Verdict
The WF-1000XM5 is another excellent headphone from Sony that represents a stride forward for its true wireless serial . An improved invention leads to better comfort level , the noise - cancellation is better , they come with a bevy of impudent feature and an audio performance that ’s clearer and more elaborate than before .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The WF-1000XM5 are the quaternary looping of Sony ’s popular dependable wireless series , boasting the best - ever noise - cancelling performance ( their words , not mine ) , their best - ever call tone and improved audio recording .
TheWF-1000XM4were ( and are ) big favourite on this land site , regularly at or near the top of our best buy lists but the rival has become potent since they launched . Plenty of other wireless earbuds took a folio out of the WF-1000XM4 ’s playbook – if you ’re at the forefront of the pack then you ’re the one being tail after all .
The competition has caught up with Sony ’s genuine wireless models in several ways , and the WF-1000XM5 are about to do conflict with the the like of Bose , Sennheiser , andApple . Can it cede a knockout puncher ?
Design
A tonality to auspicate the direction Sony goes in with its flagship earpiece is to look at the ones that came out just before , as if the engineers at Sony Tokyo have been testing and complicate the construct .
For illustration , with theLinkBuds Sand WF - C700N launching in the months before , the mode control board for the WF-1000XM5 likely consisted of the words ‘ smaller ’ and ‘ light ’ . Side - to - side , the WF-1000XM4 are the liberal , chunkier , stockier heavyweights to the flyweight WF-1000XM5 , with Sony reducing their size of it by 25 % and their weight by 20 % .
This brings positive news in terms of the tantrum . Many complained about the constant ‘ bearing ’ of the WF-1000XM4 , and while it ’s not as if the WF-1000XM5 ‘ disappear ’ , the bulge is less pronounced , and I find the comfort levels are better .
More pinna - tips are provided this time around , with an supernumerary diminished join small , average , and declamatory choice to help get a better fit and seal of approval . The earphones arerated IPX4to protect against water supply and sweat , while the character does n’t look to have a rating .
The feel of the headphone ’ lodging is glossy than before – the XM5 does n’t quite have the tactile feel of its predecessor – but I have n’t had any issues operating the earpiece , thanks to a little feedback sound that acknowledges a successful jab at the control .
Touch control cross virtually everything you ’d need , from playback , switching between noise - cancellation mode , skipping caterpillar track , and book control condition ( via multiple taps ) .
Like the earphone , the blame fount is more compact and slimmer . All these trim make the case more pocketable , though I do find that re - introduce the earphones can be fiddly to get them to locate in the cradle .
The direct indicator on the front is modest but still noticeable , showing the various commission levels of the case . A USB - C port for charging is on the back , alongside a button to put the headphone into pairing mode . Colours , at least at launch , are black and white alternative . Here ’s hoping there are more colours down the argument .
Features
Rather than go through all the features in detail – if I did then this review might never end – I ’ll summarise what ’s been carried over and go into more deepness on what ’s new . The Sony WF-1000XM5 remain one of the most feature - packed and saucy on-key wireless pairs available .
carry over from the WF-1000XM4 is Quick Attention Mode ( for when you require to briefly hear what ’s around you ) , talk to Chat ( that detects when you ’re mouth and break music mechanically ) , Adaptive Sound Control ( where you could geo ringfence an area and set the earbuds to automatically alter the racket - cancelling execution ) .
Alexa and Google voice control are both support , as isGoogle Fast Pairwith Android equipment and Swift Pair for Windows . The optimal auricle - baksheesh test bear over in the Headphones Connect app , and DSEE Extreme upscales compressed tracks back to their full dynamic range .
you’re able to customise touch control , noise - cancellation ( via Ambient Sound Control preferences ) , Bluetooth Connection ( prioritise audio tone or wireless connector ) , equaliser presets , and control playback in the app . Bluetooth multipoint is supported for simultaneous process with two equipment , and there ’s auto suspension when an earpiece is plucked from the ear .
Transported from theLinkBuds seriesare the ‘ Service Link ’ features such as Spotify hydrant that start the app , an record album , or a play list ( whatever you assign to it ) . The Endel Quick Access characteristic offer personalised soundscapes to facilitate the wearer focus , relax , or slumber . This comes with a spare trial for first - meter users but once over it require a subscription .
