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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless vs Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 Wireless
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 Wireless
Tested using Methodology v1.8
Updated May 27, 2025 08:03 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.5
Updated May 29, 2025 09:14 PM
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Amazon.com
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Variants
- WH-1000XM4 (Black)
- WH-1000XM4 (Midnight Blue)
- WH-1000XM4 (Silver)
- ATH-M50xBT2 (Black)
- ATH-M50xBT2DS (Deep Sea Blue)
- ATH-M50xBT2IB (Ice Blue)
- ATH-M50xBT2MO (Lantern Glow Metallic Orange)
Our Verdict
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 Wireless
The Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless are better than the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 Wireless for most purposes. They isolate you from much more noise, thanks to their ANC feature, and they're much more comfortable and well-built. On the other hand, the Audio-Technica headphones have a longer continuous battery life. Also, some may prefer their flatter sound profile to the Sony's bass-heavy sound, although both pairs have sound customization features in their apps.
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Black
WH-1000XM4
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ATH-M50xBT2
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WH-1000XM4
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ATH-M50xBT2DS
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WH-1000XM4
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ATH-M50xBT2IB
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ATH-M50xBT2MO
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Finding storeMain Differences forNeutral Sound
Neutral Sound
Threshold
Neutral Sound
7.4
7.7
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
7.6
8.7
Passive Soundstage
3.5
5.1
Peaks/Dips
7.9
6.9
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
8.0
7.5
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.6 lbs
0.68 lbs
Clamping Force
1 lbs
0.9 lbs
Controls
7.6
6.9
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Okay
Feedback
Decent
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
No
Mute/Unmute
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
On/Off
No
Talk-Through
On/Off
No
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant
Breathability
5.4
6.4
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
8.2 °C
5.9 °C
Portability
6.1
5.9
Portability Picture
L
7.4" (18.8 cm)
4.9" (12.5 cm)
W
6.1" (15.5 cm)
7.2" (18.2 cm)
H
2.0" (5.1 cm)
3.3" (8.5 cm)
Volume
90.00 in³ (1,474.83 cm³)
117.34 in³ (1,922.80 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
8.0
6.5
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Pouch
L
8.3" (21.1 cm)
N/A
W
6.6" (16.8 cm)
N/A
H
2.3" (5.8 cm)
N/A
Volume
126.00 in³ (2,064.76 cm³)
N/A
Build Quality
8.0
7.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.0
6.5
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
400 Hz
Bass Amount
5.1 dB
-0.73 dB
Treble Amount
-0.4 dB
-0.31 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
8.2
7.2
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.35 dB
0.56 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
7.6
8.7
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
5.2 dB
1.87 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
20 Hz
24.48 Hz
Low Bass
4.49 dB
-1.49 dB
Mid Bass
5.5 dB
1.68 dB
High Bass
5.6 dB
1.58 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
8.4
8.4
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.58 dB
2.19 dB
Low Mid
1.24 dB
-2.73 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.07 dB
0.78 dB
High Mid
-1.15 dB
1.49 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
7.3
7.2
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
3.01 dB
4.21 dB
Low Treble
-1.71 dB
-1.63 dB
Mid Treble
1.38 dB
-0.25 dB
High Treble
-2.88 dB
-0.56 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.9
6.9
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.2 dB
1.82 dB
Dips
1.46 dB
2.16 dB
Imaging
8.6
8.7
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.16
0.37
Weighted Phase Mismatch
4.36
3.5
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.79
0.78
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
2.07
1.2
Passive Soundstage
3.5
5.1
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
3.11 dB
1.78 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
8.34 dB
3.11 dB
PRTF Distance
1.8 dB
6.23 dB
Openness
0.4
5.5
Acoustic Space Excitation
3.4
3.3
Virtual Soundstage
4.1
0.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
On/Off
No
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
No
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
360 Reality Audio
No
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.7
7.7
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.265
0.354
WHD @ 100
0.130
0.120
Test Settings
Firmware
2.6.0
1004
Power
On
On
Connection
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 5.0
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Off
Off
ANC
On
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
9.5
4.4
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
Yes
No
Overall Attenuation
-27.13 dB
-11.93 dB
Isolation Audio
Bass
-24.80 dB
0.29 dB
Mid
-25.37 dB
-9.54 dB
Treble
-31.92 dB
-27.39 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
9.7
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-23.51 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-22.93 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-26.02 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
Leakage
7.1
7.1
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
39.28 dB
38.94 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.1
7.2
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
269.09 Hz
257.68 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
2.11 dB
2.23 dB
HFE
3,726.47 Hz
7,034.64 Hz
Weighted THD
65.861
0.942
Gain
11.46 dB
0.23 dB
Noise Handling
5.6
7.1
SpNR
11.47 dB
12.77 dB
Noise Gate
No
No
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
6.0
7.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
5.0
6.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
8.7
8.4
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
37.7 hrs
61.6 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0.0
Total Battery Life
37.7 hrs
61.6 hrs
Charge Time
2.3 hrs
3.3 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Auto-Off Timer
No
Audio While Charging
No
Yes
Passive Playback
Yes
Yes
Charging Port
USB-C
USB-C
App Support
8.0
8.0
App Picture
App Name
Sony| Headphones Connect
Audio-Technica Connect
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
Yes
macOS
No
No
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
Graphic + Presets
Graphic + Presets
ANC Control
On/Off
No
Mic Control
No
Adjustable Level
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
Yes
Yes
Button Mapping
Yes
No
Surround Support
Yes
No
Connectivity
Wired Connection
9.9
9.5
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
Yes
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
Yes
Yes
Length
4.00 ft (1.22 m)
4.10 ft (1.25 m)
Connector
1/8" TRS
1/8" TRS
Latency - Analog
0.3 ms
Latency - USB
N/A
0 ms
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Connection
Analog
Bluetooth Connection
8.6
8.7
Bluetooth Version
5.010
5.0
Multi-Device Pairing
2 Devices
2 Devices
NFC Pairing
No
Quick Pair (Android)
Yes
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
Line Of Sight Range
299.00 ft (91.14 m)
334.65 ft (102.00 m)
Latency - SBC
245 ms
212 ms
Latency - aptX
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
Latency - LDAC
237 ms
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
SBC
AAC Support
Yes
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
N/A
iOS Latency
3 ms
Android Latency
33 ms
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
0.0
0.0
Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Latency - Dongle
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
PC Compatibility
Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Base/Dock
0.0
0.0
Type
No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
No
No
Power Supply
No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
Check Price
Black
WH-1000XM4
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Finding storeBlack
ATH-M50xBT2
Searching
Finding storeMidnight Blue
WH-1000XM4
Searching
Finding storeDeep Sea Blue
ATH-M50xBT2DS
Searching
Finding storeSilver
WH-1000XM4
Searching
Finding storeIce Blue
ATH-M50xBT2IB
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Finding storeLantern Glow Metallic Orange
ATH-M50xBT2MO
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Finding store
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 Wireless
Comments
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless vs Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 Wireless: Main Discussion
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