 All right, the wait is finally over. The Sony WF-1000 Mk5s are finally here and yes, these are the latest from Sony in their true wireless buds. Now, why are these really important and special and how well do they stack up to everything else? Let's start off with just looking at what the XM5 brings to the table and how it's improved from the XM4. Now the XM5 price point is 299, which is similar to where the XM4 started off last year, but it comes with some really new cool improvements. We've got six microphones here, built into the device now, giving you of course, a better noise cancellation as well as also a better audio quality. Speaking of that noise cancellation, also speaking of the processing of audio, they have a new integrated processor. It's the V2 processor as well as also a new noise canceling chip called the QN2E. Now what does this all mean for you? It means better noise canceling that we got last year and that was pretty good, really great, pretty much the best I think in all categories and also better audio quality. Now speaking of that, there's also brand new drivers, dynamic X driver as well as also you've got bone conducting sensors, yes, built into as well. So there's a lot of tech that's packed into this very small frame. And when you look at this again, say the Mk4 from last year, you are actually surprised as Sony was able to cram all this stuff into a smaller size and package. The Mk4s are bigger just in terms of the size of the case, also bigger when you look at it with each earbuds in comparison and this has more tech built into it. Now the other thing to note is that you also have that quick charge, three minutes now gives you 16 minutes of play time. So a little faster there. Now we can talk about the comparison between these two all we want but there are a ton of two wireless buds that came out this year and how well does the Sony XM5 stack up to the rest of the competition? And speaking of that competition, I'm gonna give you the lineup quickly here. The first one are the Beats Studio Plus coming at $169 comes in three colors and in terms of battery life, we're looking at nine hours each earbuds or 36. While the next one are the Soundcore 4NC which are $99, five colors in total, battery life is 10 hours on the buds and 50 with the case truly impressive. The JBL Tour Pros 2s coming next with that display on the case. First of its kind in the industry, $249 in terms of price points comes in two colors and a 40 hour battery life in total. The Nothing Air 2 comes in next with $149 two colors and battery life of 36 hours. Then we have the Techniques AZ80 which is pushes up to the premium tier with two colors, black and silver, $299, battery life is seven and 24. Of course, we have the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro came out earlier this year, priced at $189. Yes, you can find it cheaper. Three colors, eight hours per bud and of course, 30 hours with the case. Then we have the AirPods Pro 2 came out last September priced now at $248 from Apple. And of course, your battery life is six hours and 30, six hours with the buds, 30 hours with the case combined. Then of course, the XM4s which I showed you earlier, two colors, $278 right now, eight hours with the buds and 24. Now the XM5 also have two colors and also come in terms of battery life in hours and 24. So let's start off with our very first category, battery life, who has the best battery life? I've stated all of them for you here, but I'm actually gonna tell you what I actually got from each one. Now the worst battery life was actually the nothing ear too. Even though nothing claims 36 hours, it didn't get me anywhere close to that. It probably lasted about four hours just with the buds themselves. Hopefully that's a software issue that will fix that, but that's what I was getting between four and five hours with that. Then of course, next up are the Techniques AZ80 with that 724, it's pretty standard, it works that way. Then of course, the XM4s and the XM5s with the 824, then followed by the Galaxy Buds with 30 hours, tied with the airports also at 30 hours. And then of course, the Beats Studio with 9 and 36. Then the JBL tall pros with 40 hours and finally the Soundcore is at 50 hours. Truly impressive, this is Soundcore. At $99, really brings a lot to the table there and packs much. Now let's move up to my favorite category, which of course is audio quality. How well do these sound? How's the audio quality? How good is the listening experience, especially when you're listening to the music you want to. Now with the XM4s and the XM5s, I always suggest make sure you use the highest level codecs in any earbuds you're using. Make sure you use the highest level codecs you can. LDAC is available and you can go ahead and just select that within your Bluetooth option menus for whatever buds you're using if it's available through there. But Sony has it through that option. And with the XM5s, this is where they brought in a lot of things that makes it really different and fresh. Now you've got of course some really warm sounds but also some really nice clear highs when you're listening with the XM5s, you can clearly hear everything come out really fresh and exciting, but when I say all this, what does it mean in terms of ranking? Who's the best and who's the worst? This is where it was really hard for me because honestly I think this year everybody has done a really good job in making the earbuds sound much better. So I'm gonna start from the top and go the way to the bottom because it was just really difficult. And I think the XM5s take the win here slightly because they just feel more robust and also much of a wider range between the high mids and lows. You can hear more separation there followed by the XM4s coming in which were my best audio earbuds last year in terms of audio quality and they still sound really good. Close third are the Technics AZ80. Now the AZ80 have a much warmer sound. It's really nice, I love warm sounding audio and it does a good job there with the audio processing. Now coming to the number four spot I have a couple devices tied in here. These are the AirPods Pro 2. