Sony’s WH-1000XM5 offer virtually everything we love about the XM4, refined. They provide as good or better sound, with especially impressive stereo imaging and dynamics. They raise the bar for noise canceling and offer a comfier new design. And they offer impressive polish in design and performance, worthy of their premium status. Really the only complaints I can drum up are the higher price tag ($400 is really pushing it) and the larger case.

The predecessors to the Sony WH-1000XM5 were king of the hill, and this new headphone takes that crown. With new drivers, features, and design, the Sony WH-1000XM5 is an intriguing set of headphones among the flagship active noise cancelling (ANC) devices on the market. It excels in travel or at the office, in particular.

Sony demonstrates across-the-board expertise in the XM5 with a great-sounding pair of headphones that has exceptional ANC performance and eco credentials

The redesign and new sound profile of these latest noise-canceling headphones may polarize some long-time Sony fans, but it's ultimately a superlative noise-canceling headphone.

The WH-1000XM5 is evidence that even the best product in a given category still has room for improvement. Sony has consistently impressed us with its 1000X line, but the upgrades it delivers on the M5 are some of the biggest in the history of the series. It managed to make its sound even better while blocking more noise than it has before. Plus, there’s a new look that isn’t only an aesthetic improvement but is more comfortable too. The only gripe is the price, which is $50 more than the previous model at $400. But when considering the entirety of what you’re getting, the cost is perfectly reasonable. Sony was already on top, but with the WH-1000XM5, the company put even more distance between itself and the rest of the pack.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are an all-round great package. They boast an improved design, a well-featured app, good battery life, and great sound. They don’t quite match the AirPods Max for first-party features, but for those looking for a more balanced experience, or something that works with more than just Apple products, they’re the best option right now.

The predecessors to the Sony WH-1000XM5 were king of the hill, and these new headphones take that crown. With new drivers, features, and design, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are an intriguing set of headphones among the flagship active noise-cancelling (ANC) devices on the market. They excel in travel or at the office, in particular.

The WH-1000XM5 headphones are another success in Sony's long-running ANC headphone series. With tight audio, industry-leading ANC, and battery life that stretches up to 30 hours with ANC on, they're a fantastic pick for anyone in the market for high-end noise-canceling headphones. They're not a big upgrade from 2020's WH-1000XM4, and unlike Sony's previous ANC headphones, the XM5 don't fold up for easy travel — but if you're upgrading from an older set of headphones or in the market for your first ANC cans, there's not a lot to complain about here.

Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones pair top-notch noise cancellation with class-leading audio quality in a comfortable, attractive design.

Light and comfortable. Accomplished sound in pretty much every respect. Great control options.

Sony had to find ways to improve upon an already fabulous pair of headphones, and it focused on the right areas to do it, delivering one of the best over-ear pairs you can place on your head.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 improve on the best over-ear headphones you can buy with a slimmer design and refined noise-canceling microphones. XM4 owners have little reason to upgrade, but if you don't mind the higher price, the XM5s are the new high-end headphones to get.

If you are looking for the best noise-canceling Headphones Sony WH-1000XM5 is the best choice. It's miles ahead of its rivals. But the question comes when you already have xm4 and now xm5 came into the market. Should you buy xm5 when you already have xm4? For me, the answer is quite easy. I am happy with the noise-canceling ability of xm4. I am happy with the call quality too. I am not disappointed with the earcups of xm4 but I wish it would like xm5's earcups. so what to do when you already have xm4. I would say no need to buy the new one if you have xm4.

All of its well-renowned features are as good as ever, and its new ones are welcome additions. The XM5 makes many improvements to its usability and sound quality, as long as you’re up to using EQ to clean up some of the headphone’s muddiness. Sony continues to innovate with every major release, and I will be looking forward to seeing how they can make the 1000x experience even better.

Here's where things get interesting. By default I'd call these headphones reasonably flat, great for critical listening or even music production. If you love strong bass, these don't give it to you out of the box. Instead, you get a clean and accurate bass that doesn't overpower the rest of your music whatsoever.

I don’t love that the price has gone up, and the case is a miss. For those reasons, you should do your own side-by-side comparisons with the M4s and potentially save some money. It seems like Sony got confused with what it wanted the 1000XM5s to be: they’re a strange half-step between the 1000XM4s and luxury headphones like the AirPods Max. There’s no major new feature or big headlining thing about them. But they’re still damn good noise-canceling headphones.

the WH-1000XM5 are good travel headphones but if you are looking for a single pair of headphones for all your needs then you should look elsewhere.

Sony’s flagship Bluetooth headphones aim to be crowd-pleasers while making noticeable improvements in the tuning department over their predecessors.

They have roughly 27 hours of continuous playback time, which will last through long days on the road. Also, they're well-built and come with a sturdy carrying case to protect them when you're on the go. Their fit puts pressure on the top of the head, which becomes uncomfortable during long trips. While they have a great overall noise isolation performance, their ANC does a sub-par job of cutting down the low rumble of bus engines. Luckily, they do a significantly better job reducing sounds like passenger chit-chat.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 did not impress me, despite their best efforts. They are the usual, run-of-the-mill mainstream headphones with a tuning that’s made to wow those who value lots of bass. That is not a negative thing per se, although I do actively dislike this kind of sound personally, but the problem is that they fail to deliver significant performance in other areas of sound such as technical ability. But these are the priciest headphones in the 1000X series, with a price that hovers around $400, which I think could (and should) be justified by exceptional sound quality. However this is not the case.

Still the best headphones in the world thanks to their class-leading noise-cancelling features and well-balanced audio, a steeper price point and similar functionality to earlier models make the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones an ever-so-slightly tougher sell than before.

It can be tricky for a manufacturer to push the sound performance of a product consistently from generation to generation; but that is what Sony has managed to do with the WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones. Not only that, it has been achieved while executing a major redesign. The Sony XM5 headphones might feel a little less premium than before, but the jump in sound quality from the previous generation is a big one, and rivals could once again have their work cut out. If you are looking for a new pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones, your auditioning should start here.

I have spent a lot of time this year with Sony earbuds and enjoyed those experiences, but the full size over-the-ear experience of the Sony WH-1000XM5 makes it clear that nothing is better than headphones like this. I spent the last couple of months traveling, commuting, working, and relaxing with the headphones and didn't think the XM4 could get better, but Sony found a way.

Minor improvements to their predecessor keep the Sony WH-1000XM5 ahead of the chasing pack

What a mighty fine concoction this is – we were sad when Sony came knocking for their return. Importantly, they’re an improvement over the predecessor models and they represent great value. Any negatives are just minor quibbles really – the simple fact is that these are the best noise-cancellers around by almost every measure. You really won’t regret buying them.

The new Sony WH-1000XM5, other than possessing a rather tedious name, seem to be a near-perfect headphone experience in every category. They sound great, they are packed with features, a long battery life, and have had a major boost in noise cancellation functionality.