The new favourite wireless buds

Review: Sony WF-1000XM5
Price: Rs 24,990

The WF-1000XM4 marked Sony's presence in the wireless earbuds segment, which was largely dominated by the likes of Apple AirPods Pro. But with the new WF-1000XM5, Sony has pushed the envelope even further with an astoundingly good sonic experience and ANC performance.

Design:

The footprint of the WF-1000XM5 feels significantly smaller than its predecessor. The case is reasonably compact, making it convenient to carry in hand or slide into a pocket. It has a rough texture, featuring an LED indicator at the front, a pairing button, and a USB-C port at the rear. Opening the lid reveals the circular earbuds (with a stemless design). The buds have a glossy finish with Sony branding and a microphone mesh cover in golden accents, with only a matte texture on the outer area that houses the touch controls. The buds come with foam tips in four sizes: XS, S, M (pre-installed on the buds), and L, offering better sound isolation compared to silicone tips. Each bud weighs 5.9 grams, and with the case weighing 39 grams, this brings the total weight to around 51 grams. Remarkably, this hasn't impacted the sound quality, comfort, or battery life by even one percent.

Pairing & App:

The Sony WF-1000XM5 is equipped with the latest tech features, including Bluetooth 5.3 with extended range, and it supports audio codecs like SBC, AAC, LDAC, and voice commands. The earbuds pair seamlessly with your phone over Bluetooth.

Moreover, the Sony Headphones Connect App provides access to a world of settings and customizations, including firmware updates, touch control customization, the creation of custom EQ profiles, adjustments to Ambient Sound settings, and more. This app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Controls & Gesture:

Just like the WH-1000XM5 noise-cancelling headphones that support touch controls, Sony has enhanced the user experience with the smaller surface area of the WF-1000XM5. A single tap on the left bud toggles between ANC (active noise cancellation) and ambient mode, and playback controls are assigned to the right bud. While no actions are assigned to double tap and triple tap on the left bud, continuous pressing activates quick attention.

For playback controls on the right bud, a single tap plays and pauses the music, a double tap takes you to the next track, and a triple tap goes to the previous track. Long-pressing the right bud launches the voice assistant function. Continued tapping on the left bud reduces the volume, while on the right, it increases it.

In addition to controls, it also supports head gestures. You can accept incoming calls by slightly nodding your head and reject them by shaking your head. I found this feature very useful, especially when answering or rejecting calls while working on articles or when both my hands were occupied. However, this feature is turned off by default and can be activated in the system settings of the compatible app.

Sound:

Despite having a larger footprint than most of its rivals, I loved last year's WF-1000XM4 for its sound output and active noise cancellation. This year, Sony has made improvements in all areas.

Sony has incorporated a lot of technology, including the new Integrated Processor V2 featuring 24-bit audio processing, the QN2e HD Noise Cancelling processor, and more. These enhancements result in impressive sound quality and noise cancellation.

The default audio profile offers well-balanced sound, with clear vocals, even bass, and mids that aren't overly sharp. If you wish to customize the sound, the equalizer settings accessible through the app provide various preset options such as vocals, treble boost, bass boost, speech, and others. I was even able to create two custom profiles.

I tested the earbuds with my testing playlist, which includes tracks from various music genres, such as 'Something Just Like This' by The Chainsmokers & Coldplay, 'Clint Eastwood' by Gorillaz, 'Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain' by Willie Nelson, 'Afreen Afreen' by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, 'Vande Mataram' by A R Rahman, 'Einaudi: Nuvole Bianche' by Ludovico Einaudi, among many others. With ANC activated, the XM5 created an immersive experience that allowed me to lose myself in my favourite music

ANC, and more…

Sony's WF-1000XM5 delivers superb noise cancellation by suppressing environmental noise without creating a vacuum-like effect. Consequently, I often found myself using the earbuds with ANC while reading and working on articles. When I activated ANC while listening to music, I could barely hear if anyone was talking to me. While this feature is great when in a safe zone like your home, it's essential to remain aware of your surroundings at all times when outside. To address this, Sony has added the adaptive sound control feature that automatically detects your activity and adjusts the ambient sound. It can distinguish between activities such as sitting, walking, running, or when you're in a vehicle.

Battery backup:

All the goodness of the WF-1000XM5 is complemented by a long-lasting battery backup. The fully juiced buds lasted about 8 hours of playback time at 60% volume, with ANC turned on. The fully charged case can juice up the buds twice, bringing the total playback time to close to 23 hours. And while the case can be charged using the USB-C cable, it also supports Qi wireless charging.

Verdict: Renowned for its audio offerings, Sony has smashed the premium wireless buds party with the WF-1000 XM4 with not much to fault. While Sony has launched the buds for Rs 24,990, what makes the deal even sweeter is the inaugural offer where one can get a cashback of Rs 3,000 with select bank cards.