Sony WH-1000XM5 review

23 October 2022
Sony's flagship wireless headphones get put through the wringer.

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I still recommend getting Shure Aonic 50. Sony have average sound, bad latency due to lack of Aptx LL, on Youtube you dont see the difference but any game or movie player... its annoying.
Yes, ANC and battery is nice in Sony, but Aonic 50 just sound better

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    • Anonymous
    • Mrn
    • 24 Oct 2022

    Finally! I've read a lot of reviews praising Sony WH-1000 series, but to me they sound really shitty by default and no EQ setting in the Sony app can fix it completely.

    I sold them few weeks back and bought Sennheiser Momentum 4 instead. Much better sound, worse ANC 🤷‍♂️

      Eric20, 24 Oct 2022There is very little audible difference between SBC(at ~ 32... moredepends what equipment you use, if you use phone (i have tried), as the internal dac is not very good, harder to tell difference, not too dissimilar playing ps5 on 1080p sdr tv little difference with ps4 pro, however if you a high resolution audio player, using aptx hd and ldac is significantly better in sound quality like night and day, used astell and kern kann alpha, sony nw-zx300, sony nw-zx100, wh-1000xm3 and astell and kern ak10 and michelle limited

        i own wh-1000xm3, awesome outdoors nc headphones, but it's V shaped not everyone's taste, i perfer wired headphones indoors though

          TBH, I am not surprised by the review or the conclusion - I owned two pairs of WH series headphones, and I was never satisfied with the sound, ANC was always good through.
          When it comes to Sony, almost every product I came across I leave disappointed, especially audio segment, smartphones or their software quality.

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            • Anonymous
            • xjH
            • 24 Oct 2022

            I'm not so good at reading but do enjoy Prasad's written reviews. They're well-crafted, informative and critical.

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              • Anonymous
              • 3SI
              • 24 Oct 2022

              „The sound is perfectly fine for use outdoors but at home, it was easy to notice all the pitfalls compared to even vastly cheaper wired headphones.“

              I am happy to not have headphone reviewer ears in addition to my TV reviewer eyes. It ruins everything.

                Oh dang. Thank goodness I spend that same amount of money on Verum One Mk. II instead. Although, war in Ukraine is still up so I can be willing to wait that long.

                  Anonymous, 24 Oct 2022Dont bother. I remember another tech site once tested sony... moreTbh i love my current cans (the jabra elite 85h, overhead ones). For me it's the battery, getting a week or 2 of usage from them when I use them everyday is so stress free haha (and it seems to sound good with AAC, not noticed any delay between sound and image either). Plus the company are very responsive when any issues happen and have even replaced them, for free, when I did get a battery issue with the 1st pair (which I've still got and seemed to have fixed themselves after 2 months, my partner uses them now with her iPhone).

                  Great battery even with ANC always on, great customer support and good sound (I used to use the Sony MDR-1a before them as my main cans and its comparable quality even though its through BT).

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                    • Headphone
                    • nag
                    • 24 Oct 2022

                    Rare to see such an honest review regarding the audio quality. A couple of years ago I saw the XM3 headphones got a 5* review on what hifi. I went out and bought them and the sound quality was so bad I thought they were faulty. I got a replacement from the store and again they were the same. Just how they were designed. Your description of the bass is very accurate.



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                      • Anon
                      • 2Ie
                      • 24 Oct 2022

                      What is the phone used in the post?

                        "...the earcups do not have sufficient depth to avoid the padding on the speaker grille from pressing against your ears."

                        Enough said; Sony fumbled on EVERYTHING I have ever purchased; Not this time!  Thanks GSM Arena.

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                          • Anonymous
                          • sUS
                          • 24 Oct 2022

                          Does this have cheaper alternative? So can dunk at the same time on both wired-only and wireless-only fanboys.

                            I read on Reddit that this XM5 is TERRIBLE for people wearing prescription eyeglasses. The earpads are too shallow and greatly compromise the noise canceling properties; on the XM4, eyeglasses aren't that much of a problem since the pads - while not terribly deep - are thicker and more isolating.

                            How th did Sony fall off like this?

                              Anonymous, 24 Oct 2022Dont bother. I remember another tech site once tested sony... moreThere is very little audible difference between SBC(at ~ 320 kbps), AAC(at ~ 192 kbps), AptX(at ~350 kbps), and LDAC(at ~ 330 kbps)

                              The best choice for Bluetooth audio is actually AAC as it achieves comparable quality even at a low bitrate of 192kbps.

                              Audiophiles claim a lot of nonsense that AptX, LDAC is better, but none is borne by evidence only personal anecdotes. From research, AAC > SBC > AptX > LDAC.

                              LDAC sounds better at > 600 kbps which is very difficult to achieve unless you are very close to your Bluetooth source and don't move much.

                                Very honest and straightforward review. I have very similar opinions regarding audio quality but I didn't want to admit that I was feeling slightly duped by Sony. I still like the comfort and ANC, which makes them an ideal companion for reading or working, anyway, but there's SOOOOO much room for improvement in the audio quality department. Thanks

                                  For what it's worth, I'm an XM3 owner and this review matches up with my own experiences. The XM series have great ANC and useful enhancement features (LDAC, ear profile, 360 audio etc), but honestly, the audio quality has never been what I hoped. It's... okay - above average, but you're never impressed by it. This is all the more frustrating when you're pairing with Tidal at 990KBPS. I ended up moving back to wired IEMs in the end. inconvenient, but I'm much happier.

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • Xqa
                                    • 24 Oct 2022

                                    Sony is always about "uselessGimmick+Overpriced"

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • Lkg
                                      • 24 Oct 2022

                                      Super Android 22, 24 Oct 2022I got myself a pair of jabra elite 85h back in 2019, wanted... moreDont bother. I remember another tech site once tested sony headphones paired with iphone, instead of using android device to take advantage of LDAC.

                                      🤦🏻‍♂️

                                        I got myself a pair of jabra elite 85h back in 2019, wanted the 1000xm3 at the time but was just out my reach. Honestly the reviewer clearly doesn't understand your phone has a built in EQ that you can adjust to your liking with generally the headphones having its own EQ aswell (I adjusted both to get a warmer open tone on mine with clear treble and vocals, bit more bass with slightly deeper frequency response too but not overpowering like beats). I only get AAC and SBC codecs but with ANC on i get about 38-40 hours of play back, about 42-43 without and 5 mins charge gives like 5 hours I think I got but could be wrong (I generally go a week or 2 without charging them and I use mine every single day) .

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