So both the Sony 1000XM5’s and AirPods Max are a pair of ANC headphones that have gotten a lot of hype during their initial release… but I’m a little wary about recommending both of these headphones. Now I will be upfront, these are the top two headphones that block out the most amount of noise, and the AirPods Max sound really good. But both of these headphones do have underlying issues that I feel that you should know before you decide to pick either of these two headphones up.
Now when it comes to pricing, there is a bit of a gap here. The WH-1000XM5’s retail for $400, that’s a 50 dollar price increase from their predecessor… but its not completely unreasonable. But then there are the AirPods Max which have a retail price of $550… pretty steep if you ask me and if you want a legit carrying case and or audio cable… that’s going to cost extra. Nonetheless, if you want to completely ignore me and you want to pick either of these two headphones up, they’ll be linked down below. Along with some other options as well.
Now first lets talk about the carrying cases that come included with both of these headphones… Now since both of these headphones can only be laid down flat, they’re going to have larger carrying cases than headphones that are completely collapsable like either the Sony 1000XM4’s or Bose QC45’s. But the thing is, the XM5’s carrying case is huge… it not only has a very large foot print… its also pretty thick as well. So traveling with these headphones is going to be a hassle when compared to their predecessors and competition. But I guess that you should be happy that you even get a carrying case with the XM5’s… cause with the AirPods Max… you just get this ear cup protector. Now yeah, this protector feels premium… But the AirPods Max are still completely exposed. So if you plan on traveling with the AirPod Max, you’re probably going to have to invest in a hard-shell case… or else you risk damaging your fabric net headband.
But with the cases out of the way, lets focus on the headphones themselves. Like I mentioned earlier, both the XM5’s and AirPods Max have a lay flat design to them. However, the AirPods Max’s design just feels and looks way more premium than the XM5’s design. The XM5’s just look rather bulky. But from a materials standpoint, like I just said, the XM5’s don’t feel as premium. Now the XM5’s are using recycled plastic on the ear cups and the headband arms are made out of plastic as well. The one physical quality that I like about the XM5’s is that they have better feeling leatherette than their predecessors. The leatherette on the XM5’s feels a little bit like silicon but with less friction. But then, there are the AirPods Max which have these aluminum ear cups, chrome arms on the headband, the headband it self is covered in silicon and we’ve got a fabric net headband which is amazing for comfort. So build quality wise, the AirPods Max are just in a completely different league.
But unfortunately, the amazing martial choice on the AirPods Max does mean that they are pretty heavy cause they weigh in at a hefty 384 grams. Which is way above average for ANC headphones. Cause for comparison sake, the XM5’s weigh in at 250 grams which I would consider light weight and they actually weigh 4 grams less than the XM4 and XM3’s which both weigh in at 254 grams. And for context, the Bose NC 700’s weigh in at 274 grams which is feel is average… And then there are the Momentum 3’s which are also using premium materials, but they weigh in at 308 grams… and then we’ve got our ultra light weight options like either the use QC45’s which weigh in at 235 grams and finally there are the Sennheiser PXC 550-II’s which weigh in at 230 grams. Overall what I’m trying to say here is, the AirPods Max need to cut weight cause these things are pretty heavy and you never forget that you have them on. However, even though the XM5’s are way lighter than the AirPods Max… I would still prefer to wear the AirPods Max over the XM5’s for two main reasons. The first reason is the headband, even though the AirPods Max are pretty heavy, they have a very wide headband that does an amazing job of conforming to your head and it offers a lot of padding. So hot spots are not an issue for the AirPods Max. Where as with the XM5’s, due to their thin and minimally padded headband I’ve found that at the 45 minute mark these headphones like to create a hot spot on the top of your head. So at the 45 minute mark, I just gotta take these headphones off. But then, there are the ear pads on these headphones. Even though the earpads on the XM5’s have a very wide diameter… they’re very shallow. So they like to press down on my average sized ears which does get uncomfortable after awhile. Where as the AirPods Max have fairly wide earpads and they’re fairly deep as well. So these ear pads are going to be able to comfortably accommodate more ear types. However, the ear pads on the AirPods Max are not as spacious as either the Bose QC45’s, Bose NC 700’s or PXC-550 II. And I also gotta point out, the fabric earpads on the AirPods Max can get a little itchy, but after awhile, you get used to it. And when it comes to clamping force, the AirPods Max do have a firmer fit to them than the XM5’s. But still, I would rather wear the AirPods Max over the XM5’s even though they’re heavier, even though they’re tighter, and even though their ear pads can feel a little itchy… cause their headband doesn’t create a hot spot on the top of your head and cause their ear pads are a little more spacious.
But now lets talk about tech specs… and this is an area where the XM5’s easily out perform the AirPods Max. Now the XM5’s have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their active noise cancellation turned on which is a little above average. And if you were to use them with their active noise cancellation turned off they can go for as long as 40 hours.
