Get Them Here
Sony WH-1000XM5: https://amzn.to/3HuLfRa
Sony WH-1000XM4: https://amzn.to/3SsfL4l
Sony WH-1000XM3: https://amzn.to/48KE2bu
Now I will admit, we got the Sony WH-1000XM5’s much earlier than I expected. I wasn’t expecting these headphones for another 8 to 12 months. Now even though the 1000XM5’s block out more noise, they sound a little better, and they have better feeling leatherette… their redesigned body has brought us all the way back to square one. Nonetheless, today we’re going to checkout the 1000XM5’s…. And we’re going to see how they compare to the 1000XM4’s, 1000XM3’s, and I’m even going to lightly sprinkle in the 1000XM2’s.
Now regarding pricing, the 1000XM5’s retail for $400. Which is a $50 price increase from both the 1000XM4’s and 1000XM3’s when they first came out. However, Sony’s 1000X headphones used to retail for $400 back in the day. Nonetheless, I do expect all of these headphones to go on sale on a regular basis… and personally, I am team 1000XM4. But if you want to pick any of these headphones up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first, we have to talk about the 1000XM5’s all new design. This is a complete overhaul from both the 1000XM4’s and 1000XM3’s bodies which were an evolution from the 1000XM2’s body. Now instead of continuing to refine the 1000XM4’s body… the 1000XM5’s basically decided to copy the Bose NC 700’s and AirPods Max body… and unfortunately there are some major drawbacks here when compared to Sony’s previous design language. For starters, the most glaring drawback of this new body is that it isn’t fully collapsable… which means the 1000XM5’s have a significantly larger case than all of its predecessors. So if you plan on constantly traveling with these headphones… this case is going to be a big hassle compared to its predecessors and competition. The XM5’s case doesn’t just simply have a larger foot print than their predecessors… its also significantly thicker. And even though Sony’s new case is similar to Bose’s NC 700 case… it still has a significantly larger foot print and its noticeably thicker. So overall, personally for me, the 1000XM5 are not my first choice for traveling because this new case is borderline unmanageable… and it was the first gripe that I have with the 1000XM5’s… given that I’m so used to traveling with either my 1000XM4’s, XM3, and now even my QC45’s.
But now lets move on from the case… and lets focus on the headphones themselves. The XM5’s are using different materials from its predecessors and even the rest of Sony’s headphones lineup. For starters, the ear cups on the XM5’s are using the same recyclable plastic that is found on the Linkbuds. So these ear cups have a slate finish to them instead of a soft touch finish to them like what’s found on the XM4’s and XM3’s. Now personally I am indifferent about Sony’s use of recyclable plastic here because it doesn’t make it hard to handle these headphones. Unlike the Linkbuds, since their case is slippery, they’re harder to handle. But more importantly, the 1000XM5’s are using all new leatherette… And this is great news cause the leatherette on the 1000X series has always been very lack luster especially when compared to the competition. Now the leatherette on the XM5’s is very smooth and its very soft… but there’s no grain to it like what you would find on the leatherette found on either the Bose NC 700 or QC45’s. But the important thing here is that it doesn’t feel plastic-y like the leatherette found on previous models. This leatherette feels a little bit like silicone but with less friction. Overall I like I like it.
But now, lets talk about fit. Now one of the cool things about the XM5’s is that Sony managed to shave off 4 grams… so the XM5’s weigh in at 250 grams. Where as both the XM4’s and XM5’s weigh in at 254… the XM2’s 275 grams… and for comparison sake, the Bose NC 700 weigh in at 274 grams, and the AirPods max weigh in at a hefty 384 grams. So personally, I am very happy to see that Sony is at least still focusing on putting out light weight headphones… cause weight does contribute to overall comfort. However, the XM5’s are a long way off from your more ultra light weight headphones like either the Bose QC45 which weigh in at 234 grams and then there are the PXC 550 II which weigh in at 230 grams. But unfortunately, there are some noticeable comfort issues on the 1000XM5’s new body which just aren’t present on the XM4’s. Now yes, the Sony 1000XM5’s are big head approved… but they do have a little more clamping force than the XM4’s… but that isn’t the biggest issue here. The new headband on the XM5’s is significantly thinner and has significantly less padding than the XM4’s and XM3’s headband. So personally for me, I have noticed that the headband on the XM5’s does like to create a hot spot on the top of my head after wearing these headphones for 45 minutes. Where as hot spots have never been an issue for me with any of these previous 1000X headphones. But then, there are the earpads on the XM5’s. Now Sony has been progressively increasing the diameter of their earpads with every new release. And now the XM5’s have the largest diameter on them, which is great. However, something that Sony has just neglected… and actually they just reduced this on the XM5’s from the XM4’s… is the depth of their earpads. Even though the earpads on the XM5’s have a large diameter… they’re way shallower than the XM4’s and they’re even a little more shallow than the XM3’s. So what I have noticed with the XM5’s is that they really like to push down on the cartilage of my average sized ears. And after awhile… this does get uncomfortable. So the combination of the hotspot from the headband… and the constant pressing down of my ears… I simply cannot wear the XM5’s for nearly as long as either my XM4’s or XM3’s. So personally, I would only recommend the XM5’s if you have low profile ears. And it you have very large ears, or ears that stick out a lot… then I still recommend that you go with either the Bose NC 700, Bose QC45, or Sennheiser PXC 550 II cause their earpads have a lot more depth to them than the 1000XM5’s. So overall, I am going to have to say that the 1000XM4’s are way more comfortable than the 1000XM5’s. The additional 4 grams on the XM4’s is negligible… but more importantly, the XM4’s have less clamping force, their headband doesn’t create a hot spot on the top of your head and their earpads are more spacious cause they don’t press down on your ears. So with the XM4’s I can wear them for hours on end… where as with the 1000XM5’s… at the 45 minute mark I’m already needing a break. And even though the ear cups on the XM3’s aren’t are spacious… they’re still more comfortable than the XM5’s are well.
