The XM5’s are more like a brother to the XM4’s rather than a successor.

This is the best, fair and most persuasive comparative take I've seen on these two headphones. The XM5s are more well rounded and refined but the XM4s have some strengths too. Both are worth their respective price tags.

Finally a comparison video that is short and consise, yet thorough. I was looking for one that wasn’t half an hour long. You did a perfect job of explaining what you need to know without going into way more detail than you have to. Fantastic video! Earned yourself a new subscriber!

The comparison becomes a lot more complicated when you factor price differences in different countries. Here in Australia, the XM5s are $150 more expensive than the XM4s at MSRP, however, the gap is generally more like $200 as it's pretty easy to find the XM4s on sale. Seems to make justifying the upgrade much more difficult.

I have own these since day 1 (not all) - started with the Sony MDR-1000x (gen 1 in 2018) and have since upgraded to the WH-1000XM4 and then recently was gifted the XM5. Now hear me out, for overall sound balance (good across all ranges) - the 1000x still performs very well despite being around 5 years old now, but next I'll have to say the XM4 is my favourite - bass is so good and the overall look/feel of them is just perfect - the XM5 is also good but I find the fact that they don't fold in, have more 'boxy' cups and plainer design just doesn't do for me - granted the sound-cancelling is a little better, I personally feel the XM4 overall is still king although I do have a soft spot for the original 1000x if I'm just cruising for some songs during a walk. That's my honest review.

Here the 5's are 420 euros compared to 240 for the 4's, so I'm gonna wait till they're in stores so I can compare them. My music taste seems to favor the 4 and 180 euros is a huge difference for two ostensibly similar products. Great comparison!

Thank you, a good honest review. Having only just upgraded from WH-CH710N to WH-1000XM4, I'm more than happy with what I've got.

I did a lot of reading of user reviews, and tested both for noise cancelling in the shop. I decided to buy the XM4s. A LOT of users are saying the XM5 noise cancelling is too clever, so at times there are lags of strength and changes. When the XM5s are in the ideal situation, they do have the best cancellation, but when things are changing people prefer the constant amount of blocking on the XM4. The XM4 partially uses white noise, which I personally like. I had to choose between the XM4 and BOSE QC45s in the end, and it was a really hard decision. The QC45 have excellent basic buttons, are lighter, and very comfortable. For people with smaller heads the QC45 may feeel a bit loose. But in the end I felt the noise cancelling in an average office/shop environment was a tiny bit better on the XM4s, but it was a 50/50 call to choose between these two. Again, many users really like the XM4s.

Great work as usual! The review answered all my questions. It’s nice to have a reviewer you can trust consistently.

Thank you for this review. I purchased the Samsung Galaxy Pro2 Earbuds several months ago after purchasing my 2022 Samsung 55 inch OLED SB95 4K television. I didn't like the way the earbuds felt and they sometimes fell out my ears from walking around inside my apartment while watching television. I decided to purchase the Sony WH-1000XM4 Black Friday on sale for $228.00 at Best Buy. I love the Sony XM4 headphones and the sound quality watching television and battery life is fantastic. They are now back to the original price of $349.00 at Best Buy. I realize, there is the Sony WH-1000XM5 for $399.99 on sale at Best Buy for $349.99. I saved $110 on the Sony WH-1000XM4 and this is a good deal. The M4 is just as good as the M5 and I am satisfied with the M4's.

I bought my XM4's in late summer of 2020 and I've since put thousands of hours on them. They are the best headphones I've ever experienced, and for the price, the improvements with the XM5 are marginal. The loss of portability hurts too. I prefer the XM4's. I even named them, as they have provided such quality service for almost 3 years running. Thank you, Lord Chauncy de Philippo Marquis Jackson! Yoo da real MVP!

If you have xm4 keep it and wait for xm6

Thanks for creating and sharing! Great work, as usual!

Thanks. This was helpful!

I just always left the paper insert in the case with the xm3 and xm4 that shows how to put them in because even though between both models I’ve had them for a few years I still like the reminder.

