The only reason not to buy Sony's new noise-cancelling headphones over Apple's is that you might not be able to pronounce the name. The WH-1000XM5 are no AirPods Max, that's for sure.
Sony WH-1000XM5 vs Apple AirPods Max
The new WH-1000XM5 replace the uber-popular and similarly poorly named WH-1000XM4, the go-to headphones for anyone who really, really doesn’t want their music or podcasts interrupted by the outside world. Sony’s line regularly tops tests for over-ear noise-cancelling headphones, but lately it’s been met with a rival: Apple’s AirPods Max. And yet, the Sonys continue to beat the full-size AirPods on just about every score, including price.
“I wore the AirPods Max on a long flight to Europe and found them uncomfortable for extended use,” AirPods Max owner Blairh said in a forum Lifewire participated in. “The lack of control over the EQ (iOS presets are a joke) versus the Sony app is also a game changer.”
Noise canceling headphones work by using microphones to monitor incoming sound, then generating equal and opposite sound waves to literally cancel the noise out. The effectiveness of the headphones depends, among other things, on how accurately they sample outside noise, and Sony has put two processors and eight microphones to the task. This should make the series’ already excellent noise canceling even better.
