Sony WF-1000XM5 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones

While there are a couple of things keeping me from giving the Sony WF-1000XM5 a 5-star review, if you're after sound quality in wireless, noise cancelling earbuds, I don't believe you can do better. The WF-1000XM5s rich, immersive, and full-bodied. While sound quality is certainly subjective, I found them significantly more pleasant to listen to music on than Apple's second generation AirPod Pros.Voice call quality in on par with the best wireless earbuds out there, and noise cancelling is also among the best I've used.Battery life is about 8 hours, and extends to about 24 hours with the charging case.Featurewise, Sony has packed all kinds of extra functionality into its companion app, Sony Headphones Connect, for Android and iOS, such as Adaptive Sound ... MoreWhile there are a couple of things keeping me from giving the Sony WF-1000XM5 a 5-star review, if you're after sound quality in wireless, noise cancelling earbuds, I don't believe you can do better. The WF-1000XM5s rich, immersive, and full-bodied. While sound quality is certainly subjective, I found them significantly more pleasant to listen to music on than Apple's second generation AirPod Pros.Voice call quality in on par with the best wireless earbuds out there, and noise cancelling is also among the best I've used.Battery life is about 8 hours, and extends to about 24 hours with the charging case.Featurewise, Sony has packed all kinds of extra functionality into its companion app, Sony Headphones Connect, for Android and iOS, such as Adaptive Sound Control and Spatial Audio, but this is where they fall behind a little bit the Samsung or Apple counterparts have integrated these things into the Operating System of their phones, whereas the Sony as to do it in a companion app. While I'm sure Sony has done the same integration with their phones, how many people own Sony cellphones? Not many, I'm sure given their market share. While pairing AirPods to an iPhone, or Galaxy Buds2 Pro to a Samsung phone, these features are baked right in to the OS of the respective phones to exist natively, the Sonys require an external app that you must register, then grant numerous permissions to in order to enable these features, which at times I found their setup up somewhat tedious, and their functionality a bit erratic at times. This gives Samsung and Apple a bit of an ecosystem advantage over Sony. They are also both available at a lower price point than the Sonys.The bottom line is that If budget is not a concern and all you’re after is a great pair of noise-canceling earbuds that sound amazingly rich, immersive, and full-bodied with great call quality and top of the line noise cancelling, the Sony 1000XM5s certainly won’t leave you wanting.

I have had these earbuds for 3 weeks now, the size and design of these earbuds is excellent, packaging is world class. Sound quality is very well balanced with little emphasis on heavy bass. These buds do have better overall sound quality as the new drivers give better separation of sound across the frequency range and there is definitely more detail across all genres of music. There is a definite loss of the sub bass that the WF 1000XM4's had, using the app to change the EQ settings helps to increase the sub bass emphasis. Setting them up via the Sony app allows for better customisation for sound, noise cancelling, and the adaptive sound control allows for full control with the AI learning as you wear them in different listening scenarios.Seamless switching ... MoreI have had these earbuds for 3 weeks now, the size and design of these earbuds is excellent, packaging is world class. Sound quality is very well balanced with little emphasis on heavy bass. These buds do have better overall sound quality as the new drivers give better separation of sound across the frequency range and there is definitely more detail across all genres of music. There is a definite loss of the sub bass that the WF 1000XM4's had, using the app to change the EQ settings helps to increase the sub bass emphasis. Setting them up via the Sony app allows for better customisation for sound, noise cancelling, and the adaptive sound control allows for full control with the AI learning as you wear them in different listening scenarios.Seamless switching between 2 devices while maintaining connection to both devices. I have found that I need to adjust them periodically to stay in the ear canal and this can be a little frustrating as there is a tendency for outside noise to creep in. This may not be a problem for other people as each ear canal is different. As good as the noise cancelling is it cannot cope with this slight movement out of the ear canal letting in some outside noise.The tips are much better than the XM4 tips and give a better seal. Case form factor is better than the XM4, the magnet strength could be stronger as the buds can drop out of the case if dropped. Comfort is helped by the smaller form factor of the buds and allow for very long wearing sessions. LDAC, DSEE and noise cancelling do take a toll on battery life, I have received a little over 6.5 hours use before requiring a recharge. Overall, these are a top tier pair of TWS earbuds with excellent noise cancelling, high quality sound performance and are a good value purchase with all the new electronics added. Call quality is something that is unimportant to me as I never use it for phone calls and purchased these for the audio quality. As a pure upgrade they have proven to be a great choice and I can very highly recommend them to anyone thinking of purchasing these over the XM4 buds.

These Sony IN-Ear headphones come supplied in a very lightweight and smart looking case. They are supplied with a selection of quality earbud tips in various sizes ensuring you can obtain the best possible fit for your ear size and shape. I was impressed with the quality of the design and the finish on these in ear headphones.I found these in ear headphone to be extremely comfortable when wearing fitting snug in my ear without any pain and they really did feel secure and that it would take a lot for them to fall out (which they didn’t).These headphones connected instantly and without issue to several of my devices and I downloaded the app (link provided with the headphones) to enable me to fine tune my listening experiences through these headphones. This includes ... MoreThese Sony IN-Ear headphones come supplied in a very lightweight and smart looking case. They are supplied with a selection of quality earbud tips in various sizes ensuring you can obtain the best possible fit for your ear size and shape. I was impressed with the quality of the design and the finish on these in ear headphones.I found these in ear headphone to be extremely comfortable when wearing fitting snug in my ear without any pain and they really did feel secure and that it would take a lot for them to fall out (which they didn’t).These headphones connected instantly and without issue to several of my devices and I downloaded the app (link provided with the headphones) to enable me to fine tune my listening experiences through these headphones. This includes adjustments to the ambient noise levels and also the 360 Reality Auto settings. You can also get the app to survey your ears and adapt for a better individual experience.I was able to take these headphones away on holiday with me where I was able to see how good they are in a number of different situations. These included on a flight, around a busy hotel pool and walking through busy streets.I found that the noise cancelling properties were superb allowing the sound of either the music or the audiobooks to come through very clearly, without distraction.I was able to make and receive calls whilst using these headphones quickly and easily and again the quality of the call was really good.I found that functionality of these headphones was excellent and intuitive, pausing play, skipping tracks, taking calls etc.My experience is that the sounds through these headphones was clear and of really good quality, although for me personally I prefer a slightly deeper bass sound in my music that I could find / adjust to through the app. I am still looking within the app to try and make this fine tune adjustment.This would be my only negative find (but as stated this is a personal preference) on these otherwise excellent in ear headphones and I would recommend these quality headphones.