Sony’s next flagship headphones appear to have a sleek new design

Image: Sony (WH-1000XM4, left), TechnikNews (WH-1000XM5, right)

Sony's noise-canceling headphones, the WH-1000XM4 have been one of the best options since they came out in 2020, but the company is preparing to release the next generation. The successor to the WH-1000XM5 has been published by a German tech news site.

A thinner headband is the first thing you might notice. The 1000XM3s and 1000XM4s were almost identical, but Sony could change the way things look for the new 1000XM5s.

The arm is exposed, instead of being shrouded, with a single contact point replacing the larger folding hinge over the ear cups. That changes the design of the ear cups, but suggests that more space is available for the stuff that affects what you hear.

The slimmer arm could contribute to a lighter weight that hopefully doesn't give up any strength. According to Gizmodo, the FCC and other regulators filed for a new model in February. The FCC labeling has moved from the headband itself to underneath an ear pad, which The Walkman Blog speculated could mean the band is made out of metal instead of plastic.

Image: TechnikNews

The leaked models have a design that ditches the collapsible folding of the XM4 that tucked one cup inside the other. It seems doubtful that they will take up much more space on a desk, stand, or bag.

The WH-1000XM5 will have an estimated battery life of up to 40 hours with active noise cancellation on, 10 hours longer than the XM4, with a total charging time of 3.5 hours via USB-C. There are no details on what has changed, but it is reported that it will use two processors for ANC instead of one, and sound will be produced by a new driver. They still have three microphones to pick up your voice and detect noise, but the positioning has changed.

The button that used to be labeled "Custom" has been changed to "Ambient", which is more in line with what most people use it for.

The model iterated on its award-winning predecessor was Speak tochat, which silences music if it hears you trying to speak to someone, and multipoint audio that stayed connected to more than one device. The latter feature had some problems at launch, but it was more useful. Software updates helped it work better, but any improvement in helping the headphones decide which device to connect to and when would be appreciated.

Retailers like Best Buy and Amazon maintain the price of the WH-1000XM4 at $349.99, even though there is no word on pricing or a release date. The price of the headphones has occasionally dipped during sales, but it is not clear if the changes in a new model will move the bar in any direction.