WF-1000XM5 Premium Noise Cancelling Truly Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds & in-Ear Headphones with Alexa Built-in, Silver

There’s a bit of possible Sony hate going on in some reviews, like others I got burned on a pair of WF-10004XM refurbished and one of the batteries started failing after a year. Wasn’t worth the cost of repair. Have others from QCY and Soundcore that were surprisingly good for less cost. Also had trouble with refurbished headphones WH-1000XM4, luckily had added insurance. Cut to buying a new pair that have been flawless. Got the Sony WF-C700N a couple months ago to scratch my earbud itch. Very good for the price. If you’re not ready to throw down $300 for the XM5 they’re a great alternative. Not quite as musical, but no gripes anyway. You can get picky about the throwback buttons but oh well. One comment before I get more specific on the XM5. I fully agree with another review that calls out Sony for how complicated their Sony Connect app has become. It could be simplified for people who don’t want to get into the tech so much. Now, how do they sound? I’m impressed and I’m not using them to their full potential. Using with iPhone so Bluetooth SBC codec is the most basic and lowest quality solution (after digging into the codec question a bit more it does appear that the iPhone has the AAC codec also). However, with the help of Sony’s equalizer and DSEE function I’m very happy with the sound. I almost don’t want to try them with a better codec and then have to go back. (Still applies with AAC, DSE does improve sound) I need treble boost for my old ears and having played bass no surprise I like a lot of bass. These don’t disappoint. I did an A-B comparison with the XM4 headphones and they didn’t have quite the low end but good and punchy with good definition between bass and drums.both can become nice and “growly” on the low end. Noise cancellation is very good, not as good as the headphones but after only a couple days I have been quite satisfied so far. Comfort level is better than the XM4 buds, but I’m so pissed I wasted the money now I don’t want to dig them out to compare audio! I think Sony really improved the fit and design to be lighter, more comfortable, and have impressive sound. Let’s just hope they found a better battery. Used overnight and had battery left in the morning but playing audiobook on timer so i couldn’t say how long continuous playback. I’ll update after I’ve had them longer. (Update) battery life seems to be very similar to the XM4. Sometimes I have battery left in the morning sometimes it comes up short. Another follow up, comes with 4 sets of tips but apparently I have very large ear canals as I’m unable to get a complete seal with the included buds. The large felt good at first but when I used the connect app to check for airtight seals I could not get them to seal. Fortunately I have many tips I’ve saved over the years and by mixing, matching, and testing I have a couple that seal. I even tried ordering extra large tips from a couple vendors and they didn’t work either. Nice that Sony is including extra small but what about us with extra large needs! I do have a possible solution on the way, find a video on YouTube that shows how to use Sugro glue rolled up and inserted in the mushroom part of the tip. Press in the ear to get a fit and then allow to cure over night. Hoping it works, I have a few tips I’d like to try this on. Was even investigating custom molded tips but for $150 plus I’ll try the Sugro hack… 8/5/23 tried the Sugro hack yesterday. Still have to work to get an airtight fit but it definitely helped. My opinion on the sound has not diminished. Excellent with what I listen too. A lot of classic rock but also new material from Elle King and others. Listening to Lourdes “Royals” a very deep bass which presents low, solid, and clear. You can easily distinguish the bass and drums. The low rumbling bass of Pink Floyd “Welcome to the Machine” couldn’t be much better in any buds. Almost like I could feel it. I’m now using the WF-C700n as my workout and dog walking buds. Sound signature is very similar but the bass is not quite as good. One thing they are lacking is the airtight fit check in the app. I had to use other tips and the Sugro mold hack to get a good consistent fit in both. The included tips are worthless to me and my big ears. I see a lot of criticism of the noise cancellation for the XM5. I have no way to measure so it’s pretty subjective but I’m not disappointed. At least as good as the XM4. But with any ANC earbuds the airtight seal is critical. If you’re not ready to throw down $300 the WF-C700n are a very good alternative, but are not touch controlled, a single button on each side. Not quite as good on the low end but not disappointing either. In direct comparison you can hear the difference. I still think these are 5 star worthy. I’d take off half a star because of the somewhat complex app but if you like to tinker with the sound and features, give it back. People who are not “technical minded” may find it intimidating. I find it useful but jammed with some features I wouldn’t normally use, like automatically changing settings depending on location as an example. Some might find it useful but not me. The equalizer and clear bass functions are excellent. DSEE function makes a noticeable difference in sound quality. Happier with these than I was with the XM4. Just hope the batteries last, I would hope Sony changed from the $70 replacement cost batteries (not including labor) used in the XM4 as apparently so many people had problems with them dying out after a few months. 9/22/23 Used these today instead of the WF-C700n for my indoor cycling and to walk the dog. Usually I do those activities with the cheaper buds as for $300 I want to take every precaution to protect them. So…more feedback on the ANC. Definitely a difference on the bike with 2 pretty loud blower fans on. The WF-C700n does a very good job in the same situation but I could definitely tell a difference. Could hardly hear the fans at all and the WF-1000XM5 does have the superior sound performance. Note these blowers are loud enough that if I have my Apple Watch to close to them I get the over 90db warning. They’re not 90db from the bike but they are loud. These cancelled almost all the noise. With volume on my music I don’t hear the fans at all.

