Top of the range

The WH-1000XM5 are mostly built from ABS – useful from an acoustic point of view, and good for the environment. It’s moulded into a smooth and almost entirely featureless shape – sophisticated or bland, depending on your viewpoint. The contact points of the earpads and inside of the headband are pleathercovered memory foam. They’re comfortable over the long haul but those earpads will eventually return your body heat…

There’s a capacitive touch-surface on the right earcup complementing a pair of physical controls on the left. There’s also the option of voice control, which proves every bit as capable as the touch-surface controls thanks to the eight microphones.

Sony’s Headphones control app is excellent too. You can fiddle with EQ settings, adjust ambient sound levels, set up the 360 Reality Audio spatial algorithm, pair the WH-1000XM5 with two devices simultaneously, and plenty more.

As a combination of sonic fidelity, top-tier active noise cancellation, and impeccable eco credentials, it’s impossible to lay a glove on the WH-1000XM5. Simon Lucas