Design and features:This Bluetooth wireless noise canceling home/studio-style over-ear model provides very good sound and excellent active noise reduction. Its closed design and electronic noise canceling feature reduce both outside noise and sound leaking out into your environment. The headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music, and the audio cable can be detached to get it out of the way when the headphones are being used for noise reduction only. The headphones have medium/high sensitivity regardless of whether they unpowered or whatever mode (noise canceling on or off or ambient sound monitoring) they are in when powered; they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and even lower powered portable audio devices. The WH-1000XM5 has a volume control plus an integrated microphone and player function controls. Additional features include - These iPod/cellphone-centric headphones can be used with the noise canceling feature turned on or off, and are intended for use with iPods, iPads, some other cell phones, as well as standard audio devices. The headphones have an inline microphone and inline remote with and integrated volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls. The earcups swivel for ease of carrying and storage. Mfr. claims headphones automatically optimizes its noise cancelling characteristics based on the noise environment. Has "Speak to chat" feature where the headphones will automatically provide ambient sound monitoring when the user starts talking while the headphones are being worn. Ambient sound level can be adjusted in a scale of 1-20 and can be set to emphasize the vocal frequency range via Sony Headphones Connect app. Touch sensitive Bluetooth volume, music player, and call connect/disconnect controls on right earcup. Has auto pause/play feature that pauses Bluetooth audio playback when the headphones are removed from the head and resumes playback when the headphones are placed back on the head. Placing entire hand on right earcup momentarily mutes audio and enables monitor mode. Supports Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri voice commands when used with mobile devices that have those features. Has quick charge feature: 3 min of earphone charging will provide 3 hrs. of playtime. Headphones are compatible with Sony's 360 Reality Audio virtual surround sound on several streaming services (Deezer, Tidal, Nugs.net). Bluetooth connected Apple mobile devices using iOS Version 5 and above will show the battery level. Free Sony Headphones Connect app download for Apple and Android mobile devices can act as a audio program player and can provide tonal balance presets and equalization, provide earphone control customization, optimize the Sony 360 Reality Audio feature, disable the voice announcements, enable/disable the auto-pause function, enable/disable the adaptive volume level function, and update the earphone's firmware. Supports multipoint pairing that allows headphones to be paired with two Bluetooth devices at the same time. Supports Google Fast Pair for Android devices and Swift Pair for Windows 11 or Windows 10 laptop, desktop PC or tablet. Pop-up pairing guidance appears on nearby Windows 11 or Windows 10 devices when pairing mode is selected. Supports Hi-Res Audio and Dolby Atmos. The WH-1000XM5 comes with a detachable 46-inch long standard audio cable, USB-A to USB-C charging cable, carrying case. This model comes with Home/Studio-Style Bluetooth wireless noise canceling closed over-ear headphones that come with a detachable 46-inch long standard audio cable, USB-A to USB-C charging cable, carrying case and free Sony Headphones Connect app download for Apple and Android mobile devices.
Sound quality:We found the WH-1000XM5 delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks and excellent active noise reduction. With the noise cancelling mode engaged and the Sony Headphones Connect app set with the Equalizer off and clear bass set to 0 (as received state of the earphone) the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is somewhat prominent and thumpy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even, but is somewhat grainy, and hazy. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is fairly extended but is slightly prominent and slightly smeared. While the sound has a decent sense of liveliness, it is closed (sound-wise it's fairly obvious you have something plugging your ears) and does a decent job of recovering room ambience. Warmish character. The overall sound can best be summarized as thumpy and somewhat grainy. The tone settings of the app do have a noticeable effect on the sound of these headphones. Very similar sound to the Sony WH-1000XM4 it supersedes. Noise Canceling: Excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. Orientation changes the noise reduction characteristic - when the noise is coming from the sides less high-frequency noise can be heard. Faint hiss can be heard when there is no audio program to drown it out. Not significantly different from the Sony WH-1000XM4 that it supersedes.
Comfort and Fit:We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears.
As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use.
Large
Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range and that the headband may press uncomfortably on the top of the head.
Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel less cramped then most.
Incidental contact with the touch controls on the right outer earcup can cause unintentional playing or pausing, track skipping, and volume level changes.
Stability
Some users may find that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward.
Other noise
When wearing this model while walking the muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard through the headphones.
When the audio cord is used the sound of it rubbing on clothing may be faintly heard through the headphones.
