Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Headphones Review

The Sony WH-1000XM5 have a similar design language to the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless, but a couple of slight differences make them look more refined and sleek than their predecessor. The largest change in design is that there aren't any hinges. The headband is integrated into the ear cups, so the build is just one piece. They're also made of recycled plastic and have a high-end satin finish. They come in three color variants: 'Black', 'Midnight Blue', and 'Platinum Silver'.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 have a decently comfortable fit. They're lighter than the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless, and it's easy to adjust the headband to fit your head. However, they don't feel as well-padded as the previous generation, as the padding on the ear cups is mushy rather than springy. You may also have a gap between your head and the ear cups if you have long hair or wear glasses. Some users have reported experiencing discomfort with their fit, and depending on your head shape, the headband can feel heavy on the top of your head. It can cause pain during long listening sessions, especially if you have a small head. Not everyone will experience this issue, though.

These headphones have good controls that are responsive and easy to use. Overall, the layout and range of commands are similar to the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless. They have a touch-sensitive surface on the right ear cup and two physical buttons on the left ear cup. It can take a couple of swipes to reach the desired volume if you don't want to use the swipe-and-hold function. There are also beeps and voice prompts for a couple of commands, but there are fewer overall voice prompts compared to older Sony products.

On the left ear cup:

Power button:

• Press and hold: Turns headphones on or off. If you continue to hold this button past turning the headphones on, you'll enter Bluetooth pairing mode.

• One press: Cycles between ANC on, talk-through mode, letting you better hear your surroundings without taking off the headphones, and ANC off. You can remap this control via the companion app to activate Alexa or Google Assistant.

The touch-sensitive surface on the right ear cup:

• Double tap: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends a call.
• Swipe forward: Skips to the next track.
• Swipe forward and hold: Fast forwards through your track.
• Swipe backward: Skips to the previous track.
• Swipe backward and hold: Backtracks through your track.
• Swipe up: Turns the volume up incrementally.
• Swipe up and hold: Turns the volume up continuously until you release.
• Swipe down: Turns the volume down incrementally.
• Swipe down and hold: Turns the volume down continuously until you release.
• Cover the ear cup with your palm: Enters talk-through mode.

These headphones aren't the most portable, but that's to be expected from over-ear headphones. Unlike their predecessor, they can't fold up to reduce their footprint, which makes them bulky to transport. On the upside, you can swivel the ear cups so they lay flat, and they come with a molded carrying case to protect them when you're on the go.

The Sony WH1000XM5 have a different carrying case than their predecessor, but it feels great overall. It has a fabric finish in the same color as the headphones, which can help protect the headphones from scratches, dust, impact, and slight water damage. While it's also larger, the inside of the case is molded to fit the headphones in only one possible way. There's a dedicated space to safely store the cables and other accessories.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 have good overall build quality, but it's a small step down from the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless. They also don't feel as premium as the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless or the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 Wireless. They're mostly made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a material created from recycled plastic, meaning they have a different texture and feel than their predecessor. This material doesn't feel bad, and it likely lightens their frame. However, the new hinge design feels a little cheap and could be prone to breaking over time. The padding on the ear cups is also much mushier than the previous generation, and it's noticeable when you wear them. The padding on the headband feels less plush, too. That said, the headphones still feel sturdy overall and will survive a couple of accidental drops without taking too much damage.

The Sony WH1000XM5 are decently stable. They'll stay on your head if you're listening to music at your desk and won't fall off if you want to wear them during a light jog in the park. However, during more intense physical activity, the headphones can shift in positioning, and you'll have to constantly adjust their fit.

• Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones
• 1/8" TRS cable
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable
• Manuals
• Carrying case

The Sony WH-1000XM5 have a bass-heavy sound profile. The bass range is similar to the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless as it has extra thump, rumble, and boom, making these headphones well-suited for genres like EDM and hip-hop. They don't sound as balanced or neutral as the Apple AirPods Max Wireless in the low to mid-ranges, though, and this extra bass still muddies and clutters vocals and lead instruments. The mid and treble ranges have also been slightly retuned, which helps brighten vocals and lead instruments. Although they don't have a dedicated button for extra bass, like the Sony ULT WEAR Wireless, you can customize their sound using their companion app's graphic EQ and presets.

