Sony WH-1000XM5 Review: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back!

Summary

In this review, MKBHD explores Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones, highlighting their sleek new design, improved comfort, and enhanced noise cancellation capabilities. The XM5s feature a larger ear cup, softer vegan leather, and an eight-microphone setup for better sound quality and voice isolation. Despite the lack of folding capability, which makes them less travel-friendly, the headphones offer a premium experience with 30 hours of battery life and fast charging. MKBHD suggests that while the XM5s are excellent for Android users and those who can accommodate their size, the XM4s might still be a better choice for others due to their portability and cost-effectiveness.

Takeaways

• 🎧 The Sony WH-1000 Mark 5 headphones represent a significant design departure from previous models, with a new shape that is minimal, sharp, and clean.
• 👂 The Mark 5 headphones are more comfortable for long-term wear due to their larger and wider ear cups, softer vegan leather material, and super lightweight design.
• 🔊 They retain the touch-sensitive panel for controls and have improved microphone slots, increasing from four to eight total microphones for better noise cancellation and voice quality.
• 🛫 A notable drawback is the lack of foldability, making the headphones less travel-friendly and requiring a larger carrying case.
• 🎵 The noise cancellation capabilities have been significantly improved in the Mark 5, offering better performance across both low and higher frequencies.
• 📱 The headphones have a transparency mode with 20 levels of adjustment and are compatible with the Sony app for extensive customization.
• 🎵 The sound quality remains excellent, similar to the Mark 4, and they feature a new 30-millimeter carbon fiber driver for improved audio performance.
• 🔋 The battery life remains at 30 hours, matching the Mark 4, but the Mark 5 offers faster charging, providing three hours of listening with just a three-minute charge.
• 📱 For Android phone users with larger bags and a need for travel headphones, the Mark 5 offers a premium experience with excellent sound and noise cancellation.
• 💰 The Mark 5 is priced at $400, with the Mark 4 being kept in the lineup at a lower price point, making the older model a more cost-effective option for some consumers.
• 🔉 The Mark 5 headphones show an improvement in voice quality during calls, providing better isolation of the voice against background noise compared to the Mark 4.

Q & A

What is the main change in the design of Sony's Mark 5 headphones compared to previous models?

The Mark 5 headphones have a new shape that is minimal, sharp, and clean. They no longer fold up, which makes them less travel-friendly, and they have a new sliding headband design similar to the Bose 700s and AirPods Max.

How does the comfort of the new Sony Mark 5 headphones compare to their predecessors?

The Mark 5 headphones are considered the most comfortable pair of noise-canceling headphones the reviewer has ever tried, thanks to the slightly bigger and wider ear cups and the new vegan leather material which is much softer.

What are the improvements in the microphone setup of the Mark 5 headphones?

The Mark 5 headphones have doubled the number of microphone slots from four to eight total microphones, with four on each side, which should improve noise cancellation and voice quality.

How does the noise cancellation capability of the Mark 5 headphones compare to the Mark 4?

The Mark 5 headphones have significantly improved noise cancellation capabilities, even better than the already world-class Mark 4, with better cancellation of higher frequencies such as appliances, whinier sounds, and human voices.

What is the transparency mode like on the Mark 5 headphones, and how does it compare to competitors?

The Mark 5 headphones have a transparency mode with 20 levels of adjustment in the app. While it is better than the Bose headphones, it does not reach the level of the AirPods Max, which provide the most natural transparency mode experience.

How does the sound quality of the Mark 5 headphones compare to the previous model?

The sound quality of the Mark 5 headphones is very similar to the Mark 4, which is excellent. They feature a new 30 millimeter carbon fiber driver and support for LDAC if the user has the right combination of smartphone and music source.

What is the battery life of the Mark 5 headphones, and has it improved from the Mark 4?

The Mark 5 headphones have the same 30 hours of battery life as the Mark 4s. There were rumors of an increase to 40 hours, but that did not happen.

What is the charging improvement in the Mark 5 headphones?