I bought these because I had a gift card to spend, and in hopes that I could completely separate from my Airpod Pro’s (1rst gen). I wanted to get rid of my Airpod pro’s because I have become so completely fed up with popping them in my ears and having only one earbud connect. That happens about 25% of the time I use them, and of course it’s always right when I’m in a hurry and need them now. I have to reset them every time it happens and frankly I’m fed up with it – unacceptable reliability. So, it’s only been a little more than a week but I haven’t had this happen once. Nor has it ever happened on any of my other true wireless earbuds (Soundcore Liberty 4 NC’s and some cheap no-name sports hook-style earbuds). The Sony’s have had stellar reviews, but my one reservation was that I’m in a full Apple ecosphere, and I had read that if you’re in the Apple ecosphere, you’ll want the Airpod Pro series II. Using anything else would mean missing out on that typical Apple integration – things work great together. Well, I’ve never tried the Airpod Pro II’s, but I couldn’t get myself to reward Apple by ordering another pair of headphones from them after my dissatisfaction with the AirPod Pro I’s. So, how are the Sony’s? Absolutely fantastic and boy, am I glad I went with them! First of all, in terms of integration/functionality with my Apple world, best I can tell so far its flawless. Transitions between my iPhone 15 and iPad Pro are just as smooth as my AirPods were. I can send/receive calls just as easily, and the Sony has one feature I don’t think AirPods have – you can just nod your head to answer calls! I also find the touch sensor vastly superior to Apple’s squeeze surface (or whatever it’s called). Much more intuitive to me, and it works every time on the first try. Another big advantage the Sony’s have over the Airpod Pro I’s is battery life. One reason I picked the Sony’s was better sleep. My wife makes quite a racket sleeping at night and I had read that these were great for sleeping. My Airpod Pro’s were also quite good at that, but they wouldn’t last through the night – only about 4.5 hours (w/NC on). Not sure how long the Sony can last, but I’ve gone over 8 hours (w/NC on) – and they still had some battery left! As for the noise cancelling, I’d say it’s slightly disappointing. I also own the over-ear WH-1000XM5’s, and they have AWESOME noise cancelling! I’d say the WF-1000XM5’s are nowhere near that level – I’d say they are about the same as my Airpod Pro I’s. Good enough to attenuate my wife’s snoring (at least enough that I can sleep), but not completely block it (so I hear nothing at all) as on the WH-1000XM5’s. But of course, the WH-1000MX5’s are way too big to sleep with (full size over-ear headphones). Another minor disappointment is no “find my earbud” functionality, which makes me a little paranoid about losing them, but hopefully not a big deal. Saving the best for last is the sound quality. I bought the big-brother WH-1000XM5’s a year ago and was quite surprised at their sound quality. Same thing here – these sound fantastic! I’m a fairly serious audiophile and have quite a collection of high-end headphones, including one pair of earbuds that are more than triple the cost of these Sony’s (JH Audio J13 v2’s). And all the electronics to go with it (DAP’s, DAC’s, amps, cables, etc.). They took a while to break in properly (maybe 30-50 hours) but they are really wonderful. They are among the most natural sounding earbuds I’ve heard and I’m a bit stumped how that could be possible since it uses crappy Bluetooth. My high-end headphones are fed almost exclusively high-rez files. Bluetooth AAC (can’t use LDAC on an iPhone) is the best I can run, which of course are only a small fraction the bitrate resolution of true high-rez files. But somehow these sound absolutely wonderful – just a natural “rightness” that’s hard to describe. BY FAR the best bass I’ve ever heard from an earbud. They have a confidence, an “assertiveness” (yes, that’s a new audio metaphor) – not aggressiveness - that I just love. I’m not saying that they are flat-out better than my high-end earbuds (my Shure M535’s are my favorite), but I will say they are at least in the same ballpark. I can pop these in and really enjoy listening