Sony's 2023 ANC Headphones Lineup Explained - WH-CH720N Vs XM5 Vs XM4 Vs XB910N

so as of early 2023 Sony has released their new  entry-level ANC headphones the Sony whch 720ns   now overall I really like these headphones and  I feel that they have helped to redeem Sony but   today we're going to break down Sony's current  ANC headphone lineup and we're going to see how   the whch 720ns stack up to the xb910n 1000xm4s  and the 1000xm5s we're going to pricing the entry   level which 720n currently have a retail price of  150 and I think that is safe to assume that these   headphones will go on sale on a regular basis and  these are the newest headphones here then there   are the mid-tier xb910ns which were released in  the fall of 2021 and they have a retail price of   250 and they like to go on sale for 180 dollars  next up there's the 1000xm4s which have a retail   price of 350 but these like to go on sale for  280 and these are now the oldest headphones   here because they were released in the summer  of 2020 and then there are the 1000xm5s which   are the successors to the xm4s and these have a  retail price of 400 and these were released in the   late spring of 2022. nonetheless if you want to  pick any of these headphones up they'll be linked   down below and if you want to further support the  channel check out the merch shelf down below I've   made some shirts and hoodies that look and feel  great and if you've been watching me for a while   you know I can be very particular so I'll only  set my name on something that I'm really proud   of now first let's adjust the carrying cases that  come included with these headphones unfortunately   the wet show 720n still don't come included with  a case at all which is a disappointment all around   because other entry level ANC headphones do but  then there are the xb910n and 1000xm4s which both   come included with a decently small hard shell  cases and part of the reason why these cases are   so small is because both of these headphones  are fully collapsible whereas the xm5s they   have have a lay flat design so their case does  have a noticeably larger footprint than these   other two headphones but also the XM 5's case is  noticeably thicker than these other two cases as   well so if you plan on constantly traveling  with your headphones the xm5s wouldn't be my   first choice because traveling with their case  is a hassle especially when compared to these   other two headphones and even the rest of the  competition now with the cases out of the way   let's focus on the headphones themselves from a  material standpoint all these headphones have a   mostly plastic body and they all have leather  red on their headband and ear pads however all   of these headphones except for the xm5s are using  new plastic whereas the xm5s are using a recycled   plastic and simply put recycled plastic just  doesn't feel as premium as new plastic and I   would argue that both the xb910n and 1000xm4s  feel more premium than the 1000xm-5s but also   the leathered on all of these headphones are  very different the level right on the xm4   is okay but it does feel very plasticky then  there's the leatherette on the xb910 ends in   which a 720 ends which feel much more Supple and  there's even a slight grain to it and finally   there are the xm5s which have all new lavarette to  it the leather on the xm5s feels like silicone but   with less friction to it overall I prefer the  leather on the xm5s over the xm4s but I think   the xb910 ends have the best feeling leather right  here and the watcha 720 ends aren't far behind but   now let's talk about fit now all these headphones  are relatively lightweight when compared to the   rest of the competition the 1000xm4s weigh in at  254 grams the xb910n weigh in at 252 grams and   the 1000xm5s weigh in at 250 grams but then there  are the Watcher 720ns which weigh in at 192 grams   now all of these headphones are lightweight and  they're all very easy to forget that you have on   when you're sitting at your desk or wall in bed  and you barely notice any of these headphones   shifting around on your head when you're walking  around with them on however the watch j720 ends   are just even less noticeable because they weigh  in at just 192 grams now when it comes to clamping   force all of these headphones are big and approved  because they all have a neutral amount of clamping   Force as in they aren't too tight and they aren't  too loose however the xm5s do have the firmest   fit here but that's the least of the xm5s the  worries here because in general these are the   least comfortable headphones here one of my main  problems with the XM 5S is they're very thin and   minimally padded headband I found that at the  one hour mark this headband does like to create   a hot spot on the top of my head so I just have  to take them off and take a break whereas hot   spots aren't a problem for any of these other  headphones because all these headphones have a   decent amount of padding but then there are the  ear pads the earpads on the xm5s have a very   y diameter to them however they're very shallow  so I found that even if you have average size   ears these shallow ear pads can press down on your  cartilage so which does get uncomfortable after a   while whereas with all of these other headphones  their ear pads are a lot more spacious and they   should have no problem fitting most average size  ears and even if you have very large ears or   ears that stick out a lot they should still have  you covered so overall when it comes to fit The   Watcher 720n or the most comfortable headphones  here because they're super lightweight and they   have a very spacious ear pads both the xb910n and  1000xm4s should fit most people just fine but then   there are the xm5s which fit okay but I do have  my reservations about them because of their thin   and minimally padded headband and shallow ear pads  bananas