Sony Noise Reduction Headphones

very nice noise reduction

I purchased these about a month ago. This is my first foray into wireless noise canceling headphones in about five years, I am impressed with the improvements. The sound quality is simply terrific, approximately as good as a set of wired headphones of similar cost. The wireless link is reliable, no interference or dropouts noted though in fairness I usually use these with my phone which is never more than a few feet away. I purchased these in part to replace a set of headphones that I use when I cut my grass. That is a very challenging environment for noise reduction as it contains wide band noise from very low frequencies up to almost the limit of human hearing. The noise is also at a fairly high decibel decibel level, something like 90+dba at 1 m. The headphones knocks the mower noise down to a really surprising level, and even with the noise reduction working that hard the audio still sounds great. I also very much appreciate the touch features of these headphones. My experience with non-phone/computer gesture sensing has not been good. However these sense tap and swipe gestures very reliably. The headphones come in a small zippered case and include accessories such as an airplane adapter and hardwired cable. They charge in three hours or less, usually much less, from USB-C. Sony also has an app available for iOS and android that provides various settings for noise reduction, equalizer, and setting the function of a dedicated button on the headphones. I can't speak to the iOS version but the android version works well, I've had absolutely no issues with it. Overall I think these are a great choice, and well worth the price.

Noise canceling headphones always involve compromises. First, Bluetooth is a compressed format - no matter what manufacturers would like us to believe. Within Bluetooth there are various codecs to contend with each having their own limitations. Last, there is the amount of actual noise canceling available. This is the second Sony noise canceling headset I've owned. I also have the WH-1000M2. For this review I will compare the M5 with the Shure Aonic 50. The Sony offers all codecs except aptX. Why? Apparently they are promoting LDAC their proprietary codec. Your player may not support this so beware. Also it connecting to more than one device (phone and music player) it will default to AAC even if both devices support LDAC. The Shure phones can support LDAC on two devices. Sony has always offered superior noise reduction. I just used them on two 3 hour flights recently. They were excellent except that they switched out of noise reduction mode with me iPhone 14 Pro Max a couple of times. Not sure whether it was the phone or the Sony's. In comparing the music response between the Sony's and Shure's, to my ear the Shure's have the edge. I used jazz, classical and rock selections. The Sony has a little more bass response, but the Shure has more transparency in the high end. Nevertheless, the Sony noise reduction is far superior to the Shure. Sony now offers automatic noise reduction depending on ambient noise. It seems to work very well. It does offer a chat mode which will automatically turn off noise reduction when you speak. This seems to work well unless there is a lot of ambient noise. For telephone use the Sony works very well. Stopping starting the music as expected. Sound quality is very good. I don't have any reservations in recommending the Sony's.

Love this for concealment and fiber noise reduction.

Ive had several other noise cancelling headphones by Bose (QC35 II) and Beats (Studio Wireless) and I always hailed Bose as king of Noise Cancelling headphones. Now the only thing that Bose has over Sony is the durability of the headphones, my Bose headphones I could pretty much bend however I wanted and they wouldn't break. The Sony's are a bit more stiff, but the material is still premium! I originally went with Bose because of their comfort though, I like to wear my headphones for an extended period of time and the old Sony's (XM1 and XM2) got uncomfortable after a few hours. With the new design however, I can see myself wearing these all day! What does Sony have to offer that's better than Bose? - Noise cancelling (much better) - Sound quality - Battery life - Customization through app - Accessories (better quality auxiliary charger cords, as well as a good airplane adapter!!) - USB-C Charger!!! (as a MacBook Pro owner this was a must, I hated micro-usb so much) - Comfort? (I'm still testing this out but ill update in a few weeks if its better or on-par with the Bose QuietComfort 35 ii)

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Sony Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones are fantastic. The ease in which they sync up to your phone and the listening pleasure I received. I couldn’t believe how all background noise is nonexistent. I tried it around my grandchildren and it worked like a charm. I heard nothing but the music coming from my headphones. And that was it. I’ve been looking for headphones like this for so long.

WORK GREAT FOR ENVIRONMENTS WITH NICE NOISE REDUCTION.

Very solid construction with noise reduction that really does work.

Really good for reducing wind noise reduction

Nothing seems hyped with these headphones...very solid, less bright than the Sony MDR-7506...and seemingly more like what I hear in the room with reasonable speakers. Also, noise isolation is much better. There is a fair amount of handling noise passed to the ears from the cable though...but that is avoidable. Very glad I am mixing livestreams with these now.