Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Review

The Sony WH-1000XM5 have a great noise isolation performance. These headphones have an automatic adaptive ANC system that optimizes their performance based on the environment around you. Unfortunately, unlike the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless, you can't turn the optimization off. As a result, some users have reported issues with the ANC changing with slight head movements, which is annoying since the system isn't providing consistent noise isolation.

While these headphones don't perform as well in the bass range compared to their predecessor, we measured a better performance when it comes to mid and treble range noise. However, in addition to our measurements, we made recordings of our office to subjectively test their noise isolation performance in the mid to treble ranges, which brought about slightly different results. Without headphones, the ambience of our office sounds like this. Compared to the XM4, the XM5's ANC can block out a slightly less ambient chatter. You can also see the recordings in a graph here. However, the difference is somewhat minor, and these headphones are still well-suited for office use. When it comes to treble range sounds like some noise from an AC unit, the XM4 seem to cut down a bit more sound than the XM5 too. Both still do an outstanding job in this range, and you can see a graph of our recordings here. However, keep in mind that treble range noise can be hard to hear, and we lose sensitivity to these kinds of sounds over time. The average noise of the office also falls around 60 dB, which is less than the 90 dB we use for our measurements.

Unfortunately, the Sony WH-1000XM5 have more trouble cutting down the low rumble of bus and plane engines than their predecessor, and they perform more closely to the Anker Soundcore Life Q35 Wireless in this regard. It may be a deal-breaker if you want to use them during your commute. We also subjectively compared their performance in the bass range by going out onto a noisy street with our equipment. Without headphones on, the street sounds like this. The XM5 do a sub-par job of isolating you from rumbly car engine noise than the XM4, which block out more of this noise. You can check out a graph of the recordings here.