As Sony launched their new headphone, A question is being asked a lot, Sony WH-1000XM5 or WH-1000XM4. Which One Should You Have? Sony’s WH-1000XM4 was a masterpiece that launched back in 2020. They had one of the best sound quality available at that time, especially at that price point. These headphones were rated as Best in Class by TechRadar and got a 5-star rating by What Hi-Fi?
Well, a few weeks ago Sony introduced their new WH-1000XM5, which also has some improved versions of the same feature as the xm4 and some new features. So, let’s see if it is as good as its predecessor and what new features it gives us.
Design and Comfort:
The xm4 was a bit more traditional with the design. Don’t get me wrong. The design was still great, but there were just a lot of hinges and that’s because they could easily fold and took very little of your space. On the other hand, the xm5 has a seamless hanger and seamless swivel, which makes it more compact and gives it elegant look. It has a strapless slider, and the hinges are silent which adds to the listening experience.
Both of these headphones are super comfortable, as the xm5 has a newly developed soft fit leather, while xm4 foamed urethane earpads, and both of these make the headphones comfy to wear and pressure-free.
Noise Cancellation:
The xm4 had five mics which were there to reduce the background noise. Well, Sony has improved this feature on their xm5 by increasing the mics to eight. Sony’s integrated Processor V1 combined with their HD Noise-canceling processor QN1 reduces the outside noise to zero in the xm5. This can also be seen in their xm4.
A newly designed 30mm precision-engineered driver unit with the help of Thermoplastic Polyurethane or TPU is added to the new xm5, which is great for noise cancellation specifically in low-frequency ranges.
Battery-life:(Sony WH-1000XM5 or WH-1000XM4. Which One Should You Have?)
Now, the battery life of both models is almost the same. The xm4 gives you a maximum of 30 hours with Noice cancelation On and it takes about 3 hours for a full charge. The xm5 has a battery life of 30 hours with Noise cancellation On and 24 hours of battery life on continuous communication, which is also on NC On. The xm5 takes about 3 and a half hours to charge to the full.
Although there were rumors before the launch of the xm5 that it would get a battery timing of 40 hours, sadly that wasn’t true. Both of these models use USB as a charging method.
Sound Quality:
Now, this is the most important thing that a person looks for in a pair of headphones, Obviously. Well, as some of you might have known that the xm4 was not only Sony’s but was one of the best sounding headphones, especially in their price bracket.
So Sony has made the xm5 even better. They have built a rigid precision-engineered driver unit which makes the sound quality more natural.
Both of the models have high-resolution Audio and that is with or without wire. While the xm4 used DSEE Extreme to restore compressed files in real-time, the xm5 uses DSEE Extreme combined with Edge-AI which makes the high range sound lost in compression to restore.
Price:(Sony WH-1000XM5 or WH-1000XM4)
Although the Sony XM4 was released in 2020 at the price of £350, now in 2022, you can get them for around £250. While the XM5 is launched at $399.99. Which is fairly good compared to its predecessor, which was probably $50 less at its launch. And you have to keep in mind that the price of a product increases every year due to global inflation. So, after 2 years, just $50 more is a good deal, don’t you think.
Other Features:
Smart Listening technology:
Both of the models have Smart listening technology. It is a feature in which when you start talking with someone then the Speak-to-Chat feature gets activated which pauses your music automatically. And when it detects that your conversation is over, it starts yours again.
Instant Play. Instant pause:
This is a feature in which the headphones know if it is On or Off your head and works according to that. If you have taken the headphones off of your head then the capacitive sensor, which is added to the headphones knows that you aren’t currently using them and they will turn Off. When you’ll put the headphones again on your head then the music will automatically turn On. Both of the models have this feature. This is a very effective feature as it:
- saves the battery of your headphones
- and never lets you miss any part of what you are listening to.
Multipoint Connection:
A multipoint connection allows you to connect to multiple devices at the same time. How is this feature helpful? Well, imagine if you are listening to music on one device and you receive a call on another. Well, both the xm4 and xm5 will let you know and will allow you to receive that call. Other than that you can easily switch among the devices, easily, with just a touch of a button.
Fast Pair: (Sony WH-1000XM5 or WH-1000XM4.)
Both of the devices support this feature. It is a feature by Google which lets you easily find your headphones, if you forgot where you left them, with tone sound, or by Google Find My Device app, which will show the last known location of the headphones. This feature is really helpful if you are such a person who always forgets where they have left a thing and don’t want to buy trackers like Apple Airtag.
Voice Assistant:
As the technology is music forward Voice Assistants are becoming an important part of our day-to-day life. Everything from home appliances to smartwatches has this feature. And so do xm4 and xm5. Both of the headphones have Google Assistant and Alexa built-in, so now you can do almost everything by just saying “OK Google” or “Alexa”.
360 Reality Sound: (Sony WH-1000XM5 or WH-1000XM4.)
360 Reality Audio is a feature that uses Sony’s Spatial Audio Technology to make music immersive and makes you feel as if you are in a live concert. This feature took years of hard work to be effective. And thankfully both xm5 and its predecessor have this feature.
Here are some other features:
- Crystal clear handsfree calling
- A case for easy to carry and store
- Both of the models come in Black and Silver color
- Both of the headphones have around 1.2m of headphones cable.
There, I have mentioned the features of both models. So, what do you think? Which one would you go for? please let me know in the comment section. If you ask me the xm4 is one of my favorite headphones to use. But the xm5 is just better and has improved features. It’s just around $50 more to buy. I hope you like this article and that it helped you with Sony WH-1000XM5 or WH-1000XM4. Which One Should You Have? See you very soon.