Excellent review, informative and very clear. Really like it. Just subscribed !

3:00 This adapter isn'T only for airplanes. This is a "Standard". Most Laptops and PC's have those spacing standards even nowadays. So it is very important to have this option....

Just wore the XM5s on a 24 hour flight trip. Noise Cancelling was next level, better than ear plugs that I use to sleep. Cuts out a lot of annoying high frequency, and you can hear them adjusting to cancel noise The bigger ear cup was very comfortable. Much better than my XM3s. Battery life is exceptional. The case was a concern, but the tapper shape packs really well. The only annoyance is that the headphones don't fold flat with cups facing down when you put them around your neck, you have to put the cups facing up. Amazing upgrade to my XM3s and keepers for comfort and incredible noise cancelling.

Pre ordered mine after this review :D thank you

How does the plastic feel for the platinum silver model? Is it textured or completely smooth? And does it pick up finger smudges easily?

Would you rate the XM5's sound quality as better than the Beoplay HX or B&W PX7? And which of the 3 would be the top choice?

Great review bro. You have covered what I needed to know.

the short cable might be so you can't charge the headphones while using them. that's for regulatory reasons.

Have had my 4s for about 4 months - extremely comfortable - After a full evening of t.v. watching up to 6-7 a.m. most nights, I fall asleep with them on and am always surprised that they're still there when I wake up!

recently I bought the xm4 instead of xm5. firstly it can be folded easily and kept coz the mx5 inability to fold is a major decision. second having tried both at the stores for hours don't see much difference in sound quality or noise canceling. third having tested it out on a river boat taxi here in Bangkok / the noisy road outside here in bkk or the noisy engine of the local bus engine it's enough to tell me that the xm4 is more than enough - noise canceling is so good that standing next to a huge motor boat engine I can feel motor of the vibration of the boat engine rather the engine noise sure I can still hear the noise but it's reduced like up to 90% ...... what I can hear is a low muffled humming of the engine. sound quality? having tried the senheiser /bose numerous hours on different occasions with different musics and videos I can say the xm4 sound better the other 2 brand which people are always comparing to at leastto me. battery life amazing coz definitely long battery life ( didn't keep track but didn't have to charge it after a week of on off usage) .......fyi lots of reviewers complained about the xm4 build quality saying it will break anytime but the thing is when one spend this amount of money one would definitely take care when using it and I am OK with the build quality and never once hear the moving part noise from the band of the headset at all after using it for nearly 3 months.

Today I returned the XM5 and will stick with my XM4’s. The sound quality was definitely a bit better and when I would first put them on they felt really comfortable. The reason I’m returning them is because for extended use they XM5’s actually started bothering my ears for some reason and I’ve never had that issue with the XM4. Everyone’s head and ears are different so I’m sure there will be lots of people that won’t have this issue

I still have the xm3's. I have dropped them, stepped on them, used them to wash cars for hours on end. Use them 8 hours a day for work weeks. Still tickin. The only pain is wanting to listen to music in between meetings and repairing them. I think these will make a nice upgrade.

I use a pair of MDR-1RBT headphones from Sony that I replaced the stock pads on with genuine leather pads. Those still sound amazing and I use them daily, despite having much higher end headphones like Airpods Max and Philips Fidelio X3.

I own the XM4 and they have been my travel companion headphones since November 2020 but I just started saving as soon as I watched this video. The carrying case may be bigger but I think I can deal with that. The best comparative video between both headphones that I have seen

Honestly, I much prefer the design of the XM4's and after seeing that they've removed the folding feature on XM5's, I would stick with the XM4's if you want better travel friendly option. Though, if you don't care about that, sound-wise, the XM5's has better sound accuracy than the XM4's.

Yep, I ordered a longer charging cord. I just got the XM5s less than a week ago. They are an upgrade from my old Bose QC2s. What a difference!

Xm5 arrived today, not only it is noticeably lighter than xm4, the noise cancelling is better. I tested on my Southwest flight this evening and the bass is just as good as xm4. My other bose headphones were made obsolete by xm5...

