When Sony’s WF-1000XM4 earbuds came out in 2021, we awarded them a CNET Editors’ Choice. And while they’re excellent, we had some quibbles — they’re on the large side and aren’t a good match for certain ears. Clearly, Sony took those gripes to heart when it set out design its next-generation WF-1000XM5 flagship noise-canceling earbuds. Not only are the XM5s smaller but they also offer improved performance pretty much across the board, with better noise cancelling, sound and voice calling. Are the Mark 5s perfect? Not quite. And at $300 (£260) — $20 more than their predecessor — they’re costly, too. But overall they’re really impressive — easily among the very top earbuds on the market.
