Sonos Ace vs Sony WH-1000XM5

“I highly recommend to use it because I did find that the sound quality was better without the noise cancelling and the ambient sound.”

“Sony does give you a headphones app with five bands and a clear base slider”

“Now the saving grace to the XM5 is customizable EQ using the app.”

“the XM5s are built to to maximize your own taste. Uh you can go in and change a lot of things in the app, and especially how it sounds and tune it properly to what you want to listen to, which is why I kind of like the XM5s”

“You can just pair it to your phone right away, but if you do want to have advanced features and functionalities, you can download the Sonos app.”

“kind of reinvented it, really redid it all and now it is much, much better than it was prior.”

“The Sonos Ace are worthy of the investment if you're willing to go through the growing pains.”

“The XM5 brings clarity and openness that's hard to beat the timing and rhythm are spot on making it easy to get lost in the music dynamically there's a lot more going on... the bass is precise and well controlled... the XM5 is like a…”

“The Beats Studio Pro have somehow mastered the art of the daily driver headphones. The case, the fit, the comfort, the battery life, the looks which aren't too garish, the sound which isn't completely class-leading, but does a fantastic…”

“they've got great battery life, are lightweight, have a full protective case for travelling, multipoint connectivity, and good sound quality. But because of their fit, they're typically not the headphones I'm picking up to listen to things…”

“Overall though, the Sony XM5s have been my go to I think just with that combination of sound canceling that doesn't annoy me, a sound profile that to me at least sounds good and I enjoy both for voice and also for music.”

“The Sonos Ace, on the other hand, aims for a true audio file experience. Sound is incredibly neutral and natural. The bass is tight and accurate, and the mids are clear and detailed. You can hear every nuance in a track, which makes them…”

“If you have a Sonos you know system or multiple soundbars in your house grab these they really complement that whole setup really really well. These are also great for indoor use. If you want indoor headphones or headphones you're going to…”

“I do think these headphones sound good. Now they are not mind-blowing world-beating or anything crazy like that... but they have a nice full sound with great base all the way through strong highs... but you can brighten them right up by…”

“Whoa, this bass is really. It's like the kick drum is like this big, just the beat on just slapping it and they got no pillows in there. I think bass people will like these. I think if you like Sonos sounds, you'll probably like these.”

“the XM5s already feel like a substantial upgrade. Its ANC, its transparency, and its microphone pickup is a full generation ahead of the XM4s... it's looking to me like these have right now the best noise cancelling performance in the…”

“The Sony XM5s do have one saving grace. If you're after a pair of headphones that have the absolute best noise cancelling on the market and you're willing to make some compromises or accept some compromises for that, they cannot be beaten.”

“In summary, the Sony WH-1000XM5SA combines industry-leading noise cancellation, high-resolution sound, long battery life, and superior comfort into a sleek and stylish over-ear design.”

“these headphones in particular are some of my favorites and I know that they are some of the industry leading in noise cancelling. These are none other than the Sony WH-1000XM5s”

“The most impressive thing really about their sound I think is the noise cancellation. It is really really good. It basically erases any sort of white noise, air conditioning, droning road noise... I think this is A-plus noise cancellation…”

“If you're looking to play with the big boys in 2024, you need to have noise cancelling. Well, this can be daunting, especially for a manufacturer with no prior experience in headphones, Sonos pulls it off.”

“So, judging these purely as wireless noise-cancelling headphones, I think they hold their own against the competition. If you're already in that Sonos ecosystem, these are a no-brainer.”

“I'm going to use this button to toggle the ANC and see if the hum from this big electrical transformer in this industrial building turns off. I'm in a void. It's absolutely gone.”

“Touch sensor (only right ear) is very convenient”

“it's got a touch-sensitive right ear cup, so all I have to do is like double-tap and I get pause. And the other great thing about the Sony... is if we hold our hand on the right ear cup even momentarily, it temporarily activates…”

“We love buttons here at the Verge, and I'm so glad that Sonos has gone with physical controls, which I'll take any day over touchpads and swipe gestures. Sorry, Sony.”

