WH-1000XM5 Premium Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones, Black

I am almost 65 years old SO, I DO NOT have the ears of a 18 year old. That said, I consider these to be good for these reasons: A: Exceptional battery life. B: Call quality that was considered good UNTIL I did a direct comparison to my Blueparrott B450-XT’s - NO WHERE NEAR the quality of the Blue 450’s, BUT the Blues are made specifically for calls in noisey environments. . Blues are in my opionion the defacto standard by which all other ANC phone calls should be judged. My "demo" for people is to run my upright vacuum cleaner whilst on a call. People on the other end cannot hear it AT ALL – REALLY!, I hear them, and they hear me perfectly! TRULY amazing! I did the same test with these and alas they failed miserably in comparison. I expected that. I was told they sound like I am in a room away from the microphone, a bit fishtank like, and muddy. SO, they’ll do in a call but not as a primary phone call device in noise. I heard a sample of the BOSE 700’s and they were terrible, which is what prompted me to get the Sony’s. C: One unconventional thing they do great at: A Sleep Aid. Yup, they drown out all the extraneous noises like people talking, Air conditioners, fans, Water coolers, hums, etc. ALL gone with nothing playing through them! I bought them primarily for playing on my PS5, and watching TV late at night. They do both quite well. D: Amazingly, my ears do not sweat much in these even after prolonged use. I’ve ordered those Dekoni Suede Earpads for them as well just for added comfort. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BS4T3X62?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) (5/16/23 - Returned The earpads: they claim they are suede when in fact they are 2/3 suede. The inner part inside the cup is something else, not leather so NOT durable. Considering this, $49 seems FAR too expensive.) E: They are long-term comfortable unless you have ears like a B-52 in which case you will probably be stuffing bits. As for music, I find them to be more flat without pronounced highs or bass - which I prefer. The EQ on the app is a nice feature. The ANC works very well listening to music and will be adequate to the task in both quiet and noisey settings. Again, I remind you, I’m not 18. ;-) Pricewise, they ARE a bit expensive but the build quality seems better than most. If you have the time, I would HIGHLY recommend you test several brands and models at a store simply because sound quality is subjective and EVERYONE has their preference. UPDATE: 5/23/23 - Returning (REPLACING) Headphones - Why? They started acting "Funky". By that, I mean that if you turn them off, they will not turn on unless you do not hit any buttons for about 15 sec. NOT normal. ALSO, they started to exhibit Connection issues that were NOT there initially. I STILL, at this point consider them excelllent. Now, if the NEW pair goes weird, THEN I would have to re-evaluate. UPDATE 6-3-23: New pair are working as they should no connection issues or on/off bttun problems. UPDATE 2-16-24: Still working perfectly and I use them nearly every night to sleep. UPDATE 7-31-25: Still working great and I still use them as silencers.

I have been using Sony noise canceling earbuds for the last couple of years. I own both the XM3 and XM4 models and I have come to really love both the sound quality and the extra features Sony has packed them. Fast bear on android is amazing, it works without any effort. The first time you turn it on or if you turn it on in pairing mode a picture of the headphones will pop up on a nearby android device and you just click connect, it is as simple as connecting air pods to an iPhone. Onto these headphones, they are exceptional. Battery life is amazing, but that is to be expected from any premium wireless over your headphones. The touch controls have a bit of a learning curve, but they are for the most part very good (I have one issue with them, but I will get to that later). The noise cancelling is amazing of course, but what is more impressive is the improvements made to transparency mode. It no longer picks up background noise from fans and cars as much as it used to. Support for Spotify tap means you can launch Spotify, and have it pick up where you left off without even touching your phone. The new safe listening feature tells you if you are listening to music at unsafe levels for too long. It keeps track of how much time you listen at various decibel levels so it can tell you if you have been listening too much. Sound quality is of course very good. Also, Sony's EQ is not the best, but for most people it is more than sufficient. If you like a bit more or less base you can adjust all of that very easily, and it comes with several presets. The issues: I have had three issues with my headphones so far. The first one was a strange bug where it identified to my phone as the FCC registered model number instead of as WH 1000 XM5 with a reset after a firmware update. The next issue is that I have not been able to get it to register with Google's find my device service, it is not a huge deal for me especially because I am less likely to leave the headphones somewhere that I am something smaller like earbuds, but it seems like that can be a bit hit or miss. The last issue is one that I alluded to earlier, and it is with the touch controls. These headphones do not have a physical Google assistant or any digital assistant button, instead you either say the wake word, or press and hold on the radio until you hear a tone. There is a strange bug when I tried to reply to a text that the Google assistant just read to me. It records my reply, but then says to push the Google assistant button to send or press and hold to record the message. You cannot push the Google assistant button, or you can do is press and hold which will just record the message so you cannot send your reply. However, this does not seem to be an issue when you just try to send a text, only when you reply so it is not the end of the world. Well, that ended up being longer than I thought it would. I hope someone has found this helpful because I just spent far too long writing it.

