Sony’s Plasticky $248 Headphones Outsound Your Budget Earbuds
KEY POINTS
- •Sony released the WH-1000XM5 in 2025, pricing it originally at $399.99, now discounted to $248 widely.
- •These headphones offer 30 hours of battery, multipoint device connection, and unique noise-canceling features.
- •Bose's QuietComfort Ultra headphones blend traits from their 700 and QC45 models, priced around $298 to $429.
- •Bose introduced an 'immersive audio' mode, praised and complained about for battery drain and inconsistent sound quality.
Here’s the 2025 headphone smackdown: Sony’s WH-1000XM5, a $400 plastic masterpiece now $248 on Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H, flexes with 30-hour battery life, multipoint Bluetooth, and 'speak to chat'—where headphones obediently pause music as you inevitably embarrass yourself talking to no one. Bose refreshed their QuietComfort Ultra for $429, now marked as low as $298, packing 'immersive audio' that’s often more immersion in battery-drain hell than heaven. Sony’s XM6 may have ’incremental improvements’ at $449.99, but hey, the XM5 keep the throne due to price-performance charm and a carrying case nobody wants to lug around. Over-ear, on-ear, or just ‘over it’?
Share the Story
Sony’s $400 headphones now $248 don’t feel premium, but hey, they pause your music when you risk sounding like a lunatic. That’s progress, right?
Buying $400 headphones that look like plasticware is the adult version of getting a participation trophy.
Sony’s 'speak to chat' feature: because we all need our headphones to eavesdrop on our awkward monologues.
Source: Theverge | Published: 11/25/2025 | Author: Chris Welch
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