- The Sony WH-1000XM5 have arrived,
and I'm here to give you my impressions after 24 hours.
I'll also be hitting you with some quick rankings
against some of the top headphones on the market
so you can see exactly where the XM5 rank.
But before we dive in, I need to let you know
that Sony did not send me the XM5 for review purposes.
As such, I'm not under any embargos or agreements with Sony.
This impressions video is simply my honest,
unfiltered notes based on my own hands on experience
with the XM5 headphones.
So let's jump straight in.
Now, if you're looking for somebody to read off specs
and things of that nature,
please feel free to use the links in the video description.
I'm not gonna be doing any spec reads
or talking about any of that stuff.
We're just gonna get straight
into my experience with these headphones.
Now, when you first pull them out of the box
you're gonna be greeted with this carry case.
Now open this up
and you're gonna see the headphones themselves.
This carry case is a bit bigger than the one before
because obviously we no longer have the folding hinges.
So that's what you're gonna get.
Inside here you're also gonna get an auxiliary cable
and a USB-C cable to recharge the headphones.
Close that up, does have a magnetic little lid there
so that works pretty well.
So here we have the Sony WH-1000XM5
in their black color.
These are also available in a silver color.
Almost looks kind of like a stone,
that sort of a silver color, but it is available
if you're looking for that, you do have those two options.
So now let's start with the comfort.
And let's put this in the context of Sony XM4
versus Sony XM5s.
So the XM5
in my experience have less clamping force
right out of the box, and they feel lighter on my head.
However, the XM5s now have a thinner headband
than the XM4.
So the XM4s actually feel a bit more comfortable
on my shaved head.
They cause me less fatigue during a long listening session.
Now, the ear cups feel very similar to me,
but my large ears feel a bit better inside
of the XM4 versus the XM5.
Now it could be the internal shape of the ear cups,
I'm not 100% sure,
but I'm just basing this on my personal experience.
Now, a question that comes up very often with headphones
is do they get hot, do they make your ears sweat?
Anything of that nature?
So for this test
I actually wore each of them for an hour apiece
and then I let my ears cool off in between rounds.
The XM5 ear cup materials seem to keep my ears cooler
but the difference isn't huge,
it isn't like a night or day difference.
So while the XM5s do win in that department
if you live in a hot or humid region
both of these headphones are still gonna make you sweat.
So please keep that in mind.
But overall for me, I would say comfortwise,
the XM5 definitely take the win
over the XM4s.
So now moving over to the build quality of both
the XM5 and the XM4,
the materials here all pretty much feel the same.
As far as I know, the leather has been changed
here, here and on the ear pads themselves.
So it seems like they're using some sort of a vegan leather.
It does feel more smooth and soft to the touch.
But overall not a huge difference when it comes
to sheer comfort itself.
Now, one of the things that you're gonna notice
here immediately is the fact
that we did lose the ability to fold up these headphones.
So here's a Sony XM4
where we can go ahead and collapse 'em
into this small footprint.
Where here we have is a rotation,
we have no ability to fold.
So that's something that, you know,
you have to kind of keep in mind when you're looking
at these headphones is one of the the biggest things
that people notice right off top.
So if I had to wager a guess
as to why Sony made this design change
on the Sony XM5s, I suspect that Sony made it
because of the weak hinges that have been plaguing
Sony headphones for years.
So if you guys know what I'm talking about, there's a lot
of people who had issues with the hinges snapping
on their Sony headphones.
I actually had that happen to me a long time ago
on a set of the XB900, the extra bass headphones.
So this could be why they went that route,
one less point of failure.
But I don't have an official source on that
but it is something that I wanted to mention.
Hopefully this will give the XM5 better durability
versus its predecessors, but only time will tell.
Now overall for the build and the comfort,
I feel like we're getting that fit and finish
that we've come accustomed to from Sony.
Decent materials, premium feeling pads,
so overall very, very good.
You're still getting that lightweight, comfortable build
so no complaints from my end there.
So now let's into get some
of the performance of the Sony XM5.
So let's talk
about that active noise cancellation and ambient mode.
But first, let me preface this section
by saying that I do not have access
to the Sony headphones app update for the Sony XM5.
So this means I cannot change EQ, access DSEE,
control active noise cancellation, or the ambient sliders.
And I have no access to the multipoint connectivity.
This is why this is an impressions video
and not a full review video.
Now, all testing was done
with onboard settings right out of the box.
So as such, I went ahead and factory reset
my Sony XM4s
in order to sort of level the playing field.
Now, when it comes to the active noise cancellation
there's little to no EQ shift between modes
with either the XM4 or the XM5.
