Sony WF-1000XM5 Earbuds Review - Are They The Best?

[@zivzulander]

Nice review! I got my pair recently and concur with everything in this video, especially the sound isolation being standout. Instrument and vocal separation is way more noticeable than on other true wireless buds I've owned. Sound quality is excellent and fairly flat/accurate overall, as your graphs confirm. Although admittedly this is the most premium price I've paid so far for earbuds and haven't compared them to similar competitors (highlighted here) from Bose or Apple. But I'm glad I bought them - and it's good to see that they are strut-proof, too. 😁

[@RTINGScomAudio]

Glad to hear you've been enjoying them! 😄 They definitely seem to be worth their premium price!

[@megane.z]

Love this review!🙌

[@RTINGScomAudio]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it, many many more to come!

[@Emilmode]

these earbuds are perfect man

[@lafripouille89]

They hurt my ears

[@Emilmode]

@@lafripouille89 yeah if thats the case you could try Jabra Elite 10 i heard those are really good

[@nonbenda]

The recording quality is surprisingly poor on this one. Even so, it is one of the worst on your website. I wonder whether it is a software problem, where they focused too much on background noise canceling, causing a compromise in the neutral-sounding frequencies, or if it is simply a hardware/design limitation when it comes to integrating a solid microphone into a relatively small enclosure.

[@rolins3279]

I don't know your testing methodology for phone calls, but just saying that Boses are good at it confirms to me that you need to change it very quickly, but more importantly makes me doubt all your other observations. 🙏🏽

[@blizzywilk]

I had the Sony WF-1000m5 for around 10 months. They lack bass in it's profile compared to the bose qc ultra and even the soundcore sport x10. I would know because I own all three. I I ended up returning the Sony and the sennheiser momentum 4 are on their way.

[@ttube111]

You should have downloaded a 3rd party EQ app and the bass would have improved.

[@ehabal-hanash2533]

Lack bass?? This is not right. Have you tried to personalize an eq? It’s way better than stock eq

[@jasonmorris159]

Is there anyway you could measure how these work at muffling gun fire? I know this is probably not your wheelhouse. But conventional ear protection is kind of overkill with slow rate suppressed gun fire. Bolt action slower paced longer range, or hunting. Just curious if there was any scientific way to measure if headphones like this added to noise reduction.

[@RTINGScomAudio]

Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be something we can do in the near future, but we won't rule it out for the future as we continue to grow as we understand it can be useful to some users. Sorry about that!

[@jasonmorris159]

No problem at all, I wasn't sure how attainable any results would be. Kind of crossing over between two completely separate categories of videos. I'm sure the cost to do that wouldn't be worth the handful of people who would be curious.

[@MiguelMadrid-es7ij]

This web page is SOOOO underrated, literally the best page for headphone reviews I've ever seen. Literally spent hours comparing the Sony linkbuds S frequency response to other earphones with ease, because I was worried about the bass output of these ( I really love bass and if you respond this comment would you recommend these? Fell in love with everything about them except that response, I mostly listen to progressive rock and thrash and nu metal). This comment really looks like a paid ad😂 but I can't stress enough how good and complete this website is and how little known it is. Love you guys whoever is running this!!!!

[@ramonzetien4895]

Do you recommend it for iPhone and Spotify?

[@RTINGScomAudio]

Help with personalized buying advice is something our experts offer only via our insider forums: www.rtings.com/forums/insider-advice However, we have lots of self-service tools and recommendation articles on our website that may be useful as well!

[@honzaklos]

Why even bother measuring latency, when you don't measure it in BLEA/LC3 mode?

[@RTINGScomAudio]

Unfortunately, there isn't a larger number of BT dongles on the market that will allow us to test LC3, but we're hoping this changes in the future, because it's a fair point!

[@honzaklos]

OK, the differences between BLEA/LC3 implementations in terms of latency seem quite huge: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3vaappufbR7m7M

[@spinachpies]

Sony burned me with the XM4s. The battery drain issue is ridiculous and Sony is absolving itself of responsibility. I bet the same happens with these.