for hours – and not feel like I’m missing out in not using my much more expensive earbuds. Very high compliment indeed! So, great job Sony! BTW, I read that Sony bought Audeze (high-end true audiophile headphone brand), which means I can’t wait to see what they come out with in the future – if these are as good as they are, I can’t wait to find out what the XM6’s or XM7’s will sound like! Update 4/16/24: Just wanted to mention one more remarkable thing about these. I am an avid cyclist and I’ve been on a long search to find the best earbuds for cycling - which for me, is mostly about reducing WIND NOISE. That is by far my biggest goal for cycling headphones. These are downright spooky in their ability to hugely reduce wind noise - BY FAR the most effective I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried quite a few (AirPod Pro’s, Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, etc…). So now I face an interesting dilemma - do i dare use a $300 pair of earbuds for cycling? The problem with using them for cycling is that cycling is of course brutal on earbuds (constant sweat). So I’ll have to decide if I dare to do that long term, but I can say that these are by far the best headphones I have ever used in terms of wind blocking. So these really are amazing - fantastic sound, powerful noise cancelling, long battery life and the best wind noise blocking I’ve ever heard…

I have the Sony WF-1000XM4 and now the XM5. The XM4 battery life is terrible. They have issues with those batteries going bad too soon so I don't recommend those. The XM5 noise cancellation is great and the music quality is good but I have a few complaints. The earbuds don't stay in my ear when using the original foam tips. It's annoying having your hands busy at work and feeling your earbud shifting about to fall out. I had to buy aftermarket foam tips. The sound could be better and it's probably due to the foam tips letting the sound out. My 2nd complaint is they're not loud enough. Even with aftermarket foam tips, the earbuds are just not loud enough. I work in a noisy environment and it's hard to listen to podcasts with these. The noise cancellation only works if you have both earbuds in. It sounds like it wants to work when using one earbud but only when there's a really loud noise. It cuts the music momentarily and goes back to letting all the noise in. It would really help if it would work with only one earbud in because I wouldn't have any problems hearing whatever I'm listening to. I hate the touch sensitive controls. I wish they had a physical button that gave me a clicky feedback every time I press it. There is a tone whenever you pause or skip but like I said, it's hard to hear in a noisy environment. Most of the time, I have to raise my volume to notice if it paused, skipped or didn't register me pressing the touch sensitive controls. I originally bought these to use while I'm at work but now I only use these at home. For work I use the Beats Studio Buds which are louder, stay in my ear (with comply foam tips), have great audio and have a clicky button for the controls. No more guessing if I pressed the button or not. With the Beats Studio Buds I can now listen to the same podcasts I couldn't hear with my XM5s in the same noisy environment. I just bought the Studio Buds + which have a better battery life than the 1st gen. The XM5s are overrated in my opinion. 1 YEAR UPDATE: I have the XM5s connected to only ONE device and they sometimes don't want to connect at all. I have to reconnect them like I'm adding a new device. It's so annoying. Even my cheap $40 earbuds don't do that. I'm starting to think these are a waste of money. I'm giving them 1 star... UPDATE: The connectivity issues keep getting worse. I only have them paired to one device (my laptop) and I have to unpair and pair them way too often or else it keeps trying to connect but doesn't. The laptop isn't the issue because no other bluetooth device does that. Sony needs to concentrate on fixing the basic issues instead of trying to add all kinds of features. I need earbuds that turn on, pair properly, are loud enough, stay in my ear and have decent battery life. These earbuds don't cover my basic needs. These are the last Sony XM earbuds I'm buying.