Now, active noise cancellation on the XM5s
is doing an excellent job of canceling out unwanted noise.
And the XM5 actually performs better
at higher frequencies as well
as opposed to the Sony XM4 here.
Now I tested both the XM4
and XM5 against crowd noise and airliner jet noise.
And the XM5s performed noticeably better
at both, especially in those higher frequencies,
as I mentioned.
And then moving over to the aforementioned ambient mode,
the Sony XM5s have a noticeable upgrade
in their ambient mode.
It's noticeably better than what you got
on the Sony XM4.
It comes in cleaner, it comes in slightly louder
and less processed sounding than the XM4s.
Now, to be fair, it is not quite
up the par with what you're getting from the AirPods Max,
but we have a big, big step in the right direction here.
And as a side note, I'm one
of those guys that uses ambient mode far more
than I use active noise cancellation.
So when we have an improvement of this level
for the ambient sound, it's a huge win for me personally.
So now let's move over to the sound quality.
And all of my sound testing was performed using
both Apple Music Lossless for the AAC codec
and Coba's high-res in LDAC,
along with some locally stored FLAC and WAV files.
Now, the first thing that I came across
with the Sony XM5s when it comes to the sound quality
was the improvements in the mid-range.
There is a noticeable difference in vocal clarity
especially with ladies' voices.
Now, the bass remains just as punchy
with very good extension.
And I know that was a concern
of some of my viewers who were worried
about Sony going to a smaller driver.
We're still getting some excellent bass response here
but it is a little bit different.
So there is a bit less mid bass bloat.
So overall, the XM5s are gonna give you
a much cleaner bass sound
versus the Sony XM4s right here.
Now the Sony XM4s sound more boomy and dark
in comparison to the Sony XM5s
and their improved clarity.
Now, obviously you can EQ both of these
to sound much better, but out of the box
the sound quality is obviously improved.
Which makes me very, very happy
when it comes to the Sony XM5s.
Now, on another note, when using the Sony XM5s
with their 3.5 millimeter jack,
the sound there is also improved
and sounds closer to the sound that you get
while using these headphones powered on while DSP is active.
So definitely an improvement there.
If you want to just use these passively, you totally can.
When it comes to the sound quality
between the XM4 and the XM5,
the win here is obviously gonna go
to the XM5 with their improved clarity
while still keeping an excellent bass response,
in my personal opinion.
So now let's get into some quick questions that I know
a lot of people are asking.
First up, is it worth upgrading from the XM4
to the XM5?
For me personally, yes.
Especially if you want that improved sound quality,
improved noise cancellation, improved ambient mode,
and the improved microphones.
But the existence of the XM5
does not negate the XM4s.
The XM4s still deliver 95% of what the XM5 give you
at a much lower price.
So if you don't need to live on that bleeding edge of tech
you might as well skip these
and continue to enjoy your XM4.
Another question that popped up repeatedly
was how about the XM5s versus the Soundcore Q35,
which is a favorite amongst my viewers.
These are excellent budget, mid-range headphones,
come in right around $130.
A solid spec sheet with a great feature set,
but the XM5 are playing on another level
and deliver better performance when it comes
to clean sound, active noise cancellation,
and a much more natural ambient mode.
But for $270 less, the Q35 are a real bargain.
And then the last question that came in
was what's the biggest difference
between the XM4 and XM5 in my personal opinion?
Now outside of the obvious design changes
the biggest performance difference
for me has been the ambient mode.
Much more clean
and much more clear when compared to the Sony XM4.
Now, one thing that I missed during the original shoot
of this video was a question that came up repeatedly
was how did the Sony XM5s fit while wearing glasses?
And as somebody who wears shades all the time
due to my light sensitivity issues,
I figured it was something that I could address personally.
So for me, I haven't experienced any sort
of pain or fatigue in the temples or anything like that.
And most likely, I feel it's due
to the Sony XM5s having lower clamping force on my head
plus also excellent cushion on the earpads themselves.
Now, obviously user experience, once again,
will always vary.
But in my experience so far
in the past 24 hours, this has been a non-issue.
So I hope this helps those of you who are out there
wearing glasses with your headphones.
So now let's move over to the comparison rankings.
And this time we'll be comparing the Sony WH-1000XM5
versus the Sony WH-1000XM4, the Bose QC45,
the Technics A800 and the Apple AirPods Max.
Now we'll be ranking them for overall comfort,
active noise cancellation, ambient mode, and sound quality.
The goal of this is to give you some context
as to where the XM5s stack up in the rest of the market.
