Most premium headphones disappear when their successors arrive. Sony is taking a different route with the WH-1000XM4C, a refreshed version of the WH-1000XM4 originally introduced in 2020.

This is not a short anniversary reissue. The XM4C is becoming part of Sony's current wireless range alongside the newer WH-1000XM6, with black, platinum silver and lavender finishes.

The old XM4 design was apparently worth keeping

Sony retains the folding over-ear chassis that made the original XM4 particularly convenient for travel. The headphones weigh 253 grams and still ship with a carrying case.

The acoustic hardware remains familiar too, including 40 mm drivers and Sony's 1000X-series noise-cancelling technology. The company is not positioning the XM4C as a technological replacement for the WH-1000XM6.

It is closer to a carefully modernized version of hardware that never really stopped being useful.

Bluetooth 6.0 is one of the meaningful upgrades

The wireless connection has moved to Bluetooth 6.0, while codec support includes SBC, AAC and LDAC. Multipoint connectivity remains available for maintaining connections to two devices at once.

Sony has also retuned the sound and expanded customization through a 10-band equalizer in the Sound Connect app. The company says the revised tuning is intended to better match current listening preferences.

Noise cancellation remains central to the product, although Sony is not promising the kind of generational ANC leap normally associated with an entirely new flagship.

Battery life actually moves backwards

One specification is less flattering. Sony rates the WH-1000XM4C for up to 27 hours of continuous music playback with noise cancelling enabled and 34 hours with it disabled.

The original WH-1000XM4 was officially rated for 30 hours with ANC and 38 hours without it.

Twenty-seven hours is still enough for long trips and several days of ordinary listening. It is nevertheless unusual for a product refreshed six years later to post lower battery-life figures than the hardware it is replacing.

Repairability may be the bigger story

The more consequential change is hidden inside. What Hi-Fi? and Tom's Guide report that Sony has moved to a replaceable battery design as manufacturers prepare for stricter European battery rules.

EU Regulation 2023/1542 introduces new requirements for portable batteries from 2027. For wireless headphones, where battery degradation can determine whether an otherwise functional product survives for years, easier replacement has practical value beyond regulatory compliance.

Sony's own launch material spends surprisingly little time emphasizing that change.

A familiar premium headphone at roughly €250

Sony lists the WH-1000XM4C at approximately €250 in Europe. That puts it below the WH-1000XM6 while leaving enough room for the cheaper WH-CH730N and WH-CH530 models further down the range.

Its biggest competition may come from Sony itself. Existing XM4 and XM5 inventory can still appear at aggressive discounts, making the XM4C's value heavily dependent on street pricing once it becomes widely available.

Still, bringing back a 2020 design in 2026 says quite a lot about the original XM4. Sony has produced multiple flagship successors since then and apparently still thinks the old folding formula deserves another run.