8/8/24 update: I replaced the Sony OEM earbud tips with the Sedna Earfit Max, the ML size. Wonderful fit. Never a problem with air tightness. Sony is still sending me some alternate earbud tips for free. I have no idea how they'll work but I'm getting them mid-month. Sony's sound quality is spoiling the p30i's for me but I'm still keeping them as a backup. _____________________ I had a pair of XM4s that crapped out on the left earbud after eight months. Was able to return them and get a refund. I replaced them with Anker Soundcore p30i's as a stopgap until Prime Day. I really like them for the most part. And for the price the sound is great. But I can't help remembering the sound of the XM4, although I wasn't sure if I was like building it up in my mind to an unrealistic degree. I wasn't. I just bought these on Prime day. I was really happy with the p30is and I still am. But the sound of the XM5s are so good, compared to the great at the price sound of the p30i's. XM5 sound is immersive, clear, round, rich, and beautiful whether I'm listening to opera, EDM, or K-pop. No flatness or separation between me and the sound. It's just so good in my head. Fit-wise the Sony earbuds are really hard to get airtight and I tried a couple of tip sizes. I recall with the XM4 I had to wait for the tips to warm up in my ears before they became airtight. I have some replacement silicone ear tips, nothing special. Just some cheapies I had bought for the p30i but they didn't fit. These work better with the XM5 with the air tightness. Not quite sure whether the sound is as good as with the OEMs, so I'll have to compare. I'm going to keep the p30i as my second pair. You just can't go wrong at the price and the quality (and the battery life). They were a replacement for the Soundcore p40i which just didn't fit my ears at all and would fall out regardless of the size of ear tips I used. But I have a feeling that the longer I keep listening with these XM-5s I'm going to have to get used to accepting or tolerating a not as great sound the the p30i delivers . For the price, the p30i are really good. Is the XM5 worth like $170-ish more? Yeah, I think so. My ears are so happy with this sound. Fit-wise the p30i don't fit any better than the XM5 But so far they haven't fallen out like the p40i did. Soundcore earbuds have tails and I'm really not used to them. And they tend to stick out of my ears a little bit more. The angle at which I have to put the earbuds in is a little weird for me. But it's acceptable and as I said, for the price, the sound is really great. Just not as great as the XM5. ANC- meh on the Soundcores (although they have good sound isolation); better on Sony. Controls- definitely better on Sony. Every time I touched the the Soundcores to adjust them in my ears (which I had to do a lot with the p40i), it would change something in the settings. Battery life- p40i long battery life was one of the key reasons why I bought them. The p30i isn't bad either, just not quite as long as the p40i, But I've been getting three or four charges out of the case before hitting 20% on the buds and have to charge the case again. I don't know how long the XM5 lasts. But I do remember what the XM4 battery life kept shortening. I was only getting about 3 or 4 hours after a while. So I will be looking at that. UPDATE: getting good battery life from the Sony's. I can use the charging case three times before I have to recharge the whole thing. And I can just recharge the case alone. Usually I can have these in my ears for like 6 hours before I get a low battery which happens at 20%. I'm subtracting a star for price and that sort of quirky fit.

I have used pretty much every credible earbud in the last few years. Sony, Apple, Beats, Bose, B&W, Samsung, Klipsch, M&D, and more. I have also used every generation of Sony buds. In terms of overall use and features, these are not a giant change from the last gen XM4 buds. However, there are significant improvements in key areas. Here is the breakdown: Sound: There are moderate sound improvements here, over the last generation Sony's, which were already close to class leading. Sony put a larger driver in here and it makes a difference. Additionally, Sony added a lot of processing horsepower here. The put in their latest chip for audio, but then added a separate chip to handle all of the ANC duties. Sony argues, that by separating the tasks here, they were able to more finely tune the audio. You can hear the difference. Bass is thumping, highs are even more crisp, and the mid vocals definitely pop more. I am no audiophile but these are really good. To me, these sound better than the latest Bose and Airpod Pro buds. You have to get into the really high-end audio companies to find sound this good. As always, you get Sony's LDAC here if you can use it for high-end audio options and the DSEE Extreme tech that upscale regular more compressed audio. The DSEE really shines here. Your Spotify or Apple music app has never sounded so good. I think most folks will be very satisfied with what Sony has done here and, at the end of the day, sound quality is a big reason to make such an investment. Active Noise Cancellation (ANC): These are the best ANC buds Sony has ever made which is saying something. They were already 1b to the latest from Bose, but these have improved dramatically to me. The new dedicated chip just gets it done. These buds adjust the ANC to the noise around you. I honestly hear pretty much nothing other than my music when I have these in. The latest Quiet Comfort's from Bose are still at least as good to me in this arena, but that is pretty much the only area that Bose still is really on equal footing. At least in my opinion. Fit really determines great ANC, so while these are great, there is definitely some subjectivity that comes into play here. I think most will be very happy with the results they get here though. Form Factor: This is an area that Sony has absolutely nailed it and I am going to just say, FINALLY! Every bud Sony has made has always had an asterisk for me. "They sound so good but they just aren't that comfortable" was what I often