But then there are the AirPods Max which have an advertised battery life of 20 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on, now a battery life of 20 hours is doable, but it is a little below average. But just like with the XM5’s you can use the AirPods max with their active noise cancelation turned off and you can extend their battery life that way.
Now when it comes to chargning these headphones, the XM5’s charge via a USB C port. Where as the AirPods Max charge via a lighting port. Now if you’re an iPhone user then having a lightning port on your headphones is convenient… but the majority of headphones today now charge via a USB C port. And plus, apple is starting to embrace USB C more and more.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, the XM5’s can be connected to any two devices at the same which is good for power users. However, if you want to use this feature than you are going to have to sacrifice LDAC which really only matters if you’re an android user.
Where as with the AirPods Max… they can only be connected to one device at a time… so if you’re a power user with multiple devices from different eco systems… then the AirPods Max aren’t the best choice. However, if you’re a power user with multiple Apple devices… then the AirPods Max are a great choice came you can easily and quickly hot swap from any of your apple devices associated to your iCloud account. And plus with the H1 chip in the AirPods Max you can quickly activate Siri with just your voice.
But when it comes to overall performance, both of these headphones have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device, and when it comes to audio codecs, the AirPods Max only have support for SBC and AAC… which should be perfectly fine whether you’re an iPhone or an android user. Where as with the XM5’s they have support for SBC, AAC, and Sony’s own LDAC which is their in house high res audio codec. But if you want to take advantage of LDAC, then you have to be an android user and these headphones will only be able to be connected to one device at a time.
But finally… the XM5’s are the only headphones here that have an audio jack, where as apple foolishly removed the audio jack on their headphones but they are more than happy to sell you a lighting to audio jack cable. And personally, I think its very funny that apple has been featuring a new high impedance audio jack on their new MacBook pro’s and Mac Studio…
But now, lets talk about actually listening to music with these headphones. Now even though I do give the AirPods max a lot of flack, and for me, its a little hard to justify getting these headphones… I do have to admit, these things sound great and these are my second favorite sounding headphones. Personally, my favorite sounding headphones are still the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s… and my main critique on the AirPods Max is that their treble is a little too high for my liking. But more importantly, with the AirPods max, these headphones have really good instrument separation to them, so they sound very open. Vocals are very well pronounced, and the bass on these headphones has a good amount of physicality to it. So with the AirPods max these are both fun to listen to cause they have that kick in their bass, and they still have a good amount of detail. But then, there are the XM5’s, now these headphones have improved instrument separation from both the XM4’s and XM3’s… so technically, the XM5’s do sound better than both the XM4’s and XM3’s cause they sound more open. But these headphones just don’t sound as open as the AirPods Max. But then there’s also the bass on these headphones. Now the XM5’s do have some kick in their bass… but their bass has less physicality than their predecessors and they have way less physicality than the AirPods Max. And even if you were to raise the bass slider on these headphones all the way… they’re still not going to kick as hard as the AirPods Max. So for me, its not really a competition, the AirPods Max Sound way better than the Sony 1000XM5’s cause of their better instrument and more physicality in their bass. Now don’t get me wrong, the XM5’s sound good and they’ll defneitly get the job done, but if you’re someone that really like bass in their music, then the XM5’s could leave you disappointed.
Now when it comes to actually controlling your media, the XM5’s are using a touch pad and overall this touch pad is very accurate and its easy enough to use. However, if you don’t want to have to deal with a touchpad, the AirPods Max have this physical dial. And this little dial is easy to use as well. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the AirPods Max 2 have a touch pad as well… but there have always been rumors that the AirPods Max were supposed to have a touch pad.
But both of these headphones also have wear sensors, so if you take either of these headphones off, they’ll automatically pause your music, and when you put them back on they’ll start playing your music again. Now the fact that the wear sensors on the XM5’s are hidden isn’t a big deal, and actually, the exposed wear sensors on the AirPods Max is pretty sloppy on apple’s part. But regardless I don’t really care for wear sensors on my headphones so I just turn that feature off on both of these headphones. But they’re there is you want them.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones… like I mentioned at the top of this video, these are the top two headphones that block out the most amount of noise. The XM5’s are number one and they are closely followed by the AirPods Max which ave been the top dog for the last year and a half. However, before we jump into the ANC test… I do want to through in the Bose QC45’s. After their 2.0.4 firmware update, they got a measurable ANC performance boost. Now they don’t block out as much noise as these other two headphones… but the QC45’s are a solid third place.