I own Sony’s WH-1000 XM4s and the Bose 700s, two of the leading models in the industry. I had AirPods Max for a minute, but I rage-sold them. To me, the Sony and Bose are both awesome headsets. So I was psyched to hear Sony was releasing XM5s. Summer’s here, and these can get a little hot on hot days outdoors. It’s like wearing earmuffs on the beach. But, if you can get past a little sweaty ears, or if you use them indoors or on airplanes, you should be a little excited. The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones feature, what Sony advertises, “industry-leading noise cancellation.” And they ain’t lyin. With Bluetooth 5.2 and Sony's QN1 and V1 chips, the XM5s have DUAL processors - compared to the lonely single processor of the XM4. These two processors control 8 microphones for crazy accurate noise cancellation. Think - a little computer actually sampling noise from fans, airplane engines, air conditioners, motors, and consistent noise like that - and creates an identical but perfect opposite wave, so they kinda cancel each other out. And this time, the dual processors are capable of filtering higher frequency sounds, including some voices. It’s pretty cool tech. The first time you hear this, it’s like magic! In my video review, you can see my personal reaction. With the XM5s, noise canceling is automatically optimized based on your wearing conditions and environment. You don’t have to do anything. It knows if you’re sitting, walking, in an airplane, et cetera. No, noise reduction probably won’t completely cancel a very loud angry spouse, or a crying baby. But the over the ear closed design may help dull annoying sounds. A very small cadre of people claim they become nauseous using noise cancelling headphones, and especially the old model XM4s. I’ve never experienced this personally, but be aware it could happen. You can disable it if you need to. Some people thought the WH-1000XM4s were too snug. I thought they felt great, but they’ve improved the fit with a new lightweight design with soft-fit leather. This material fits snugly but with less pressure on your ears while still keeping out the external sounds you don’t want to hear. There were a few other design changes – the XM5s aren’t foldable like the XM4s, and there’s a redesigned case that’s collapsible to save room in your bag when you’re wearing your headphones. With up to 30 hours of battery life, you’ll have enough power to travel halfway to the moon in one of Elon Musk’s rockets. But, in case you forgot to charge and you’re in a hurry, you can get 3 hours' worth of charge after just 3 minutes with an optional AC adapter. And unfortunately, the in-flight plug adapter is not included in the supplied accessories this time. But who uses that anyway? That’s so old school! Fortunately, there still is an aux-in for you old-school holdouts. The touch controls survived, where you can pause/play/skip tracks, control volume, activate your voice assistant, and answer phone calls. And the speak to chat lives also, where as soon as you start a conversation, Speak-to-Chat automatically stops your music and lets in ambient sound. And wear detection knows when you take them off. But – how do they sound? Sony has popped new, more rigid, 30mm carbon fiber drivers in the XM5s. They have more of an audiophile sound profile with slightly more balanced sound, better clarity, and more accurate bass. That’s important if you listen to real music, you know, with actual instruments, like rock, jazz, r and b, country, classical, and music like that. The XM4s have 40mm drivers, which will probably be better for hip-hop. The XM5s will reproduce hip-hop very accurately, meaning the way the studio producer intended you to hear it, but they probably won’t have the head-vibrating tinnitus-inducing bass many people want. TBH that's hard to find in any headphone due to physics. The XM5s support LDAC and spatial 3D audio, whatever that is, and they have also upgraded their Sony Music Studios Edge-AI music algorithm, which somehow magically guesses what musical dynamics were lost during compression and tries to replace that, so everything sounds crisp and clean without losing the bass that’s necessary in most of today’s popular music. I have heard some folks claimed the MX4s sounded “muddy” with some music. I didn’t notice that, but I’m a producer and I’m familiar with equalization. There are about 20 presets including several you can create yourself. And even without the Qualcomm APTX Low Latency chip, both my XM4s and XM5s allowed me to watch a complete movie on Netflix on my 2022 Samsung Frame television, wirelessly, from 