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Firstly – I’m late to the party with this one, for which I fully apologise. Slow review unit delivery and an utterly bonkers production and travel schedule got in the way.
It won’t happen again. Ok, it might. But I’m human. So there.
Regardless, I’m now in possession of the Sony WF-1000XM5, and Sony claims that these are the best noise-cancelling earbuds you can buy.
That’s a big claim. Particularly when the AirPods Pro 2 exist.
I had my AirPods Pro 2 stolen from my gym a couple of months ago. Since then, I’ve been experimenting with various alternatives. The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 remain the best-sounding earbuds I’ve ever heard, albeit with a huge case and weird take on noise cancelling. The Beats Studio Buds + come close to the AirPods Pro thanks to their Apple system integration, but they still didn’t scratch my AirPods Pro itch.
I’ve also dabbled with open-ear headphones from Oladance and Shokz, both of which opened my ears – literally – to the benefits of leaving your ear canal free of tech yet still capable of hearing music. They’re magic, but not what you’d call ‘all-rounders’.
All of those earbuds have clearly defined markets. So where do the Sony WF-1000XM5 fit in?
Let’s find out.
What do the WF-1000XM5 sound like?
The WF-1000XM5 have received significant upgrades to their audio capabilities over the WF-1000XM4. There’s a new Dynamic Drive X driver that’s 2.4mm bigger than its predecessor, two new chips (the Integrated Processor V2 and QN2e), and lots of bullish talk about wider sound reproduction and lower distortion.
The earbuds are also capable of hi-res audio on supported devices via LDAC, and 360-degree audio, which is becoming a common feature on most headphones these days.
At first, I was hugely disappointed by the WF-1000XM5. They sounded flat, uninspiring, and frighteningly muddy. In desperation, I installed Sony’s Headphones app and searched for the EQ settings. It was at that moment I remembered that these were review units; they’d done the rounds and the last occupier had created their own EQ setting to which the WF-1000XM5 were still assigned.
That EQ setting was bloody awful.
Setting the EQ back to Sony’s default improved things marginally, but not enough. So, I tweaked further and ended up with this:
The results were superb. And I should note here that I always make a point of not tweaking the EQ. I want to hear these things as the manufacturer intended; tweaking the audio makes it a very subjective review.
Doesn’t it?
I’m now questioning that methodology.
Once fiddled with, the WF-1000XM5 sounded very impressive. My initial test track of choice, Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel, sounded immense on these earbuds. It was punchy, detailed, wide, and exciting – everything I look for in a pair of earbuds.
If I had one complaint, it’s that at certain volumes, a tiny bit of distortion is evident at the upper end of the frequency range. It’s not hideous, and it wasn’t present on every track I tested, but it’s definitely worth noting if you’re the kind of person to push the volume on your earbuds (which isn’t something I recommend).
The WF-1000XM5 deal with gentle stuff nicely, too. Adele’s Easy On Me sounded as buttery smooth as it should.
But what about my headphone killer test track, Breathe Again by Pop Evil? Well, the WF-1000XM5 dealt with it brilliantly. This heavily-compressed track sounds a mess on poor headphones – and even some fairly decent ones. On the WF-1000XM5 it cut through perfectly and there were no harsh frequencies or drowned-out instrumentation to contend with. That’s hugely impressive.
I’m a big fan of the WF-1000XM5 when it comes to sound. I’m just fascinated that they’re the first pair of earbuds I’ve had to EQ.
WF-1000XM5 Noise cancellation
Ok, this is the big one.
Sony’s claim that the WF-1000XM5 offer “the best noise cancelling” is the result of research carried out by – you guessed it – Sony Corporation earlier this year. Details on what tests were carried out during this research are thin on the ground, but it piqued my interest.
Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro offer stunning noise-cancelling that is on a par with over-ear headphones. That’s an incredible feat, given the size of those earbuds and the limited hardware available to deliver such great noise cancellation.
Are the Sony WF-1000XM5 better than AirPods Pro at noise cancelling?
No. They’re not even close. Sorry, Sony.
I’m currently writing this in a coffee shop. And I can hear everything. If anything, it feels like there is nothing more than passive noise cancelling being delivered via the earbud tips. And, yes, I’ve tried different tips in the hope that it would improve. It didn’t.
