Since Sony’s long-awaited noise-canceling WH-1000XM5 headphones came out, I’ve been asked one question over and over again.
Does the Sony XM5s sound better than the XM4s?
Today, I’m going to compare these two headphones in detail to answer that question.
Remember that the Sony WH-1000XM4s are my all-time favorite noise-canceling headphones. They sound great right out of the box, cancel noise as well as they say they do, and have the best case on the market, which is important. But there’s a new kid in town, and it’s clear that it has a lot to live up to.
The Sony XM5s came out last month, and writers and people who have read my review have had a lot of different things to say about it.
You see, the biggest problem with Sony’s new over-ear headphones is that the XM4s are still available. As long as you can still buy the “old” version, the XM5s are hard to recommend.
Or are they?
Let’s get to the review of the headphones that you’ve been waiting for!
Pricing
Now that the XM5s are out, the prices of the XM4s are falling quickly. For example, if you shop around in the UK, you can get one for as little as £260. The XM5s, on the other hand, sell for £379/$399.
So, if you care a lot about price and are already worried about how much the XM5s cost, the savings of over £100/$100 are hard to pass up.
Keeping this in mind, I think you’ll be able to tell pretty quickly by the end of this review if the extra money is worth it or not.
Design and comfort
The XM5s have a completely new look. I really like it. It looks more modern and less practical than the previous model, but it’s still clear that these are Sony XM headphones.
They are also lying. I thought the WH-1000XM5s were much bigger than their older brother, but in almost every way, they are almost the same size. The ear cups are a little bit bigger, but you can’t really tell.
But these headphones are very different in three big ways. The first is how heavy it is. The XM4s aren’t the largest over-ear headphones on the market, but the XM5s are ridiculously light. There’s nothing to them at all.
The second is that the XM5 is made to be as quiet as possible. When you turn them around or put them on your head, they don’t creak, squeak, or mutter. Even the arms that reach out are as smooth as butter. The XM4s, on the other hand, have arms that extend with a click, and I’ve heard a lot of people say that they creak when they wear them. I haven’t had this problem, but if it’s important to you, the XM5s are a big winner in this area.
Third, and this one might be the most divisive, the XM5s don’t fold. This doesn’t worry me at all, but it has made a big difference in the case, which I’ll talk about later.
The XM4s are for you if you like headphones that fold up. Still, I don’t think this is something to get too mad about.
I’m sorry, Sony, but the XM4s are the clear winner when it comes to ease. The ear cups and cap are both padded more, so I can wear them for longer without getting tired. The XM5s aren’t uncomfortable by any means, but it looks like Sony cut the padding everywhere, which is a bit upsetting.
Controls and battery life
With noise cancellation on, the WH-1000XM5s and WH-1000XM4s are said to have a battery life of 30 hours. When noise cancellation is turned off, the XM5s can last up to 40 hours. However, I’ve always said that once you get past 20 hours with over-ear headphones, you’re good to go.
The good news is that the XM5s have the same great backup time as the XM4s, which I’ve come to depend on. They don’t use much power when turned off (because you can turn them off; Apple, are you listening?).
Also, the functions are almost exactly the same. The only difference is that Sony changed the name of the ‘Custom’ button on the XM4s to ‘NC/Ambient’ on the XM5s, which makes a lot more sense.
Oh, and the XM5s still have those annoying touch-sensitive buttons, which I still think are useless.
The case
One of the most important parts of any pair of headphones is the case, and Sony has been ahead of the game in this area for a long time.
But if the size of the headphone case is important to you, we’ve reached one of the most controversial things about the Sony WH-1000XM5s.
As was already said, these headphones don’t fold, and because of that, their case is huge.
The case for the XM5 is bigger, taller, and thicker than the case for the XM4. Sony has tried to fix this by putting a unique folding device inside the case, which is made possible by creases that are already there around the edge.
I think the idea is that the case shrinks on its own when it’s empty and when it’s inside a bag full of things. This doesn’t work at all in real life. It takes a lot of force to squeeze the case, and it will only stay squeezed as long as the force is kept up. I don’t know what you’d have to have in your bag for that to work.
I don’t mind how big the XM5 case is, but if you do, you should get the XM4s instead.