But now lets talk about tech specs, unfortunately, there aren’t any major and exciting changes here. The XM5’s still have an advertise battery life of 30 hours with their active noise cancellation turned on. The same as both the XM4 and XM3’s… but the XM5’s can go for as long as 40 hours with their ANC turned off… 2 hours more than both the XM4 and XM3.
Now don’t get me wrong, having an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on is good… but I was really hoping Sony would kick it up a notch to lets say 35 or maybe even 40 hours with their ANC turned on. Nonetheless, the XM5’s continue having a good battery life.
And in order to charge these headphones up they’re using a USB C port just like the XM4’s and XM3’s. And I just want to quickly say this… if you’re still somehow using the XM2’s this alone is a valid reason to upgrade. But I also want to quickly point out that the XM5’s now have better fast charging… cause from a dead battery a 3 minute charge will get you 3 hours of playback time… where as with both the XM4’s and XM’3 a 10 minute charge would get you a 5 hours of playback time. So at least there’s that.
Now when it comes to connectivity, just like with the XM4’s, the XM5’s can be connected to 2 devices at the same time. But just like with the XM4’s, if you want to use this feature on the XM5’s… you’re stuck with AAC. Now if you’re an iPhone user, this doesn’t matter. But if you’re an android user that wants to take advantage of LDAC, then you are going to have to make some sacrifices.
But at least the XM5 and XM4 can be connected to two devices a the same time period, cause this is something the XM3’s and XM2’s can’t do… and in general, Sony has been very slow to add this rather standard feature to their headphones.
But when it comes to overall performance, there zero latency across the board whether you’re watching a movie or video whether you’re on an iPhone or an android device… and when it comes to audio codecs… both the XM4’s and XM5’s have support for SBC, AAC, and Sony’s LDAC. Unfortunalty, the XM5’s don’t have an APTX support like the XM3’s… but this only matters if you’re an android user. iPhone’s top out at AAC.
However, I am very happy to point out that Sony hasn’t removed the audio jack on their new headphones. And personally I was worried that Sony would do this cause everyone loves to copy what apple does… which I feel was a foolish mistake. But unfortunately… you still can’t use the USB C point these headphones as a wired connection like you can with some other headphones out there. And I really feel that more headphones should add this feature.