about tech specs when it comes to battery   life there aren't any major changes here now the  xb910 and xm4s and xm5s all have an advertised   battery life of 30 hours with their active noise  cancellation turned on whereas the what show 720   ends haven't advertised by a life of 35 hours  and battery life on all of these headphones is   above average in general however with all of  these headphones you can always extend their   battery life by using them with their active noise  cancellation turned on now the xm5s are good for   up to 40 hours and the watch 720 ends are good for  up to 50 hours whereas with both the xb910n and   xm4s they're good for up to 38 hours and when it  comes to charging these headphones they all charge   via a USB C Port as they should however just keep  in mind that all of these USBC ports are strictly   used for charging you can't use any of these USB  C ports as a wired connection with your phone or   your computer or going to Bluetooth connectivity  all of these headphones can be connected to two   devices at the same time which is good if you're a  power user because then this way you can use your   headphones with your phone and your computer at  the same time and they don't necessarily have to   be in the same ecosystem and this is actually  a new feature for the watch 720ns because   their predecessors didn't have this however if  you do want to use multi-point connectivity with   any of these headphones you are going to have  to sacrifice l-deck however if you're an iPhone   user you should definitely go in and turn this  feature on because iPhones top out at AAC but more   importantly when it comes to overall performance  all of these headphones have zero Lancer across   the board when watching movies or videos on your  phone whether you're using an iPhone or an Android   device and when it comes to audio codecs the  whatso 720ns have support for SBC and AAC which   is a very standard stack for a pair of entry-level  ANC headphones however with all of these other   headphones they have support for SBC AAC and ldac  which is Sony's own in-house high res audio codec   however just keep in mind that if you want to take  advantage of ldac you do have to be an Android   User also remember if you want to use l-deck then  your headphones will only be able to be connected   to one device at a time and also keep in mind  if you want to use ldac that is going to take an   additional toll on the battery life however if you  want to you can always just use a wired connection   with any of these headphones because they all  still have a 3.5 millimeter audio jack and they   all still come included with an audio cable now I  know this sounds very basic but I do have to point   this out because some headphone manufacturers  are starting to remove the audio jack on their   headphones and personally I do feel that this  is still very premature especially for frequent   flyers but now let's talk about actually listening  to music with these headphones because all these   headphones sound different from one another  now first off with all of these headphones they   connect to Sony's app and you can customize their  EQ to your liking so if you want a bass heavy EQ   then any of these headphones can do that or if  you want a neutral EQ then any of these headphones   can do that as well and this is a big deal to step  around because this is a feature that wasn't found   on the Watcher 720ns predecessors however from  a performance standpoint The Watcher 720n xb910n   and 1000xm4 all of these headphones sound good  enough to get the job done but when it comes to   SMS operation these headphones can sound a little  narrow when compared to other headphones and their   instrumentals can get lost because they don't have  the best instruments operation these headphones   are mostly bass and vocals but they still sound  good enough to get the job done now when it comes   to actually feeling your Bass the watcho 720  ends will be able to deliver however with the   xm4s these do have notably more kick in their base  now overall the xm4s have enough physicality in   their base to satisfy most people but if you're  someone that really likes bass then you're going   to want to go with the xb910n because these have  an above average amount of bass having the killer   base slider on the xm4 is set to 10 is like having  the base on the xb910n set to 6. now all of this   bass is just some fun when listening to music but  it also adds an extra level of immersiveness when   you're watching movies with these headphones now  personally I love that the xb910ns have this extra   bass feature and I wish the 1000xm forge also  had this feature but if you don't want to you   don't have to use this feature you can always just  turn it off by lowering the clear base lighter on   the xb910n but finally there are already 1000xm5s  now unfortunately these headphones don't have as   much physicality in their base as either the xm4s  and especially the xb910n however with the XM 5S   do have going for them is that they have better  instrument separation and they sound more open   than any of these other headphones now even though  the XM 5S do have improved instrument separation   they still don't sound as open as a pair of  bows or Sennheiser headphones so even though   technically the axon 5 sound better than all of  Sony's other headphones here I feel that your   average listener is going to miss that thump in  the bass and given that the SMS operation between   the xm5s and xm4 is xb910n and watch 720n is a  very small one I feel that the xm4s are going to   do a better job of being people Pleasers and  if you want something with an above average   amount of bass then the xb910 ends are the way  to go now when it comes to actually controlling   your medium the watcha 720ns are using physical  buttons whereas all of these other headphones are   using touchpads now the