Sony - WF1000XM5 True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds - Black

I've enjoyed Sony's over-ear headphones for a while. I like their bass-heavy sound signature, it can be boomy while still clear. They have ANC that competes with other companies and is always in the top 5. However, I've never liked their earbuds. The WF-1000XM3 never stayed in my ears and had terrible connectivity issues that made them completely unusable. The WF-1000XM4 stayed in my ears but hurt after a while and were too big. I stayed away from Sony and went through so many other companies. Each and every time I would conclude that "these are my new earbuds!" only to be disappointed a few weeks later with either ANC performance, fit, connectivity, bugs, or other issues that caused me to either exchange or return the earbuds. I finally tried the WF-1000XM5, which I'm just going to call the XM5 from now on (Sony's naming scheme needs work). These are, without a doubt, the best true wireless earbuds I have listened to. Sony cut down the size of the XM5 by quite a bit compared to the XM4 earbuds. Sony claims they're 25% smaller and I agree with that. There's no longer a large notch resting up against your outer ear and the rounded top fits within the pinna of the ear. These are so small, albeit still larger than the AirPods Pro 2, that I can comfortably sleep with them in. Sony still relies on foam ear tips to achieve their sound and ANC. The ear tips are now a hybrid foam/rubber and more comfortable than the tips that came with the XM4. You don't need to squeeze the ear tips before inserting them in your ears. Just put them in and twist like normal earbuds. The XM5 still rely on the textured ear tips for staying in your ears, they aren't like the LinkBuds S where they use both the ear tips and earbuds to stay pinned in your ear. That's fine though, these haven't budged on me one bit after using them for multiple days for 6-8 hour each day. Sony advertises 8 hours of battery life with ANC and the XM5 are able to reach that without issues. I've been able to hit the 8-hour mark and still have a 4-5% left in each earbud. The case provides 2 more charges allowing for 24 hours of use. A quick 2-minute charge will give you 1 hour of use. ANC is top notch. I still they think fall behind the Bose QC Ultra earbuds and it's clear Sony is relying on the foam ear tips for more passive noise isolation to aid the ANC. But these are still great, better than the AirPods Pro 2, Jabra Elite 10, and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds. I can't much of anything when music or content is playing. Even sitting here now typing on a mechanical keyboard with music paused, the loud clicks of the keys are dull thuds. These have no issues on flights, blocking out the rumble of engines and HVAC systems, and various other sounds. Turn on music and the world is silenced. Transparency mode is fine. It's not Bose or Apple-level, but it's still good enough. There's even a mode to amplify voices and block out other noises. One area Sony drastically improved is with microphones. Their processor effectively filters out background noise and isolates your voice for call. It might be more muted than the AirPods Pro 2, but they do a much better job of removing background noise. I've had no complaints taking phone calls next to busy roads, in the wind, and next to an external boiler for an HVAC system. Controls are limited to simple touches that you can adjust. Single, double, triple, and quadruple taps along with a tap and hold can all do something. I left the default controls since it allows for volume control. Quadruple tap on the right earbud to increase volume, do the same on the left do decrease it. I much prefer having swipe controls for that, I have a feeling Sony will add those to the WF-1000XM6 next year. The earbuds feature wear detection and will automatically pause and resume content when you remove one (or both) earbuds and put them back in. The case features for USB-C and Qi charging. Sony rates the earbuds as being IPX4 water-resistant. I haven't tested that outside of wearing these while profusely sweating from mowing the lawn. I'm not sure I would exercise with these, there are better earbuds for that with wing/fin tips. I also have a feeling that the foam ear tips would deteriorate after a while. With all that said, how do they sound? Great. I didn't like the default sound profile. It's fine. Instead, I switched it to Excited in the app and bumped the Clear Bass up to +10 instead of +8. Yeah, some people would call that EQ an abomination, but I don't care. The bass is clear and boomy, mids still come across and aren't covered by the low, and the highs are details. The sound stage is wide for earbuds. I think the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 are wider, but these are still good for closed-back earbuds. I don't have any complaints about the sound stage or instrument separation. Atmos music in Apple Music offers a nice listening experience. You don't get head tracking. I hate having to look straight forward for a balanced audio experience so I turned that off when I had the AirPods Pro 2 and Beats Fit Pro. Overall, these are fantastic earbuds. I know some people are concerned with their battery longevity. The XM4 earbuds are known to be problematic. I haven't had any issues with these and I'm sure they'll be fine. Otherwise Sony's warranty will cover battery repairs by the time I'm ready to upgrade (the WF-1000XM6 are due about a year from now). I highly recommend these if the XM3 and XM4 earbuds didn't fit your ears. They're smaller, sound quality is great, ANC is still top notch, and they're an overall improvement over older models. Connectivity has been great with no skipping or audible issues. You can't go wrong with these.

I have used the Bose QC ultra and enjoyed them but lost them and decided to give these a try. The sound quality feels more clear with vocals and the multi point is the best feature I didn't know I needed. I can watch YouTube on my Samsung phone and simply pause the video/music and start playing something on my iPad and it switches seamlessly. I am fairly new to wireless earbuds as I have mostly only used Sennheiser and beyerdynamic. These are so convenient to carry around and they have been very comfortable to me. I worry about them falling out more than the Bose but they have been pretty snug. The battery life is incredible. I have fallen asleep with these and have woken up 8 hours later with them still charged (Nothing playing with ANC on). this is a big advantage over the Bose. I feel like the ANC is not as good but it's really hard to tell. They are quite similar enough to me that it doesn't matter. Just a note on the apps between the two. The Bose app almost always fails to connect and requires re-pairing the buds or at least 20+ tries to get the app working to change settings or EQ but the Sony app works flawless and is always ready to go to make adjustments or EQ. The only issue I have had with these is the touch controls. I wish I could remap them to whatever I want but you can only set them between a couple of predefined profiles(Bose is the same if I am remembering right). Overall I am really enjoying the Sony XM5 buds

I had the WF-1000XM4s before the XM5s and I gotta say all the major flaws the XM4s had were solved with the XM5s. Notably, the smaller size of the buds make them more comfortable and reduce fatigue over a long period of time. I had major battery issues with the XM4s (that were apparently caused by a Sony software update, thanks Sony) but they seem to have overcome that issue. ANC has improved a bit but not much. Still love the sound from the Sony earphones over other brands I have tried, which is why I keep going back to them. As for a flaw of the XM5s, the ambient noise mode has too much of an unnatural sound for me to use it comfortably. I'd rather just take the earbuds off to converse with somebody. Also the price, my wallet didn't appreciate that. Side note, I bought a silicone case for them to prevent damage to the case as I've noticed they get scratched easily. Wireless charging works the same, highly recommend