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

I had the XM3 and thought now would finally be a good time to upgrade. And the XM5s were only slightly better. I EQ my headphones, so after that, they both sounded good to me, so not a significant enough difference there. XM5s were marginally more comfortable, but not enough to make a difference to me either. The couple things that were much better was its ability to auto pause when removing the headphones connect to 2 devices at once (XM3 doesnt have that), the ambient sound mode was so much better, and the headphones overall responsiveness to touch/button controls was much faster. As for noise cancelling, Im convinced that there is variation in noise cancellation strength between each individual pair of WH-1000XM5 headphones. Ive watched videos of sound engineers doing noise-cancelling samples and graphically showing the XM5s beating out other headphones, including the XM3. So I know that objectively, the XM5s should have better noise cancelling than most competitors, especially the old XM3s. But Ive compared them both on a plane, in a room filled with talking people, and outside when a bunch of cicadas were droning. The 2 are either on par or the XM3s slightly edge out the XM5s. Again, its soooo close, but I expected new model to be leaps beyond the model 2 generations ago. But because I know the XM5s have to be better, the only conclusion I can draw is that there is random variation in ANC strength between individual headphones. Im giving 3 stars for now and will be returning my pair, but I like the headphones enough to give them another chance, maybe when they go on sale or something. Ill update my review then.

I literally don’t do anything without them. Gym, errands, sleep. These are the best headphones ever. GET THEM NOWWWW

Not as intuitively easy to use as Bose. Couldn’t really discern much “noise canceling “ functionality

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 own both Beats solo3 and it, and I have to say, they feel completely different! The bass of Beats is more professional, but the XM5 is lighter and completely covers the ears, so I wont feel uncomfortable wearing it for a long time. This time I choose XM5!(I didnt give 5 stars because there is a small hole in the earphone wrap, so I cant give it a perfect score)

Very lovely as Sony makes fantastic products. Noise-canceling is amazing . Earcups are soft and easy on the ears. The headband cant really feel on and thats wearing it for over 8 hours when I first got them—worth every penny spent.

It’s great but if you have an iPhone like me it’s a bit difficult to get used to it.Light weight and very comfy sound quality is great once you customize it.I can wear these all day!

Sony does it yet again. These exceeded my expectations. The ANC is... good beyond belief. Absolutely superb. And they are so, so comfortable. 5/5 Sensational! They knocked it out of the park with these. *****

Likes = design, comfort, sound quality and the versatile app Dislikes = tried using it for a work from home gig that i have which is 90% making calls and talking to people. However, connection quality is bad. Customers frequently say that my voice connection goes in and out. This doesn’t occur with calls on my cellphone but definitely occurs in calls I make through my work laptop. Its a bit disappointing seeing that I bought these earphones because they boast superior voice call quality using several microphones and background noise cancelling compared to other earphones…

I really wanted to love this Sony as I own Sony WH-1000X3 and 1000X4 . I don’t see any difference in the sound quality . The biggest problem is that you can’t aghast it when you have a small head . On my head it kept falling off and I had to return it. I guess I have to wait for 1000X6 to see the difference.