Retail packaging images of Sony's highly anticipated next-generation WH-1000XM5 headphones have leaked online, suggesting a launch might not be far away.
The pictures on the box corroborate the rumored redesign, replacing the shrouded arms with an exposed arm that has a single contact point at the earcups, which look slightly bigger than on the 1000XM4
One aspect of the rumor was put in doubt by the images. An anonymous retail source said that the WH-1000XM5's will have a battery life of up to 40 hours with active noise cancelation on, which is 10 hours longer than the XM4's. There are details on the box list.
It is possible that the 30 hours relates to noise cancelation when Sony's Hi-Res LDAC audio coding technology is enabled, and this increases to 40 hours when LDAC isn't active, but that is just speculation. Sony may have decided to reduce the battery capacity to reduce overall weight while maintaining battery life due to more efficient components, but again, we won't know for sure until the product launches.
It isn't clear when that will happen, but given that the retail packaging appears to be finalized with possible units already in the wild, it suggests that they could become available sooner rather than later. The FCC confidentiality date on the headphones is said to end on August 8, but the XM5's could always debut earlier. Sony announced the XM4 in June of 2021.
The Walkman Blog has an image.
The new headphones have improved noise cancelation and sonics, and a post over on the Korean Naver blog suggests that supply chain issues could see a higher price than the $349 XM4's. We should know all the details soon, and learn how they stack up against Apple, their main rival.
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