I tested the Sony WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds -- here's why I'm not trading in my AirPods Pro (2024)

You can't have a conversation about premium wireless earbuds without mentioning the Sony WF-1000XM5. With their lush sound, intelligent noise-canceling and comfortable design, they rival the best that Apple, Bose and Sennheiser have to offer. In fact, in some ways they're the smartest earbuds I've tested, though there are a couple of shortcomings you'll want to consider. Plus, at $300, they're not cheap (but you can often find them discounted to around $250). Worth it? Here's my Sony WF-1000XM5 review.

Sony WF-1000XM5: Easy to set up?

I like Sony's all-paper packaging, which accommodates the earbuds and charging case, four sets of foam ear tips (in various sizes, including extra-small) and a short USB-C charging cord.

The charging case is among the more compact I've seen — a hair larger than Apple's AirPods Pro case, but still reasonably pocket-friendly. I like that it's flat on the bottom, so you can stand it upright (which is also the position for wireless charging).

Tech novices, take note: Sony supplies no printed setup instructions save for a four-step diagram, step one being the obligatory "scan this QR code to get the app." Incidentally, that app is called Sony Headphones Connect, but it shows up on your phone as simply "Headphones" — confusing if you're scanning for it and expecting to see something labeled Sony.

Step two shows you how to properly remove the earbuds from the case. You wouldn't think I'd need help with that, but it honestly didn't occur to me to "roll" them out from the middle as shown in the illustration. I was trying to pluck them out with two fingers, which proved difficult because they're a bit slippery and there's not much to grab onto.

(Side note: I was so gobsmacked by this revelation, I went back to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds I reviewed previously and had similar issues extracting from their case. Sure enough, by "rolling" instead of plucking, they came out more easily. Who knew?)

The XM5s are known in some circles as "bullet-style" earbuds, smaller and nubbier than the stem-style Apple AirPods Pro. This makes them a little more challenging to auger into your ears (which is necessary to create that all-important noise-isolating seal), as there's not as much earbud to grip; there's no "handle." And because there's also no wing-tip or similar outer band to help keep them in place, as on Sennheiser's Momentum True Wireless 4, any extra-sweaty or extra-bouncy exercise might cause them to fall out.

(Side note #2: If you don't like earbuds that squeeze into your sound holes like this, you might want to consider an increasingly popular alternative: open-ear headphones, which rest over and outside the ears but still deliver surprisingly good sound. Here's a roundup of the best open-ear headphones you can buy right now.)

Speaking of eartips, Sony supplies foam ones instead of silicone. The latter is used by the vast majority of earbuds. While foam offers a little more noise isolation, it also puts a bit of pressure on the insides of your auditory canals. Thus, I found the XM5s a bit less comfortable over long stretches. But everyone's ears and comfort levels are different, so your mileage may vary.

Sony WF-1000XM5: What features do they have?

The XM5s tick just about every box on the must-have feature list. There's ANC (active noise-canceling), of course, and it's adaptive, able to automatically adjust the level depending on your situation or surroundings. They support multipoint connectivity — I had no trouble pairing my PC as a second source — and ear detection, meaning playback automatically pauses when you remove an earbud and resumes when you restore it.

Another nifty automation: speak-to-chat, which pauses the music and disables ANC when you start talking, the better to simplify conversation while wearing the earbuds. Usually this requires some kind of manual intervention, like tapping pause or removing a 'bud. Of course, if you sometimes find yourself humming along with the music or even just coughing from time to time, you may want to disable this feature.

Now some good news/bad news: The XM5s offer spatial audio, a really cool technology that creates a three-dimensional soundstage, but it works only with a handful of apps. I suspect you've never heard of most of them; Tidal is arguably the best-known, often recognized as the audiophile's alternative to the likes of Spotify and Apple Music.

Apple AirPods Pro and Bose QuietComfort Ultras feature spatial audio as well, but they work with the latter services and plenty of others (including streamers like Netflix and Max) — in other words, services you probably already have. If you want to enjoy spatial audio (which Sony calls 360 Reality Audio) on the XM5s, you'll need to subscribe to Tidal or a service like PeerTracks or Nugs.net. For me that's a big "no thanks."

Like a lot of earbuds, the XM5s can be controlled via taps: a single tap of the right earbud, for example, to play/pause music, or a double-tap to skip tracks. Single tap the left earbud to toggle between noise-canceling and ambient-sound modes. However, Sony doesn't let you modify any of these preset functions, and I'm not wild about the configuration.

For example, that double tap of the right earbud to skip ahead to the next song? Fine, but wouldn't you think double-tapping the left earbud would take you to the previous song? Nope: You triple-tap the right earbud. That's illogical and something I'll never remember. Meanwhile, you can't disable single tap to compensate for accidental grazes when you insert or adjust an earbud, which happens pretty regularly.