10-plus feet away, with ZERO loss in mouth synchronization. Plus, like my XM4s, the XM5s still have dual Bluetooth pairing so you can pair them with two devices at the same time and switch back and forth between them. It's a pretty cool feature if you use them for your phone, but also want to use them to watch YouTube videos at work on your computer. But, you probably shouldn’t tell your boss about that. And the XM5s work with Google Assist, Alexa, and Siri. You can even set up Spotify playback with a few taps. Try that on your Air Pods Max. The big win seems to be a vast improvement in the sound of your voice during phone calls quality. They’re actually impressive when it comes to calling in louder rooms. I’ve made test calls on busy streets and on windy sidewalks, and my call-ee said she couldn’t tell I was actually outdoors. Apparently, the four beam-forming microphones and the dual-processor software can recognize your voice and somehow block a lot of background noise. I mean, you can still probably hear tire screeches, gunshots, and car alarms, things you’ll typically hear in the city. But a lot of the noise is just gone. Like magic! Oh – and there’s Speak to Chat. You start speaking, and the XM5s automatically adjust noise cancellation to pick up the voices of other people. No buttons, no fumbling with your phone. That’s a pretty cool feature. So are they worth the upgrade? If you have XM4s and you think your call quality is shaky, then grab some XM5s and sell your sweaty old XM4s on Craigslist. If you’re moving from Bose's Noise Canceling 700 or QuietComfort 45s, the new dual processors and 8 microphone array will provide some noticeable improvements, plus the dual Bluetooth sync, so they’re probably worth looking into. If you’re done with your Air Pods Max and prefer better compatibility with non-Apple stuff including android phones, PCs, and Sony or Samsung Smart TVs, it’s a no-brainer.

EDIT AFTER 1 YEAR OF USE: One of the most frustrating device I've EVER used. I've tested this on 3 separate PC's! If you want to wirelessly connect this to your PC via Bluetooth, hope whatever you're doing is worth stopping! 7 out of 10 times it just connects for a few seconds (no sound), then disconnects, and repeats forever till you LITERALLY RESET YOUR PC and hope it works this time. There's no way around it. I've tried unpairing it from the PC, resetting the headphones, updating the firmware of both devices. NOT ONLY THESE ISSUES but at COMPLETE random it'll decide to turn on "Speak to Chat" without ANY input or button presses from me. Having this option on means every time you speak, grunt, or hum, it'll drastically turn down the volume of the sound in your headphones for about 5 seconds, forcing you to stay as quiet as possible. The only way to turn this off is to go into the app and turn it off, EVERY time." I no longer recommend this device. Sure, it works pretty well, but with all it's issues, if I had another choice that was equal, I'd pick something else. Edit after 5 months of use: Disconnects are more frequent, and at times it would suddenly lower the audio quality. The only way to fix it is to stop everything you're doing, turn it off, turn it on, and hope it reconnects. If I could, I'd get a refund. Either I have a defective model or it happens to everyone just not as frequent. **Edit after a month of use: Using Multi-device connection is very spotty, 3 out of 10 times the headphones will completely turn off without warning, even with a full battery. Noise cancelling is still very annoying, I'll hear all the sound around me till it decides to kick in and block some of it. With no way to adjust the amount of Noise Cancellation happening, the M3's I've been using has better blocking on some occasions. The issue with the band on the top is still just as bad, it genuinely hurts after long amounts of use. The only improvement from the M3 that I see is I can KIND OF sleep on my side with these on and they stay on my head better without sliding down. I still do no recommend this unless you plan on wearing it for short periods and in a quiet environment.