Sony WH-1000Xm5: the king of portable headphones finally revolutionizes its design and perfects its technology

bluetooth headphones the most anticipated of this first semester, Sony’s WH-1000Xm5 officially comes to the fore.

On the program, many technological improvements, such as the optimization of noise reduction and loading. But the most significant change is undoubtedly on the design side, much more modern and close to a Bose Headphones 700. What finally relaunch a formula which was a little stagnant since the WH-1000Xm3 of 2018?

A more airy design and still just as light

On the form, the bias of Sony is obvious: to rock the WH-1000 formula in modernity. We will like it or not, but this allows it to stand out more from the usual production in the world of helmets.

If the hulls are still ovoid with a flat bottom, the branches and the arch are here completely redesigned, much thinner. We also notice that the branches come to hang on the top of the hulls, and not on the sides. Above all, their particular architecture makes it possible to place the shells flat, although they can no longer be folded inwards. This change goes hand in hand with a new rigid cover, more compact, as it can be folded down into a gusset.

One may wonder, given the finesse of the arch and its headrest, if comfort is not taking a beating. The helmet is a priori as light as its elder (about 254 g), while the contact area with the head is reduced.

More conservative, the ergonomics remain almost unchanged. Sony therefore always relies on tactile navigation and a few adjustment buttons. The WH-1000Xm5 also incorporates wearing sensors (automatic pause), much more discreet than on the previous version.

Let’s finish on the ecological aspect, which Sony is beginning to better integrate into its products. The packaging resumes the good habit started on the WF-1000Xm4, 0% plastic. In addition, the helmet is partly made from recycled plastic.

The WH-1000Xm5: version 5 technologies

It is difficult to revolutionize the market for portable ANC headphones as the high-end models seem to have reached a ceiling. Sony still wants to become the best on the market again and introduces some interesting improvements.

The most striking of these is the change from a four-microphone structure (two per side) to an eight-microphone structure (four per side). Thus, without being able to give us figures, Sony announces that it has improved the efficiency of noise reduction, in particular in the mids and highs.

This improvement in noise reduction also concerns the hands-free mode, which again will be able to better isolate the voice thanks to the new technology. Precise Voice Pickup (a mixture of spatial filtering and the use of an IA type algorithm). In addition, a reduction in wind noise has been implemented, in particular by the introduction of fabric in front of the microphones. This noise reduction, as a whole, is managed by the QN1 HD processing chip, here supported by the V1 processor.

The autonomy does not take a real boost, since remains at 30 hours with ANC activated, probably in AAC. For its part, fast charging is largely optimized, count three hours of operation for three minutes of charging, via the USB Power Delivery standard.

Sony does not reinvent the wheel on the rest of the embedded technologies and integrates the following automations:

• Speak-To-Chat: stop the music and trigger the transparency mode once the user’s voice has been picked up;
• Adaptive Sound Control: adaptation of the sound volume to the environment;
• Auto NC Optimizer: automatic adjustment of noise reduction according to the situation, or even the location (if the user creates an area).

Of course, the Sony Headphones application remains at the heart of the experience, since it will allow you to activate or deactivate these automations, as well as the noise reduction settings.

A very strange sound part

It’s hard not to be surprised when reading the characteristics of the loudspeaker used. This one, contrary to what we find on the WH-1000Xm4 and practically all high-end headphones (except Hifi headphones), does not measure 40 mm, but only 30 mm in diameter. Such a size is normally reserved for unambitious entry-level helmets.

However, Sony specifies that this transducer, in particular thanks to its carbon fiber coated membrane (it was aluminum on previous models) will be as effective at low frequencies, while offering a better response at high frequencies. It’s hard to see Sony regressing from one model to another, but let’s be wary. Like the previous model, the DSEE Extreme processing, supposed to recover some of the high frequencies, is still present.

The Bluetooth part is a bit more conservative. Here, the Sony WH-1000Xm5 reiterates what has existed for a few years now, namely compatibility with SBC, AAC and LDAC Bluetooth codecs, as well as a Multipoint connection (except in LDAC). Sony is once again ignoring Qualcomm technologies (probably in question, a Mediatek Bluetooth chip).

The WH-1000Xm5 is still compatible with Fast Pair (Android) and Swift Pair (Windows 10 and 11). Unfortunately, the headset is not equipped for the future Bluetooth LE Audio standard scheduled for this end of the year, which risks accelerating its obsolescence in the years to come.

As you might have guessed, the Sony WH-1000Xm5 is a premium model at all levels, and that has a price: 420 euros. The helmet will be available at the end of May from us, in a black color and a gray / white color (lighter than the previous version).

Source: Sony press release