[@deykno87]

It’s fixed

[@spinachpies]

@@deykno87 it's not fixed. My right ear bud was perfect two weeks ago. Then suddenly dies in 30 minutes. How do you know it's fixed?

[@bootabd7427]

My fried do not lie, this earbud is worst, health and safety wise should not be sold on the marked

[@fazsa6194]

some have suggested earbuds are only for listening , i disagree, i use it for music most but i need to make phone calls, conference calls, any time you use XM5 to talk you will be disappointed big time, they really suck, i see many media interviews using apple earbuds for interviews and talk and they work fine, why cant sony, i hope all review mention this giant issue with mikes upfront , no earbuds that cost 299 should have subpar audio performance on a apple as they are just as good and audio calls do not suck

[@bakayuseru]

You re my go to side for reviews. A nice addition to your anc testing would be using different eartips. The anc of the xm5s with silicone tips is really bad.

[@ihsanabdelkodos]

why don`t you review technincs ?

[@RTINGScomAudio]

We've bought and tested a wide variety of products, we just haven't made reviews for all of them yet. You can see a full list here: www.rtings.com/headphones

[@sebastiangiebels383]

I've been using these for the past 4 months and honestly, I find these super underwhelming. If you're considering buying these, you might want to read this: Firstly, the case is really slippery, and with these glossy sides of the earbuds themselves, I found these quite tough to get the buds out of their case, especially when it's raining or humid outside. Comfort is okay thanks to their foam style eartips, although they can get itchy from time to time, at least for me. Good luck trying to clean these. Finding replacement eartips is also difficult because there is a specifically formed net inside, which reduces the chance of earwax getting inside the speaker unit, but also changes the sounding when you switch to third party tips. Sony's "world class anc" is worse than Airpods Pro's, it can't even filter out background noise while walking through busy streets. The app's design is completely outdated and cluttered with services Sony wants you to subscribe to their external services so it's basically just Spamware. It's 2024, and the case is discharging on it's own. I have never experiences something like this with any other TWS like Airpods, Jabra's or Edifiers. Their Neobuds Pro 2 for basically $100 blow these out of the water in every regard. Out of the box, the sound quality is unbearable and I thought they were broken. Like honestly, who came up with this stock eq. It sounds flat, missing any warmth and dynamics while beeing sibilant and sounding really forward. You can go through a setup where you can choose which sounds (actually frequencies) you prefer. That just made them sound even worse. I checked all YT for decent eq's, the only one which is "usable" is the one suggested by "Aaron X Loud and Wireless". Sony's spatial audio alternative isn't working for me at all. You have to scan your ears with the Sony Headphones App. For me, the first two measurements couldn't be finished, the third one somehow worked. Their sense of "space" sounds completely off. It gives your music a weird reverb. The most bugging thing though is the AI, which constantly checks if you're moving, standing still, using public transportation and so on. Basically every time you move, the headphones try to adjust their modes themselves which is ALWAYS partnered with a CHIME. The AI also doesn't work properly. I use these on my daily commute, and while using the subway, they spontaneously decide to activate transparency mode. This is driving me nuts. I honestly don't know why everyone is recommending these. I think Sony pays all these Influencers quite some bucks.

[@davidstout6051]

Will they cancel the noise on a jet airliner?

[@lafripouille89]

A little bit

[@jigglejigggleee8765]

G9tta get over the ears ones for those...

[@rockbrd1]

The Sony XM5 are my best ear buds I have with Galaxy ear buds being second which are real good and simple to use . The XM5 have the best noise cancelation and filter out loud ambient noise . I work in a very noisy work environment in which I've used the Bose Quiet Comfort ultra and they sucked filtering loud noise , my ears would hurt so I returned them also when I close a car door the noise would amplify in my ear , The Bose Quiet Comfort were the most comfortable.

[@marxman300]

Goofy

[@49aguayo]

Worse Bluetooth device to pair, very very frustrating.