Sony WH-1000XM5 Review (2022)

The XM5 has a sleeker, non-folding design that looks modern but is less practical than the XM4 for travel. The materials are similar plastic-heavy fare, with a smooth finish that feels more "tech product" than "hi-fi gear." It's fine in the hand, but the non-folding chassis makes the case bulkier and less bag-friendly. Overall build is decent, just not impressive for the price.

Like the XM4, the XM5 is extremely comfortable. The pads are plush, the clamp is gentle, and the weight is low. If comfort is at the top of your checklist, the XM5 checks that box as well as almost anything in the category. You can easily wear it for long flights or full days at the office without any real pressure hotspots.

The XM5 leans even harder into the "smooth and soft" low end. There's a lot of bass, but it's ill-defined—more of a swollen presence than a controlled foundation. It tends to bleed heavily into the lower midrange, making kick drums and bass guitars blur together. If you're used to tighter or more neutral headphones, the XM5's bass will sound bloated and imprecise.

Mids are the weak link. Vocals are pushed back and coated in that same thick warmth, leaving them sounding fuzzy and indistinct. Instruments lose their bite and texture, and busy mixes turn into a wall of sound rather than a layered presentation. The XM5 makes music sound like it's coming through a soft filter—"pleasant" maybe, but also dull and lifeless.

Treble is rolled off and subdued. While that eliminates harshness, it also eliminates air, sparkle, and a lot of fine detail. Cymbals and percussion are softened to the point of feeling distant, and overall clarity suffers. Combined with the heavy bass and veiled mids, the treble tuning makes the XM5 sound closed-in and overly smoothed, as if it's trying too hard not to offend anyone.

The XM5's soundstage is narrow and congested. You don't get much sense of width or depth; everything sits close to your head, and the muddiness makes it hard to isolate individual instruments. Imaging is vague—sounds roughly sit left or right, but don't snap into a stable position. Compared to cleaner headphones, the XM5 feels like a small, fuzzy bubble.

On the non-sound front, the XM5 is still strong. ANC is excellent, easily among the best of its generation, and the app is full-featured with EQ, ANC modes, and multipoint support. Call quality is competent, pairing is smooth, and day-to-day use is straightforward. If you want ANC, convenience, and comfort, the XM5 absolutely delivers.

At typical XM5 pricing, the value is poor given the sound quality. You're paying serious money for a headphone whose tuning feels stuck in a thick, consumer-bass past, while competitors (and even Sony's own newer models) at least attempt more balance. Like the XM4, the XM5 only makes sense if you catch it deeply discounted—again, somewhere in that 200–250 USD ballpark or below. At or near list pricing, you're mostly paying for ANC and the brand name.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 is a comfortable, strong-ANC travel headphone with sound that never rises above "muddy background noise." Unless you get it at a steep discount, there are far better ways to spend this kind of money on audio.