The Mark 5 headphones have faster charging capabilities. A three-minute charge provides three hours of listening time, which is a convenient feature for travelers.

How does the Mark 5 headphones' case compare to the Mark 4's case in terms of size and design?

The Mark 5 headphones come with a larger case that does not fold, making it less portable than the Mark 4's case. The new case has a modern design with angular origami-type seams and a magnetic door for storage compartments.

What is the price difference between the Mark 5 and Mark 4 headphones, and what do you get for the extra cost?

The Mark 5 headphones retail for $400, while the Mark 4s are kept around for $350. For the extra cost, you get a new design, improved noise cancellation, faster charging, and potentially better voice quality due to the extra microphones.

What is the reviewer's recommendation for someone considering the Mark 5 headphones?

The reviewer recommends the Mark 5 headphones for Android phone users with a big enough bag for travel, and for those who value premium noise-canceling headphones. However, for others, especially those who travel frequently and need a smaller footprint, the Mark 4s might be a better choice.

Outlines

00:00

🎧 Sony WH-1000XM5 Design and Features Overview

The video introduces the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones, highlighting their new design and features. The headphones have a minimalist, sharp, and clean look with a choice of dark and light color options. The ear cups are larger and feature a new vegan leather material, making them extremely comfortable for long-term wear. The headphones are lightweight and include a touch-sensitive panel for controls and off-head detection. They also have an increased number of microphones for improved noise cancellation and voice quality. However, the new design does not allow for folding, making them less travel-friendly and requiring a larger carrying case. The video also mentions the headphones' price and compares them to the older Mark 4 model, which will still be available at a lower price.

05:01

🔊 Enhanced Noise Cancellation and Sound Quality

This section discusses the noise cancellation capabilities and sound quality of the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones. The headphones have improved noise cancellation, effectively blocking out more high-frequency sounds such as human voices and appliances, in addition to the low-end frequencies. The headphones also feature a transparency mode with 20 levels of adjustment. The sound quality is described as excellent, with a new 30-millimeter carbon fiber driver and support for LDAC listening on compatible devices. The headphones are compared to the previous model and other brands, emphasizing their premium sound and comfort. Battery life is noted to be the same as the Mark 4s, with a 30-hour rating, but with an improvement in fast charging capabilities. The video also touches on the headphones' travel suitability and the minor inconveniences of the new design.

10:03

👋 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The video concludes with a summary of the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones and recommendations for potential buyers. The headphones are praised for their comfort, premium feel, and improved noise cancellation, making them a strong choice for Android users with larger bags and a need for travel headphones. However, for those who prioritize portability and cost, the Mark 4s are suggested as a more suitable option. The video acknowledges the headphones' strengths and minor drawbacks, suggesting that while they may not be perfect, they offer good value for the price.

Keywords

💡Noise Canceling Headphones

Noise canceling headphones are a type of headphone that uses active noise control to reduce unwanted ambient sounds. In the video's context, they are the central focus, with the Sony WH-1000 series being the subject of discussion. The script mentions how the Mark 3 and Mark 4 models were top of the market due to their comfort, noise canceling capabilities, and features like USB type C and multi-device support.

💡Mark 5

The 'Mark 5' refers to the fifth iteration of Sony's flagship noise canceling headphones. The script discusses the departure from the previous design, highlighting new features and improvements such as a new shape, vegan leather material, and enhanced noise cancellation capabilities. It is a key product in the video's review.

💡Design

In the context of the video, 'design' refers to the physical appearance and construction of the headphones. The Mark 5's new design is described as minimal, sharp, and clean, with a focus on comfort and material quality. The script also points out a downside in terms of portability due to the inability to fold, which is a significant aspect of the review.

💡Comfort

Comfort is a critical aspect of headphones, especially for long periods of use. The script emphasizes that the Mark 5 is the most comfortable pair of noise canceling headphones the reviewer has ever tried, due to the larger ear cups, softer vegan leather material, and lightweight design.

