Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones Long-Term Review: Next To None!

It’s been almost two months that I’ve been using Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones and have spent almost 67 hours, most of that was while working and traveling, and it’s safe to say that I had my share of doubts and questions, but it seems now I can share my experience with the device.

Sony launched its flagship headphones in September this year and at Rs 34,999, they are an expensive buy. That said, the headphones offer plenty of features and customisations to keep you busy.

I switched to True Wireless Earbuds years ago so headphones fell out of favour, and I finally settled with my now-favourite Sony’s WF-1000MX4 earbuds which I’ve already used for close to 395 hours, so spending money on any other audio device felt useless.

There is no alternative to the ease and comfort of good TWS earbuds. On top of that, a good battery life, active noise cancellation (ANC), and great sound quality sweeten the deal further. So, it makes little sense to switch back to headphones after that.

But then I tried Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones and it reignited my interest in headphones. 

Yes, they are big in size and expensive but the sound quality is what makes all the difference.

Sony’s XM5 is indeed one of the finest headphones you can try. 

Made from recycled material, they are sturdy, minimal, and beautiful to look at. The flat dome-shaped earcups have what the company calls “soft fit leather” padding that makes the headphones so comfortable to wear.  

I keep them on for hours, listening to Lo-Fi music and reading music on Youtube while working, if not that, then exploring new music on Apple Music. 

So, yes, finally a headphone you can wear for hours without feeling irritated. 

The touch-sensitive gesture controls add to the ease; you can play/pause, skip tracks, and long press to hear outside noise. 

The left earcup has a 3.5mm socket, power, and ANC/Ambient Mode buttons while the right earcup has a USB Type-C port for charging.

The only downside in all this I felt is the XM5 headphones are not compact and even their case is large so you need enough space in your bag to carry them. 

When it comes to tech specifications, there is pretty much everything – Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity (up to 10m range), support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC Bluetooth codecs, eight microphones for improved call quality, and a new QN1 processor noise cancellation.

That aside, there is multi-point connectivity, so you can pair the headphones with two devices at a time.

On top of that, Sony’s Headphones app is really easy to use and you can customise your 
headphones settings from it. 

I did have some performance issues initially with the headphones but an update on the app fixed it. 

The only feature which I find irritating is ‘speak to chat’ which pauses the music when you speak. But in real-life usage, the music pauses even when you hum a song. So, I usually keep this feature disabled. 

The adaptive sound feature, which automatically switches between ANC and ambient sound mode, based on your location and surrounding, is a good add-on in the mix. 

But the feature that I really like is Sony’s DSEE Extreme which uses AI to upscale compressed music. Since I juggle between several streaming apps, including the ones that have low-quality music such as YouTube (on which I spend hours), this feature comes really handy as it elevates the sound quality.

But what’s the use of good sound quality if ANC is not effective, fortunately, you are covered here, thanks to XM5’s QN1 processor.

The noise cancellation is impressive, to say the least. It also helps you concentrate on work or watch something on OTT apps, even in a noisy room or on public transport. This is by far one of the best noise cancellation you can experience.

I have been skeptical with most of the hearable devices when it comes to call quality, but Sony WH-1000XM5 exceeded my expectation here. You can actually rely on these headphones if you need a good device to take calls or attend virtual meetings.

When it comes to battery life, you easily get around 24-26 hours with ANC on, and then there is fast charging, too, so you get 1-2 hours of battery in just 5 mins. 

To sum up, there is pretty much everything you expect from flagship headphones, and then there are a bunch of extra features to sweeten the deal.

This makes Sony WH-1000XM5 one of the finest investments you can make in a gadget.
After almost two months with the XM5, I have little to complain about because pretty much everything is covered. Most importantly, I have started relying on my headphones more than the earbuds, and it’s a welcome shift.

The experience is worth it!