Noise-cancelling
The Sony WH-1000XM4s were already the best noise-canceling headphones on the market, so the XM5s have a lot to live up to. They had to be as good or better, at least.
I have some good news for you. Sony has found a way to make the WH-1000XM5s even better at blocking out noise than its predecessor. It is very much better.
During my A/B tests, it was clear that the XM4s do a great job of blocking out sounds from the outside world, but the sounds that do get through still have a lot of high frequencies. I had never seen this before.
This is not the case with the XM5s, which seem to dampen everything across the entire frequency range. When you put Sony’s newest headphones on your head, the world around you gets a lot quieter as a result.
Ambient mode, which lets some of the outside world in when you want to be aware of your surroundings, works well on both sets of headphones, but the XM5s are a little better. It’s still not as good as the AirPods Max’s amazing transparency mode, but that’s to be expected.
Sound quality
The sound quality was another area where the Sony XM5s had to live up to a lot of standards. Most people agree that the XM4s are one of the best-sounding over-ear headphones on the market.
I tried both sets with the EQ profiles that came with them out of the box. I do this because I want to hear what Sony thinks we should hear before I mess with the EQ settings myself.
During Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack, it was easy to hear how much stronger the mid-range sounds are on the XM5s. I’ve always liked the slightly raised mid-range of the XM4s. As a result, the XM5s sound a little more “boxy.” Both, though, do a great job of dealing with the track’s big sub-kick drum, which stands out well no matter what else is going on.
When Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” came on, the XM4s made this song sound much wider right away. The older headphones from Sony also have more high-end sound than the XM5s. Both work well with this energetic, well-produced track, but the XM4s do a better job of making it sound exciting. Again, I think it’s the WH-1000XM5s’ strong mid-range that makes them less appealing to me.
Pop Evil’s “Breathe Again” is a headphone killer. It’s heavily compressed, very dynamic, and has a lot of clashing sounds, so it needs to be handled carefully so it doesn’t sound like a total mess. For me, it sounds better on the XM4s because it feels deeper and more alive. On the XM5s, it sounds less exciting.
Last, I chose Adele’s “Easy On Me” because it was easy to sing and play the piano. Here, the XM5s did a little bit better, and the extra impact that the mid-range gives makes more sense. This song sounded more natural on the XM5s because the sound was flatter, which is likely to please some users.
Overall, I still prefer the sound of the XM4s, but this is such a personal preference, and it’s important to remember that both sets of headphones respond very well to EQ adjustments if you want to find your ideal sound.
Calling quality
The call clarity is one of the worst things about the XM4s. As I’ve said before, I don’t use this kind of over-ear noise-canceling headphones to make calls, but the number of comments I’ve gotten about the terrible call quality of the XM4s is hard to ignore.
Well, I have good news for you: the XM5s do sound better. Even though my tests aren’t the most thorough you’ll find, I did find that the XM5s had better sound quality on both ends of a call.
I just wish that Ambient mode was more like AirPods Max so you could hear yourself better.
Additional features
When it comes to extra features, the WH-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM4 are so close to each other that it’s hardly worth talking about.
Both automatically stop and start playing when you take them off and put them back on your head. Both can work with smart assistants like Alexa, and both have the annoying and useless speaking recognition feature that stops the music when you start talking.
Both the XM5s and XM4s can be connected to two different Bluetooth devices at the same time, which works pretty well. They are also both compatible with Sony’s LDAC audio codec for streaming high-resolution music on Android devices.
The only difference between these two is that one has noise-canceling and the other doesn’t. I don’t know what else can be done to make a pair of over-ear noise-canceling headphones stand out, to be honest.
Conclusion
The Sony XM5 headphones have been awaited for months, but the XM5s have a new look and are now available at a lower price point. The XM5s are lightweight, quiet, and have a more comfortable design. They are also more comfortable, with padded ear cups and caps.
The XM5s have a 30-hour battery life, but when turned off, they can last up to 40 hours. The XM5s have the same great backup time as the XM4s, but they don’t use much power when turned off. The case is bigger, taller, and thicker than the XM4s, but Sony has tried to fix this by putting a unique folding device inside the case.