** So this review is coming from someone who's worn the M3 Headset for over 4 years and I have to say, it's awful. I live in a place where there's sound in every direction. Dogs barking, kids screaming, everything you can think of, and ANC is a requirement for getting any work done. So the good: - Ear cups are comfortable, doesn't crush your head after long periods of time. - Sound is good, not absolutely amazing, but good. You need to download the Sony app to alter the sound to allow any bass to work, otherwise it'll sound static-y. - ANC is awesome but it's adaptive, which I don't like, but can be a plus for some. When it worked it blocked out almost every single sound. - The case design is cool, it has a little compartment inside that holds the charger cable and headphone jack. The bad: - I'm used to my M3's cancelling noise constantly, this device would adapt to the sound around you, letting sound bleed through before blocking it out after. Example: I was listening to a song at moderate volume, I could make any sound I want and I couldn't hear it. When the music had a break in volume, I could hear a LOT outside the headphones. - The head band that goes over your head is PAINFUL! It legit hurt after only an hour of use, it has almost NO padding and it was a thin plastic. - THE COLLAPSABLE CASE IS TERRIBLE! I unzipped the case to take the headphones out, I used them for a good 2 hours, put them back into the case, and when I went to open it again the zipper got stuck and it's IMPOSSIBLE to open now. Trust me, I got three separate people to try and open the case, they can't. I've been looking forward to a new ANC headphone brand, and I'm disappointed Sony didn't have someone wear these for more than an hour or try zipping and unzipping the bag more than a few times before going "yep, let's send them out.". Sadly, I do no recommend these unless they are on sale and you DIY a comfortable way of wearing them for the top of your head. If they update the ANC and you want to work on making it not hurt the top of your head, they are decent, but not 400$ plus tax decent. The red circle on the picture shows a hole in the zipper, making it impossible to fully open.

Quick take aways: Without an EQ, the headphones have a very very dark sound signature (I was not a fan) Sound very good for Bluetooth headphones with EQ, sound okay when wired ANC seems to be decent, lot of customisability in the app ANC works well in standalone mode (without pairing) Battery life is good No form of sweat/water resistance is a minus but can be worked around High noise floor (if you care about that sort of thing) Optional pause with take off and resume with put on feature is amazing! As a preface, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are my first set of ANC headphones. I would consider myself a mild audiophile (I have a DAC, AMP, and too many headphones). With that said, everyone's ears are different so take this with an extra pinch of salt. Out of the box experience: The packaging was quite nice. It included a hard-shell carrying case, USB-C to USB-A charging cable, 1.2m long 3.5mm cable, and the headphones. The connection process for new devices is wonky and leaves a bit to be desired. The initial pairing did not work until I installed the Sony Headphones Connect app from the appstore. After this, you have to power off the device then power on and hold the power button for 5 seconds to enter pairing mode (confirmed by a vocal "pairing" from the headphones). The sound signature left a lot to be desired. For a bit of background, my favourite type of headphone is flat/neutral with a balanced sound signature. I enjoy heavy bass in electronic music and am sensitive to loud highs/mids (I get listener fatigue quite fast from it). I enjoy a lot of variety when listening to music an will try most things out. In particular I regularly listen to Classical, Avant-garde, Experimental, Easy listening, Electronic, Contemporary folk, Latin, Jazz, Rock, and some Traditional folk. I don't tend to listen to much Blues, Rap, or Hip Hop. I occasionally listen to mainstream-Pop and Country. Without EQ, the sound signature is very very dark. The bass is very punchy and present, the mids are recessed, and the highs have their edge taken off. I was not a fan of it for anything but electronic tracks with no vocals and heavy bass. Even then, it wasn't particularly amazing. Anything with vocals will sound horrendous (again, with no EQ) as the bass frequencies in voices will be very pronounced. The ANC worked well for me out of the box. For the open mode, I set it to let near voices through and ambient noise out. I use them with eyeglasses but the ANC still seems to work well. They do a particularly good job of filtering out A/C noises, the electronic whine that appliances generate (not all people can hear this), and running water. The ANC tends to struggle with erratic high pitched noises (as I understand it, most ANC systems do). However, it will dull the noise a tad through both the closed back headphone and ANC component. Adaptations Since I was not a fan of the sound profile out of