💡Vegan Leather

Vegan leather is a synthetic material designed to mimic the look and feel of genuine leather but without using animal products. The script mentions that the Mark 5 headphones use a new vegan leather material that is softer and contributes to the overall comfort of the headphones.

💡Microphones

The script discusses the increase in the number of microphones from the previous model, going from four to eight in total. These additional microphones play a crucial role in enhancing the noise cancellation and voice quality, which are important features for a premium noise canceling headphone.

💡Noise Cancellation

Noise cancellation is a feature that reduces unwanted ambient sounds, allowing users to listen to audio more clearly. The video script highlights the improved noise cancellation in the Mark 5 model, noting that it performs even better than its predecessors, especially in canceling out higher frequencies.

💡Transparency Mode

Transparency mode allows users to hear their surroundings while wearing noise canceling headphones. The script mentions that the Mark 5 headphones have a transparency mode with 20 levels of adjustment, allowing users to control how much ambient sound they want to let in.

💡Sound Quality

Sound quality is a measure of how well audio equipment reproduces sound. The video script praises the sound quality of the Mark 5 headphones, mentioning the use of a new 30 millimeter carbon fiber driver and support for LDAC, which contributes to their excellent audio performance.

💡Battery Life

Battery life refers to the amount of time a device can operate before needing to be recharged. The script clarifies that the Mark 5 headphones have a rated battery life of 30 hours, the same as the Mark 4s, but with an improvement in fast charging capabilities.

💡Travel

The video script repeatedly emphasizes the headphones' suitability for travel. The previous models were praised for their portability due to their folding design, but the Mark 5's inability to fold is a drawback for travel purposes, despite their premium features and comfort.

Highlights

Sony's flagship noise-canceling headphones have been the market leader for years.

Sony WH-1000 Mark 3 and Mark 4 headphones have been top of the market with their comfort, noise-canceling, and features.

The new Mark 5 headphones represent a significant departure from previous models.

Mark 5 features a new minimalist, sharp, and clean design.

The ear cups are larger, and the new vegan leather material is softer for increased comfort.

The headphones are super lightweight, making them the most comfortable pair for long periods.

Touch-sensitive panel on the right ear cup allows for skipping, pausing, and other controls.

On-head detection is present without a plastic cutout, and there are now eight total microphones for improved noise cancellation and voice quality.

The new design is not foldable, making the headphones less travel-friendly.

The case is larger and more modern, but the headphones no longer fit into a smaller space.

Sony WH-1000 Mark 5 will retail for $400, with Mark 4s remaining at $350.

Noise cancellation capabilities have been significantly improved in the Mark 5 model.

The Mark 5 has a transparency mode with 20 levels of adjustment.

Musical sound quality is excellent, with a new 30 millimeter carbon fiber driver and LDAC support.

Battery life is rated at 30 hours, the same as the Mark 4s, with faster charging capability.

The headphones do not fold flat when worn, which is a minor inconvenience for travel.

For Android users with larger bags, the Mark 5 offers premium features and comfort for travel.

For those who prioritize portability and cost, the Mark 4s are a strong alternative.

The Mark 5 headphones are a premium option with a modern design, despite some drawbacks.

Transcripts

(electronic music)

- Hey, what's up, MKBHD here.

Okay, so for the past few years, Sony's flagship

noise canceling headphones have been the king of the hill.

Of course, they've made some minor adjustments,

and feature additions over the past few,

so by the time they got to the Mark 3

with their comfort and noise canceling,

and USB type C, they were the top of the market,

and then the Mark 4 added multidevice support,

but they've essentially looked the same, sounded excellent,

and they've been an easy recommendation as a result.

But these new Mark 5 on the other hand

are a real departure from that formula.

A lot of the changes I do really like,

but there is one big one that I definitely don't.

So the first thing you might be wondering is

is there actually a sound improvement,

but actually wanna just start with the new design

'cause you can see

that they have this new shape that is this pretty

minimal, sharp and clean look,

there is still a dark and a light,

this light is a sort of a cream colored version,

and there's a lot of good things about this design.