What ’s unexampled ? There ’s a breakthrough Your Equaliser setting where instead of select from presets , you play euphony and forge the audio from a series of option to find a preference . With call you could hear your own articulation as you ’re talking but if you find it distracting , it can be turned off .
manoeuver gesture control is supported with calls so you’re able to live with a call by nod or reject it by shaking your head like the Bragi Moves control on theKlipsch T5 II ANC.360 Reality Audiosupports head trailing , so citizenry ’s voices / instruments can stir around as you move your capitulum when listening to immersive 360 RA tracks .
It ’s not inevitably a case of totting up the feature film count ( though it helps ) , it ’s the spread of the characteristic that ’s most telling , able to fit into whatever your day-by-day routine is . In my years of review headphones , I have n’t come across a yoke as feature of speech - rich as the WF-1000XM5 .
But hold off , there ’s more ! Bluetooth connectivity is the 5.3 version with reinforcement for SBC , AAC , and the higher qualityLDAC(only useful for Android users ) . The WF-1000XM5 trace in the footsteps of theTechnics EAH - AZ80by supporting Bluetooth multipoint and LDAC playback at the same time .
The wireless performance is like the WF-1000XM4 . With the headphones set to prioritize Bluetooth connection , there were no pip ( though audio cyclosis is downgraded to AAC ) . With it set to prioritize well-grounded character ( LDAC ) , there was some break - up whilst walk through Waterloo train post but not much more than that . Through Piccadilly Circus , Soho , Leicester Square and Victoria train post , the Bluetooth performance was logical away from a few radar target every now and then .
bombardment life figures hit eight hour from the earphones and 24 - hour from the charge case in amount with randomness - cancellation on . With the barrage fire drain trial run I conducted at 50 % book with a Spotify playlist , the battery fell by 10 % across two minute but I believe this was with noise - cancellation off ( I had n’t been pass on access to the beta app by this time ) . Another attempt find out one of the bud throw off . I ’ll update this review once I can vouch for the figure .
A three - minute accusation adds an redundant hour of playback , and there ’s musical accompaniment for radio charge either through a Qi charge pad or by locate it on the back of a compatible Xperia smartphone .
Sony ’s take the call quality for the WF-1000XM5 is its substantially - ever for a honest radio . Like the WF-1000XM4 it uses a bone conduction sensor but now also uses a noise reduction engine ( that uses AI machine learning ) and a wind noise reduction social organisation .
The results are fairly hard but also a trivial queer . outspoken pick - up and pellucidity are good , but the person on the other goal mentioned the headphones picked up background knowledge dissonance whenever I spoke but was beat silent when I was n’t mouth . While background sounds were muffled when I was talking , breaking wind noise made it punishing for my vocalisation to come through .
Sony is ( once again ) claim industry leading noise - cancellation from the WF-1000XM5 , though look closer and it is a self - anointed claim through the troupe ’s own research .
The young headphone ( allegedly ) scale down approximately 20 % more noise than the WF-1000XM4 , and after my own personal examination , I would n’t altercate those claim . The dissonance - cancellation is salutary at suppressing universal noise and people ’s voice . A tell - tale sign for how powerful noise - cancellation can be is when I take the earphones out and am greeted by a wall of phone – it shows how much racket is blocked and that ’s the effect I had with the WF-1000XM5 .
swap between the XM5 and XM4 in Piccadilly Circus – the XM5 were noticeably quieter , usher in a better signified of solitude , squash ( though not entirely absent ) the speech sound from a nearby performing artist ’s verbaliser , while the hubbub from the crowd was much calm and higher frequence sounds were capably benumb . It had the same effect on public transportation , whether on a bus , train , or the Underground , and in the latter case wind randomness was much more in effect manage with .
On the interrogative of whether the Sony WF-1000XM5 are thebest noise - cancelling earbuds , I would say … not quite . compare to theQuietComfort Earbuds II , the Bose squash conversation with a footling more precision , and ambient noises feel as if they ’re pushed further out . Both are imposingly quiet , though if it ’s any solacement the Sony applies a more natural - sounding noise - cancelling tone than the Bose .
The transparency style closely mirrors the operation of the WF-1000XM4 , filter out in the environment clamorously and clearly , with voices permeate through naturally . I might give the edge to the XM4 in terms of overall clarity but there ’s not much in it .
Sound Quality
It ’s all change on the driver front for the WF-1000XM5 , utilize the new Dynamic Driver X which is meant to aid wider frequency procreation with low aberration .