touchpads on all of these  headphones are easy enough to use and are all very   accurate now they're not perfect but they aren't  problematic like with some other touchpads out   there however both the xm5s and xm4s have aware  sensors so whenever you take these headphones off   that automatically pause your music and when  you put them back on they'll start playing your   music again now overall these were sensors  work perfectly fine but personally I don't   care for them so personally I just turned  them off however if you want them but now   let's talk about the active noise cancellation  on these headphones obviously As you move up   in price these headphones are going to  block out more noise and thanks to the   xm5s Sony is back to being the king of  ANC after being dethroned by the airpod   max but so they can see for yourself  we're going to jump into an ANC test [Music] foreign thank you [Music] so like you may have just seen as you move up  Sony's product lineup they block out more noise   now the whatso 720ns block out an adequate amount  of noise for a pair of entry-level ANC headphones   now these headphones don't block out a ton of  noise and I wouldn't recommend them for flying   but they can't help out on your bus ride home  next up there are the xb910n and these block   out noticeably more noise than the watch 720n  they block out more road noise and they do a   better job of blocking out chatter so these can  help out if you're using them in a cafeteria or   something then there are the xm4s which block  out more noise than the xb910n plus they have   an atmospheric pressure sensor so they're going  to perform noticeably better than the xb910   ends if you're in an airplane after they've been  calibrated and finally there are the xm5s which   also have an atmospheric pressure sensor and they  block out even more noise than the xm4s not only   do they block out more lower frequency sounds  like road noise but they also do a much better   job of blocking out higher frequency sounds like  chatter which was an issue for the xm4s however   even though the xm5's block out notably more noise  than the xm4s they do have noticeably more carbon   pressure so if you're sensitive to cabin pressure  like I am then you might want to be cautious with   the xm5s but the xm4's xb910 ends and watch s720  ends are much safer bets because they have much   less carbon pressure but regardless if you're  looking for a pair of headphones to constantly   fly with and you want to block out the absolute  most amount of noise then the XM 5S are currently   the best ANC headphones to go with because  after multiple world-world tests the axon   5S block out the most amount of airplane noise  just be warned that dealing with their carrying   case can be a hassle when you're traveling with  them but next up let's talk about the Ambi mode   on these headphones now all of these headphones  have a decent sounding Ambi mode and with all of   these headphones you can adjust their ambient  mode to your Leica now the microphone array   on The Watcher 720n xb910n and xm4g all do a good  job blocking out wind noise when walking Outdoors   but the microphone array on the XM 5S is much  faster to pick up wind noise but overall I am   gonna have to say that both the xm4s and xb910ns  have better ambient modes than the xm5s and watch   720 ends because they will actively block out  sudden loud noises like this no no questions so like you may have just seen when  the xm4 is detected that loud noise   they turned off their ambient mode  and when that loud noise stopped   they turned their ambient mode  back on and here are the xb910n [Music] now the xb910 ends performed like the  xm4s which is good but I think they let   in more noise because I think they don't  passively block out as much noise as the   xm4s but regardless I do want to highlight  the xb910n serum because when they initially   released they didn't do this and I hope  Sony fixes the active ambient mode on the   xm5s through a former update because they  still don't do this and personally I am   running out of Hope because the xm5s have  been out for like eight or nine months now thank you [Music] so like you just saw with the xm5s they  turned off their ambient mode but then   they turned it back on and back off again and  I just hope Sony fixes this through a firmware   update like they did with the xb910n because  there's no reason why these headphones can't   get it right because the xm4s get it right and  finally there are the Watcher 720ns which just   let in everything but next up their speak to  chat which is found on both only the xm4s and   xm5s and speak to chat Works a little like this  hello there so this is speak to chat basically   when I start talking these headphones will  automatically lower the volume of your music   and pump in all of the Ambient sound around you  so that you can quickly talk to someone without   having to touch the headphones themselves now  these headphones will stay in this state for   a preset determined amount of time which  you can adjust through their app or you   can always cancel speak to chats by double  tapping on the touchpad like this foreign but personally I'm not a really big fan  of speak to chat because it's very easy   to accidentally activate it if you talk to  yourself very quietly that can activate it   if you start singing a long-term music that  can activate it if you start laughing that   can activate it and on rare occasions outside  sounds can activate it as well so that's why   I just don't use this feature personally I  still prefer to use Quick attention because   it's a lot more intentional and this is a feature  that's found on the xb910 ends xm4s and xm5s and   basically whenever you fully cover the touchpad  on any of these headphones these headphones will   automatically lower the volume of your music and  pump in all of the Ambient sound around