Introduction

The WH-1000XM5 launched in 2022 and plenty has changed in the years since it arrived,most notably they’ve been supplanted by their successor in the WH-1000XM6

Sony’s latest flagship headphones are an improvement over this model, but that doesn’t mean the WH-1000XM5 aren’t worth a purchase. There’s still plenty of life left in this model.

If the WH-1000XM6 are too expensive for you, should you consider the Sony WH-1000XM5 instead? There’s plenty of reasons why that’d be a sensible choice.

Design

• No longer foldable
• Comfortable to wear
• Lightweight

The 1000XM5 are a solid-looking pair of headphones, the series has made the jump to a more modern, svelte, and urbane look.

They’re available in black, silver, and midnight blue options, and made from the same recycled newspapers the LinkBuds series used, as well bumpers from cars left on the scrap-heap. It’s part of Sony’s attempt to hit zero emissions by 2040.

The new look means the fit is adjusted through a stepless slider, which is slicker than the slider of the old model. The headband is thinner with its synthetic soft leather underside providing a plush feel. The surface is prone to attracting smudges but these can be easily wiped off.

At 250g they weigh the same as before. It looks as if there’s less cushioning but the earpads still feel soft – they press lightly on the ears and don’t become too warm.

The space for your ears has taken on a rounded shape, which Sony says is based on its research of people’s ears. However, while I could wear these headphones for hours, they don’t feel as comfortable as the Sonos Ace. Dekoni offers earpads you could use in place of the ones Sony offers, with leather and suede options available.

Touch and swipe controls work fine on the right earcup, though tapping to play a track for the first time doesn’t always register (the second attempt usually does).

The WH-1000XM5 can’t fold unlike the WH-1000XM6. Sony’s reasoning for this was that with fewer parts to stick out there was less reasons for wind noise to be an issue. Taking the WH-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM4 out on a windy day, I heard less turbulent air with 1000XM5 than I did with the XM4 but with the WH-1000XM6 foldable and wind noise not being an issue, it seems like Sony might have made a mistake going down the non-foldable route.

The new storage case is bigger but collapsible, so it can be flattened to take up less space in a bag.

Features

• Noise cancelling and transparency mode
• Battery life remains the same
• LDAC support

Speak-to-Chat function intelligently pauses music when you speak and restarts when you’ve stopped (you can change how fast it resumes in the app). Built-in voice assistance is a choice of Google or Alexa, and both can be activated via their wake words.

The Quick Attention mode where you put your hand over the right earcup to let sound in is back, and Adaptive Sound Control detects places you frequent often, allowing you to create custom sound profiles that activate when you visit that area.

The headphones support Apple’s MFi (Made For iPhone) program for improved compatibility with iOS devices. There’s Google Fast Pair for a quick first-time connection to Android devices and Spotify Tap to resume music from the service with a touch of a button.

There’s an equaliser for tuning the sound, as well as certification for Sony’s 360 Reality Audio that supports music in spatial audio (available on Tidal and Deezer).

Battery life is 30 hours of noise cancellation, and a two-hour battery drain saw them drop to 93%, so thirty hours is possible at about 50% volume. Turn noise cancelling off and there’s a boost from 38 to 40 hours over the previous model.

Tethered to an Android smartphone and the 1000XM5’s wireless performance can be disappointingly choppy in busy train stations like Victoria and Waterloo. Prioritising for connection reliability helped but not completely.

The headphones feature the Bluetooth 5.2 standard, along with SBC, AAC, and LDAC. Multipoint support means the headphones can connect to two devices simultaneously, and the headphones have been updated to do this with LDAC engaged too.

Noise-Cancellation

• Effective ANC
• Strong call quality

The ANC is supported by eight microphones and Sony says improvements have made in dealing with high frequency sounds. When faced with sharp, screeching sounds the 1000XM5 dulls them to make them less noticeable, and the sound of babies crying on a train were suppressed sufficiently so as to not disrupt the music I was listening to.

It’s how it deals with voices that I’m more concerned about. To my ears the XM4 conceals voices better and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are better in this regard too. Nevertheless, put music on – and not even at a particularly loud volume – and the world transforms into a quiet one.

Voices are hushed, the sound of big crowds are stripped away and vehicles big and small are reduced. Transport is quieter, the wind rushing past on the tube subdued, though while the Sony WH-1000XM5 are an excellent pair of noise cancellers, Bose is better for ANC.

The Ambient Mode is even better than on the 1000XM4. There’s less noise from the microphones, the sound piped in is clear and natural, as well as big and spacious – at times it feels you’re not wearing headphones at all.

Call quality is superb. The person on the other end of the line could hear me loud and clear, describing my voice as flawless. The headphones did not pick up the noises of buses, bikes, cars or even the high pitch sounds. Only isolated pockets of people’s voices were notable and there was no pickup of wind noise either.

Sound Quality

• Boost to low and high frequencies
• Rich, detailed midrange
• Versatile in the range of music genres it can handle

In terms of the audio performance, this isn’t the same leap the 1000XM4 made from the 1000XM3. The tweaks make the 1000XM5 a more refined performer.

The low end of the frequency range is where the difference is most laid bare between the XM5 and the XM4. It sounds more accurate and brings a texture to low frequencies the XM4 can’t match.

The bass in Hot Sugar’s Sinkies is delivered with slightly more depth, the bass reverb articulated with more weight and detail. Eminem’s Say What You Say is another good example of the improvements, with more force to punctuate the low end.

In terms of flow and rhythm, Chic’s Everybody Dance is tied together with an excellent sense of timing and precision, the beat effortlessly maintained as well as weaving in all the instruments and voices in the track. Sony’s wireless headphones have always been among the most musical and the WH-1000XM5 continues that trend, beating out the likes of Bose, Sonos, and Sennheiser with its rich, detailed, and dynamic sound.

Featuring a 30mm driver, the soundstage is described in different terms, the Instruments on the 1000XM4 sound bigger while on the 1000XM5 they sound tighter and more focused. The level of precision is more finely tuned.

The midrange is richer in tone and extracts more detail from tracks. Instruments are described with more definition, detail and clarity. The guitars in Derek and the Dominoes’ Layla sounds richer, with more twang and fidelity applied to the strums of the guitar.

Vocals have a slightly rich and warm tone compared to crispness of the WH-1000XM4, with a fraction more clarity and definition.

And Sony also says the driver set-up offers improved high frequency sensitivity, though I’d say the Technics EAH-A800, Sonos Ace, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones bring out more clarity and definition at the top end of the frequency range. They don’t as clear or as balanced as the WH-1000XM6 though, which also offer a wider soundstage and better treble performance.

Despite that, there is a richness that make the WH-1000XM5 a relaxing and non-fatiguing listen.

And what’s also impressive is how the Sony reduces noise in older tracks. Lower quality streams gain a new lease of life with the DSEE Extreme upscaling that makes rough sounding tracks like The Sonics’ Have Love Will Travel sound far less crude.

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