Latest Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds leak shows 3 massive upgrades that we love
How do you make the best earbuds even better? Sony has a few ideas
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New details about the upcomingSony WF-1000XM5 earbudshave been revealed in another leak. If you haven’t been following our coverage of them, these buds are the successor toSony’sbest true wireless earbudsand look to be an exciting upgrade.
In recent weeks, there have been a lot of rumors about the company’s next flagship earbuds thanks to aleaked spec sheetthat was released. These have revealed that they could begreat news for those with smaller earsas well as other upgrades
According to a recent article byWinFuture.dewhich included promotional images (above) of the earbuds, even more details have been released about what the new earbuds will offer. And it looks like they’re going to be pretty special.
Read our three reasons for why we’re excited about the Sony WF-1000XM5.
1. You don’t need to have a massive head
For all their many joys, theSony WF-1000XM4earbuds are hefty both in terms of dimensions and in weight. But the new 1000XM5 buds are significantly smaller and a lot lighter too. Each earbud is reportedly 1.4g lighter than before, bringing the weight down to 5.9g per earbud, and the case is 2g lighter too. The case doesn’t really matter to me, but as someone who’s worn larger earbuds for long periods I’m all in favour of smaller and lighter.
2. They’re probably going to sound better
A slimmer design means new drivers, and the latest reports say that the new drivers here are Dynamic Driver X with a diameter of 8.4mm. They’ll be accompanied by two new proprietary chips to support Hi-Res Audio and Sony’s DSEE Extreme audio tech and promise better microphones too.
3. They’re getting an extra battery
WinFuture reports that there’s an additional battery in the WF-1000XM5 case, which extends the total running time of the earbuds to 24 hours and gives you an hour of playback from just three minutes of charge. A full charge takes two hours.
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How much will Sony’s WF-1000XM5 cost?
Those are the big three reasons, but there’s more. Bluetooth 5.3 with multi-point should make it easy to connect to all your kit, and the buds are IPX4 certified for water and sweat so they should be a good option for runners and gym-goers.
We don’t yet know when these buds will go on sale or what their price tag will be, but we’ll be very surprised if they’re not priced similarly to the current model, which retails for $279.99 / £250 / AU$449.95.
If you can’t wait for the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds to drop and need some new headphones for the summer, then take a look at our guide of thebest earbuds, which features other Sony earbuds worth considering.
Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
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