Sony unveils new premium WH-1000XM5 headphones with improved Noise Cancellation

Sony has announced the latest in their wireless, noise cancelling headphone line, with the WH-1000XM5 headphones set to arrive in Australia next month. 

Sony’s XM series headphones have been offering some of the best noise cancelling, battery life and audio quality for the past few years. The WH-1000XM4 model – yes, the naming isn’t great – launched in 2020, offered an awesome experience, but the torch is about to pass, with the new XM5 headphones offering a ‘whole new immersive, distraction-free sound experience’. 

While there’s no headline new features for the WH-1000XM5, there’s been a lot of refinement under the hood, as well as a new look for the headphones. 

The XM series has always offered excellent Active Noise Cancellation, Sony has again upped the ante adding more microphones to the headphone – four on each cup, for eight in total – as well as combining the Bluetooth and QN1 Active Noise Cancellation processor into the new V1 processor to offer higher quality audio and noise cancellation.

The new processing unit also saves battery life, with the XM5 able to deliver up to 40 hours of listening time, or 30 hours with Active Noise Cancelling active.

For audio improvements, the XM5 delivers high resolution audio through new 30mm precision-engineered drivers which improves sound clarity and lower end, offering improved Bass reproduction and letting you enjoy your music or audio without the distraction.

The new headphones have also been re-designed to better fit the shape of your head with less pressure, so they’re more comfortable to wear for longer. They also have a new soft fit leather for the earpads which fit more snugly and comfortably and exert less pressure while maintaining a seal to exclude external noise.

The XM5 will be available in Australia next month for $650 in two colour options: Silver and Black, and come in a hard shell case. We’ll be getting hands on with them soon, so stay tuned.