With each new multiplication of Sony dependable wireless , I keep think there ’s not much room to manouevre but the WF-1000XM5 show that there is room to dally . The Cliff Notes are that the latest bud vocalize more balanced across the frequency reach , usher in more clarity with gamy frequencies .
You could listen to these earphone at default volume level , but the functioning largely feels sedate .
leaven the mass and they flex their muscles with more authority . More to the point , a Spotify Premium subscription is fine but wo n’t extract the right performance . Put them in their LDAC mode and tee up yourself up with a Tidal , Qobuz , or Amazon Music Unlimited torpedo .
The magnificence and warmth of the WF-1000XM4 has been tweaked for a strait that ’s more balanced than I anticipated . I can hear that trait most in the midrange of Noah Cyrus ’ Noah ( Stand Still ) , the eloquence of her vocal carrying into action with the XM4 is now a few fraction defter and detailed on the XM5 . It does n’t occupy quite as big a space in the soundstage either , but that slight pinch provide more of a focus on the lyric poem .
The WF-1000XM5 ’s move towards a slightly more balanced presentation means it ’s not as boisterous as before , the richness to the bass in Kendrick Lamar ’s These rampart is replaced by a more mensurable take : less depth and unlimited power but punch in feeling ; not described in quite the same big terms but characterised with more clarity and definition .
Bass is not as olympian – sea bass lovers might be a little disappointed by this change , but in terms of the overall equalizer , it may be more accurately conveyed and sure does n’t spoil the midrange or highs .
With Highway to the Anger Zone from The Batman soundtrack , the whole frequency range takes on a clearer , more defined approach . The punch of the percussion is not as powerful but sounds a tad more natural ; the dude of violins have a clarity that ’s more marked than on the XM4 where they finger a lilliputian masked .
With this and another orchestral cartroad ( chase after Grace from the numb tally soundtrack ) , there ’s a palpable gain in overall contingent and definition that at meter can leave the XM4 sounding muddier by contrast , but it ’s with high-pitched frequencies that , for me , the WF-1000XM5 offer the most famed improvement .
They ’re not the brightest - sounding pair of bud , apparently unconcerned with being excessively sharp , but with GoGo Penguin ’s Raven there ’s a touch more relish and item found in the facts of life of the piano notes .
With the Fission track from the Oppenheimer soundtrack , I can hear the violin with redundant clarity , the notes play more delicately than on the WF-1000XM4 – in other tracks there ’s an extra crispness prevalent that is missing on the previous bud .
Elsewhere its sense of dynamism stay excellent , switch gear from quiet to loud and frailty versa well ( Oppenheimer ’s Can You Hear The Music ) . Rhythmically it ’s no slouch either – if anything the extra clearness affords the WF-1000XM5 to be more effective – and the soundstage is just as wide but better defined .
The WF-1000XM4 remains an excellent , musical pair of dependable wireless headphone , and with the WF-1000XM5 , Sony has eked out an even better , clearer carrying out .
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Should you buy it?
There were more than a few who feel the WF-1000XM4 was bulky . The WF-1000XM5 repair that with a lighter , belittled , and more comfortable intention .
I would say the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II extend the best ANC . But if it ’s any solace , the WF-1000XM5 sounds more lifelike with its disturbance - cancellation .
Final Thoughts
It ’s perhaps a gauge to spell but the WF-1000XM5 are evolution over revolution . If you ’re expect a monumental leap forward , then perhaps dial down your expected value .
If you want a definitive statement as to whether the WF-1000XM5 surmount the WF-1000XM4 then yes , they ’re better in most every manner .
The changes to the design make for a more easy hearing experience , the noise - cancellation is an improvement on before and the audio is a clearer , more elaborate , and more defined .
At £ 259 , the mark - up is n’t as big as I was inform it would be ( £ 280 ) . In my idea there ’s no on-key radio receiver as conveniently smart , feature - copious or fathom ripe than the WF-1000XM5 . Though if you involve me , theBose QuietComfort Earbuds IIhave the boundary with disturbance - cancellation .
Trusted Score
How we test
We screen every set of headphones we review thoroughly over an elongated flow of time . We use industry standard trial to liken features properly . We ’ll always recount you what we find . We never , ever , take money to review a mathematical product .
Find out more about how we screen in ourethics policy .
FAQs
The WF-1000XM5 are available to buy from August 2023 onwards .
