Customer Ratings & Reviews

First off the design of the earbuds are amazing. The fit and feel way better than the "Sony WF-1000XM4." Sony also having their own app to help you customize your headphones/earbuds is quite a nice feature. Secondly an improvement from it's predecessor is that you can use either earbud how you want. With the "WF-1000XM4" the right earbud was the "main" so if you wanted to use the left, you had to have both. The Sony Wireless WF-1000XM5 allows you to use whichever you please which is preferable. The only issue I have is sound quality. Sony has come a long way, so should their products. Sometimes it sounds amazing, sometomes I to turn it all the way up just to hear it. The most frustrating issue is their are time's where it sounds like certain parts of the track is muffled or underwater. Some might try to say that "oh your listening to a posted version from an unreliable source" but I listen to it directly from the artist themselves. Overall the earbuds aren't bad, Sony is heading in the right direction. Just some small tune ups.

Any enthusiasm I had for these is pretty much gone, and very happy I didn’t sell off my WF1000XM4s. They sound excellent, they pair up right well with the iPhone; beyond that, the little annoyances start to add up. First, the fit. If you have larger ears, you’re going to experience a lot more outside noise than usual. Some odd reason, the fit isn’t as tight as the previous model. Switching to a larger tip makes it uncomfortable for me and then you have this issue where it doesn’t fit in the case perfectly. Hopefully a third party like Comply or SpinFit will update their catalog to maybe remedy this. Two, random dropouts during playback. Sometimes it’ll be the right bud, or both. This may or may not be linked to the “unknown accessory” tab that randomly pops up on my phone screen. This has never happened on the previous model or any of my other wireless ANC buds. It’s quite annoying. New tips, maybe a firmware update will correct these annoyances ? I haven’t used these for phone calls. As expected the battery life is excellent in both the buds, and case. In the right setting, music detail , experience are excellent.

I realized today how incredibly inconvenient it is to not be able to track these earpods because, well, you just can’t! I misplaced the case with one earpod in and was just looking and looking. I wish it was register-able with Apple’s find my, or even on sony sound connect but nope. No way to locate it but to dig deep in your own memory. It’s also too big. I wear it underneath a cloth head band when I’m at work and when i take it off it hurts like heck I could cry. Not as confortable as they say. And I’m wearing the xxs and still falls off. Only things i like about it is the sound quality and the color pink.

Great earbuds. Prefer the fitment and noise cancellation over AirPod pros. However these are my second pair as the first pair was defective, it would cut off in one ear very randomly but the replacement hasn’t had any issues as of yet. Definitely recommend unless you get a bad pair..

Headphones sound great, with great noise canceling, but just don't stay in my ears. As a contractor that's moving all day, I need something small that stays in place. Did some research to find a lot of people have this problem and end up returning or getting new ear tips. Not cool for how expensive they were.

I had to return it cuz the sound was good but not 300 dollars good, I don't know if I'm being too pushy with earbuds cuz you can get better headsets with less but these are earbuds ... I like a deep bass, this was ok bass. The material feels cheap, the buds and the case

The Sony WF1000 XM5 earbuds was the most anticipated product for me. I already had the Sony Connect app as I own other Sony headphones as well as other brands. So set up was easy for me. The Sony Connect app is excellent, easy to follow and loaded with customization and features. After fully charging the ear buds and completing the set up, I put them through the paces, listening to music and videos, making calls , etc. Everything seemed to work fine. The sound quality was excellent. But the one thing that didn’t seem to work was the ANC. I tried all of the ear piece sizes several times but couldn’t get the proper seal for noise cancellation. I tested each ear piece with the app, but the app indicated that none of them offered the proper seal for noise cancellation. At first I thought I had a defective pair of ear buds, but after 4 days I now realize that the stem that holds the ear piece is too short to go far enough into my ear canal to form a proper seal. If I take my finger and press it against that back of the ear bud as hard as I can pushing it toward my ear canal I can just barely get enough seal to get ANC. I have several other ear buds including the Bose QC and Google Pixel and I have never had this issue. I always use a medium size ear piece and get a perfect seal. This is the first time I have had this issue. A quick fix for Sony would be to make a foam ear piece that is about 1/8” longer. But without a fix these are headed for my drawer or for use only in my home when it is quiet. And this is a shame because the sound quality is fantastic, battery life is very good, and the app is excellent. The case is small and easy to carry in a pocket. The ear buds are light and comfortable in the ear. But they are shiny and slippery. In fact I often have to grab them a couple of times just to get them out of the case because they keep slipping. I hope Sony sees this and comes out with a simple fix (longer ear piece). But until then I cannot recommend these ear buds.