the box, I set up an EQ profile with these headphones. The Sony Headphones Connect app includes an EQ but I found it to be extremely limited in terms of customisability (I did not like any of the presets that were offered) and not very user friendly. Due to this, I set up my own external EQ using AutoEq (on github) as a starting point. After fine tuning it to my preferences, using the headphones became a much much better experience. They sound very good for Bluetooth headphones. For genres where I like more bass, I strongly prefer the Sony headphones over my Sennheiser and prefer the Sony to my Bose. In wired mode, the headphones definitely sound better but no where near as good as my other wired headphones. If I'm attached to a wire, I would rather just switch to another pair of headphones. With that said, they do sound better if you leave the headphones on while connected with a cable. The ANC works well for me. If I use them for noise canceling without music, it can get unsettlingly quiet in the mornings (which is a great thing). Around others, particularly in the kitchen, the headphones do a very good job of dulling and eliminating noises. The pass through function works well in the event of conversation. I am a very quiet eater but these headphones did a great job canceling out all noises while I ate. I don't use these headphones outside, so I do not know how well they perform with nature's noises. The gesture controls included are useful but a bit too involved to be my go to. If I have physical access to my device, I prefer to use that to control the music. However, the pause on take off feature is amazing! It consistently pauses my media any time I have to take my headphones off and resumes right where it left off and soon as I put it on. Simply magic is the only way I have to explain it (the function can be turned off if you don't like/want it).

I thoroughly enjoy what Sony has to offer in their product line. I have the PlayStation 5, a Sony Bravia 4K TV and several other Sony products. Yes although I have owned a few of their product line I will not try to be biased here with the review. What got me into Sony products was really their earphones dating back to 2011! They have the best earphones you could get for $20 back at the time in 2011 and now the quality they still continue to put out never disappoints! Here's the pros and cons of the Sony WH-1000XM5. Update: I also picked up the XM4 Earbuds from Sony and take note that those are on a different level for listening to music compared to the XM5 Over the Ear headphones. Shares the same features like the XM5, not the same sound like over the ear obviously but also more marketed to those who goes to the gym and likes something more compact. Pros: Comfortable and lightweight! I don't ever have a complaint with what they have to offer when it comes to comfort. These are better than BOSE in regards as to comfort. I think the one thing that makes them comfortable also is that they are light. They weigh only about 0.56 pounds! People tend to have problems with headphones if they are heavy in my opinion! I also assume they use a low density memory foam for cushioning which is great but will eventually need to be replaced or tended to if left compressed or squished for too long. Unique features Noise Cancelling is top notch but not much different than their previous lines in my opinion! It is a standard these days to get noise cancelling and the headphones are great for drowning out noise if need be. They also tend to those who need to be aware of their surroundings by implementing a ambient mode like previous models. Works great and works like a charm by either taking the headphones off or covering the touch control panel. Also the Speak to Pause Music feature is insanely nice to have! Helps when your hands are busy and or you just don't want to adjust your headphones having to speak. Superb sound! The sound quality out of these are amazing! Does really well in all areas of music genres. Particularly really in low frequencies for bass! I get to enjoy these at a great volume and it pairs amazingly with my PS5 as a gaming headset! (Will mention the headphones does not come with a microphone for gaming when using a headphone jack.) As a pair of noise cancelling headphones, you can expect to hear a positively good detail in music, movies, gaming or even a phone call! They are clear and surprisingly really balanced. The microphone on these headphones for phone calls are great. Better than the previous versions. Fast charging! The charging rate of these headphones is incredible! I never knew how fast charging