Volume adjustment is a pain too: You quick-tap the left earbud to lower it, the right earbud to raise it. But it takes four taps before the adjustment actually kicks in, and then you have to keep tapping to set it where you want. I find this pretty imprecise, especially considering how tricky it can be to find the "tap area" by feel alone; you sort of have to grope the earbud with your hand to get your finger positioned just right.

A tap-and-hold method would work better for this, but on the right earbud that invokes your preferred voice assistant: the one on your phone (Google Assistant or Siri, for example) or Amazon Alexa. On the left, it enables Quick Attention, which is kind of a manual speak-to-chat.

You can swap the left earbuds' controls to the right and vice-versa, or disable touch controls altogether, but that's it. Not the end of the world, but other earbuds let you modify touch controls a lot more.

As for battery life, Sony promises up to eight hours on a charge, which is well above average. And get this: That's with ANC turned on; without it, you might get a whopping 12 hours. Contrast that with, say, AirPods Pro, which are good for about six hours with ANC off and just four hours with it on.

The only battery bummer here is that the charging case nets you only about two full recharges, for a maximum of 24 hours. But, again, that's with ANC on. Pretty incredible.

Sony WF-1000XM5: How do they sound?

For as long as I can remember, Sony has been synonymous with audio, so it's no surprise the company knows how to craft a finely tuned headphone. Everything I listened to sounded delightful: warm, detailed, vibrant, a true feast for the ears. Granted, my ears aren't audiophile-grade, but I'd be surprised if any casual listener — or even a careful one — could find fault with the XM5's sound quality. Rather, I suspect most listeners will be equally pleased with it.

For those who like to tinker, the Sony app offers eight equalizer presets, plus two custom ones you can save using your preferred settings on a five-band equalizer. There's also a Manual setting for on-the-fly adjustments that you don't necessarily want to save, plus a Find Your Equalizer test that helps you create a custom preset. (For the record, I found this test all but useless; you tap presets labeled 1-5 and try to decide which one you like best. Then you do it again with a subset.)

In my testing of the XM5's noise-canceling capabilities, I found them roughly on par with Apple AirPods Pro — which is to say, excellent. Whether you're looking to dull the roar of an airplane engine or work peacefully in a noisy office environment, the XM5s perform extremely well.

What's more, by enabling Adaptive Sound Control, you can customize what happens when you're in certain places (home, work, gym, etc.) or you perform certain actions (walking, running, riding a bus, etc.). At the office, for example, you might want to pair noise-canceling with voice passthrough so you can hear when your boss asks you a question. The app can even learn the places you visit frequently and adjust ANC settings accordingly. Few other earbuds I've tested offered this degree of automation.

The XM5s also closely rival the AirPods Pro when it comes to call quality, with efficient noise-canceling microphones and clear sound on both ends. Obviously this can vary depending on different factors — once in a while there was a bit of echo, though that can be true even without earbuds — but overall I think these are a solid choice for voice and Zoom calls alike.

Sony WF-1000XM5: Here's what I don't like

In addition to the physical usability issues I cited above, the XM5s are bogged down by the mess that is Sony's Headphones Connect app. Its various features and settings are spread out across four different pages — Status, Sound, System and Services — and I constantly found myself hopping back and forth between them to find a particular option; there's nothing logical or intuitive about the organization.

For example, Adaptive Sound Control is the first item listed on the Status page; you tap it to toggle the feature on or off and choose your settings. Fine, but why is Ambient Sound Control located on the Sound page? And why is there another Ambient Sound Control setting on the System page?

To choose an equalizer preset, you have to swipe left or right to cycle through the 11 available options. This is ridiculous; why not just put them on a list so you can immediately tap the one you want? And if you accidentally swipe a little outside the "preset" area, you end up at the previous or next menu page.

There's a toggle for something called DSEE Extreme, but the feature isn't explained anywhere. There's a tool called Spatial Sound Optimization that's separate from the 360 Reality Audio setup section, which suggests that spatial audio is a universally available feature, which it isn't. And there are Quick Access tap-sensor settings separated from the rest of the tap-sensor settings. Why?

I could go on, but I'll just say the Sony app borders on user-hostile, with too many confusing or unexplained options and an overall design that desperately needs a refresh. The good news is you probably won't need to deal with it very often.

Sony WF-1000XM5: Should you buy them?

In many ways, the XM5s remind me of the Bose QuietComfort Ultras: Solid core product mired by some head-scratching missteps. Great audio and noise-canceling, yes, but why must spatial audio be limited to a handful of obscure services? Why restrict users from modifying touch controls to their liking? And why not hire a UX expert to polish the app and make it easier to understand?

All that said, the proof is in the listening, and it's a joy to listen to these earbuds. They've got it where it counts, and with exemplary battery life to boot. Assuming you don't object to the price tag (or you're willing to wait for a sale), you should definitely consider them.