The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphone was chosen by the technical jury of the 6th edition of the Canaltech Award winner in the “Best headphone” category. With that, Sony became a three-time champion at the awards, winning the 2019, 2020 and 2022 editions.
Sony took three of the last four editions of the Canaltech Award in the categories related to headphones. In 2019, he received the trophy for “Best Wireless Headphones” by the technical jury with the XM3, the brand’s TWS headphones.
In the fifth edition of the award, it was the turn of the most powerful WH-1000XM4 to win the award, also by the technical jury. The model stood out a lot in our tests due to its excellent noise cancellation. Now, in the sixth edition of the Canaltech Award, the successor WH-1000XM5 was crowned “Best headphone of 2022”.
We reviewed Sony’s headphones and concluded that they’ve remained the king of active noise cancellation (ANC) over the past year. It is equipped with eight microphones in total, four in each shell, working in conjunction with the V1 and QN1 processors.
In our tests, there were no words to describe the WH-1000XM5’s ANC other than “perfect”. It was the best headphone with the technology we tested in 2022, maintaining the legacy of the WH-1000XM3 and WH-1000XM4 models.
The construction of the WH-1000XM5 received a makeover in this generation, surrendering to the minimalism seen in other headphones on the market. It is still very beautiful and extremely comfortable due to the new, larger ear pads that are more adjustable to the user’s ears.
The sound quality of Sony’s headphones also impressed us with its balance that doesn’t sacrifice the lowest frequencies. Its battery life of up to 30 hours with active noise cancellation is another highlight, combined with its fast charging.