told folks. Not anymore. Sony has made these buds significantly smaller and by adding the glossy interior, has created a bud I hardly notice in my ear. They have gone from a "yeah but" to a class leader in the fit and comfort space. I really cannot emphasize enough how good these are. These buds have an IPX4 rating so they should handle the gym with no issues. Sony has included a revised version of their hybrid foam tips from last year and they are great. They just hold the buds in snug and really help block ambient sound. Just so so good Sony. Thank you for the thoughtful redesign. I also want to give Sony a nod for the case redesign. Same battery (3 charges) but much smaller. I love it. Battery and Connectivity: The battery life is the same from last year. About 7 to 8 hours of real use. It is fine. Not class leading but not bad either. Connection here is BT 5.3 so the latest. Same as last gen. However, Sony said that these buds will be LE compatible when they finally start rolling this out over the coming year so you can expect even better sound and perhaps even battery life someday soon. This essentially future proofs these buds. Call Quality: Not much to say here other than these are about as good as it gets. Sony added bone conductive tech here and you can tell. Your calls sound great. Intangibles: There are too many features to unpack here. You really need to read all that Sony has packed into these. From the upscaling audio, to one touch audio play, to speak to pause tech to gestures and so so so much more. You can literally get lost in the app. Almost too much is going on here. Regardless, there is almost nothing that these buds can't do. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Sony has multipoint connection option here as well. It is only two devices, so there are more robust options out there, but this should be fine for most in real life application. Very good stuff. So, should you buy these? If you are an Android user, the answer is 100% yes. Apple users have to consider that Airpods are more tightly integrated into their space. Further, Apple is getting ready to launch their high end sound codec as well, which these will not support. They are still worth considering though as Sony has just made a better sounding product. To me, these might be the best all around buds I have ever tried. From sound to calls to comfort, Sony has just nailed all of it. There are companies that offer buds that do one thing better perhaps, but none are as complete as these in my opinion. So, yes, buy these. You will not regret it. I will update as I go here.

if you are upgrading from the XM4 earbuds, don't even bother with these. It amazes me how backwards Sony has gone with these "updated" earbuds. First off, the ANC is decent, not as good as the XM4s, but simply because it seems almost impossible to get a solid fit in the ear. Even when you do, unless you are sitting still, that solid fit isn't going to stay. Where the XM4s filled the outer ear, there was support to mitigate jarring of the earbud. The XM5, however, doesn't have this. Movement translates to the earbud jarring in your ear and ultimately losing its seal. With it, the ANC drastically loses it effectiveness. Even the Beats Studio Buds (the original ones) do a better job of maintaining a seal and ANC in high dB situations. I tested them while mowing and the Beats surpassed the XM5s ten fold. I never had to adjust them a single time either. The microphone on the XM5s are horrible. You are free to search for other people stating the same. Im don't make many calls on my earbuds, but when I tested it the person on the other end of the line said it sounded like I was either in a deep hole or that they could barely hear me. Battery life is decent for the options it brings to the table, but the more trinkets you turn on the lower the battery life gets. Getting these things out of the case is a pain. Theyre too rounded and slick to get a good hold on to pull them out. I dropped them several times. Im sure this slickness also attributed to the aforementioned loss of seal as the plastic slips around on the ear due to lack of friction. The charging case is the perfect size IMO, but that's not really a part of the product features that is going to matter much. They're super easy to use day-to-day and have a whole host of additional features that you can turn on. But the highly limited EQ, the complexity of the features with regard to interacting with other apps, and little things that you have to look up to find out just makes these overly cumbersome to set up. Now, for the sound. I compared the XM5s to Bose QC Ultra, Studio Buds+ and to my cherished XM4s. The XM5 handedly beat the Bose Ultras. The bass was better on the Ultras, but everything else goes to the XM5s. The Buds+ was about equal, which is saying a lot given their mutual price points. The XM4 just knocks the XM5 out of the park. The XM4 has better bass, better mids, and better highs. Combined with the better ear seal on the XM4s, and this just makes them sound even better in all situations. At this point, I kept the XM5s for 2 days before returning them. I also returned the Bose Quietcomfort Ultra earbuds as well after only a week of use. After further research, I decided to just go with the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pros since I am in the Samsung ecosystem, but if those fail me as well, I might just find another pair of XM4s. Yes, they do have battery issues, but I have already replaced the batteries in my original pair once. I plan on doing it again now that they are failing once again. But I am losing my faith that the battery won't randomly explode in my ear one day or might vent and burn down my house or car. Maybe Sony can find some middle ground with the XM6 earbuds that I am sure are about to be released. If so, I might give them a shot as a replacement for the XM4s. But the XM5s are a complete miss and it's my opinion that they should be avoided. Of course, your mileage may vary, but when I drop this kind of cash for a set of headphones/earbuds, they're gonna tick all much boxes or Im going to send them back.

