Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Industry Leading Headphones with Auto Noise Canceling Optimizer, Crystal Clear Hands-Free Calling, and Alexa Voice Control, Silver

Very happy with these headphones. Lots of features and Great sound. Well worth the price for them.

Felt pretty happy with the 1000XM3 until I got the XM5. Clarity and dynamics are vastly improved. Bass pressure is incomparably better without being boomy. And comfort is better than the XM3, no more discomfort after long flights. A brilliant pair of headphones.

The design changes, overall comfort (including level of head pressure) and potability have all been significantly improved. I actually disagree with many of the editors reviews, its much better that it doesnt fold twice, the case is much thinner to transport. This also helps make the headphones much more durable overall. In terms of the previous generation model, put quite simply, sound quality is more in line with a neutral profile sounding acoustically tuned pair of reference headphones. Noise cancelling and transparency modes are a night and day difference with respect to the 1000XM4s, but both are still excellent pairs of headphones. The improvements here are well justified for an upgrade. Also the sound profile of the previous generation WH-1000XM4s can be easily restored by using the excited EQ setting in the companion app settings. Those carbon fiber dual drivers, 8 noise canceling mics and custom audio co-processor Sony keeps referring to in the marketing materials, are genuinely significant. If youre coming from the previous generation model, the differences are immediately noticable. The price has increased but considering theres a chip shortage and they improved literally all the right aspects of this new pair. Its justified. Well done Sony. And for all those purchasing, enjoy them, theyre industry leading for a reason.

Well, it lived up to the hype. The sound quality was superb for my listening requirements. The noise cancelling is the best Ive experienced in any Earphones Ive ever had. Its perfect for flights and removing ambient noise to enhance your listening experience. Im rarely surprised by tech doing what it says it will do without some caveat. Id highly recommend these.

I love these. wear the hey fit great. One thing is they can get a little loose if they keep getting adjusted in and out a lot but its barley noticable.

I have used Bose NC700 for the past year, but saw these on sale for a great price and decided to try them. I had the XM4’s for a short time but had to return them because they were too creaky while wearing them. Luckily I have not had that same issue so far with the XM5’s. My biggest priorities for headphones is comfort, sound quality (both for music and phone calls), and noise cancellation. Comfort The XM5’s have ear cups that are slightly larger than the XM4s and they also look slightly larger than the NC700s. This helps them go over the ears better. However, the NC700s have slightly thicker padding which makes the inside of the cup a little deeper. For this reason, I would say that the NC700s are a bit more comfortable for long periods. The XM5s are very comfortable, but after a couple of hours, I definitely start to feel them more than the NC700s. But both are great. Sound Quality This is a matter of preference, but I prefer the deeper bass and fuller sound of the XM5s. I would say the NC700s have a more balanced sound, with far less low end. The XM5s really give a nice full bass, without it being over-bearing. I do prefer a bit more lower end than what the Bose provides. So for me, I prefer the sound quality of the XM5s quite a bit more than the NC700s. Call Quality I use my headphones for work calls several hours a day. Both the XM5 and the NC700 have great call quality and will work really well if you use them for phone calls or Zoom meetings a lot. I think I’d give the edge to the XM5s because they block out ambient noise slightly better than the NC700s, but the difference is negligible. Noise Cancellation I mean, these are high end headphones and both do a great job with noise cancellation. I will say, I was surprised at how much noise the XM5s can block out. They block out voices and medium pitched noises better than the NC700s. They are both great with lower pitched things like plane noise. But I think the XM5s do a better job overall. Build Quality and Design This is where the Bose NC700s are just better than the XM5s. The build of the NC700s is just beautiful. They feel substantial without being too heavy, and there isn’t a seam anywhere. I also think they just look amazing. The XM5s do have seams around the ear cups and they feel much more plasticky. The XM5s are not bad, but they just are not as good as the NC700s as far as design and build quality. Battery Life The battery on the NC700 lasts me around 13 or 14 hours. The XM5s last around 25 hours. So it’s a pretty big difference. Charging speed seems about the same with both. Odds and Ends Features of each are similar. They both offer pass through audio and it works well on both. Touch controls work equally well on both. The case of the XM5s is a little bigger than the NC700s, if that matters to you. One small difference that may make a difference to some is that if you want to use the cord to plug them into a 3.5mm headphone jack, the end the plugs into the NC700s is 2.5mm. So if you lose the included cord, you will need a specific type of aux cord to replace it (2.5mm to 3.5mm). Whereas the XM5 uses a regular 3.5mm to 3.5mm aux cord. Overall I do like these Sonys better. I just wish they had the comfort and build quality of the Bose. But because of the superior noise cancellation and sound quality, I’m going to be using the Sonys from now on.

Ive really enjoyed these headphones and find it difficult to take them off. I was stuck on either getting the XM4s or these and ended up with these as they were basically the same price with the Prime Deal. The appearance of the XM5s ultimately made me decide to get these rather than the XM4s, but there is one important drawback I got from these: I cant wear these around my neck comfortably. They fold outward for no listed reason, so Id have the ear cups rest on my collarbone. The way around this in which I found it the most comfortable would be wearing them above my ear, which is kind of obnoxious in my eyes, but it was the most comfortable position if I didnt want them on my ears. They are super comfortable and I find myself about to fall asleep with them on. Doing activities such as school work with the active noise cancelling helped me get so much work done with little to no distractions. Using them at the gym hasnt really been a hassle, as Id wear a hoodie to protect them from sweat. The music quality is superb and I havent noticed any distortion from higher levels of music. The things that would really drift me away, especially at this hefty price point would be: The lack of any water resistance on the headphones The ear cups not being able to rotate inwards or fold into themselves Touch pad gestures should be able to be customized But other than the features listed above, they may cater towards you, but the XM4s are generally similar if not better than the XM5s.

I really love everything on these headphones, great quality great sound and great nois cancelling. The function to pause the music when I speak is great and the voice-focused noise cancellation very useful.

I bought these headphones and completely fell in love with them… only until I realized how incompatible they were if you weren’t a android user—so much so, I ended up returning them because of my frustration and fatigue with its interface. If you use Apple products like I do, the headphones features like “360 audio” (which was a huge selling point for me) only works when you download an app for the headphones, and then again only works with certain apps and websites, not all audio like Apple Music or Spotify. I found this to be a huge let down and was even more annoyed I needed these myriad of apps to utilize a huge selling feature of the headphones. Besides the compatibly issue the headphones were amazing: great design, amazing audio, and great battery life yet, ultimately for me it’s overly complicated ways and hoops to jump through as an Apple user is what steered me away here. I instead bought the Apple AirPods Max, equally great sound quality, superior design, and elite performance, plus they are insanely and easily comparable with every thing Apple which was a huge selling point for me. Plus, their “spatial audio” (the same thing as “360 degree audio”) actually works seamlessly, which numerous apps, without jumping through hoops. (Also random tidbit—the Sony headphones get extremely hot and sweaty after you wear them for too long. Apples do not, insanely comfortable and breathable for hours on end).

If you have a smaller head I wouldn’t recommend, they kept sliding off during my workout. When I returned it took over a month to get my 400 & something dollars back. Had to keep messaging Amazon to return my money.