I have the bests fit pro and I tried these and the price tag didnt justify what you are getting and I run just one ear bud alot (left) and with these you have to have both in to control them. Sound quality is good but for the money I feel as a whole they should be better but they are more compact than there predacesors and I dodnt have an issue getting them out of the case but they just werent for me personnaly but they arent a bad set of ear buds either.

The sound quality is good. The ANC is good. But the technical issues are hard to ignore. The battery for each bud will drain at different rates. The playback cuts out randomly for a second or more sometimes, especially when moving. I had battery issues with the WF 1000XM4’s and got a full refund. When I ran into similar issues with this unit, Sony only offered me a replacement. If you have an iPhone, just get AirPod Pros. I am so disappointed with these that it made me consider returning my WH 1000 XM4s so I can escape Sony’s ecosystem, but I will hold off on that while they still work. For this price point, Sony should have done better.

The sound quality and ANC are really good, but the sensors malfunction so much. The touch sensors (which this has instead of buttons) have a really annoying delay which makes it hard to tell if my press registered, so I try pressing again and it turns out both registered so now I paused then unpaused my song and I sit there looking like an idiot for 30 seconds while someone is trying to talk to me, but I can't take the ear buds out because the wear detectors will detect my fingers so my music will play and pause repeatedly in my other ear. Also if I'm working out and my hair gets sweaty and touches the buds, they think I pressed them so it starts pausing or skipping my song every 10 seconds, and wiping them off doesn't fix it so I just need to end my workout early. And sometimes (maybe sweat got in the microphone?) the ANC in one bud will break and make a constant buzzing sound for a day or two before it goes back to normal. First impressions were really good, but the little annoyances and design flaws are a death by a thousand paper cuts. They're decent for sitting still at a desk, but incredibly annoying at the gym.

They are great when they work. Sound profile and ANC is great, as to be expected by Sony. Software and controls are not great and could use a LOT of refinement. Volume / Playback / ANC controls on the buds is clunky at best. 4+ taps to turn the volume up or down is REALLY a pain and only works sometimes. They do not connect automatically to the 2 paired devices. No ability to change what each tap does on the ear bud is an oversight in my opinion. I have had a number of times where they just disconnect, and I have to pair them again. Lag time between a tap on the bud is noticeable. For a 300 dollar flagship product, I expected a more polished user interface and a more stable experience. If it was not for the sound quality and ANC I would return and go back to my Pixel Buds Pro.

Compared to buds pro 2 both sound great but buds go little loud and the sony wf-1000xm5 have great base at low volume and seem to last longer then my bud pros but im looking to compare them to the apple pro earbuds and Google earbuds when ever i get the chance to get them but the sony wf-1000xm5 are alright if you have the cash for them but the Samsung buds are over all best on price and im always worried i will losee them so i keep my earbuds pro with me at work and sony ones at home or in my car

I am coming from the previous XM4 earbuds and I have to say that I miss those more than ever. The redesign for XM5 has made the earbuds much more rounded and slightly smaller which means they are harder to get out of the case and get them in your ears. Battery life seems similar to the previous generation but I would recommend getting a protection plan in case Sony bricks this generation with another battery roasting software update. The case is smaller as well but doesn't feel like its lost much if any charge capacity. That said I would love to see Sony and other bud makers come out with a more rugged case as standard or offer their own reinforced outer case for sale right beside the buds. The Sony software is "Ok" plenty of settings to adjust EQ modes, controls, etc... however some bugs like the Speak-to-chat function unpausing music that you stopped yourself or just outright turning off by itself are still very much around. The controls are the same from the previous generation, it would seem that with the redesign the size of the touch zone has shrunk so you can expect to fight for a while to learn where EXACTLY you need to tap to get functions to work correctly. Calls are clear and no one has complained about my voice quality. Overall I am left wishing for the previous generation size and shape for ease of use but otherwise these sound great and have some of the best battery life I have seen in the segment. The software needs refinement and the user will need to practice to get accurate with the controls. Beyond that they are good buds in a market segment flooded with plenty of very bad low quality products.