Sony hasn't mentioned anything regarding ALAC support, which is Apple's lossless hi-res audio codec available via music services like Apple Music. However, to benefit from this audio codec, you'll need to use these headphones wired as Bluetooth can't transmit the amount of data necessary to play lossless content. While our iPhone showed that we were able to use ALAC over Bluetooth by going into the phone settings and switching to 'ALAC (ALAC in resolutions ranging from 16-bit/44.1 kHz (CD Quality) up to 24-bit/192 kHz)', it's highly likely that this audio is still compressed due to how Bluetooth works.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 have great frequency response consistency. They deliver audio consistently, but you may experience a drop in bass if you have thick hair or wear glasses, as these features can disrupt the ear cups' seal on your head. On the upside, once you take the time to ensure a good fit, you'll experience more consistent bass and treble delivery each time you use them.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 do a good job of following our target curve. The response is overemphasized across the range, and they deliver a lot more thump, punch, and boom than the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless. In the song 2020 by SUUNS, the low drone at the beginning of the track is visceral and rumbly, which is enjoyable if you like extra bass. Unfortunately, the added bass seeps into the mid-range and muddies and clutters the rest of your mix.

When it comes to the mid-range, the Sony WH-1000XM5 also follow our target well. Some overemphasis comes from the bass range into the low-mid, which muddies and clutters your mixes. However, the mid and high-mid are better balanced, so vocals and lead instruments, like Kendrick Lamar's voice in his song, Mother I Sober, still sound clear and present throughout the mix.

The Sony WH-1000XM5's compliancy to our target in the treble range is outstanding. The range is slightly overemphasized, making vocals and lead instruments sound clear and detailed. Sibilants like cymbals are also bright but not piercing.

The Sony WH-1000XM5's peaks and dips performance is great, and they follow their own profile well, with some slight inconsistencies from the mid-range onwards. Small peaks and dips in the mid-range affect the presence of vocals and instruments, while peaks in the treble range can make these sounds and sibilants brighter.

In high-end products like these headphones, Sony has shown high-quality control and ergonomics, which helps ensure excellent imaging performance. Although imaging varies between units, our unit's L/R drivers are well-matched in group delay, which ensures tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. In addition, the drivers are also matched when it comes to amplitude, frequency, and phase response. This helps ensure the accurate placement of objects like voices and instruments in the stereo image. Although there are some small peaks in the phase response's mid-range, which makes the left driver sound a little louder than the right, it's very difficult to hear with real-life content.

The passive soundstage performance is poor. These headphones have a closed-back design, so they can't create a very open or spacious-feeling soundstage. Since they have an over-ear design, sound still interacts with your outer ear, which helps create a wide—though somewhat unnatural—soundstage.

The 360 Reality Audio feature can offer better sound quality by creating an immersive, 360-degree audio experience. It uses the Analyze Ear Shape feature in their companion app to help optimize audio for your unique ear shape. However, you must subscribe to paid services like TIDAL and Nugs.net to benefit from the virtual soundstage feature. Sony added some head-tracking capabilities to these headphones with firmware update 2.0.2. However, you'll need a device running Android 13 or above to take advantage of this feature, and it's only compatible with certain apps. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless are worth considering if you're after headphones with more comprehensive head tracking implementation.

Their weighted harmonic distortion performance is very good. Although there's a peak in the high-treble at normal listening volumes, it's hard to hear with real-life content. Most frequencies fall within good limits, resulting in clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when using them in this configuration.

The Sony 1000XM5 have a remarkable noise isolation performance. They have an automatic adaptive ANC system that optimizes their performance based on the environment around them. Unfortunately, unlike the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless, you can't turn the optimization off. They also block out slightly less bass range noise than their predecessor, which is where the rumbles of bus and plane engines reproduce. However, this performance is still enough to commute peacefully and quietly. They can isolate you from mid and treble range noises like voices and the high-pitched noise of AC units very well, though.

Over time, we've retested noise isolation using firmware 1.1.3. However, we didn't measure any differences or improvements in ANC. That said, some users have reported that the sensitivity of the adaptive ANC has changed, so quick head movements won't trigger the ANC to re-adapt anymore. It's hard to test this, and we can't say for sure whether the sensitivity has changed. In addition, we checked to see the impact of firmware 2.1.0 on ANC performance, and you can see our results here. Overall, the responses between frequency responses are quite similar, and deviations can be due to seating and placement.

Similar to Full Range isolation, these over-ears do an outstanding job of tackling more dynamic common scenarios. Sounds like the rumbles of plane engines and commotion on a busy street are significantly reduced. The typical sounds of an office, like an AC unit, keyboard clattering, and coworkers chatting, are also blocked out.

