Filing · Product Review
Sony WF-1000XM5.
The first earbuds that made a 14-hour flight in economy feel like an actively chosen silence rather than an endured one.
VerdictBUYScore9.0/10
At a glance
Smaller than the previous generation, better noise cancelling than the previous generation — an unusually clean upgrade.
+ Pros
- Noise cancelling genuinely competes with over-ear headphones now
- Case and buds shrunk noticeably from the prior generation without losing battery life
- Call quality holds up in loud markets and airport gates
- Multipoint pairing switches between phone and laptop cleanly
− Cons
- Touch controls on the stem take a week to stop mis-triggering
- No wireless charging on the case, oddly
- Ear tip fit is fussy — the wrong size undoes the noise cancelling almost entirely
Sony's previous true-wireless flagship was excellent and slightly absurd-looking in the ear — the kind of earbud you noticed in the mirror. The WF-1000XM5 fixes the fit without giving up anything on noise cancelling, which is the upgrade I actually wanted. Across a stretch of long-haul flights and a few genuinely chaotic markets in Bangkok, the ANC handled engine drone and market noise close to as well as my over-ear pair, which is a first for anything this small.
Battery life stayed honest to spec — around eight hours per charge with ANC on, more in the case — and multipoint pairing between my phone and laptop worked cleanly enough that I stopped thinking about it, which is the correct bar for that feature.
Two real complaints: the stem touch controls need about a week of muscle memory before you stop accidentally skipping a track reaching for your phone, and the ear tip fit is unforgiving — the wrong size doesn't just feel loose, it measurably kills the noise cancelling. Worth the five minutes it takes to size them properly on day one.
Written by
Amer
Travel content creator from Kedah, Malaysia. Budget guides, gear reviews, and photo essays across Asia since 2021 — the price, the seat, the misstep.
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