The ear cups are slightly bigger and wider,

the new vegan leather material is so much softer.

It is, it's kind of amazing.

It combines that with the super lightweight

of the whole headphones to make this entire pair

more comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

Honestly, I'm just gonna say

this is the most comfortable pair

of noise canceling headphones I've ever tried.

You still have a touch sensitive panel

on the right side ear cup for skipping, pausing, et cetera.

And they actually still have

on off head detection despite not having a plastic cutout

in the ear cup, like the last one,

and there's now twice as many slots

for microphones around the outside.

It goes from four total to four on each side,

eight total microphones.

And I'll get into what that does

for noise cancellation and voice quality in a second,

but you can see, they're fairly minimal,

and hidden well in this new design.

But overall, overall, I actually still feel like

this design is a downgrade for one main reason.

So what do you get noise canceling headphones for, right?

Travel.

You're getting them to travel,

and so these old versions were the king of the hill

because they were obviously super comfortable,

had great noise cancellation,

and lots of features and good sound quality,

but they also folded up like this,

and fit into their little case just like that,

toss that in a bag, and you're good to go.

This new version with this new design does not fold at all.

So with this new sliding headband design,

which is kind of like the Bose 700s,

and the AirPods Max and so many others,

that's the only way of adjusting the size of the headphones.

So they no longer fold down into a smaller size,

and so as a result,

the case you carry them around in is quite a bit bigger.

It's kind of a cool case.

It looks like a modern backpack without the straps,

and it's got some angular origami type seams

and folds along the sides,

and once you get inside, there's a magnetic door

over a compartment that holds your charging cable,

and an audio cable, if you need one, it is a great case.

It's basically exactly like the Bose 700s,

but yeah, now it's just huge.

With Bose though we saw them do this new design

with the 700s,

but they at least kept around the quiet comfort series,

so the QC 45s still fold down like they always did,

and the AirPods Max are notoriously annoying to travel with

even though I still try to make it work,

but these are WH 1000 Mark 5,

which on paper makes it the sequel to the Mark 4,

so that's a little bit dangerous,

but I do know that they're keeping around the Mark 4s,

these new Mark 5s are gonna retail for $400,

and they're gonna keep around the Mark 4s for 350,

although you can already find them for like 329 or 300.

So these are starting to look kind of like a deal,

but let's just get past that design flaw.

They're still premium, lightweight,

comfortable noise canceling headphones,

and they have yet again bumped up

the noise cancellation capabilities pretty significantly.

So I've been saying for years, they're the king of the hill

for travel because as far as white noise is concerned,

like airplane engines, road noise, all that sort of stuff,

they do an A+ job at canceling that.

Right when I put these on,

I immediately noticed it's even stronger.

It still crushes that drowning low end,

but now some of the more higher frequencies

are better canceled out too,

appliances, whinier stuff, human voices too.

So yeah the last Sonys did have

world-class noise cancellation

but these get even better,

and we can thank the extra microphones

and processor for that.

Now with any noise canceling headphones and all those mics,

you also have a transparency mode, these have it again,

and they have 20 levels of adjustment in the app

of how much transparency gets through.

They're really good,

they are definitely better than the Bose,

but the AirPods Max are still

on a completely different level,

as far as transparency mode.

Those are the best I've ever heard in any headphones.

It sounds like you're not wearing headphones,

you just hear everyone's voices,

and everything perfectly clearly,

and these just don't get that good.

Like these just sound like a somewhat muffled

version of reality,

especially with voices and the higher frequency stuff,

even though there is actually

a specific enhanced voices toggle,

it just doesn't quite reach the AirPods' level

as far as hearing your own voice.

But then for actual musical sound quality,

they are very similar to last year,

which is to say excellent,

and they do have a new 30 millimeter carbon fiber driver.

And there is still L-back support

if you have the right combination

of smartphone and music source,

but I think I can safely say if I have an Android phone,

these to me are among the absolute best sounding

noise canceling wireless headphones available.

