16 hours from the case. A five-minute quick charge gives 60 minutes of play time. They come with a Qi wireless charging case.