As 2023 draws to a close, Android Police has been reflecting on thebest tech of the year. In terms of groundbreaking new advancements, 2023 hasn’t been an especially impressive time: many of our category winners — likeour favorite phone, the Pixel 8 Pro, orour pick for best smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 6— are refinements to proven formulas that we’ve liked for years. Android Police’s best earbuds of 2023, theSony WF-1000XM5, don’t buck that trend. Sony’s latest flagship earbuds are a lot like its last flagship earbuds, which were themselves a lot like the pair before them. But Sony’s been making some ofthe best earbuds you can buyfor years, and that pedigree shines in the WF-1000MX5: these earbuds might not be radically cutting edge, but as earbuds go in 2023, they’re damn near perfect.
I don’t mean to say the Sony WF-1000XM5 are boring. On the contrary, by every metric, they’re really excellent earbuds. With 8.4mm drivers, support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs, and fully user-customizable EQ settings, they’re the best sounding true wireless earbuds I’ve used all year (and I’ve used plenty). Their noise cancelling can’t quite match what Bose offers in our runner-up earbuds of the year, theQuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, but Sony’s ANC reaches a very close second place. And the WF-1000XM5 beat the QC Ultra Earbuds in other ways, including battery life: while Bose’s flagship buds are rated for four to six hours of playback depending on your usage, the Sony buds can make it a full eight hours with ANC active.
The Sony WF-1000XM5’s biggest improvement from the preceding generation might be that they’re significantly smaller than the WF-1000XM4 that came before them: while the last-gen buds were relatively bulky and heavy by true-wireless earbud standards at 7.3g each, the XM5s come in at a notably more compact form factor, weighing in at 5.9g each. Their build quality is great besides, too, and the earbuds come with foam ear tips that help create a better seal than the more common silicone tips most earbuds include.
On top of nailing all the fundamentals, the WF-1000XM5 also offer all the bells and whistles you could ask for in wireless earbuds. They’ve got both wireless charging and Bluetooth multipoint (two features our runner-up, the QC Ultra Earbuds, don’t offer), plus Fast Pair for quick and easy setup. Sony’s companion app also includestonsof functionality to fine-tune features like ANC and passthrough, plus additional features, like the option to pause media and activate passthrough when the earbuds detect you’ve started talking. All in all, the earbuds are a very complete, well-polished package.
There’s not a lot to dislike about the Sony WF-1000XM5. Their biggest drawback is their premium price: at retail, the XM5s cost $300, which, for most people, is alotof money to spend on a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. But they tend to go on sale for about $50 off pretty regularly, and sales will surely only get more frequent as time goes on. If you know you want a pair of premium earbuds and your wallet can take the heat, know that your $300 (or $250!) couldn’t be spent much better today than on the Sony WF-1000XM5.
Sony WF-1000XM5
The Sony WF-1000XM5 offer excellent audio quality, strong noise cancellation, and top-tier battery life, making them a clear pick for AP’s 2023 earbuds of the year. They’re pricey at an MSRP of $300, but you won’t find better wireless earbuds for the money.
