When it comes to premium audio, Sony is best known for the WH-1000X series of over-ear headphones. Spanning five generations at this point, the WH-1000XM5 still sets the benchmark for the best over-ear headphones that boast class-leading ANC that makes good use of AI and its array of sensors to apply the best possible noise cancellation regardless of environment.

As much as the WH-1000XM5 is the best premium wireless audio accessory that you should have, some people prefer something that’s more pocketable. That’s where the WF-1000XM5 comes in: now on its third generation, Sony has tweaked the WF-1000XM5 to the point that it serves as a compact, TWS version of its highly-regarded WH-1000XM5.

Despite the significant size difference, the WF-1000XM5 shares a lot of common features with the bigger WH-1000XM5. Let’s break down the common features that make them the best in their respective wireless audio form factors:

Noise cancellation. Sony has established itself as a leader when it comes to noise cancellation on its premium wireless audio products, and both the WF-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM5 have the same level of ANC performance. The secret to its stellar ANC performance is its use of proprietary chips and AI to deliver the right amount of noise cancellation its users need.

A big strength of both premium wireless audio products is how Sony approached its adaptive noise cancellation feature: the WF-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM5 are intelligent enough that they can analyze your environment and balance out the amount of noise cancellation you need while being able to enjoy your music to the fullest. Both have a comfortable fit with the WH-1000XM5’s plush over-ear cups and the WF-1000XM5’s memory foam tips.

 

Audio Quality. As Sony’s best wireless audio products, both the WF-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM5 have the latest Bluetooth chips that can handle LDAC and Hi-Res Audio. To make things even better, Sony’s DSEE Extreme is a powerful feature that upscales your audio files to the highest possible audio quality. This means that aside from the excellent drivers used on both the WF-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM5, audio quality will sound better overall with them.

We kid you not: we’ve used both the WH-1000XM5 and WF-1000XM5 in listening to lossless audio streams from our Apple Music account, and both premium wireless audio products deliver their promise of stellar audio quality. The nice thing about DSEE Extreme is that it can work with any device–be it Android, iOS, MacOS, or even Windows. Even if we were playing lower bitrate music, both the WH-1000XM5 and WF-1000XM5 were able to improve the quality better thanks to DSEE Extreme. 

 

Battery life. As a crucial feature in all wireless audio products, both the WH-1000XM5 and WF-1000XM5 are class leaders in their own respective segments when it comes to battery life. While the WH-1000XM5 has the wired option to save on battery life, we’re impressed with the WF-1000XM5’s battery life after using them as our daily driver. 

Even with adaptive noise cancellation enabled, we used the WF-1000XM5 to watch a two-hour movie and an hour’s worth of Netflix binging–and the battery went down from 100% to 70%. That translates to around 10 hours of battery life with ANC enabled on a single charge, and that’s arguably the best battery life for a pair of TWS earbuds. 

 

Customization features. A big common feature between the WF-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM5 that we really love is their vast customization options when using Sony’s Headphones Connect app. We consider Headphones Connect as one of the best wireless audio companion apps out there, as it gives you a lot of options to personalize both the WF-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM5 to suit your needs–ranging from mapping the touch controls, tweaking the equalizer, down to personalizing your preferred ANC settings. 

Sony’s Headphones Connect app completes the experience of using any of Sony’s wireless audio products, and it is through the app that we were able to maximize the features and capabilities of the WF-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM5 through a few adjustments here and there.

 

With all those points, Sony has two great premium wireless audio options for everyone: the WH-1000XM5 is for those who want the look and feel of over-ear headphones, while the WF-1000XM5 is for those who want a more minimalist look for their wireless audio–all while having almost all of the key features of its bigger brother. 

Both have good price points for everything that they have to offer: the WH-1000XM5 is priced at Php 20,999, while the WF-1000XM5 is priced at Php 16,999. Regardless of which premium Sony wireless audio product you prefer, both models are worth the investment especially if you care about quality audio and best-in-class noise cancellation.