Almost two years after its initial release, the successor to the WF-1000XM3 is finally here. The aptly named Sony WF-1000XM4 brings with it a number of neat upgrades, including “industry-leading” noise cancellation, better battery life, and water resistance. Of course, these upgrades also drive up the price of the wireless earbuds slightly.

For the Malaysian market, the WF-1000XM4 costs RM1,099 – that makes it exactly RM150 more costly than its predecessor. But looking at the improvements you’re getting with this new pair of wireless earbuds, it’s really worth the slightly higher asking price.

As mentioned, Sony said that the WF-1000XM4 has the best active noise cancellation (ANC) in comparison to other wireless earbuds, thanks to a new V1 chip. On top of that, even with ANC activated, the XM4 can last up to eight hours on a single charge – that’s two more hours than its predecessor’s quoted battery life.

In terms of sound quality, the WF-1000XM4 now supports high-resolution audio courtesy of LDAC, so it should be able to deliver better audio quality. On top of that, the WH-1000XM4‘s “Speak-to-Chat” feature has been implemented into these wireless earbuds too. Basically, when you start speaking, it will automatically let in ambient sound.

Other noteworthy features of the WF-1000XM4 include IPX4 water resistance – you can use it for your workouts or in the rain without issue – as well as a 40% smaller charging case. The case supports wireless charging, and it can fully charge the earbuds twice, giving you effectively 24 hours of battery life in total.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 is now available for pre-order in Malaysia until 15 July for RM1,099; early birds will also receive a complimentary wireless charging pad worth RM339. The wireless earbuds will be on store shelves locally sometime in the middle of July 2021.