The Sony WH-1000XM3 were already fantastic headphones and I found it hard to believe Sony could improve the sound quality and noise cancelling so much… but they have.
I’ve had my WH-1000XM3s for over 2 years now and I found them to be excellent in every use case, whether that be gym, working from home or on public transport. Not only was the sound amazing, but the noise cancelling was the best I’ve experienced. They’re also built well (although they were mostly plastic), they have LDAC (see my Bluetooth audio guide for more info) and they were comfortable for long use sessions.
I came across a good deal on the 1000XM5s so I purchased them as an upgrade. At first, I was sceptical as to how much better they could be than the WH-1000XM3s, however Sony has really stepped up their game.
Sony has removed all plastic from the packaging of the 1000XM5s, so now everything is made of recycled material. Immediately you can tell there is a big improvement in build quality with the 1000XM5s, they feel sturdier, although still made of plastic and the headband and earpad cushioning is leagues ahead of the WH-1000XM3s. The design of the 1000XM5s also looks much better and the case is more premium with a magnetic cover to hide the charging cable and 3.5mm analogue cable. However, the 1000XM5s do not fold like the WH-1000XM3s meaning the case is bigger, but not by much.
The XM5s have the same features as the WH-1000XM3s such as quick charge, long battery life, LDAC, and touch controls, but in addition, the 1000XM5s also have speak to chat and multi-device support (meaning you can connect to two devices at the same time).
Sony has beefed up the processor on the 1000XM5s so the noise cancelling is much better when compared to the WH-1000XM3s, something I didn’t realise was possible. The sound quality has also significantly improved when compared to the already fantastic sounding WH-1000XM3s. The bass is richer, warmer and there is better separation. The highs are also crystal clear and the noise cancelling doesn’t take anything away from the sound quality. Although not on par with high end wired headphones such as the Sony MDR-Z7m2, when used with LDAC Bluetooth codec, the 1000XM5s make Bluetooth audio sound great.
Whilst the WH-1000XM3s are still a very capable set of Bluetooth headphones, I would definitely say, for me it was worth upgrading to the 1000XM5s and for many people with the WH-1000XM3s or below, there is a big difference in sound quality, build quality and noise cancelling. Another alternative is the WH-1000XM4s, however as I have not heard these myself, I cannot comment, but many reviews say they are quite similar to the 1000XM5s in terms of sound quality and noise cancelling; the major difference being the build quality and design.
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