So like you may have just seen, both the XM5’s and AirPods Max block out a ton of noise… but the XM5’s come out on top specifically cause they do a slightly better job of blocking out higher frequency sounds. But more importantly, the XM5’s have a little less cabin pressure than the AirPods Max. I have always said that the AirPods Max blocked out the most amount of noise… but I did like them cause they had so much cabin pressure to them and they do give me headaches. Where as the XM5’s have less cabin pressure… but its definitely still noticeable. But then there are the Bose QC45’s which have a little less cabin pressure than the XM5’s… so they’re a little more comfortable to wear than the XM5’s… among many other reasons. But the Bose QC45’s block out almost as much noise as the XM5’s and AirPods Max. So if you want the headphones here that block out the most amount of noise… then the Sony 1000XM5’s are the way to go… But I try to find a ratio between cabin pressure and amount blocked out. And given that the QC45’s have the least amount of cabin pressure all while still blocking out a ton of noise… for me the QC45’s are my top pick for now.
But now lets talk about the ambient modes on these headphones. The AirPods Max have a very natural sounding ambient mode on them… its almost as if when you turn on their ambient mode… its like you’re not wearing any headphones… but I still wish that you could adjust the amount of noise that these headphones lets in cause the AirPods max let in a lot of noise. Where as with the XM5’s their ambient mode also sounds really good, and you can also adjust it to your liking. However, with the AirPods Max their microphone array does a much better job of blocking out wind noise when walking outdoors than the XM5’s… however, where the AirPods Max really fall short is when it comes to their active ambient mode. Unfortunately, the ambient mode on the AirPods Max will let in everything, like this.
So like you saw, the AirPods Max just let in everything. Where as lets say with the Sony 1000XM4’s… these headphones will automatically turn off their ambient mode when they detect a sudden loud sound, like this.
So like you may have just seen. The XM4’s turned off their ambient mode when they detected that loud noise, and when that loud noise stoped, they went back to normal. Now even though sony got this right with the XM4’s, they didn’t get it right with the XM5’s.
So like you saw, with the XM5’s they turned off their ambient mode, then they turned it back on, then they turned it back off and back on again. Hopefully sony will fix this in a feature software update cause they had this right with both the XM4’s and XM3’s.
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But now lets talk about the extra little features that these headphones have. Now the XM5’s have Sony’s speak to chat feature which works a little like this.
But personally, I’m not a really big fan of speak to chat because it is very easy to accidentally active. If you’re talking to yourself very quietly that can activate it, if you’re singing along to your music, that can activate it, if you start laughing that can active it, and on rare occasions loud enough outside noises can activate it. So that’s why I don’t use it.
Personally, I still prefer to use quick attention on these headphones cause its a lot more intentional. When you fully cover the touch pad on these headphones they’re going to lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you like this.
And then when you let go, the headphones will go back to normal. Now like I said, I prefer quick attention cause its a lot more intentional. But Sony still refuses to just lock quick attention after its been activated for a few seconds. So you gotta stay there with your hand like this the whole time you’re talk to someone. I just want Sony to change it so that you can simply let go like with other headphones that have similar feature. But unfortunately the AirPods Max doesn’t have a similar feature to this.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now after 5 generation, Sony finally has a usable microphone on their headphones for phone calls… however in a quiet room, I am going to have to point out that there is a constant hissing in the background.
Where as with the AirPods Max, there is no hissing in the background and this microphone really likes to amplify my voice.
And when it comes to dealing with noise pollution, the AirPods Max does reduce noise pollution, but they also keep your voice very amplified.
Where as with the XM5’s this microphone blocks out more noise pollution, but my voice isn’t as amplified. Nonetheless, the XM5’s are pretty impressive cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we switch back over to the XM5’s it is greatly reduced.
And the same thing can be said when it comes to blocking out chatter, the XM5’s do an impressive job of blocking out chatter, but my voice isn’t super amplified. But if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter… and it we were to switch back over to the XM5’s it is severely reduced.
And then there are the AirPods Max… now you can defneitly hear some chatter in the background but these do a better job of elevating my voice. Overall, I would recommend the XM5’s if you plan on taking lots of phone calls while in a noise environment… but if you’re going to be taking phone calls while at home or in the office, I think the AirPods Max are the way to go.
But with all of that being said, there are defiantly some really good qualities about both the Sony 1000XM5’s and AirPods max. The XM5’s currently block out the most amount of noise, they they have solid tech specs, and they have a lot of extra features. Where as with the AirPods max, they sound great, they have spectacular build quality, they also block out a ton of noise, and if you’re an Apple power user you can easily switch between any of your apple devices and and they have hey Siri support. However, personally for me, it is very hard to recommend either of these two headphones cause they aren’t the most comfortable things out there. The headband on the XM5’s create a hot spot and they have shallow ear pads… and even though I technically prefer the AirPods max, they aren’t the most comfortable things out there either cause they’re very heavy, they’re pretty tight and their fabric ear pads are pretty itchy. And I also don’t like either of these two headphones for traveling. The XM5’s case is huge and the AirPods max doesn’t really come with a case. Personally, I feel that if you’re looking for a pair of ANC headphones to constantly travel with, I think the Bose QC45’s are the best option right now… and if you want all of the bells and whistles… then you’ll might want to go with the sony 1000XM4’s.