The WH-1000XM5 landed in 2022 as the fifth iteration of a line that Sony had been refining since 2016, and by this point they'd stopped chasing gimmicks and started building something genuinely useful. The M5 sits at that rare intersection where consumer tech and actual sound quality overlap without one murdering the other. These are Bluetooth headphones that don't sound like Bluetooth headphones, which is the highest compliment I can pay anything wireless.
The core appeal here is straightforward: Sony crammed their best noise-cancellation processing into a headphone that weighs 250 grams and can play for thirty hours on a charge. The ANC circuitry uses dual noise-sensing microphones and processes the signal at sixteen times per second, which is unnecessary to explain but exactly the kind of obsessive detail that matters when you're trying to sleep on a cross-country flight. It works. Not perfectly—nothing wireless is perfect—but well enough that you stop thinking about the engine noise and start thinking about the music.
The 30mm driver is where Sony actually earned their reputation here. They moved away from the plasticky treble signature that plagued earlier models and dialed in something warmer, more balanced across the midrange. Play a reissue of Miles Davis through these and you get genuine imaging and separation, not the compressed brick wall you'd expect from a headphone designed primarily to sell plane tickets. The bass doesn't overwhelm, which I say as someone who actually likes bass. It sits at the right level—felt more than heard—and doesn't bleed into the lower mids the way cheaper wireless stuff does.
Codec support is where wireless always breaks down, and Sony knows this. They offer LDAC, which is their proprietary high-res Bluetooth codec, but here's the honest part: unless you're using a Sony DAP or a phone with LDAC support, you're falling back to standard SBC or AAC, and that's where the seams show. A wired connection will always beat wireless on resolution and dynamics. Always. The WH-1000XM5 is the exception that proves the rule, but it's still an exception.
The touch controls are intuitive enough that you won't hate them after three months, which is more than I can say for most wireless gear. Swipe to change volume, tap to pause, pinch to adjust noise cancellation level. It's not revolutionary, but it doesn't need to be. These headphones are built to get out of your way.
What makes these genuinely sought after—especially used around the $250 to $350 range—is that Sony didn't change them much after 2022. The M4 is still floating around and will save you eighty dollars, but the M5's noise cancellation is noticeably tighter and the driver tuning is measurably better. For someone who actually travels and actually cares how a turntable sounds, that delta is worth the extra cash.
The catch is longevity. These use a proprietary battery that you cannot replace without cracking the whole housing. Five years from now, when the battery won't hold a charge, you're looking at either Sony's repair service or an expensive donation to someone's e-waste pile. Buy them used, enjoy them, and don't expect them to outlive your vinyl collection.