There’s an Adaptive Sound Control feature available in the Sony app which is designed to detect your actions and automatically switch how ambient sound is filtered in. So, it knows if you’re stationary, walking, running, or on public transport. Like any adaptive noise cancelling, this is incredibly difficult to test, but the fact remains that the WF-1000XM5 fall into the same category as every other non-Apple pair of earbuds I’ve tested.
They’re unspectacular when it comes to noise cancelling.
The same goes for ambient pass-through. I have not found a single pair of earbuds that come anywhere close to what Apple has achieved with transparency mode on AirPods Pro 2. The Sony WF-1000XM5 also fail to deliver a comparable experience when you want to hear the world around you. The good news is that you can hear the world around you when you turn it on, and it’s perfectly adequate for calls.
So, are the WF-1000XM5 the best noise-cancelling earbuds? I’m afraid not.
Design and quality of life
During a press call for the WF-1000XM5, Sony told us that one of the most consistent pieces of feedback they received about the WF-1000XM4 was the desire for them to be smaller and lighter.
The result is the WF-1000XM5, which are 25% smaller and 20% lighter than their predecessor.
This is where the benefits of owning the WF-1000XM5 really come into focus. They are incredibly light and very comfortable. I’m not usually a fan of stemless earbuds, but the fit of the WF-1000XM5 is lovely – I can wear them for long periods of time without fatigue.
There’s also a bountiful set of tips to choose from including a new ’SS’ size for those with particularly small ear canals. In fact, the design overall is lovely. A special shout-out must go to the case, which is slightly smaller than the previous version and delightfully compact overall. There’s also a physical pairing button, which wasn’t present on the WF-1000XM4 case.
Owners of WF-1000XM4 who are looking to upgrade will be happy to hear that multipoint, cross-platform device switching is available from the word go, rather than as part of a future firmware update (it took months for that feature to arrive on the WF-1000XM4). It works well, too.
The battery life remains the same at 24 hours with the charging case and a three-minute charge delivers an impressive 60 minutes of playback. Out of the case, the WF-1000XM5 will last eight hours with noise cancellation turned on. You can also charge the case by placing it on compatible Xperia smartphones.
Water resistance remains unchanged at IPX4, and the touch controls are still present. I still prefer Apple’s squeezy stems, but the touch controls on the WF-1000XM5 didn’t grate quite as much as they do on competing buds.
Conclusion
Ooh, the WF-1000XM5 are so close to being a great alternative to the AirPods Pro 2. They sound great. They’re supremely comfortable. The design is inoffensive and impressively light on its feet. They’re capable of 360 audio and LDAC goodness.
It’s just that noise-cancelling claim, I’m afraid. I have no doubt that Sony has legitimate reasons to say that it’s world-beating, but in my experience, it just isn’t anywhere close to AirPods Pro 2.
The sound performance is hard to look past, though. You just need to keep in mind that EQing the WF-1000XM5 is an essential step during the setup process. That caught me off guard, I’ll admit.
The Sony WF-1000XM5 can definitely be recommended. But if you’re after the best noise-cancelling earbuds on the market, the second-generation AirPods Pro still remain king.
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6 Comments
Hi Mark, interesting review. Are you saying that if you do your normal non EQ’d test then the sounds produced are not as good as others? One of the good things about your reports is to start from basic specs and settings, gives a pretty good level playing field to start from.
Looks like no switch from AirPods.
Yep, that’s exactly what I’m saying. This illustrates why reviewing headphones is so tricky and incredibly subjective – more so than any other tech product, in my opinion. Sound is so personal.
Our experience with the noise cancelling is so, so different. Note that I personally have to use the large tips not the preinstalled medium to achieve any decent cancellation, and I personally prefer Comply tips to the stock ones. Fit is extremely important for good ANC. But I work retail and often use my earbuds on breaks or when shopping after work and it cuts just about everything out – even on busy days, which is no small feat.
I was a bit surprised about your take on the noise canceling for the air pods 2 vs WF1000XMF5. Itoo like comply but have found a couple different tips that make the Sony xm5 a cut above. Even the newest bose seem to me to have a better ANC than airpods2
This review isn’t comprehensive and useful as it should – it doesn’t cover call quality performance.
I tested these side by side with the airpod 2’s, and I am convinced that you are either trolling or you had noise canceling turned off. The ANC on the XM5’s is incredible, very comparable to the Airpod Pro 2’s, slightly better at some frequencies, but very close.