At a look
Skilled’s Ranking
Execs
- The very best sounding earbuds ever
- Unbelievable noise cancelling
- Intelligent good options
- Hello-Res help
Cons
- Fiddly on-bud quantity controls
- Sometimes come free
- Some connection points
Our Verdict
The Sony WF-1000XM5 are one of the best sounding wi-fi earbuds ever made, beating Bose and Apple in the identical value vary. Minor quibbles with controls and connection can’t cease me from recommending them.
Value When Reviewed
$299.99
Sony has cemented itself as one in all the go-to manufacturers for on-ear and in-ear wi-fi headphones with its flagship 1000XM collection of audio merchandise.
That streak continues with the WF-1000XM5 earbuds. These are one of the best sounding earbuds I’ve ever reviewed, and finest the newest efforts from rivals equivalent to Bose, Apple, and Beats.
It’s exhausting to consider Sony may enhance on 2021’s 5-star WF-1000XM4, however they’ve (other than maintaining the terrible naming conference). The XM5 (as they’ll now be identified) have higher design, match, battery life, and sound.
They’re the whole bundle, significantly you probably have an Android telephone.
Design & construct
- Small and compact
- 4 eartip sizes
- Can loosen when consuming or speaking
I cherished the sound of Sony’s WF-1000XM3 and XM4, however their cumbersome designs weren’t form to my small ears. Each fell out continuously, Sony clearly catering to these with bigger lugs.
It’s fairly exhausting to cram such good sound high quality right into a small design, however Sony has lastly accomplished it with the XM5 – to not be confused with the over ear WH-1000XM5. They’re smaller than ever (25% vs XM4 and 20% lighter) and use the push in and twist-to-fit technique of the XM4.
It’s fairly exhausting to cram such good sound high quality right into a small design
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Better of all (for me) are a fourth ‘SS’ dimension of additional small eartips, and each dimension is polyurethane foam somewhat than silicone, which creates an hermetic seal within the ear. Possibly I simply have really tiny ears, however I nonetheless discovered the buds got here free if I’m speaking, equivalent to on a video name, or if consuming whereas listening to one thing. This doesn’t occur to me with the AirPods Professional 2, for instance.
Sony calls my assessment pair ‘silver’, however they’re undoubtedly beige. You can even get normal challenge black.
The buds are a shiny plastic, however the contact delicate outer half is matt, as is the compact charging case. That contact space permits for faucets or holds to do issues equivalent to pause or play audio, toggle noise cancelling, or change quantity. Sadly, you’ll be able to’t swipe to vary quantity, as an alternative tapping 4 instances on left for down and 4 on proper for up – not essentially the most intuitive.
The buds, however not the case, are IPX4 splash proof, so mild rain and sweat shouldn’t be a problem. Sony says it’s utilizing recycled supplies in “a number of elements of the headphone physique and case” but additionally famous that is “topic to vary”. The packaging is recyclable and comprised of bamboo, sugarcane, and post-consumer recycled paper.
These are one of the best sounding earbuds I’ve ever used
Sound high quality
- Superlative sound
- Hello-Res help with LDAC
- DSEE Excessive
These are one of the best sounding earbuds I’ve ever used, and I’ve used scores of the issues. Sony is aware of easy methods to tune its headphones and the WF-1000XM5 produce extremely full, clear, detailed and balanced sound.
Sony has rebranded the drivers within the buds as ‘Dynamic Driver X’, however I assume it doesn’t matter if the title sucks as a result of these buds actually do ship exceptionally good audio vary. The scale has elevated from 6mm within the XM4 as much as 8.4mm, and it exhibits magnificently.
‘Pace of Plight’ by Loyle Carner is effectively rounded with buzzing bass and the crackle of vinyl file initially crystal clear. The vocal is evident, and the earbuds cope effectively with a mixture that may sound muddy on lesser audio merchandise.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
I’d by no means seen the sunshine reverb on the drums on Violent Femmes’s ‘Blister within the Solar’ earlier than I listened on the WF-1000XM5. The acoustic guitar jangles on, effectively panned and balanced, on a vivid replica.
Likewise, the upfront vocals on Jonathan Fireplace Eater’s ‘The Search For Cherry Purple’ have an echo to them I hadn’t seen earlier than when listening on the XM5s.
As normal, the XM5 play audio utilizing the frequent SDC or AAC codecs, however you’ll get one of the best sound high quality if you’re utilizing an Android telephone – iPhones don’t help Sony’s LDAC Hello-Res codec. Utilizing a Sony Xperia 1 IV, I streamed trackers in Excessive Constancy high quality on Deezer, utilizing the Sony Headphones app to make sure LDAC was enabled.
There’s a delicate enchancment to audio high quality when bothering to show LDAC on and use a Hello-Res Audio Wi-fi streaming service, however the XM5 are so good that I nonetheless loved the audio high quality when utilizing an iPhone with bathroom normal bitrate Spotify streams.
In case you can’t use LDAC, or your streams or MP3s are decrease high quality, Sony’s DSEE Excessive software program can upscale compressed audio on the fly with good outcomes.
Kae Tempest’s ‘Extra Strain’ pulses with an urgency I merely couldn’t get out of the Beats Studio Buds+ and even the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2. The WF-1000XM5 give the programmed kick drum a deep thump that brings extra character to the monitor than after I listened with the equally priced Bose, which sounded a little bit flat.
The identical goes for the Apple AirPods Professional 2, which sound skinny as compared – Sony has Apple and Bose beat right here for sound high quality at this value level, which is a few feat.