But now, lets talk about sound. Now whenever I talk about the sound quality of a pair of headphones… I am talking about them while their active noise cancellation is turned off. Cause with some headphones… their ANC can really affect their overall sound quality. They can sound more narrow and or their bass won’t resonate as deep. But thankfully, that has never really been an issue for Sony’s headphones. Sony’s ANC doesn’t really affect the overall sound quality of their headphones, which is great. But with that being said, this is with the ANC being off on all of these headphones. Now yes, the XM5’s do sound a little better than both the XM4 and XM3’s. Specifically, the XM5’s have a little better instrument separation than their predecessors… so they sound a little more open. And I feel that this is a very big deal and a really good step in the right direction cause Sony’s headphones have always sounded a little narrow when compared to their direct competitors. Now even though the XM5’s sound more open than the XM4’s or XM3’s… its not a huge and noticeable difference. And even though the XM5’s do have better instrument separation… they do have a little less physicality in their bass than both the XM3’s and XM4’s. So if you’re someone that like to physically feel the kick from your bass on your headphones… the XM5’s is going to deliver less than both the XM4’s and XM3’s. And think the smaller 30 millimeter drivers on these headphones is part of the reason why versus the 40 millimeter drivers that you’ll find in both the XM4 and XM3. And even though the XM5’s do have an adjustable EQ, and you can go in and raise the clear bass slider on these headphones… and as a result, they will have more kick in their bass… both the XM3 and XM4 will continue to have more bass if you raise their sliders as well. So overall when it comes to sound quality… technically yes, the XM5’s sound better than the XM4’s and XM3’s cause they have the better instrument separation. But its a very subtle improvement… and the instrument separation on the XM5’s is still nowhere near the level of the Sennheiser Momentum 3 or AirPods Max. And unfortunately, due to the smaller drivers, these headphones have less kick in their bass… So personally I would only recommend the XM5’s if you’re someone that doesn’t need that kick in their bass. But if you do need that kick in your bass, then you’re better off with the XM4’s or XM3’s. And if you’re really serious about sound quality… you’re better off with either the Momentum 3, Bowers and Wilkins PX7’s, or dare that I even say is… AirPods Max.
But now lets talk about the media controls on these headphones. Just like with past 1000X headphones, the XM5’s have a touchpad. And as far as touchpads go… this one is very easy and its very accurate. But there are two pro tips that I do want to share with you. First off, if you swipe up an hold… then you can continuously raise or lower your volume, which I think is great to know if you want to quickly crank up or crank down the volume. And the other pro tip is that you can toggle Speak to Chat directly from the headphones themselves by pressing and holding on the touch pad with two fingers.
And finally, just like the XM4’s, the XM5’s have wear sensors. So if you take these headphones off or if you put them on, they’ll automatically play our pause your music. Now the fact that the wear sensor is hidden now verses the exposed wear sensor on the XM4’s isn’t a big. And overall, I really don’t care about wear sensors on my headphones, and I usually just turn that feature off.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. To keep things simple… yes the Sony 1000XM5’s are back to being the headphones that block out the most amount of noise right now. Even a little more noise than the AirPods Max which have been top dog for the last year and a half. But right now we’re going to run an ANC test featuring the 1000X lineup.
So like you may have just seen, the 1000XM5’s block out the most amount of noise here. And just so that there isn’t any confusion… yes, the 1000XM3’s continue to block out more noise than the 1000XM4’s. Now with the 1000XM5’s you can see that they do a great job of blocking out that constant lower frequency sound like road noise… and they do a spectacular job of blocking out higher frequency sounds like chatter. Something that the 1000XM4’s struggles to do compared to the 1000XM3’s. And with the 1000XM5’s they now automatically optimize their ANC relative to your wearing style and environment. Where as with both the 1000XM4’s and 1000XM3’s this is something that you would have to manually do. And this isn’t just marketing fluff, you can really tell a difference if you were to go through the calibration process at cruising altitude while in an airplane. So its nice that the XM5’s now automatically and continually do this. However, even though the XM5’s are blocking out more noise… they do have a little more cabin pressure to them. Now its not as much as AirPods Max… which do give me headaches. But the XM5’s have noticeably more cabin pressure than than all of its predecessors and they have a little more than the Bose QC45. Now cabin pressure will might not be an issue for some people… but it is for me. So if you’re sensitive to cabin pressure, then you’ll want to be carful with the XM5’s…. Or you’ll might want to go with the XM4’s to be safe… or if you want really good ANC with not a lot of cabin pressure… then you could go with the Bose QC45.
But then there’s the ambient mode on these headphones. Now in general, Sony has always had a really good sounding ambient mode. Its not as natural sounding as the AirPods Max… but its a close second. And just like with Sony’s other headphones you can adjust the ambient mode on the XM5’s to your liking. However, I am going to have to say that both the XM4’s and XM3’s have better performing ambient modes than the XM5’s… and that’s cause of two very specific and fringe cases. First off, with the XM5’s new design that also means new microphone placement. I noticed that while walking outdoors, the XM5’s where much faster to pick up wind noise than both the XM4’s and XM3’s. The microphones are more exposed on the XM5’s than with its predecessors. And then there’s the active ambient mode on these headphones. With both the XM3’s and XM4’s, if you’re walking out doors and there’s a sudden loud noise, they’re going to automatically turn off your ambient mode and simply save you from going deaf… like this.
So like you may have just seen, once the XM4’s detected that loud sound, they turned off their ambient mode, and when the loud noise stoped, they turned their ambient mode back on. Pretty cool. But then there’s the XM5’s… which turns off their ambient mode but then turns it back on and then turns it back off like this.