Again, they don't sound as good,

they're not as full and crisp and balanced

as AirPods Max paired with an iPhone,

but obviously that's just

for iPhone users that have $550 to burn.

But yeah, there's just something about

really good noise canceling headphones

that feels like magic.

Like I can be in a crowded area where my eyes tell me

this is a loud area, but to hear absolute silence

behind a perfectly isolated baseline,

and hear every detail of a vocal of some song,

like I'm in a live recording session is so sick.

That's what makes these headphones so good.

There were some rumors about the battery life

getting bumped from 30 to 40 hours,

which would've been crazy,

but that's not what happened.

They are rated for the same 30 hours

of battery life as the Mark 4s,

and from my experience so far,

they've right about matched it.

So 40, like would've been nice and amazing,

but I still think 30,

and the use I've gotten out of these is still very good.

The one improvement though is the charging, faster charging.

So you can plug these in for three minutes,

and get three hours of listening out of it.

So if you just need to plug in real quick

before you go head off to some trip somewhere,

that's very convenient.

Again, it's a travel feature,

but that's what I wanna break this all back down to.

At the end of the day, these are travel headphones,

and they no longer fold,

which means they are everything about them is bigger,

and more difficult to travel with than the last ones.

Oh, and also this might be minor,

but I do have to mention it.

So if you're wearing your Mark 4s like this,

and you didn't wanna like do the hold to speak or listen

to people and you just wanna take them off real quick,

you can do that and then fold them down,

so they're just facing down and you can do other stuff,

and they'll just sit here,

the Mark 5s, if you wear them correctly,

which is right side, left side, they don't fold down flat.

They actually only fold up,

and that's, I'm definitely nitpicking,

like that's a small thing, but for $400,

that's another thing that's not in the new headphones

that was nicer about the old ones.

So if you're actually thinking

about getting these headphones, this is, here,

this is a pretty nuanced recommendation,

but if you are using an Android phone,

and your bag is big enough,

and you plan on using these for travel, listening to music,

phone calls, if you're working with these,

all that sort of thing, these are gonna be amazing.

You get the Sony app,

you've got all the customization in the world.

You wanna do LDAC listening

even they sound like very good headphones,

and they work really well,

so comfortable, love these headphones.

But if you're really anyone else,

I'm gonna bring back the Mark 4s again for this,

I really think you should consider the Mark 4s,

of course right?

Because number one, they're gonna cost much less,

they, number two, actually fold down,

so if you want them to take up less space in your bag,

but they're also like 90% of these headphones,

they sound just about as good,

they might not be as trendy or premium-looking

as the new design, but like,

you're gonna get the same comfort, the same battery life,

really the only thing you're missing out on

is the slightly faster charging,

and what those extra mics and processor

get you for noise cancellation.

Oh wait, there is extra mics.

So maybe voice quality to.

All right, so this is an audio test of the Sony WH 1000

XM 4s, still a bad name, Sony,

water bottles available mkbhc.com just so you know,

also there's some voices in the background,

there's some various noises, but this is it.

It's okay.

It's okay for a mic.

And so now this is the audio quality

for the WH 1000 XM 5s.

I think it sounds better,

it definitely isolates the voice a little bit better,

against the same level of background noise,

but again, the bar was pretty low for wireless headphones.

This is just generally good for calls, for work,

for stuff where you need a mic built into the headphones.

All right.

So my theory is Sony saw what Bose did

with the 700 headphones,

with this new sliding design, the magnet in the case,

and they said, "All right, we can do that too.

"And we'll do our own version of it."

And so they did an even bigger version of the same thing,

sliding design, magnet in the case, and everything.

And I'm slightly annoyed by the much bigger footprint here,

but I mean, let's be real.

These are really good, really comfortable,

premium noise canceling headphones for 400 bucks,

with a terrible name, as we'd expect from Sony,

but that's about what we'd expect.

It's good.

All right.

That's been it.

Thanks for watching.

Catch you guys the next one

Peace.

(upbeat electronic music ending)