Sony WH-1000XM4C vs Sony WH-CH520

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WH-1000XM4C compared with WH-CH520

	SonyWH-1000XM4C	SonyWH-CH520
Overview
Released
Released	September 2026	March 2023
Sound
Type
Type	Over-ear	On-ear
Noise cancelling
Noise cancelling	Yes	No
Transparency mode
Transparency mode	Yes	No
Driver size
Driver size	40 mm	30 mm
Back
Back	Closed	Closed
Bluetooth codecs
Bluetooth codecs	SBC, AAC and LDAC	SBC and AAC
Lossless over USB-C
Lossless over USB-C	–	No
Chip
Chip	HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1	–
Drivers
Drivers	40 mm drivers with liquid crystal polymer diaphragms; powered wired frequency response 4 Hz–40 kHz. Impedance is 40 ohms powered on and 16 ohms off; sensitivity 106 dB/mW on and 101 dB/mW off.	Bluetooth response 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz at 44.1 kHz sampling
Noise cancelling detail
Noise cancelling detail	QN1 and two noise-sensing microphones per earcup; Personal NC Optimizer, Ambient Sound Mode, Quick Attention and Adaptive Sound Control	–
Audio features
Audio features	DSEE Extreme upscaling, 10-band equaliser in Sony Sound Connect and 360 Reality Audio with compatible services; Bluetooth response 20 Hz–20 kHz at 44.1 kHz sampling, or 20 Hz–40 kHz with LDAC at 96 kHz and 990 kbps	DSEE upscaling and customisable equaliser in Sony | Sound Connect (formerly Headphones Connect)
Battery
Listening time (maker's claim)
Listening time (maker's claim)	Up to 27 hours	Up to 50 hours
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	The manual lists AAC/SBC playback up to 27 hours with noise cancelling or 34 hours off; LDAC up to 20 hours on or 27 hours off. DSEE Extreme, Speak-to-Chat and equaliser settings can shorten these figures.	Up to 40 hours of calls and 200 hours on standby; no passive operation or wired playback
Charging case
Charging case	USB-C charging; approximately 3 hours for a full charge; no USB audio playback	–
Fast charging
Fast charging	3 minutes gives about 1 hour of playback	3 minutes gives up to 1.5 hours; full charge approximately 3 hours
Design
Weight
Weight	253 g	147 g (better)
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	6.0	5.2
Two devices at once
Two devices at once	Yes	Yes
Headphone cable
Headphone cable	Yes	No
Controls
Controls	Touch panel on the right earcup for playback, volume and calls; separate power and noise-cancelling buttons; wear detection, Quick Attention and Speak-to-Chat; app-configurable Quick Access	Physical buttons for playback, calls, volume and track selection; press the play/call button to use the connected phone's Siri or Google voice assistant
Microphones
Microphones	Two noise-sensing microphones per earcup; Precise Voice Pickup for Bluetooth calls	Built-in call microphone with noise suppression processing
Fit and ear tips
Fit and ear tips	Adjustable headband, swivelling and folding earcups; colour-matched carrying case	Adjustable padded headband, soft earpads and swivelling earcups
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	The manual states that the headset is not waterproof	No water resistance rating published
Works with
Works with	Bluetooth A2DP, AVRCP, HFP and HSP. Multipoint switches music between two devices; SoundGuys and Tom's Hardware report that LDAC is unavailable in that mode. The supplied cable allows passive playback, disables Bluetooth and does not carry the headphone microphone.	Two-device multipoint, Fast Pair and Swift Pair; approximately 10 m range, profiles A2DP, AVRCP, HFP and HSP; USB-C is charging-only (SoundGuys)
Colours
Colours	Black, Platinum Silver, Lavender; official press photo shows Lavender folded	Black, Blue, White, Beige; Pink and Yellow added in March 2025; One Piece Black and One Piece White limited editions on the current UK page
In the box
In the box	UK box includes headphones, carrying case and approximately 1.2 m headphone cable; USB charging cable supplied only with mainland China models	Headphones and USB charging cable; no carrying case listed