We may have just gotten our first look at the Sony WH-1000XM5, which could be the successor to the best headphones you can buy today.
A new leak from TechnikNews (via XDA Developers) includes high-quality renders of what it says is the next generation of noise-canceling headphones, expected to launch this year and replace the much-loved Sony WH-1000XM4.
While the leak doesn’t include a release date or price, we expect the Sony WH-1000XM5 to be revealed in August, with a retail price similar to its predecessor at $350/£350/AU$550. This is based on the previously launched WH-1000X wireless earphone series.
Sony hasn’t confirmed that it’s working on a new pair of noise-cancelling over-ear headphones, but the renders look pretty convincing to us — and the timing matches our expectations for an August release date. We’ve reached out to Sony for comment, and we’ll update this post when we hear back.
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If they’re legal, images shared by TechnikNews show that the design of Sony’s next-generation noise-canceling headphones, the WH-1000XM4, hasn’t strayed too far, but it has made some changes to give the WH-1000XM5 a sleeker look.
The earcups appear to be larger and have thicker padding, which should make the WH-1000XM5 more comfortable to wear than their predecessors—not a problem we encountered with the WH-1000XM4. The headband also appears to have thicker padding.
It looks like the on/off button on the left earcup has been replaced with a slider, and the “Custom” button has reverted to “NC/Ambient”, just like on the Sony WH-1000XM3. Like their predecessors, the renders show the headphones in black and silver, and they’ll come with a carrying case — although this time, they won’t fold inside.
The longest-lasting Sony headphones yet
Patent illustration of what we think is the Sony WH-1000XM5. (Image credit: Walkman Blog/Sony)
As for the specs? TechnikNews claims that the battery life of the Sony WH-1000XM5 has been greatly improved, with ANC turned on, the battery life will reach 40 hours. That’s 10 more hours of playback than the Sony WH-1000XM4 can manage, though charging time (via USB-C) increases slightly to three and a half hours.
Longer battery life seems reasonable. A recently filed patent by Sony describes a pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones with an internal battery rated at 3.8V, while the WH-1000XM4 is rated at 3.7V.
Active noise cancellation will also be noticeably improved, using two dedicated chips and three microphones to detect ambient noise and cancel it out. The noise cancellation the XM4 offers is already pretty good, so any improvement in this area will feel like a bonus.
The wireless connection standard has risen from Bluetooth 5 to Bluetooth 5.2, and with the 3.5mm port, you can still listen over a wired connection.
There’s no word on the Sony WH-1000XM5’s improved audio performance, but we’d like to see something that reintroduces the missing aptX codec that came with the Sony WH-1000XM3 from the XM4. The codec allows for high-resolution audio playback, and while the XM4 uses Sony’s own LDAC technology to provide high-quality streaming, you’ll need a compatible device to take advantage of it.
In addition to full Hi-Res audio support, we also wish the Sony WH-1000XM5 had lossless audio. This used to be impossible with wireless headphones because the bandwidth offered by a Bluetooth connection wasn’t enough to handle uncompressed lossless streams. However, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound technology could make this possible.
All Sony needs to do is integrate the new QCC3065x headphone chip, and WH-1000XM5 users will be able to enjoy bit-by-bit accurate music that reproduces music exactly as the artist wants to hear it.
The chip isn’t yet on the shelves, but headphones using the technology are expected to start arriving this year, making the Sony WH-1000XM5 a prime candidate for lossless audio support.