So first, let's start
with that comfort ranking.
In first place we've got the Bose QC45s.
In second place we've got the Sony XM5s.
Third place we've got the Sony XM4s.
Fourth place we've got the Technics A800.
Fifth place, we've got the AirPods Max.
Now to be clear, comfort is highly subjective.
Everyone's heads and ears are shaped differently
so your experience will inevitably vary.
For me the Bose QC45 were the most comfortable
right off the jump followed closely by the Sony XM5.
And it's a combination of the lightweight,
the light clamping force, and the good cushion
on both the pads and the headband itself.
And that's what put these Bose headphones
in the top spot, in my opinion, when it comes to comfort.
And that's gonna bring us
over to the active noise cancellation ranking.
So in first place
we've got the Sony XM5s.
In second place we've got the Apple AirPods Max.
Third place the Bose QC45.
Fourth place, the Sony XM4s.
And in fifth place, we've got the Technics A800.
Now for this test, I used 75 decibels worth of crowd noise
and 85 decibels worth of airline noise
to determine which was the best.
The Sony XM5 did the best job
at suppressing ambient noise
for both types of sound,
followed closely and I do mean closely
by Apple's AirPods Max.
What was truly impressive here was the difference
between the XM5s and the XM4s.
The XM5s are much more effective
at reducing higher frequency noises versus the XM4.
And the difference is easily noticeable.
So overall, the win
for noise cancellation here definitely goes to the XM5.
It's truly impressive.
So now let's do the ambient ranking.
And in first place, we have the Apple AirPods Max.
In second place we have the Sony WH-1000XM5.
Third place we have the Technics A800.
Fourth place we have the Bose QC45.
And fifth place we have the Sony XM4.
Now the Apple AirPods Max
has the most natural sounding ambient mode
out of all of the headphones that I tested.
It has to be experienced to truly be understood.
The XM5 with their improved mics
come in at a close second place,
but I have really high hopes for Sony here.
It feels like their ambient mode
is just one or two firmware updates away
from challenging the AirPods Max for this title.
Now that's gonna bring us over
to the sound quality rankings.
And in first place, we've got the Technics A800.
In second place
we've got the Sony WH-1000XM5.
In third place we've got the AirPods Max.
In fourth place we've got the Bose QC45
and in fifth place we've got the Sony XM4s.
Now this here was the biggest upset in my testing.
The Technics A800 came out of the blue
to steal the title for sound quality here.
Excellent bass response.
They hit hard when needed, but you can easily
dial the bass back for a more balanced sound.
The midrange is smooth and clean and presents you
with rich vocal clarity.
The treble is also nice and crisp and clear.
There's good sound stage and instrument separation as well.
On the other hand, the Sony XM5 made great improvements
in sound quality, as I said previously in this video.
But it just wasn't enough to keep Technics
out of the top spot.
So now let's go ahead and jump into some microphone samples
for all five of these headphones, both in a quiet
and a noisy environment
so you can see which one is gonna work best for you.
All right, so here we have the microphone sample test
for these Sony WH-1000XM5.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
Obviously I'm indoors in a semi quiet room.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
And here we have the microphone sample
for the Sony WH-1000XM4.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
Once again, I'm indoors in a semi quiet room.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
All right, and here we have the microphone sample
for the Apple AirPods Max.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
Once again, I'm indoors in a semi quiet room.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
All right, and here we have the microphone test
for the Bose QC45.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
Obviously I'm indoors once again in a semi quiet room.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
All right, and here we have the microphone sample
for the Technics A800 headphones.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
Obviously I'm indoors once again in a semi quiet room.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
And here we have the Sony WH-1000XM5
in a simulated crowd noise environment.
So something like a busy bar,
a crowded restaurant, or something along those lines.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
And here we have the Sony WH-1000XM4
in a simulated crowd noise environment.
So something like a busy bar,
a crowded restaurant or something along those lines.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
And here we have Apple AirPods Max
in a simulated crowd noise environment.
So something like a busy bar, crowded restaurant,
or something along those lines.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
And here we have the Bose QC 45
in a simulated crowd noise environment.
So something like a busy bar,
a crowded restaurant, or something along those lines.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
And here we have the Technics A800
in a simulated crowd noise environment.
So something like a busy bar,
a crowded restaurant or something along those lines.
So testing, testing, one, two, three.
As always you're gonna have to be the judge
of the microphone quality down in the comments section.
Well, with all that outta the way, if you're interested
in seeing my full review of the number one earbuds
under $200, check out this video right up here.
With that said, my name is Jefe, and I'm out this bitch.