The Sony WH-1000XM5 is a pair of wireless over-ear headphones from 2022, featuring an adaptive noise cancellation system and an ambient sound mode. The main goal of this review is to find out how good this new model is and who its real competitors are.
Ergonomics and Controls
Let's start with the case, which is significantly larger than its predecessor in both height and width, but has retained its premium materials and feels expensive. The material of the headphones themselves is definitely inferior in quality to that of the predecessor and more akin to the budget CH lineup.
There are some simplifications in the design of the headphones – they are no longer foldable (which caused surprise even at the model's presentation stage), and the headband height adjustment is implemented in a simple, budget-friendly way. There is no position locking, meaning with any movement the slider easily slides out, forcing you to readjust the headphones every time. However, the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are lightweight (weighing around 250 grams) and you hardly feel them on your head; they do not fall off even if you shake your head vigorously.
A huge advantage compared to the previous model concerns the earpads: on one hand, they have become thinner, but on the other, they now let air through and your ears won't sweat.
There are no significant changes in the controls. There is one less physical button now. We have a power/pairing button, a button to change active noise cancellation or ambient sound modes, as well as two ports: USB Type-C, which can only be used for charging (unfortunately, you cannot use it to connect the headphones to a computer and transmit audio), and a 3.5 mm jack. Thanks to the latter, even if the headphones run out of battery, they can still play music via a cable.
Technical Details
The new model has 30 mm drivers, which is 10 mm smaller than in the Sony WH-1000XM4. However, this is not a disadvantage since if a smaller driver is used but it is better tuned, the sound quality only benefits.
The impedance is 48 Ω when the headphones are powered on, and 16 Ω when turned off. The frequency response range stated by the manufacturer is from 4 Hz to 40,000 Hz, but in reality it would be great if they even perform well in the 20–20,000 Hz range.
Among the interesting additional features is the DSEE Extreme technology, which allows improving compressed files (for example, MP3s). In practice, it slightly boosts the high frequencies, but it does not have a significant impact on the sound.
The full charging time of the headphone battery, officially stated by the manufacturer, is 3.5 hours, but in reality they charge faster – going from 70% to 100%, the Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones charged in under 30 minutes, even though typically this final stage is the slowest. The battery life is almost standard for the market now, but not quite large enough for their price: 30 hours with noise cancellation and up to 40 hours without it.
The Bluetooth version is 5.2, which is great and expected, but since the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are a brand-new model, there was hope to see version 5.3 here (after all, its specification was published in July 2021). Among the supported audio codecs are SBC, AAC and LDAC; aptX is absent. On one hand, that's not great because aptX is a much more convenient and widespread codec than LDAC, but on the other hand, SBC is more than sufficient for the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones with plenty of headroom.
Noise Cancellation
The situation with active noise cancellation is twofold – there are pros and cons. On the plus side, the noise cancellation works a bit better than that of the predecessor, effectively suppressing monotonic noises. There is also a very smart adaptive ambient system that can work even better over time, thereby improving the noise cancellation performance. This can be noted as a plus, laying groundwork for the future.
At the same time, there are three drawbacks. The first is that when listening at a fairly high volume with active noise cancellation on, the drivers rattle, and sometimes this draws too much attention. The second drawback is that you don't want to use active noise cancellation outside, as even a light wind is picked up very easily by the headphones, thus the wind noise overpowers the music, making some moments louder. And the third drawback is that the vacuum effect still remains.
Sound Quality
Compared to the previous model WH-1000XM4, Sony's engineers have made some improvements in the tonal balance and frequency response smoothness. The low frequencies are not emphasized, the midrange stays in place (i.e., vocals, voice), and the high frequencies are also not lost behind other frequencies – all of this is definitely pleasing.
The low frequencies have a certain spaciousness; they do not sound narrow. There is a slight hum, but not as obvious as in previous models, although compared to competitors it is still present. What is lacking is punch, specifically weight in the very lowest frequencies – this was the case with all the previous models and remains in this one.
As for the midrange: it's very pleasing that it is not compressed. There is volume and even some naturalness to the sound of voices. But that lasts only until you start listening to other headphones where the midrange is implemented better. The high frequencies are quite clean, with no distortion that would attract attention, but there is absolutely no detail in the treble, just like in previous models.
Comparison with Competitors
It's worth taking several different headphones to try to understand the level at which the Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones perform and who their real competitors are. Let's proceed from more budget to more expensive models, and the most budget-friendly are the KZ T10 headphones.
If we talk about overall spaciousness — not the soundstage per se, but the sense of space — Sony clearly wins; it sounds wider. In terms of low frequencies, KZ obviously wins because it has real weight in the lows, the punch is delivered much better, with more snap, and the KZ T10 has more detail in the bass. In mid and high frequency detail, they are roughly at parity, but due to artificial spaciousness Sony often sounds better, so depending on the genre and music, the conclusions will vary.
Compared to the Soundcore Q35, the gap is very large. The Soundcore is significantly better in terms of materials, design, reliability, and premium feel, and much better in sound, because here you can already feel a huge gap in detail, particularly in the high frequencies. Further comparison is not particularly meaningful because these are simply headphones of different levels. The only thing that Sony does better is active noise cancellation (on the Soundcore it is mediocre).
Next are the JBL Club One full-size headphones, which are aimed at bassheads. Naturally, the bass in them is significantly better than in the Sony WH-1000XM5, because it goes much deeper and has better impact and snap. The midrange is also better: despite being slightly masked by the lows, it has more detail. In terms of soundstage (not just spaciousness, but the actual stage), the width is a bit better on the JBL Club One, and instrument separation is also better. The high frequencies are more detailed on the JBL Club One as well.
In the case of the DALI IO-4 headphones, the difference is already big, but the DALI also have a completely different presentation and character of sound, which makes comparison almost impossible. These are headphones that deliver fully good sound for wireless headphones, with a more correct, flat tonal balance, significantly better detail, and significantly better attack. Although if you look at a frequency response comparison of the Sony WH-1000XM4 and DALI IO-4, the difference is not that large. However, comparing by frequency response is also not quite right, because it's unclear how they managed to get a flat 20 Hz in wireless headphones.
But if we compare with the Bowers & Wilkins PX7, the difference is not so critical. Although the PX7 costs about the same as the Sony, in sound quality it also falls short of most of the headphones mentioned above: it is quite simplified, and in addition, the Bowers & Wilkins has certain tonal balance distortions. There is an emphasis on the lower midrange and the bass, and because of this the high frequencies are perceived completely differently, in the background. You have to really listen closely to the instruments to understand what’s going on with the detail, attack, decay, and everything else.
In the end, it turns out that the Sony WH-1000XM5 is rather not a new model, but a Lite version of the previous ones: they simplified materials and design, improved some aspects (such as the case), worked on the sound, and added a few extra electronic features that theoretically should make the headphones better.