Sony WH-1000XM5 review: super ANC and a lot of comfort, the best?

Two years after the previous generation Sony renews its best around-ear headphones e launches on the market the WH-1000XM5, a model of great value that immediately goes to place on the top step of their line up. I’ve been testing them since their debut a couple of months ago, and since then I’ve been able to test all the improvements made (and even some limitations). The step forward seems evident, especially from the technological point of view, but the Japanese house has also had to submit to some small compromise that will keep the previous models still current.

The name, always complex and certainly not very fluid, does not change, but on this front Sony is making a general effort that points to simplification. Who knows that even here we will come to the “Mark Xxxx” headphones …

Belle are beautiful, a little more minimal and obviously linked to the lines of the family, but something has changed: absurdly they are slightly more “bulky” than the previous generation for a precise construction choice that does not allow the bow to be folded.

The feeling is that you are dealing with high-end headphones, despite there is a strong green footprint which, even here, includes recycled plastic and eco-friendly packaging. Newly designed super soft pads and redesigned headband: the core is in fact circular, smaller and less rigid than it was in past generations, thus increasing comfort without any compromise. Easy to lengthen or shorten to match the different sizes of the skull, and just enough elastic so as not to bother once you put them on.

There is no certification against liquids, or at least it is not specified by the parent company, and this aspect confirms the desire not to push this type of solution for sports activities. Nobody wants to, but nowadays I find it absurd to think of over-ears for any activity that leads to sweat and physical stress, especially given the abundance of small and very light true wireless (for example, you have always seen the LinkBuds S Sony? I’ll tell you about it here).

The WH-1000XM5s are in all likelihood the most comfortable around-ear headphones I’ve ever tried (247g), which was confirmed to me by having had the opportunity to “stress” them on a long journey for several consecutive hours. The headband impresses the right force on the ears that allows the necessary adherence, but does not go further. It is just a pity that, at the neck, they cannot be folded with the pavilions facing downwards but only upwards, which does not make much sense.

From the old houses, all rigid, we pass to a semi-rigid onea little bigger but with accordion hips, which allows you to reduce the thickness and thus crush everything once placed in a bag or suitcase. Inside there is only one other small magnetic slot for the jack cable and the supplied Type-C cable.

To distinguish the WH-1000XM5 is the Sony technology, especially the background noise cancellation. Once worn, and tested a comfort already praised abundantly, you immediately notice a clear leap forward in the ANC. This happens thanks to 8 microphones (against the 4 of the 4th gen) scattered between the two pavilions and the integrated V1 processor which is added to the HD QN1 processor already seen two years ago. In short more ability to listen to surrounding noisesmore processing power of these data and active reproduction of the range of sounds, equal and opposite, which isolate us properly even in the midst of the noises.

Another not indifferent factor, which a trained ear immediately perceives, is the delicacy with which the ANC performs all this: unlike in the past, in fact, there is less sound pressure and practically no discomfort. Sometimes, in order to annihilate its exteriors, the new generation headphones “shoot” us at frequencies useful for the purpose, resulting a little invasive. Finally, the design and the choice of materials play a role that should not be underestimated: wearing the WH-1000XM5, when turned off, you immediately perceive a discrete insulation due to the bearings.

The sound quality has been improved even more thanks to a new 30mm driver designed for the occasion, the Hi-res wireless standard is guaranteed via LDAC and there is no shortage of all those goodies capable of making the user experience easier. I am thinking of the usual and very useful “speak-to-chat” function that instantly reduces the volume of what we are listening to as soon as we mention a syllable.

Speaking of conversations, the call quality also seems to have improved slightly, thus passing from the 2 beamforming microphones to the 4 of the WH-1000XM5 with lots of AI. I was expecting something moreI will be honest, the sounds are in fact clearly distinguishable and appreciable but remain slightly dirty and on this Sony can certainly still work to raise the bar.

Thanks to the usual Headphones application, which I highly recommend installing on both Android and iOS, you then enter a world of customizations and functions that truly expand the listening experience. Let’s leave out for a moment the obvious equalizations and configurations, from the App we can manage quickly the “multipoint” and pairing with multiple devices, so you can use the headphones more freely. You can activate the “Quick Access” to enter with a tap directly on Spotify without going through the smartphone, and still activate the “360 Reality Audio” settings.

On the connectivity side, little to complain about except for the lack of the NFC chip which, in the past, greatly facilitated pairing. I’m sorry not to have it, but it is equally true that you just need to press the power button a little longer to activate the pairing mode. The gestures are few and clear, all the controls are concentrated on the right pavilion and with a few swipes they easily allow you to play / pause a song, forward or backward and activate the chosen virtual assistant (Google or Alexa). Both respond quickly to inquiries.

Long-lasting autonomy confirmed, Sony speaks of 30h with full charge and USB-C port that now supports the Power Delivery (PD) standard to have the equivalent of a few hours of playback in a few minutes. According to my calculations the real one is around 27-28 hours, but we must always consider whether the ANC is active or not. I certainly haven’t worn them for more than a day consecutively but you have the feeling that you can go on for weeks if you limit your daily use.

They are positioned at the top and it is therefore foreseeable a high price list at 420 euros in the two black and beige colors, a hair higher than the WH-1000XM4 that will remain on the market (officially) at 380 euros. Needless to say, perhaps for a few tens of euros it would make little sense to focus on the old model, in light of all the improvements that have been made in these years of development. But the old model cannot be completely ruled out for two very good reasons: the online price (around 250 euros) and greater portability, especially for those who travel a lot.

The new WH-1000XM5 have received a small tweak on the net and are now just under the 400 euro threshold, but even in the first weeks they have gone even lower and, for this reason, I recommend monitoring them to save something. Probably they will return on a (more substantial) discount as soon as this summer travel period is over, on the other hand they are headphones also designed for this purpose.

They certainly clash in the consumer world with the AirPods Max, although the latter can only be fully appreciated if you have another Apple device as a source and this represents a limit in general. If the AirPods Max, on the one hand, can be a step forward in noise cancellation and sound quality, we must consider the greater openness of the Sony and its WH-1000XM5 to the entire audience of potential users.