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A pair of headphones going a generation out of date is usually bad news for the buyer. Here it is the opposite.
The XM6 arrived, the XM5 stayed on sale, and the price fell to a place it never reached when it was current.
The verdict, before the detail
For long flights and long rail journeys, this is still the most noise you can remove for the money โ provided you buy it discounted and you do not need the case to be small.
It has traded well below list all year โ check today's price.
Sony built the XM5 around eight microphones and a dedicated cancellation processor, aimed squarely at low-frequency noise.
Reviewer consensus places it at or near the top of its price class for exactly that kind of sound: engine drone, tunnel roar, the hum of a cabin at cruise. Its Amazon rating sits at 4.4 across a review count in the forty-thousands, so the consensus is not a thin one.
Weight250 gBattery30 h, ANC onMics8CodecsLDAC, AAC, SBCWired3.5 mm cable included
What the numbers buy you
Thirty hours is a whole trip, not one leg of it
Thirty hours with cancellation running covers a flight to Asia, the return, and the taxi rides at either end.
That is a day and a half of continuous use. In practice it means charging weekly rather than nightly.
Eight microphones aimed at the noise a journey is made of
Cancellation works best against low, steady sound, and eight microphones plus a dedicated chip is what keeps that working at altitude.
Nearby conversation drops much less. That is physics rather than a fault, and no headphone in this class escapes it.
A 3.5mm cable in the box is a small spec with a large consequence
The cable plugs into an in-flight entertainment socket, which is the only way to watch the seat-back screen through your own headphones.
It also means a flat battery does not end your listening. Very few flagship rivals still include this.
| WH-1000XM5 | Bose QuietComfort | |
|---|---|---|
| Battery, ANC on | 30 h | 24 h |
| Weight | 250 g | 235 g |
| Folding cups | No | Yes |
| Codecs | LDAC, AAC, SBC | SBC, AAC |
Those are the numbers โ see what it costs today.
Three drawbacks worth knowing
It does not fold
The XM4 folded inwards at the cups. The XM5 only lies flat, so the case is bulky and a packed cabin bag notices.
It is the previous generation
The WH-1000XM6 is out. That is what created the discount, and it is also what puts the XM5 on the path to being discontinued eventually.
The headband does not suit every head
Reviews from people with smaller heads mention clamping pressure repeatedly. Comfort is the one spec you cannot read off a sheet.
Who this suits
A good fit if you
- Fly or travel long distances by rail and want the deepest cancellation at a discounted price
- Want LDAC and multipoint so a phone and a laptop stay connected at once
- Value a wired fallback for in-flight screens and flat batteries
Look elsewhere if you
- Pack light and need the case to disappear into a bag
- Would rather have the newest model and its full warranty runway
Still on your shortlist? See today's price.
What to pay
There is almost no reason to pay list for this model. Since the successor launched, discounting has been close to permanent, and the deepest cuts land around the big sale events.
The gap between list and sale is wide enough that timing matters more here than on most products. If you are not in a hurry, wait for a discount event.
Check today's price on AmazonSony WH-1000XM5 โ
Questions people ask before buying
Should I buy the XM5 or wait for the XM6 to discount?
If you need headphones now, the XM5 at a sale price is the better value by a wide margin. The XM6's discount cycle will take most of a year to reach the same depth.
How much noise does cancellation actually remove?
Far more low rumble than voices. Our explainer on how active noise cancellation works sets out why engine noise disappears and the person behind you does not.
Is the XM5 still getting firmware updates?
Sony has continued to ship firmware for the line, including the update that let LDAC and multipoint run together. Support did not stop when the successor launched.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links. We were not given this product and were not paid to write about it.