So like you saw, with this same sample, the XM5’s reacted, but they didn’t wait until the sound stopped… they just did what they did. So yeah, both the XM4’s and XM3’s are able to react to these situations correctly… but the XM5’s just don’t. And personally I just hate seeing this type of sloppy regression on new products. So do to the less effectiveness of the active ambient mode on the XM5’s, which was a feature that I would really love to show off on both the XM4’s and XM3’s… and due to the added wind noise on the XM5’s… I’m going to have to say that both the XM4’s and XM3’s have better performing ambient modes than the XM5’s.
But next up there’s speak to chat which made its debut on the XM4’s and it can be found on Sony’s more products, and it works a little like this.
But personally, I’m not a really big fan of speak to chat because it is very easy to accidentally active. If you’re talking to yourself very quietly that can activate it, if you’re singing along to your music, that can activate it, if you start laughing that can active it, and on rare occasions loud enough outside noises can activate it. So that’s why I don’t use it.
Personally, I still prefer to use quick attention on these headphones cause its a lot more intentional. When you fully cover the touch pad on these headphones they’re going to lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you like this.
And then when you let go, the headphones will go back to normal. Now like I said, I prefer quick attention cause its a lot more intentional. But Sony still refuses to just lock quick attention after its been activated for a few seconds. So you gotta stay there with your hand like this the whole time you’re talk to someone. I just want Sony to change it so that you can simply let go like with other headphones that have similar feature.
But finally lets talk about the microphone on these headphones. Now to be honest, this has never been Sony’s strong suit. The microphone on the XM3 is awful.
Where as with the XM4’s this microphone sounds much better while in a quite room… but it is defneitly still lacking when compared to other headphones out there.
And finally theres the microphone on the XM5’s which does a slightly better job of amplifying my voice than the XM4’s… but if you listen closely, there is a constant hissing in the background.
But the real difference is the way this microphone deals with ambient noise. Now my voice doesn’t have the best clarity right now…but the important thing is that you can understand me while this microphone is blocking out this road noise.
Cause with the XM4’s… this is just a disaster. You can still hear the road noise in the back ground and there’s a constant static when I talk.
And then there’s the XM3’s which don’t really try to block out road noise… and my voice still sounds shallow. And just for reference… this is the road noise that we’re trying to block out… and here we are back with the XM3’s.
And the same thing can be said when it comes to blocking out chatter… the XM3’s aren’t really trying to block out any noise and my voice sounds shallow… and for reference this is the chatter that we are trying to block out… and here we are back to the XM3’s.
Now the XM4’s do a much better job of dealing with chatter this time around… there isn’t any static when I’m talking and the chatter in the background is reduced. I would say that this is usable at least.
And finally here are the XM5’s which are really handling this chatter very well. Its much more reduced than on the XM4’s and my voice has a decent amount of clarity to it.
Overall, I would say that after 5 generations… Sony finally has a usable microphone on their headphones… but this definitely is not the best sounding microphone out there.
But with all of that being said… there are some notable improvements that I like on the Sony WH-1000XM5’s. Like I just mentioned, they finally have a usable microphone for phone calls, I like the feel of their new leatherette, and I am impressed by the amount of noise that they manage to block out. But the 1000XM5’s new design just brings with its so many draw backs and there are so many kinks on the 1000XM5’s which were ironed out in previous generations. First off, I hate the new larger case on these headphones… it really is a hassle when you’re traveling with these headphones especially when compared to the 1000XM4’s and the rest of the competition. But also, the 1000XM5’s are just less comfortable than both the XM4’s and XM3’s. Their new thin and minimally padded headband creates a hot spot on the top of your head… and their shallow ear pads press down on your ears. And then there’s the ambient mode on these headphones… it picks up more wind noise and it doesn’t actively protect you as well as the XM4’s and XM3’s do. And finally there’s the sound on these headphones… I appreciate that they have better instrument separation… but they have less kick in their bass then their predecessors. And the instrument separation on these headphones isn’t too big of a difference.
So overall, if you’re trying to choose between the 1000XM5’s and 1000XM4’s… or if you’re thinking about upgrading from the 1000XM4’s… then I say just get or stick with the 1000XM4’s. The 1000XM4’s are way more comfortable and they’re way more convenient. And if you’re someone that is still using the 1000XM3’s… then I say just stick with them… and they still block out more noise than the 1000XM4’s. And if you’re someone that’s still somehow using the 1000XM2’s then I think the USB C port on the 1000XM4’s is a big enough reason to upgrade. But ultimately, I wish would have just continued to refine their 1000XM4’s instead of putting out this new body found on the 1000XM5’s which is just a down grade.