can be with this! There's times I have left this powered on overnight as I'm at work for my 10 hour job and it was drained by the time I wanted to use it again. In those times I left it charging and goodness greatness these were ready to go in a about 10-15 minutes! I enjoy these so much that I'm actually glad they have a 24-30 hour battery life. Cons: Cost. Its expensive! If you can get these on sale, it's worthwhile! If it's in your budget go for it! You pay for what you get in my opinion and these are worth their weight in gold! Fitment. They don't exactly fit around my short wide neck whenever I need to take it off and be present in a conversation or in my surroundings. Not exactly a big matter or deal breaker. More so it's a personal perspective. My neck size is 15 ¾ inches in circumference and that's pretty average I believe. I have to extend these in order to keep them around my neck without compromise. They also do not fold inward like the previous Sony headphone models but again never a issue. Cushion. Yes the ear cup cushions are comfortable but again when I place them around my neck it compresses the cushion to a point where it feels awkward after putting it back on. I'm looking at other options to replace their soft fit leather design. Update: There is different earcups that you can replace the OEM cups with but it comes at a cost of I believe $60 which is worth noting. Conclusion. Worthiness of $350+ (price as of 12/07/2022) during the holidays? Yes! Personal opinionated review: Sony WH-1000XM5 or other leading competition? Sony, easily Sony. I've never been unhappy about this purchase and I tell people that Sony is industrial leading company that continues to impress people when it comes to their headphones. Beats by Dre(Apple), Apple and Bose has always been great by popularity but Sony gets appraised by quality! I will update this review as I go until they put a new model out.

I bought the Bowers and Wilkins Px7 S2 a couple of years ago, refurbished like new. Its sound is excellent, and its soundstage is good as they claim. However, its microphone was not as good as I had hoped. Fast-forward to 2024, the Sony WH1000MX7 was on sale for nearly 50% off the original MSRP. Of all of the Bluetooth headphones with ANC, it was consistently rated the best or runner-up. Notably, its microphone was well-regarded. I bought one, refurbished like new. I will compare these two as they were contemporaries and direct competitors. My general use cases consist of listening to music while I work, participating in a virtual meeting, and talking on the phone while I do chores around the home. Music on the Bowers and Wilkins is where the headphones shine. The Px7 S2 was reported to have a very neutral sound out of the box. I found that to be very true. Its soundstage magic and clarity of drivers gave each part of the music very good separation. I listened to the Jurassic Park theme song from years ago — don’t judge. It is orchestral with many instruments contributing to the detailed delight of sound. I use this track to sound-check every new pair of headphones I get, so this would have been the sixth or seventh pair of headphones I used to listen to that theme song. For the first time, I heard two or three instruments whereas before I thought there was only one. How did the Sony’s do? They were pristine headphones, but they couldn’t achieve that level of detail and separation. Out of the box, the Sony headphones are said to be a bit bass-heavy. However, the customization feature of the app allowed me to tune the bass to my preferences. Sony partially compensates with its app and five-channel equalizer, but it could not better B&W’s music-playing prowess. For the second challenge, the Px7 S2’s were wasted on video conferencing calls. Yes, my managers never sounded so life-like except when they were in person. My tuned Sony cans were more than capable of reproducing their sound. Sony wins this round, because my colleagues described me as sounding more loud with my Sony’s. And in the final challenge, I switched between the two headphones while taking telephone calls. For the most part, the Px7 S2’s was overqualified in sound production. Background sounds on my end were also filtered out by the mic, except on two occasions when I got ice from my ice dispenser and ripped open a package at chest height. Meanwhile, the Sony sounded just fine, but the ice dispenser was not so annoying at the other end. Other notes: The Px7 S2 has a physical button to toggle on-off. It’s a quick flip of the switch, and within seconds it is connected and ready to go. The Sony’s power