Noise cancelling & good options
- Wonderful, adaptive noise cancelling
- Two simultaneous connections
- Nice EQ customisation
Sony says the XM5 have 20% higher noise cancellation chops than the XM4. They’re superb certainly, and, with the best seal, practically on par with the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2. For pure noise blocking the Bose edge it barely, however that’s as a result of they match me higher than the Sony. The buds additionally auto pause audio once you take one out.
The XM5 have three mics on every bud, up from two, to raised assist seize ambient noise that the software program can then battle with its lively noise cancelling (ANC) tech. There’s a brand new Sony Built-in Processor V2 processor on board particularly to assist with this in addition to an HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN2e chip.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
These mics additionally deal with improved name high quality, with individuals I rang commenting I sounded clear. Wind discount can also be first rate so the mics don’t funnel loud wind noises into your ears like lesser buds do.
The Sony Headphones app presents nice granular management over ANC and ambient sound ranges, the latter with 20 ranges of alternative and an choice to let voices cross by means of however not noise, which works fairly effectively. ‘Communicate to Chat’ mechanically disables ANC once you discuss so you’ll be able to chat to individuals with out eradicating the buds, too.
The equaliser can also be improved with a brand new ‘Discover your equalizer’ characteristic that allows you to play any monitor and choose from a couple of settings at completely different frequencies to see which you like, making a customized EQ setting on the finish.
You’ll be able to join two units (iOS, Android, Home windows, or Mac) without delay because of multi-point expertise however you continue to must manually join every machine if you’re biking between greater than two. So, in case your telephone and laptop computer are the linked units the buds will play audio from whichever you select, however they aren’t intelligent sufficient to modify to your pill should you begin utilizing that, even when they’re already a paired machine.
Henry Burrell / Foundry
I additionally encountered some connectivity points when taking the buds out for a brief interval. When placing them again in, generally they might have disconnected from the machine I used to be utilizing, or just one bud would join.
Fortunately, when linked the XM5 are very steady, and I didn’t come throughout any Bluetooth jitters even when in very crowded areas of London. You’ll get one of the best connection in case your units are Bluetooth 5.3, the latest normal the buds help, and you may activate spatial audio head monitoring in apps equivalent to Netflix or YouTube you probably have an Android 13 telephone that helps it. I didn’t have such a telephone at hand throughout my testing.
There’s additionally Sony’s spectacular 360 Actuality Audio, however this solely works in apps equivalent to Tidal and I desire to not use it.
You can even set ‘Adaptive Sound Management’ the place the buds will mechanically change settings equivalent to ANC ranges relying in your motion (strolling, working, sitting) or location (which you’ll be able to set) equivalent to residence and workplace.
There’s even a brand new Spotify Faucet characteristic that claims you’ll be able to double faucet the left earbud and Spotify ought to play a track it thinks you’ll like based mostly in your current performs. I couldn’t get this to work.
The XM5 have nice battery life and in my use stayed true to Sony’s promise
Battery life & charging
- Eight hours on a cost
- 24 hours complete with case
- USB-C and wi-fi charging
The XM5 have nice battery life and in my use stayed true to Sony’s promise of eight hours on a full cost. The buds cost up within the good dinky case, which general can present 24 hours of complete listening time when juiced to the max.
These spectacular numbers are additionally with ANC turned on, so that you’ll get even longer should you swap it off (as much as 36 hours). The draw back, for XM4 homeowners, is that this isn’t an enchancment (except you issue the smaller dimension of the buds whereas maintaining the identical numbers).
In the event that they die, you may also get an hour’s playback from a 3 minute cost. There’s a USB-C cable included within the field, however no wall plug. Stand the case on a Qi charging pad and it’ll cost too.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Value & availability
The Sony WF-1000XM5 price $299.99/£259. Within the UK you should buy them direct from Sony.
That is costly (barely greater than the XM4 at launch value), however it’s the price of getting one of the best in the marketplace. The AirPods Professional 2 price $249/£249 whereas the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 will set you again $299/£279.95.
The Sony have one of the best audio high quality, however the AirPods are exhausting to withstand you probably have all Apple merchandise. I actually just like the Bose too, although their design is bulkier than Sony’s or Apple’s, and so they have fewer good options.
Verdict
On the time of launch in July 2023, the Sony WF-1000XM5 are one of the best true wi-fi earbuds you should buy. They’ve a successful mixture of unbelievable sound high quality, wonderful noise cancelling, nice battery life, and really intelligent good options.
The match lastly caters for smaller ears and the ANC high quality goes toe to toe with traditional market chief Bose for efficiency and nonetheless has extra options.
However one of the best factor right here is the sound high quality for music the place the XM5 are really unsurpassed. They’ve unbelievable vary, simply dealing with deep booming bass with clear mids and crisp highs irrespective of the style. With three mics on every bud, they’re additionally nice for video and telephone calls.
Yearly I ponder how Sony can enhance its headphones however the firm has accomplished it once more. When you’ve got $300/£300 spare and also you need one of the best earbuds potential, purchase the WF-1000XM5.
Specs
- 8.4mm Dynamic Driver X drivers
- Sony Headphones app
- Energetic noise cancellation
- Wi-fi: Bluetooth 5.3, SBC, AAC, LDAC, Hello-Res Audio Wi-fi
- Voice management: Google Assistant or Siri
- Contact controls
- Battery life: As much as 24 hours
- Qi wi-fi charging case
- 4 eartip sizes
- IPX4 sweat and climate resistant