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

Excellent! I was amazed at how many different sounds I was able to hear. Songs I has been listening for decades that felt I was finally hearing fully with these headphones. Tones, sounds, that were part of the song all along but that I was discovering for the first time with these headphones.

I really wanted to like this product especially because it’s so cute. I have been on a hunt, trying a ton of new headphones like these. However, it slips a lot if you wear it for more than like 30 minutes it’ll start to hurt the top of your head even if you extend the wrap. I think the beats headphones have much better noise canceling. Quality wise, it’s nothing extraordinary, i think it’s pretty average especially for the price. I have experienced the same with headphones that were $20-$30. I would save up, do some more research, and not get these.

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.

If you have a smaller head it won’t work since it’ll fall off and rub against ur head making a really annoying sound.

Switched to these from the AirPod Pros. For around $100 more the quality difference is uncanny. It’s also nice to have headphones I can plug in to make sure they’re actually charging and not just hoping they did while they’re in their charging case (you could say I’m a bit jaded by apple at the moment). That aside, these are a great set of headphones. I live in the NYC area and things can get a bit loud here. These headphones allow me to tune out the noise while also giving incredible sound quality. I also don’t notice an incredibly large difference between the sound quality in Bluetooth vs wired connection. Finally, while they don’t fold in they do come in a slim carrying case that is of nice cloth quality. It fits perfect in any brief case.

So I did tests on several different headphones, Sony, Audio Technica, Bose, Apple, etc. Noice cancelation, sound quality, weight, comfort, you name it the mark V comes out on top. Even being more inclined to buy Apple, I still felt there were more pros for the Sonys than the AP Max.

Coming from the XM3 headphones, I find the XM5 better in every way where it matters. For me, they are far more comfortable, with larger earcups that no longer touch my ears and somehow reduced pressure on my head overall. The headband is improved for me, though this is one area that may differ for people, so ymmv. ANC is far better than in the XM3 and the adaptive nature means that I dont have to do anything to get the benefit in different environments. With the XM3, I never made changes to the ANC settings, so this is a big improvement. Sound is superb, acoustically nuanced with great sound separation, spaciousness, and tight response. You may want to adjust the EQ to your specific preferences, though it is balanced and brighter than the XM3 enough that is makes the former headset sound muddy after listening to the XM5 headset. I know most reviewers have complained about the case and Im bewildered by that response. Its not that much larger than the prior case in height and width, is a bit thinner with a taper from the cup at the bottom to the band at the top and stays more securely in place in my laptop bag as a result. Perhaps this is an issue for smaller bags if there isnt and extra room, though in my case, this was an improvement for my travel needs along with no longer having to bother folding and unfolding the headphones every time I use them. All around, I love all the improvements made and highly recommend the upgrade, especially if coming from the XM3.

I had a very nice performing budget ANC headphones for a few years, which unfortunately not sold anymore. As they statted peeling off and I accidentally broke one side, decised to go to a new pair. The issue is that I recently was very disappointed with high advertised medium priced headphones, so after a bunch of research I went to these, as multiple sources indicated xm4 or xm5 as best recommendation. It is understated luxury. Box not flashy, headphones smooth without any huge brand names, fit perfectly, came in galf charged. After turning them on, I did not even need to invoke pairing dialog on my laptop, it automatically jumped out offering to pair. After paired to my phone and installing app, it automatically caught that I use Google Assistant and not Alexa and suggest to be linked to. Taps and swipes for managing volume, pause, tracks are so intuitive, I needed only to glance through the instructions and see hold and swipe, and it made sense. So far first impression is great - you pay not for flashiness, but for comfort, quality and ease of use. I still need to read more about multipoint pairing between phone and laptop, as I want to be able to listen to music from phone, but respond to meeting calls coming in from laptop wherever needed.

Finally I can get the base boost required for modern metal on iOS (as all iOS users know, iOS is in dire need of a full featured, globally functional Equalizer app). Extreme Bluetooth range and interference reduction. These headphones are great, aside from two big problems that could be fixed with a software update: 1) Sony needs reduce the Bass Boost low-pass filter internal setting down to 80Hz or let us adjust it manually as it’s current hardcoded setting is so high that it really trashes the sound quality of the music. ‘Also needs more equalizer bars and advanced feature to compensate for iOS’s lack thereof. 2) Option for Manual Noise Canceling setting; the automatic works great in most situations, but around work machines we need an Extreme setting.

I already own the Bose QC35 so this was a whim purchase. I was attracted to the favorable YouTube reviews. I do not think the Noise Cancelling on the XM5 is any better than the Bose QC35’S but definitely not worse.