Sony WH-1000XM5 Review: The 2023 King Still Has Fight Left

The XM5s are everywhere. Coffee shops, airplanes, that guy on the subway who’s definitely listening louder than he should be. Two years after Sony dropped the XM6, these things are still chart-topping search results, and honestly? I get it. But here’s the question nobody’s asking: should you still buy them in 2026, or is this just SEO momentum from a headphone that’s past its prime?

I spent three weeks with a pair to find out.

Unboxing & Build

Sony’s packaging feels appropriately premium for $400 headphones, minimalist white box, organized compartments, the works. Inside you get the headphones, a slim hard-shell case (way better than the bulky XM4 case), a USB-C cable, and an airplane adapter nobody uses anymore.

The build is where things get interesting. Sony went light with these, 250 grams, which is genuinely impressive for ANC cans. They achieved this with a new synthetic leather and redesigned headband structure. It feels less “premium materials” and more “well-engineered plastic,” if I’m being honest. The XM4s had this satisfying heft that screamed quality. The XM5s feel… competent. Not cheap, but not luxurious either.

That said, the new design language is cleaner. The earcups don’t fold anymore (controversial decision), the headband is sleeker, and the whole thing looks more mature. Less “gamer tech bro” and more “design-conscious commuter.” Your call which you prefer.

Durability? I’m skeptical about long-term wear. The synthetic leather hasn’t flaked yet, but it feels like it wants to in a few years. The hinges are fixed rather than folding, which theoretically means fewer failure points, but also means this case takes up more bag space.

Features & Controls

The touch controls on the right earcup work exactly as well as touch controls ever do, which is to say, about 85% of the time. Swipe up/down for volume, forward/back for tracks, tap for pause. You’ll accidentally trigger them putting the headphones on. You’ll occasionally swipe three times before it registers. It’s fine. It’s touch controls.

What does work flawlessly: Speak-to-Chat. Start talking, music pauses and ambient mode kicks in. It’s so good it’s almost creepy. Though I turned it off after accidentally triggering it by singing along to LCD Soundsystem too enthusiastically.

The ANC is still elite tier. I’m talking “makes airplane cabin noise vanish into the void” good. The XM6 beats it slightly in wind rejection, but for indoor use or public transit, these are still phenomenal. Transparency mode is natural enough that I’ve had full conversations at checkout counters without removing them.

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Multipoint Bluetooth works reliably between my phone and laptop. LDAC support is here if you’re on Android. Battery life hits the claimed 30 hours with ANC on, which is straight-up ridiculous.

Sound Quality

Here’s where we need to talk honestly. The XM5s sound good. They do not sound great.

Bass: Firing up Kendrick Lamar’s “N95,” the low end is present and punchy but not particularly textured. The sub-bass has weight — you feel that rumble — but it bleeds slightly into the mids. On FKA twigs’ “Cellophane,” where the bass should feel delicate and separated, it’s a bit thick. The XM6 tightened this up considerably.

Mids: This is where these shine relative to older XM models. Vocals sit forward and clear. Phoebe Bridgers’ voice on “Kyoto” has air around it, and the guitar doesn’t get buried. But compared to dedicated music headphones at this price? There’s a slight veil. It’s like listening through very clean glass — everything’s there, just not quite immediate. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra actually edges ahead here for vocal presence.

Treble: Safe. Polite. Never harsh, never fatiguing, but also never particularly sparkly. Hi-hats in jazz recordings (try Makaya McCraven’s “In These Times”) are present but lack shimmer. This is the Sony house sound — smooth, consumer-friendly, built for long listening sessions rather than critical detail retrieval.

Soundstage & Imaging: Narrow. These are closed-backs optimized for noise cancellation, so I wasn’t expecting miracles, but the stage is notably intimate. Listening to Bonobo’s “Cirrus,” the layered production feels stacked rather than spread. Imaging is decent — instruments have clear positions — but it’s all happening in a small room rather than a hall. The XM6 improved this noticeably with spatial audio processing that actually works.

Detail: Good enough for commuting, not good enough for critical listening. A/B testing against my Sennheiser HD 600s at home is laughable, but that’s not the use case. Against other ANC headphones? They’re middle of the pack. The AirPods Max retrieve more micro-detail. The XM6 improved resolution in the upper mids.

Here’s the thing: these sound like what they are. Very competent all-rounders built for noise cancellation first, sound quality second. They’re tuned to sound pleasant with everything, which means they’re not exceptional with anything.

Who It’s For

You want best-in-class ANC for travel or noisy environments, you value comfort for long sessions, and you’re not obsessing over the last 10% of sound quality. You’re choosing between these and the XM6, and saving $150 matters more than incremental improvements in clarity and bass control.

You’re not someone who listens critically at home. You’re not someone who needs audiophile-grade detail. And if you’re already in the Apple ecosystem, the AirPods Max integration probably wins despite the sound quality being roughly equivalent.

Verdict

At their current street price of around $280 (down from the original $400), the XM5s make a lot more sense than they did at launch. The XM6 is objectively better — tighter bass, better spatial processing, improved call quality — but is it $150 better? For most people, no.

These are still excellent travel headphones. The ANC remains top-three in the market. They’re comfortable enough to wear for entire cross-country flights. And they sound good enough that you won’t be disappointed unless you’re coming from dedicated audiophile gear.

But the magic is gone. These feel like the sensible choice rather than the exciting one. They’re the reliable Honda Civic of ANC headphones — and sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.

Worth it at $280-300? Yes. At original $400 pricing? Get the XM6.

Tested with: iPhone 15 Pro (AAC), Samsung Galaxy S24 (LDAC), MacBook Pro M3, Qobuz Hi-Res streaming, local FLAC files