you so   that you can quickly talk to someone without  having to remove your headphones like this is and then when you let go the headphones will go  back to normal again now like I said I prefer   to use Quick attention over speak to chat because  it's a lot more intentional but personally I still   don't like that you have to keep the touchpad  covered the whole time that you're using quick   attention so you just gotta be there like this  while you're talking to someone I'm just going to   be honest this does get uncomfortable and a little  awkward after a while I just want Sony to change   it so that once you have the touchpad covered  for let's say two seconds they will get locked   in quick attention mode and then this way you can  let go of the touchpad and then have both of your   hands-free and then once you're finished with  having your conversation just go ahead and double   tap on the touchpad and I say this because there  are other headphones out there that have similar   features to Quick attention but it's a lot better  implemented but finally here's the microphone test   now I feel that Sony has always struggled with  either microphones on their headphones for phone   calls but I think Sony is finally starting to fix  that now I feel the xb910 ends have in all case   sounding microphone while in a quiet room but I  do feel the xml4s sound a little better however   with the watch 720ns I do feel that these are  doing a better job of focusing on my voice and   I feel the 1000xm5s are doing the best job here  of focusing on my voice but the really impressive   thing about this microphone is the way that it  deals with noise pollution because right now this   microphone is blocking out a lot of Romans because  for comparison's sake if we were to switch over to   monopol microphone you're going to clearly hear  all of this road noise but if we were to switch   back over to the 100 fives it is severely reduced  720 ends these don't do the best job of blocking   out Road Rules and neither do the 1000x4s along  with the xb910 and these are trying to block out   some of these road noise now albeit there is some  interference going on with my voice but I do feel   that this does sound better than what's going on  with the accent of course and when it comes to   blocking our chatter the sb910 ends are doing an  okay job and the xm4s are also doing an okay job   of blocking out this chatter but with the watch  720 ends I feel that these are doing an even   better job of blocking out traps and finally  there are the 1000 awesome fives which block   out at the most amount of shattered Fiora and  my voice doesn't sound half bad and again for   comparison's sake if we were to switch over to my  power microphone you're going to clearly hear all   of this chatter but if we were to switch back over  to the 1000 Maxim fives it is severely reduced so   after five generations Sony finally has a decent  sounding microphone on the 1000x75s and if you   plan on taking lots and lots of phone calls with  your headphones then the xm5s are the way to go   so with all that being said here's my breakdown  of Sony's current ANC headphone lineup as of   early 2023. the what show 720ns are a great  pair of entry-level ANC headphones that have   a lot of needed upgrades from its predecessors  these headphones now connect with Sony's app   so you can customize their EQ to your liking and  in general they sound good enough to get the job   done they have an adjustable ambient mode and  they block out an adequate amount of noise for   a pair of entry-level ANC headphones however  what I really love about these headphones is   just their fit and comfort these things are super  lightweight and they're super comfortable these   are a great option for the gym the main downside  is that you are going to have to buy your own   hard shell case then there are the Sony xb910ns  and overall these are a great pair of mid-tier   ANC headphones that you really can't go wrong  with because they do everything very well but   their standout characteristic is their base it  really is dumb fun and it adds an extra level   of immersiveness when watching movies with these  headphones and finally there are the xm4s versus   XM finds now yes the xm5s block out more noise  than the xm4s and they have a much better sounding   microphone as well but personally I just find the  all-new design on the xm5s to be a major Hassle   and downgrade from the xm4s the xm5s just aren't  as comfortable because of their shallow ear cups   and headband that causes a hotspot and their new  huge case is borderline unmanageable if you plan   on traveling with these headphones on a regular  basis so personally from a performance standpoint   the xm5s just don't make a big enough case to  upgrade from the xm4s but more importantly the   xm4s are just way more comfortable to wear and  their case isn't much more convenient the only   reason why you might want to go with the xm5s is  because you need to block out the absolute most   amount of noise and if you plan on taking lots of  phone calls while in a noisy environment if you   made it this far I guess you enjoyed the video so  hit the like button and get subscribed if you want   to pick any of the products up they'll be linked  down below and if you want to further support the   channel check out the merch I made some shirts  and hoodies that look and feel great and you   know I can be very particular so I'll only Snap  My Nail on something if I'm really proud of it

Channel: GYMCADDY

Views: 161,630

Keywords: Sony WH-1000XM5, Sony WH-1000XM4, Sony 1000XM5, Sony 1000XM4, Sony XB910N, Sony WH-XB910N, Sony WH-CH710N, Sony 1000XM5 Vs Sony 1000XM4, Sony 1000XM4 Vs Sony 1000XM5, Sony XB910N Vs Sony WH-CH720N, Sony WH-CH720N Vs Sony XB910N, Sony, Sony ANC headphones, Headphones

Id: Dkxe52S_9jI

Length: 23min 59sec (1439 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023