So if you’re looking for a pair of headphones to fly with and if you want to block out the
most amount of noise… then the Sony 1000XM5’s are going to be your best bet.
They block out more noise than the AirPods Max and they block out more noise than both
of Bose’s headphones.
However, the XM5’s are a little more expensive… or perhaps you’re working the XM4’s, of
maybe you’re a bass head and you have the Sony XB910N’s.
Now right now I am doing a bit of traveling, and that’s why im currently out of the studio…
but I do have some real world Airplane ANC test for you, cause ANC performance does change
if you’re at cruising altitude cause of the lower atmospheric pressure.
That’s why some headphones like the XM5’s and XM4’s have atmospheric pressure sensors
in them, so that they can adjust their ANC.
But with all of that being said, we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
So first off, just as you’d expect, since the XB910N’s are the most affordable headphones
here, they block out the lest amount of noise.
But I want to be perfectly clear, the XB910N’s block out an adequate amount go noise for
a pair of mid teir ANC headphones as of early 2023.
Now, even though these headphones don’t block out the most amount of noise out there…
they can certainly help out if you’re on a bus or chatty office.
But for long flights, you’ll might want something a little more effective.
Next up there’s the XM4’s.
Now like you may have just seen, with the XM4’s there was a pre calibration sample
and post calibration sample… that’s cause if you’re going to fly with these headphones…
its best that you calibrate them when you hit cruising altitude.
And you can do that either through their app… or you can just press and hold on their ANC
button for a few seconds.
Now im going to be honest, even after doing the calibration process on the XM4’s…
the before and after isn’t all that different.
And to be honest, I am surprised to see this cause when I did a similar test with the Sony
1000XM3’s… there was a noticeable difference with the before and after.
And in general, the XM3’s still continue to block out more noise than the XM4’s.
But then there’s the XM5’s… now the XM5’s also have and atmospheric pressure
sensor… but they automatically and constantly adjust their ANC depending on your wearing
style and atmospheric pressure around you.
Now some people claim that this leads the performance of the ANC on XM5’s to fluctuate
drastically…
but personally I have never experienced this… and I did try to capture an instance of this
while I was on the airplane… but it never happened.
But more importantly, when it comes to the ANC performance on the XM5’s, they do noticeably
block out more noise than the XM4’s.
So if you’re looking for a pair of headphones to fly with and if you want to block out the
most amount of noise… then you do want to go with the XM5’s.
However, personally for me, the XM5’s aren’t my preferred headphones to travel with cause
their case is just so big, it has a large foot print and its pretty thick… plus the
XM5’s aren’t the most comfortable things out there cause of their shallow ear cups
and thin and minimally padded headband.
Personally, I would actually prefer to fly with the XM4’s over the XM5’s cause they
have a smaller case, and they are more comfortable cause of their more spacious ear cups and
better padded headband.
And they also block out a decent amount of noise.
So if you’re trying to decided between the XM5’s and XM4’s… you’ll might want
to take that into consideration… and if you already have the XM4’s…
I don’t think that there’s a rush to upgrade to the XM5’s.
But now I do want to enter the speculation terrortiy…
In this video we’re testing out the ANC on Sony’s ANC headphones line up… except
for the Sony WH-CH710N… now I will admit, I simply forgot to bring them… but I also
feel that their successors are right around the corner.
And I say this cause the WH-CH710N’s came out in the spring of 2020… so I do feel
that they are due for an upgrade… and they are currently out of stock on Sony’s site.
Now sadly, I feel the WH-CH710N’s we’re a down grade from the WH-CH700N… mainly
cause they lost their app support, and the overall build quality was lessened.
So for the successors, I want to see App support return… but I also want to see better build
quality, specifically on the leatherette, and I think this is possible cause Sony is
finally doing leatherette right.
But overall, if you’re looking for a pair of headphones to fly with and if you want
to block out the most amount of noise, then you want to go with the XM5’s… but personally
I prefer the XM4’s over the XM5’s cause of their smaller case and more comfortable
fit… and also I would keep an eye for Sony’s new entry level ANC headphones which I feel
are coming soon.