Oswaldo Royett

  People ask all the time about the best headphones. And I have plenty of suggestions, with considerations for ANC, sound and comfort, but included somewhere in there is always mention of headphones from Sony. For the last few years, the answer has been the Sony WH-1000XM4. Now it's undeniably these new Sony WH-1000XM5. Predictably, and still kind of amazingly, these headphones are more comfortable, sound better and have an improved feature set over the 1000XM4. If you really want the previous generation, those headphones are still available for the same retail price of $349.99, but the new headphones, for $399.99, are easily worth their extra $50. Equipped with eight microphones, the WH-1000XM5's adaptive ANC is outstanding. Noise doesn't stand a chance against these headphones. But, that's expected from the company. The unexpected advancement here is that Sony raised the bar, slightly and finally giving their premium headphones some style. Pros: Comfortable earcups—sp...

According to a German tech site, the WH-1000XM5 will have longer battery life than the WH-1000XM4 Sony’s WH-1000XM4 noise-canceling headphones have been one of the best options since they debuted in 2020, but it appears the company is gearing up to release the next generation. German tech news site TechnikNews has published some images and specs of the successor, seemingly called the WH-1000XM5 (via Gizmodo). The first thing you might notice is a sleek new design, particularly a thinner headband. The 1000XM3s and 1000XM4s were almost identical, but Sony could change the way things look for the new 1000XM5s. Instead of a shrouded arm that swivels, the arm is exposed, with a single contact point replacing the XM4’s larger folding hinge over the ear cups. That changes the design of the ear cups as well but suggests just a bit more of their space is available for the stuff that affects what you hear. That arm looks slimmer than the previous design and could contribute to a lighter weight t...