First off I'll say that these are good ear buds. If you don't have something comparable and just want the latest and greatest then these will be a fine purchase. With that said however, they are a disappointing "upgrade" to previous generation and even somewhat for other sony true wireless earbuds. I try out a lot of earbuds. So I have tried a ton of stuff on the market from basic low end stuff to Bose QCs and the Sony offerings. I've always been a fan of the sony line of truely wireless earbuds since the first time I tried them. The sound profile has always been much to my liking and I've always felt like the noise canceling worked pretty well. These XM5s however just miss the bar. The bass from these is terrible. There are better bass notes on the lower priced Link Buds S. That said, the sound is generally clearer and higher quality than the Link Buds S otherwise. In fact other than the bass these are definitely some of the clearest and high quality sounding ear buds I have ever tried. As for noise canceling, I really don't know what Sony did here but it's seems to be a step down from the XM4s. If I compare them back to back sitting in the same location with the same ambient noises and noise canceling on, I hear a lot more sounds getting through on the XM5s. I can hear the AC unit in my room with them on where as with the XM4s I cannot. I'm positive I'm using the best ear bud fitment for me (as I said before I buy and try out a lot of different earbuds, so I know how to chose the correct bud size). I don't know if it's just an inferior chip with them trying to reduce size and extend battery, or if it's just bad firmware that needs to be patched. As for the fit / weight, they are more comfortable than the XM4s. I've worn them now for multiple 3 - 4 hour sessions and never had any discomfort from them. They are noticeably lighter and smaller than the XM4s. I will mention the glossy exterior and smaller size does make them a tad tricky to get out of the case. Could also be the magnet holding them in is stronger, but I've slipped trying to pull them out a couple of times now. Battery life I would call on par for modern day ear buds. Nothing amazing, but definitely would consider it good. Even after a 4 hour session with ANC on the lower of the two earbuds was still at 33%. They claim 8 hours but that is only if you have ANC and everything off. Overall as I said, these are good ear buds, just disappointing that the ANC seems worse, and the bass tones are so bad.

I was absolutely terrified to pull the trigger on this purchase. It's easily the most money I've ever spent on earbuds and I was really worried that they wouldn't be all that different from earbuds I've been buying at the $60-ish price point. First of all, the mic and the noise cancellation on phone calls is stellar. I walk most of the places I go. When I take calls during my walks I used to have issues any time I got near high traffic areas. I essentially couldn't take calls at all with my Pixel Buds when I was near busier roads. These however, people can hear me clearly. Even when I'm walking directly into a strong wind, people can still make out what I'm saying if they turn their volume up. It's probably the best mic I've dealt with on a pair of wireless earbuds. The pixel buds had a hard time decided if my voice was the background noise or the traffic. As far as charging goes, these things hold a charge for a VERY long time. I use mine constantly throughout the day both while walking and while at work. I can easily go a few days between charges even with hours and hours of usage. That alone would have been worth the price as my pixel buds and other similar ear buds could hardly keep up with me. The ANC is absolutely wonderful and a feature I've wanted for some time now. It DOES NOT KILL THE BATTERY which was another big concern I had. It's been a while since I've had a product with ANC and previously the products I had absolutely annihilated battery life. The sound quality is fantastic though admittedly I'm not an elitist when it comes to that sort of thing. Music sounds good, podcasts sound good, youtube sounds good, calls sound good, what more do I need? Another feature I really like is being able to turn off the ANC and hear things through the mics. Walking as much as I do, I'm sometimes in areas where I want a little more situational awareness. Being able to turn off the ANC, still listen to music but be able to hear someone approaching or talking to me is a feature I don't think I'll be able to live without moving forward. These are hands down the best earbuds I've ever owned and if they last any length of time they'll easily be worth buying again. I love them and would suggest that you get them.