I actually like the flat, thinner storage because I can slide it into a backpack or something with more height than length/width.

This was a good compering video! I ordered xm5 yesterday and I can't wait to get them. I was lucky that i waited for one more day waching videos of headphones, cos' the price was 419€. The next day only 299€. Their selling those 349€ now here in Finland, except this one seller is offering xm5 --> 299€.

What a fantastic comparison review. Thank you for this. Currently on the quest for a headphone upgrade.

Thanks. Very useful for me. I'll be using them to block out colleagues' talk, so I'll go for the XM5

Question: I live in hot Arizona so OTH earphones may not work outside due to perspiration. Any insight on the next companion X5 earbuds from Sony?

I’ll keep my XM 3s until they die. Then I’ll get whatever is good at that time. Great vid as usual.

Multiple intercontinental flights throughout the year truly allows you to master traveling light and every mm of space in my carry-on counts. I've put at least 100 hours flying on my XM4s and they're easily the best traveling companion (along with a tablet for movies and shows). I can't justify upgrading to the XM5s if you already own the XM4s unless you frequently make calls when wearing headphones and need the microphone performance improvements.

perfect review, really helped me out

Answered all my comparison questions...👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

This video is so helpful thank you

Thanks so much for the video!

I've flown on a brand new A350-900 with the company's newest interior but still had the double jack thing 😂

Can we turn off the noise cancelling such that when we turn off the headphone and turn it back on the noise cancelling remains turned off, or retain whatever transparency setting we last used?? XM3 and XM4 did not allow that and every time they were turned on they would enable noise cancelling by default. The older ones retained the equaliser setting but turned noise cancelling back on every time I turned it on.. please help

Great Video. Thanks!!

Sound quality - I've only had the XM5 headphones one day - (I tried to XM4s three days and remember I've never heard such beautiful bass as the XM4. On the XM5 I've never sounded smooth vocals and certain other sounds sound so gorgeous and smooth and standing out, even on £20000 speakers..... There's a certain hiss and lack of realism about the very high frequencies not being clear, (eg running water sounds like noise) a lot of the different EQ settings on the XM5 give a beautiful different character to the music, but also there's something lacking about the sounds on certain genres, and it's hard to get the EQ sounding just as you want as if there's something not quite right about the character and realism to the sound quality (note, I'm a music producer, used to working with top notch EQs, and pretty good monitors and headphones, so it could actually be something about a low quality Equalizer compared to what you get in music software degrading the balance....) Another thing to note, I returned the XM4s because I noticed distortion after 3 days. I noticed really bad distortion on the XM5s only to figure out it was Spotify on my iPad at fault, it was fine on my phone.... Just in case you run into that problem, it may not be the headphones. So some of my feedback actually may be to do with Spotify's weaknesses.... I'd need to do more wired testing on ALAC, FLAC, WAV and working in music software and LDAC when I get my stolen MP3 player replaced... so I'll come back with a fuller review. I'm also having lots of random music stopping which is really annoying, but I seem to remember that happening on XM4s. It doesn't happen on my Nuraphones (which incidentally have better noise cancelling and magical sound profiling, but really uncomfortable, actually sometimes hurting after long sessions, and a horrible pricing system) I'll definitely keep the XM5s for now, mainly for the gorgeousness of the vocals, as the features are cool too, but I really miss how amazing the bass was on the XM4s and it's distracting me from enjoying the music quite a bit..... But also I'm still worried about the distortion on both devices, and may try switching to different headphones like Momentum 4, Technics or Yamaha..... If you want a quick comparison: Pro tip - listen to LUMP - Late To The Flight on XM4s for the most incredible bass you've heard. I enjoyed that song so much more. Pro tip - listen to Gerhaurd Fankhauser and Einat Gilboa - Native Prayer on the XM5s for the most beautful vocals standing out in the mix. Then decide which is more important to you.