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, the Beats Studio Plus and the Nothing ERT 2. Now you're wondering like how is that possible? Well, the one thing to note is that Beats have really done a really good job in increasing the audio quality this year. Same thing with Nothing really surprising there. I think the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro really did a good job early on as well as also the AirPods Pro 2. The adaptive EQs on the AirPods Pro 2 don't really work for me. They tend to change the way this audio sounds but still works for some people. So that's why it comes all four coming at the number four spot. And then in the number five spot it's tied with the Soundcore 4NC and the JBL Studio Tour 2. Now that doesn't mean they are terrible. They sound really good. It's just a really tight race. The Soundcore especially is priced at $99 so you're getting your bang for your buck there. The JBL Studio is yes, they're priced at $249 but they are very bass heavy and they lead more into that bass audio. So if you're a fan of just super bass and your music this will work really well for you but it doesn't let you hear a lot of the highs and also some of the mids are crushed. Now let's move over to audio quality when it comes to voice calls. This is very interesting because we have some very new tech with the XM5, of course bone conducting sensor which also uses the microphones as well. And I have to say they have done a fantastic job. I remember the XM3s were manageable at best and XM4s were much better but this is a huge leap. Now normally Apple usually wins this category here and this year it is a tie because I think Sony has really done a good job moving things forward that bone conducting sensor as well as also the extra microphones really do a good job in making sure the audio quality is crystal clean and clear. The AirPods Pro 2 just stellar as always and it was really hard for me to pick between the two. After that everybody else just comes in second, third, fourth discontinuingly but they all actually do a good job in the audio quality. I will give the last place to the Techniques AZ80 because it actually uses the left ear more than the right ear in terms of the microphone picking up your call. So when I had conversation with just one earbud people noticed that I was far away with especially when you're doing the right. So that is why I'm putting that at the bottom. Now let's move over to of course noise cancellation. How well is the noise cancellation here? Now all of these buds have noise cancellation and to me it's stacked up there with the XM4s and XM5s then closely followed by the AirPods Pro 2. Those are the top three and then after that are the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro which could have been also number three really close there and then everybody kind of follows down the rest. I think it's a mixture and the mixed bag with most of the other brands within this battle but of course the XM5 still takes the case because I think Sony has probably the best noise canceling in there but be reminded make sure you have the right fit with your earbuds or else you won't actually get the best listening experience and also the best noise cancellation here. Now what about transparency? Well transparency mode is where Apple always wins and in this case, I still give the edge to Apple. I think the XM5 has come really close but Apple still feels more natural in terms of the transparency while the XM5s are almost there. I mean it's really, really close and also again, you have to note that if you're using comply foam tips or memory foam tips, you will get a different sound so that could be affecting it here but Apple takes the cake here followed by the XM5s, then the XM4s then you move to the Galaxy and then we kind of move down from there on that spot. Okay, so all these buds have different features built into and also some of them have some more extended features which brings us to software. There's a lot of software applications that you can use between all the different buds but which one actually gives you the best and also the most comprehensive and this is where it kind of varies between two devices. I give of course just the best software to the XM5 and XM4s because they bring in a lot of useful features that allow you to use the buds more effectively. Some of those features include adaptive sound control allowing you to of course change your ANC and ambient noise depending on your location as well as also the built in EQs that you can customize. There's also a find your equalizer which allows you to tune your equalizer on here and then you also have the ability to go in and activate speak to chat. So that's really comprehensive. Now everyone has a really good app. The second best I'll give this of course to the JBL Tour2s not just because of the app but because you have those controls directly on the case as well. So if you don't have your phone next to you you can still do a lot of the functionality on the case. Then followed by the Galaxy it's really robust app there. After that it's the nothing year two and then finally at the very end we have the AirPods Pro 2 because Apple just doesn't have an app for the AirPods. Everything is done with an adaptive system and sometimes I think it doesn't work as well. So what does that mean for the best wireless buds among the back here? And I think the winner is pretty clear. It's the Sony WF 1000 XM5s. Now that doesn't mean that it is absolutely perfect. It does have some issues that I don't like. For one, the battery life even though it's smaller and there are some other smaller devices here have longer battery life to be a bud and also longer in general. So I'm hoping the Sony actually makes some changes to that. I also don't like the feel of the buds themselves because it's really slippery with the casing. I prefer the more textured casing on the XM4 to the XM5s. So I think that's also might affect some of your fit there. And I do wish they also offered more silicone ear tips and not just a comply phone, which are great. But that being said, they are still the best in terms of combined audio quality, noise cancellation and all the other features built in. Now everything else here you see though they're all really, really good. Now it doesn't matter which one you pick you will find one that fits you quite well. And I think whichever the buds you see here that you select will do the job for you greatly but my pick is still the Sony WF-1000 XM5. So if you guys have any questions or any comments let me know, otherwise don't forget to like, share, subscribe and always enjoy your end statements.