Sony WH-1000XM5

Sony's WH-1000XM5 has been the default "best premium ANC headphone" recommendation since 2022, and even with the WH-1000XM6 now on shelves it remains the most-discounted, most-tested flagship in India's premium audio aisle. At Amazon.in's street price the XM5 sits well below the XM6 while delivering the bulk of what made Sony's lineup famous: the HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1, the newer Integrated Processor V1, and a comfort profile that survives a Delhi-to-Singapore flight without earpad hot spots.

We've spent enough time with it across cabin announcements, Bengaluru traffic, and noisy WeWork floors to know what works and where Sony cut corners. If you're cross-shopping the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, or even Apple's AirPods Max, this review will tell you exactly when the XM5 is the right pick — and when it isn't. India warranty is one year via Sony's authorised service network, and Amazon.in stocks all four colours: Black, Silver, Midnight Blue, and the newer Smoky Pink.

The XM5 weighs roughly 250 grams, which makes it lighter than every direct competitor in the over-ear ANC bracket. Sony swapped the XM4's foldable hinge for a stepless slider and a single seamless headband — you lose the trick of collapsing them into a smaller pouch, but you gain a noticeably quieter swivel and a more grown-up silhouette that doesn't squeak after a year of use.

The earcups are wrapped in Sony's newly developed "soft fit leather" synthetic, which we found stays cool on long calls and clamps with low pressure even on larger heads. Controls are split: a physical NC/Ambient button on the left earcup, a capacitive touch panel on the right for play/pause, track skip and volume swipes, plus a power/pairing button. In the box you get a slim semi-rigid carrying case, a 1.2-metre detachable 3.5 mm cable with a gold-plated L-shaped plug for wired listening, and a USB-C charging cable. There's no AC charger and no airline adapter — Sony assumes you already own one of each.

Active noise cancellation is where the XM5 still earns its premium tag. Sony pairs the HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1 with the newer Integrated Processor V1 and feeds them eight microphones (four per earcup), which translates to near-total elimination of low-frequency drone — aircraft cabins, AC compressors and metro rumble all flatten into silence, and Auto NC Optimiser quietly recalibrates when you change altitude or wear glasses. Mid- and high-frequency suppression is genuinely class-leading; voice frequencies stay partially audible (deliberate, for safety) but fall to a soft murmur.

Sound signature is warm and slightly V-shaped, with controllable bass via the 5-band EQ in the Sony Sound Connect app. With LDAC enabled at up to 990 kbps over Hi-Res sources, separation between instruments noticeably tightens, though iPhone users are limited to AAC. Call quality is the most-improved area over the XM4 — the four beamforming mics plus AI noise reduction kept our voice intelligible on a windy Mumbai sidewalk and inside a busy café, far better than any earbud or competing headset we've tested at this price.

Multipoint pairing across two devices is reliable and switches in roughly two seconds, so a call coming in on your phone interrupts laptop audio without manual juggling. Real-world battery sat at 28-30 hours with ANC on at moderate volume, comfortably matching Sony's 30-hour claim; the three-minute / three-hour quick charge requires a USB-PD wall adapter you'll need to supply yourself. Wear-detection auto-pause and Speak-to-Chat both worked reliably across our test period.