I got the xm4 both buds and headphones awsome sets

Just got the 5s after comparing BOSE700, the 5s, and the 4s. I’m not expert and didn’t stay in the store all day but I could hear the difference between the 4s and 5s. The 5s are just better, IMO, that the 4s or any of the BOSE. Also the noise cancelling is very good. Only thing I need to do is learn some of the controls. Seems the the SONY tries to guess when to cancel and not.

Caleb, Don't the XM5s run their calibration constantly, such that environments with surges in sound and randomized noise sources-passing, honking cars-make the headphones sound weird? Another reviewer mentioned this as a huge flaw in how the XM5s implement ANC.

Hello you are doing really great. Just had one question- Is sony wh1000-xm5 comfortable with spectacles/eye-glasses?? Does it hurt our ears ?? Thank you

I do have a question if I turn on the base feature on the Sony app with the xm5 and they Already have a slightly more balanced audio will it be Slightly better than the XM4?

wow...seems like the XM5 is worth the upgrade (at least from what I saw)! great review!

Good video, Hackeye!

Is it that when the xm4 is in noise cancelling mode and your area is noisy and you get a call, the receiver can hear your background. Would like to know how to go about it.

XM4 is still so good. One of the best buys I have done. No regrets on buying them!

Thanks for the review. So helpful. By the way, the jacket is awesome. What's the brand?

Quick question. How would you say the XM5 compare to the 85H from Jabra. Would they be worth the upgrade?

So the NC environment optimiser being automatic now, how does that work? Is it just doing it silently all the time? I never use the app on my XM3s, is that optimiser screen I saw in this video the same as holding the NC button down where the lady speaks and the various tones play? Or is that a different thing? Either way, I wouldn't have to hold the NC button down to optimise anymore? If yes thats amazing as I end up doing it several times a day to get the best NC in the cafe where I eat vs. the bus to work and home.

Thank you for this video ! Well explained! I know i’m going to take the XM5 !

Got my xm4 refurbished with warrant for 159 on ebay 2 or 3 years ago. Love them so much for relaxing.

Your good!!!!! Thnx …. I jus got the 4’s and they are awesome

I have to say, please look into the active ANC feature for the XM5. I found it is way too inconsistent and hope they firmware update to the previous XM4. It gets really frustrating having the NC shift randomly. Lastly, the non-folding design makes the case far larger and should call that out as well.

You say those headphones' call quality is very good and you can make calls in the middle of construction - from your perspective indeed. But did you test the call quality at the other end? The main problem with all models until XM4 is that the audio from the microphone is being sent directly to other side with all surrounding noise and even kind of amplified. Is this better now with XM5?

I saw on the specs they only have a 5gram weight difference, is that accurate or is it more since you say you can tell they're lighter

Business class on some airlines will still use the stereo audio jack. I kept my adapter plug from my xm3 for that use alone.

Oddly the XM4s were supposed to be more comfortable than the XM3 but I found the XM3 more comfortable and I had connectivity issues with the XM4. What is really good about the Sony headphones is how they sound when used with a Sony Bravia TV. I use my XM3 all the time with an A90J and they sound so good. The only downside is they do get hot and I am intrigued with the XM5 extended wear comments.

Thanks for the review

did you find that the silver colour got dirty easily? i’m worried about how the silver ones might discolour over time

I have the xm3s and I likely have 10,000 hours of use through the years between music video games exc I use these things a few hours at least everyday, I heard the xm4s weren't much better but if those are fairly better than the xm4s surely I should pull the trigger on those

I had XM3 for the last few years, and following some of these youtube reviews I just bought the XM4 - not the XM5! And I am absolutely happy with this decision. For me this was not based on cost. I travel a lot for work, and when you look at the cases of the XM3/4 and the XM5 , there is a huge difference in size - which is critical when you pack a full size headphones in your already filled backpack . I tried to use the Sony earbuds, but they give me ear pain after a relatively short time, as well as the sound not being the same with the bigger sisters (as well as much better noise cancellation with the big ones). XM4 sounds better I think than XM3 - especially the bass being less boomy but still deep , which was a bit annoying when playing certain songs with XM3. I personally think that XM5 lost its track as a travel NC headphones, and represents a step back from XM4 .