“I'm really glad that Sonos went for physical buttons on these headphones and they're ergonomically placed, easy to find and quick to learn.”

“The Sonos Ace has physical buttons just like the bose which makes accessing features pretty simple unlike the XM5s which definitely relies on touch controls which does get annoying over time.”

“Sonos nailed the physical controls with the content key asterisk slide up down volume”

“yes my over the-top Sony's which have some probably the best uh transparency mode on any pair of headphones I've used so far”

“put your hand over and this will switch quite quickly to the ambient mode.”

“with Sony's headphones you can adjust their ambient mode to your liking.”

“went up to like B which was like a big upgrade”

“In this mode, ambient noise is let in so you can hear your surroundings. This allows you to listen to music or watch a show and still hear if something is calling for you or any other thing you might want to be alert to.”

“Transparency mode, wear mode, or whatever you want to call it is for the first time in my opinion actually usable for listening to music while also letting through any and all sounds you want coming through.”

“We also have aware mode, so you can let the outside in with the press of a button without stopping your content.”

“As for transparency mode, it's better than the Sony XM5s because that's not very good on these.”

“I think durability deserves a special mention with the XM5s and they are a bit of a winner in that area, which is a surprise because when you first get these and first get them out the box, they are unnervingly light.”

“So for design, it's a bit of a tie depending on your preferences for aesthetics and comfort, but the Sony XM5 might edge out slightly for its broader comfort appeal.”

“Now the 1000XM5 from Sony on the other hand makes a solid first impression with a fresh and clean design, clear sound, and an even better ANC.”

“day to day the XM5s definitely feel like newer headphones the materials are durable and comfort wise you can tell Sony's refined the design”

“they look very very stylish. I really do like the chrome aspect of it which obviously is adjustable so that way they can fit your head style and then they can easily rotate around on the earmuff.”

“We need to make sure the color works across different context, including like different hair colors and different skin tones, and all the environments that users might move through.”

“Picking them up feels nice. Sonos boasts that they're made from recycled materials, but they don't have that light equals cheap feel that you find in lower priced headphones.”

“The design is sleek and modern with premium materials you can feel. The ear cups use memory foam cushions that mould around your ears without making it feel tight or heavy.”

“I'm liking this canvas texture. Feels good. I could definitely see it fitting very easily inside my bag.”

“The Beats Studio Pro do that with what I think is the best headphone case on the market right now.”

“Now I actually do find these cable very handy because as someone who travel a lot”

“it's nice to keep the headphones really protected”

“The Sonos Ace is flat and fits easily into your bag. No bulk, no tangles.”

“The travel case, very simple, very standard, because this allows you to take your headphones with you anywhere you go in a nice protective manner.”

“whereas the Sony's on the other hand, you can plug these in just with a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack and you can still use them as regular old headphones. You don't have to turn it on.”

“I mentioned that the connectivity was actually really quite surprising. It was able to go to the other side of my house and maintain a connection.”

“The XM5 also supports Bluetooth Multipoint enabling seamless switching between two devices, which is incredibly convenient for multitasking.”

“It intelligently switches if a call comes in on your phone while you're listening to your laptop. Super convenient, no fiddling around.”

“when you're home you can connect the headphones straight to the speakers and then you can quickly swap between the arc speaker and the headphones with a single tap of the content button... you can swap back and forth between watching TV…”

“I think this product make only sense if you have a Sonos soundbar and you want to have the opportunity to just take the sound from the soundbar, put your headphone and send it to it.”

“the TV audio swap feature that tosses playback from the Sonos Arc soundbar to the Ace for Dolby Atmos listening when you're watching a movie or show at home works really well.”

“If you own a compatible Sonos soundbar, the Arc, Beam or Ray, you can press and hold one button and the audio seamlessly transfers from your soundbar to your headphones.”