Wind noise is difficult for headphones to tackle as it directly interacts with the ANC's microphones. This causes the ANC to produce anti-noise to cancel it out, even though the sound doesn't really reach your ear. However, it results in a loud, annoying sound. Unfortunately, these headphones also lack a wind reduction feature to help cut down this sound.

These headphones have a good leakage performance. Leakage is spread fairly evenly across the range and falls below the noise floor of an average office. If you like to crank up the volume to your favorite tunes in a moderately noisy environment, people around you won't hear it.

The Sony WH-1000XM5's integrated mic has an okay recording quality. Your voice sounds somewhat clear but lacks fullness. When we used the headphones to make a call, we noticed a lot of white noise and static. Unfortunately, some users have also reported an echo present when making calls. The person on the other line hears an echo of themselves, and it can happen at all volumes and even whether the ANC is on or off. We also experienced this with our unit, but it was random and not a constant experience. Please let us know in the forums if you've encountered this issue.

Note: Our original THD measurement skewed the scoring of this test and made it seem like the mic was performing worse than it was. As a result, we've put 'N/A' to bring the score closer to what we believe is its performance. Although the 'Recorded Speech' file sounds close to that of the Bose 700 Headphones Wireless, white noise and static are still present, affecting its overall quality. On a Samsung phone, the voice also sounds worse than on PCs. You can hear our phone recording here.

If you're using a PC, the integrated mic has a great noise handling performance that beats their predecessor. The mic can easily separate speech from moderate background noise, so if you're taking a call from a noisy office, your voice sits above the sound, ensuring that speech stands out. However, unlike the Bose 700 headphones Wireless, if there's a very loud sound, like a train pulling up to the station, your voice can be cut out along with the noise, making speech choppy and hard to follow. You can also hear the mic's noise handling performance on a Samsung phone when it comes to pink noise and subway noise. There's more static and white noise present in the phone audio recordings compared to our PC recordings.

These headphones have excellent battery performance. Like their predecessor, the manufacturer advertises them to last 30 hours continuously with their ANC on. That said, we measured closer to the advertised results than to the XM4's 38 hours. It's important to note that battery life varies on use, though. On the upside, you can set their auto-off timer in the app, as well as use 'Smart-Pause', which automatically pauses your audio when you take the headphones off your head. You can even use them passively, thanks to their 1/8" TRS cable.

The Sony | Headphones Connect app is great. This app offers many customization features to help you adjust the headphones' performance to your liking. You can tweak their sound using their graphic EQ and presets, adjust their auto-off timer, and turn on and off the 'Smart-Pause' feature, which pauses your audio when you take the headphones off your head. You can also remap their custom button, access multi-device pairing, turn on and off the speak-to-chat feature, and see which device you've connected to the headphones. You can even access 360 Reality Audio for better sound quality, but you must subscribe to services supporting this feature.

Unlike the Dyson Zone Wireless, these headphones support an analog connection and come with a 1/8" TRS cable that you can use to receive audio; however, you can't use their mic. They don't come with an airline adapter, which is a little disappointing since one was included with their predecessor, the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless.

The Sony 1000XM5 have excellent Bluetooth connectivity. They support multi-device pairing, meaning you can stay connected to your smartphone and PC simultaneously. They also support Google Fast Pair and Swift Pair for Windows 10, which is great if you have compatible devices you want to pair with these headphones. That said, unlike the Focal Bathys Wireless, they don't support aptX Adaptive. Instead, they support LDAC, Sony's proprietary codec for Hi-Res Audio. Since firmware update version 2.0.2, it's possible to stream LDAC audio while using multi-device pairing, but be aware that using both features will likely drain your battery life more quickly. They also have high latency via LDAC, but it isn't an issue if you only stream audio. Furthermore, these headphones also have high latency on PCs using SBC codec, the default codec. Apps and devices compensate for latency differently.

The Sony WH1000XM5 have full audio and mic compatibility when connected wirelessly to Bluetooth-enabled PCs. You can also use their 1/8" TRS cable, but you'll only receive audio and can't use their mic.

These headphones can only receive audio when you plug their audio cable into your PlayStation controller's AUX port.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 only support audio via their 1/8" TRS cable plugged into your Xbox controller's AUX port. Unfortunately, you can't use the mic using this connection.