button is a press-and-hold button. It’s a little more annoying, because if you hold it too long, it does something else. It takes just as long to get connected. Gone are the days I tell my conversation partner to wait while I get bluetooth connected and have to put on elevator music for them. Of the two designs, I prefer Bowers and Wilkins’s. The Sony headphones rely mostly on touch controls. Although all manner of functions can be done via touch, I can’t remember which gesture does what. The Px7 S2 uses physical buttons for volume control, play/pause, and connect and disconnect. Once more, I prefer the physical controls. Finally, the B&W headphones are noticeably heavier than the Sony ones. If you’re sitting and staying still, the extra weight doesn’t matter. On the other hand, if you’re up and about and turning your head often, the Sony’s feel much more planted on the head. The Sony’s are generally regarded as having better ANC. In my experience around the house, they’re very close. It still surprises me which sounds get through ANC and which don’t. With enough happening around you, the Sony’s seem to block more sound. You can’t go wrong with either pair of headphones. It’s very much up to your preferences. If you like strawberry — I don’t know — go with one of them. If you prefer chocolate, then go with the other one, I’d say. Ok fine. If you want a more feature-filled app or better EQ or better mic or lighter weight => Sony. Sound or materials and style => B&W. How about that?

The Sony WH-1000XM5 are honestly a great pair of headphones. The sound quality is excellent, the noise cancelling is probably one of the best features, and they’re really comfortable even when wearing them for a few hours. The battery life is also very good, making them perfect for travelling or everyday use. The only downside for me is that they don’t fold as compactly as the older XM4s and the build could feel a little more solid. Overall, though, they’re a fantastic all-round pair of headphones and definitely worth considering, especially if you can get them at a good price. Unfortunately, my experience with Amazon.com was a completely different story. I originally ordered the headset through Amazon.com, but it was delivered to the wrong address. When I contacted Amazon about the issue, I was told that I needed to go to the police and file a report before they would consider refunding me, which was extremely disappointing. In the end, I purchased the headset from Best Buy instead and had a much better experience. It also made me appreciate how much better my experiences have been with Amazon.co.za compared to Amazon.com. The product itself is excellent, but unfortunately the experience with Amazon.com left a very sour tast

Ürün mukemmel. Memnunum. Tabiki Amazon güvencesinde tskler

Excellent

This is by the best headphones I have ever bought. The price reflects the quality, but if it’s within reach of your budget or a bit of a stretch more, you would not regret the purchase afterwards. Still have not gone through all the features, functions, and app but based just based off the sound alone I am extremely satisfied

Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Industry Leading Noise Cancelling Headphones with Auto Noise Cancelling Optimizer, Crystal Clear Hands-Free Calling, and Alexa Voice Control, Black Well I finally felt time to upgrade my headphones. I've been using the old Boss quiet comfort 3's. Quite dated I know. But it lasted me a very long time. It's done well for me Now after much time passed I finally picked up this Sony xm5. My comparison is with that old headphone. Perhaps not the best apples to apples fairness. I don't look for studio reference flat sound with these . I look daily music listening whilst working. Something to work out with. Something that has good enough clarity in highs and deep bass for pop music. My high fi lilistening is done by wired headphones which is a total other category of audiophile gear. For these I need superb noise cancelling that is superior to Bose . I need exciting lively bass tightness and crispy highs without harshness. A good mic for conference calls. An ambient mode to use when jogging. This Sony xm5 delivers and TLDR I can easily replace my Bose qm3 with these. 