Beautiful design (Great Material Selection/Feel), comfortable but active noise canceling is subpar.

I'd had the Bose QC earbuds (2 years old) and one died so I tried new options - I thought the Sony would be a good direction - heard good things about sound and noise cancelling. I will admit that the sound was excellent, but noise cancelling was so-so. These have to be burrowed into your ear to work correctly, and (on me, at least) they kept working their way out. They never fell out, but I could tell the seal wasn't complete and it was an annoyance. I bought a pair of the new Bose QC Ultra, and they're MUCH better - ear seal is great and stays put. Sound is so similar I can't tell the difference between the Sony and Bose. Noise cancelling (if that's important to you) is a step-change better with Bose. The Sony earbuds were fine, but noise cancelling was lacking and having to fit them deep into my ear each time wasn't ideal. I'm returning the Sony and sticking with the new Bose.

I love the sound quality but the bass seems to be lacking comps to cheaper quality earbuds. My biggest isssue is the ear tips. They completely fell apart in about a month and a half. Got aftermarket tips afterwards bc I couldn’t fine OEM at the time and they have done the same. Probably going to trade them in for a different pair.

The sound is fantastic and the app is easy to use. However, I had to return them because they were constantly connecting to my phone even when in the case with the lid closed. Very frustrating.

Purchased with high hopes and expectations based on my previous purchase of the Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones Model WH-1000XM4, which I regard very highly. The XM5 earbuds left me underwhelmed. The noise cancelling was mediocre. Street sounds bleed in all the time. Same for sounds at home when near anyone conversing. My Bose earbuds are far superior in this category. The only good point is how easy the XM5 connect via bluetooth. On the downside, they sometimes connect to my devices while still in there case. Annoying. I would not recommend for the price. Bose earbuds are a better deal.

I’ve been using the airpod pros 2 for quite a while and wanted to make a switch. The xm5 are so much better in the sound quality and the EQ options are amazing. The built in EQ finder worked beautifully. The problems I have are mainly with the touch controls. I can’t adjust the earbuds physcially in my ear without accidentally touching the pause or noise cancelling modes. And why do I have to press the touch control button 4 times to change the volume up and down? Why isn’t there a swipe command to change it? Also the transparency on the airpods are just miles ahead of any other earbud I’ve tried and the ANC seems about the same to the AirPods. If these go on sale it could be worth it but I still think the Airpods pro 2 which regularly drop to $199 are much more worth it if you care more about the transparency and touch controls over the better sound quality. I feel most people wont be able to notice the difference though.

I want to give these 5 stars but there are so many little issues that make them unusable. First, the ear tips. NICE IDEA! It's a silicone foam hybrid. However, they tear easily. the outer layers come off. They are impossible to clean. If you use any alcohol at all or any type of cleaning solution, it eats away at the product. That makes them disposable, unless you don't clean your ear tips. Silicone is the only option, so you have to go after market. Then, good luck getting a good clean fit with aftermarket ear buds. I can't find anything that works perfectly. Once you get a good fit from shoving them in your ear as far as you can, the noise canceling is phenomal, but dies out with any gym movement. Great noise cancelation technology is defeated by a poor fit. Next, connection issues. Using these with my phone at the gym, the right ear regularly loses connection for a short section. Nothing bad, but enough to miss a note in a song. Enough to be annoying. It reconnects in less than a second, but it is frustrating. The phone connection is great, it's a newer model android with the most recent update. The bluetooth has no other issues with any other external speakers, so it's just these. the phone is on the elliptical machine right in front of my face or it is in my pocket as i'm lifting weights. It's constantly the right ear. These sound fantastic and have great noise canceling and may work perfectly with different ear shapes. If you cant put up with the deteriorating ear tips or find a good after market. The dropping connection 20 times in an hour is awful.