I used to own XM4 but i returned it since it was pretty hot and uncomfortable after couple hours of usage, do you think XM5 will much do better in comfort department? i tried & have no problem at all with bose QC 35 ii when it comes to comfort I’m still not sure should i get XM5 or Bose QC45?

Bought these are secondhand to place my 4’s they are fantastic

The only reason I'm thinking about upgrading to the xm5 is for the call quality , other than that i love my xm4

I'm still rocking the xm2 and I love them... They have withstood the test if time and gotten serious miles. The call quality has always been a drawback but actually got better from updates compared to when I first bought them. I got my wife the 3s and she loves them ... I can justify getting the 5s because I do a lot of teams meetings, but I think I will really miss the compact form factor/folding storage. Can anyone help me decide? Price is not a big factor... Just want the ones that I'll be happiest with.

For Straight sound quality which is best...xm5, xm4, Cleer Alpha or Shure aoinc 40?

When these aren't on sale they're only a $50 difference, but during the current sales the XM4's are $230 and the XM5' are $350. The thing is I probably wouldn't buy eithere if they weren't on sale, but the $120 difference during the sale is too good to ignore.

Still loving my M3s.

What a good explanation! Like and sub

"A big thank you for your video! 👍🏽 When using the headphones (xm3, xm4, xm5) with noise cancellation activated without listening to music while you work, does the headset automatically turn off or disconnect after a certain period of inactivity?"

I'd love to see a review of the Cleer Audio Alpha's as well.

So I've heard that the adaptive ANC on the XM5's can't be switched off and it can be extremely annoying compared to Sony XM4's ability to turn off the ANC and turn on manually. Is that true? Thanks

I preordered mine yesterday and will be here Friday, the main reason is the new ear cup design and should feel better on my big ears than my XM4's. The other upgrades are icing on the cake.

Best headphone reviewer on the internet. Always concise and to the point. Kudos!

I have WF XM4 and WH aswell, but here in Norway new WH XM5 cost the same as Airpods Max...I guess I will just stick to XM4's

The XM5 is a huge upgrade to the XM4. What I like most is the crystal clear neutral sound . ANC is much better and the case design is very good. Take of the ears and straight put in the case without the hassle of trying to get the right direction to fold them .

My pocket book decides which I should buy and right now neither ☹️. But if the XM4's go on sale at a good price on Black Friday, I may.....🤔. Thank you!

Used XM4's 2 years. Gave them to my family, bought XM5's returned them after 2 days because of volume adjustment lagging and auto NC optimizer. Bought another XM4's. Best headphones ever! They just work

Great review

hearing this on WH-1000XM3.. Still sounds good..

Awesome review

Is there an over the ear headphone with ANC that don’t produce the pressure effect on your eardrums?

First time buyer and going with the XM5 seems to make sense until you see the price tag, the differences don't seem big enough to justify it.

great review

The frequency response profile of the Sony XM4 headphones, as measured by the Rtings review site, shows that the entire bass response from 20Hz to 250Hz is elevated by 5-7 decibels relative to the midrange and treble. As Rtings says in their review "the over-emphasized high-bass can muddy the rest of your mix". In June 2022 Rtings published their test results for Sony's XM5 and it shows a bass boost that is virtually IDENTICAL to the XM4. While it has been pointed out that this bass-heavy response can be given a more neutral profile by using the equalization app, I know I would prefer superior bass accuracy in headphones that cost $400. Boomy bass quickly gives me listening fatigue.

Nice summation. I have the XM4s - love the sound quality but they are lousy for phone calls and become uncomfortable after extended use - my next pair could be XM5s or the Bose 700s.

Is the bass better in the XM5s or XM4s?

I don't know guys, my MDR1000X still kick ass. Also, I'm loving this outfit and lighting with the khaki shacket! You look great.

Any sonic improvements when its plugged in to a lossless source?

Still rocking the WH-1000XM3. Even years later, still happy with them. The Sony app however......