1. Sound . First thing I noticed immediately... This has ultra tight bass . Bass is as deep as you want it. And can be set to create a super tight quick reacting bass. Very satisfying in all musical genres. Wayyy exceeds Bose bass performance which IMO was its weakest point . By default thigh highs are flat and lifeless but after a super quick EQing session I got it to my preferred listening and it sounds amazing. I'm very happy with the sound. It feels smooth and unfatiguing when I want it... And then it can be eq'd to be clinically sharp but not harsh.... Whenever you feel like it. It is hands down a huge step above Bose. 2. Noise cancelling. TLDR? Huge upgrade over Bose qc3. It's dead quiet. It is scare silent actually... Really eerie. I love this because I turn it on and just use it as a way to work I'm office without the hum of the hvac system. 3. Ambient mode. The Sony app allows you to adjust the levels to satisfy how much exterior sound to leak into your headphones. I like this. It also allows you to setup detection mode to allow you to swap to ambient mode automatically when you talk and have conversations.... Music stops. After 15 seconds the ambient mode reverts back to noise reduction mode and resumes music. Really handy. Love it. 3. Mic for conference calls. Absolutely outstanding without premature cutting off of voice which is a common issue with these headphone mics... Bose suffered from this greatly. This is crystal clear mic and no issues using this in professional conference calls. 4. Tap controls.. very simple straight forward. Uses a swipe or tap setup on the right ear. The entire right side ear flat side is a drawing board . Large surface area makes for superbly reliable gestures that make it consistent and easy to control. Swiping up and down is volume. Swiping fwd or back is tracks. Double tapping pause and resumes. Theres no way to adjust the gesture actions on the app. .nor is there a way to make the left side become gesture side in case you prefer left side .... It's ONLY right side. To me it is not a show stopper but perhaps for others it could be. The only other buttons is the ANC button to toggle noise cancelling mode and ambient mode. You can program double or triple clicking of the button to launch Spotify or other music apps but I only use double tap for Spotify. The other button is on/off / pairing. This isn't customizable. I would have liked to see a bit more customizable actions here but it's OK... Sometimes it's better to have more simplicity. Oh by the way you can turn OFF the tap swipe gestures entirely case you find this to be annoying with accidental taps especially when You're wearing the headphones laying down 5. Automatic modes. Based on location , you can have your phone help detect location and automatically set your profile for you. Example if you're working , set noise cancelling ... Or if it detects jogging then setup ambient mode . Etc... handy but not something I would use. I like to be in control. 6. Comfort. This is a really light weight product. Very comfortable. Wraps FULLY account ear. Theres no issue with long wear time because it's so light and feels great. The vinyl material wraps the foam and doesn't feel sweaty . You can replace this with other materials ( third party). Lots out there. I really wished there are larger Labelling of L and R to quickly visually see which side is right. It's a tiny little R on the inside of the headphone head piece ... The BOSe had a huge R and L on the inside of the headphone ear foam so it's hidden front he outside but still stealthy. I get that Sonys design for these headphones are minimalist stealthy look but the R and L could've been larger and still stealthy. 7. This uses USBC. And charges quick and lasts a long time. Whilst not as long as my Bose, it's long enough for me to be reliable to last me entire day and MORE. no problem. I have no issues here. It's fantastic. 8. The Sony connect app is clean and easy to use. It's what unlocks the Sony headphones to another level. Much better than Bose software. You need it for eq and various profiles . Without it you're going to miss out. So to conclude I'm gonna give it huge 5 star rating. Rare for me. It's a fantastic device. Huge upgrade from my Bose qc3. Really happy with this so far. And what made it a great buy from me is I've found it in Amazon warehouse open box pricing. You can't beat that . Hope this helps

One of the best purchases I’ve made. I bought these pair of headphones to be able to focus on office. They get the job done so well. Everything else about these is just perfect - battery, sound quality, touch controls. One thing to note is if you wear glasses the earcups cannot form a proper seal and the ANC won’t work well so it’s a choice between either wearing your glasses or having peace and quiet. Lastly the headphones are base heavy by default, so the music may sound muddy, but it’s easily solvable by custom EQ settings in the Sony headphones app.