Could the Sony YY3013 be the upcoming WH-1000XM4C?

Thanks to Roland Quandt at WinFuture.de, we have our first photos of the rumoured WH-1000XM4C.

At first glance, the design looks identical to the standard WH-1000XM4, good news for WH-1000XM4 fans, but there are some subtle design changes.

First the NFC logo is no longer present, indicating that NFC functionality has been removed. I am not aware how popular NFC was amongst WH-1000XM4 owners, but I myself hardly used it on my MDR-10RBT.

Second, the WH-1000XM4 text has been removed from the headband.

Finally, the logo and feedforward microphone surround colour has been changed from Gold-like to silver. The silver accents are used on all 3 new colours, black, silver and lavender.

In addition to the design changes, the new white/silver colour is slightly different to the previous Platinum Silver WH-1000XM4. I think the colour is similar to the Platinum Silver WH-1000XM6.

Check out the Winfuture article for the Lavender colour.

Specifications

The new model will come with Bluetooth 6.0 support, an improvement over Bluetooth 5.0 support in the original WH-1000X4. This might suggest a new Bluetooth SoC, as I do not believe the original MT2811 SoC in the WH-1000XM4 supported anything over 5.0. Unfortunately Bluetooth SIG no longer lists the Bluetooth version support anymore, so no way to check.

The QN1 chip is mentioned in the specs according to other online sources, so no upgrade here. Codec support will be SBC, AAC, and LDAC. No word on LC3 support.

The battery life is rated up to 27 hours with ANC (WH-1000XM4 30 hours), and with ANC off up to 34 hours (WH-1000XM4 38 hours). The WH-1000XM4 used a 1100 mAh 3.7V battery, so I suspect Sony has used a smaller cell in the new model. It will be interesting to see if Sony has kept the same internal layout, if yes, then accessing the battery will not be as simple like in the WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XX.

The fast charge is rated at 3 min for 1 hour of playback, which is the same rate as the WH-CH720N. For comparison, the WH-1000XM4 had a quick charge of 10 min for up to 5 hours of playback.

At a rumoured price of 249 Euros, the model slots between the ULT Wear and WH-1000XM5. The WH-1000XM5 can be found discounted, with prices ranging in around 220 Euros. Of course, some will avoid the WH-1000XM5 due to the high amount of hinge breaks, so there is that aspect.

So is the new WH-1000XM4C the Sony YY3013? Yes, I believe so. The original WH-1000XM4 and YY3013 are made in Malaysia, and both models share the same battery voltage, 3.7V. The FCC labels are also one the same left side of the headband. Not conclusive evidence, but it does makes sense. The original WH-1000XM4 tooling is probably still at the plant, so not much was required to restart production of a device that is practically identical in its design.

But with the presence of Bluetooth 6.0, new wireless certifications were required, which is why YY3013 exists. If Sony opted to just re-release the original WH-1000XM4, unchanged, then I do bot believe any new certifications would be required, but I could be wrong.

The rumoured announcement/release is around September 7th next month. This does not line up that well with the FCC end date for YY3013, which is December 9th. I have found retail listings for the Sony WH-Ch530 and WH-CH730N, but not WH-1000XM4C, so rather puzzling. So who knows if we will see a September release or just announcement.

If anyone would like to share more photos and details, please email me.

Source: Winfuture.de