Sony WF-1000XM5 may come on July 24 with updated ANC capabilities

‘The best silence drops’, reads a teaser on Sony’s official Twitter account along with an extreme close-up shot of an undefined piece of electronics. Since Sony is talking about ‘silence’ maybe they have some new headphones or earbuds up their sleeve? Given the fact that Sony’s popular WF-1000XM4 came in June 2021, now it’s time for the next model: the Sony WF-1000XM5 (via Android Authority).

This abstract Twitter promo teaser is actually an invitation to an event, since there’s date and time, too – July 24, 12 PM Eastern Time (9 AM Pacific Time). ‘For the silence. For the sound. Stay tuned… you’ll want to hear this’, the Sony team mysteriously hints. Twitter users are sure the July 24 event is all about the next top tier in Sony’s WF-1000X premium line. Their comments vary from ‘Better late than never’ and ‘Finally, been waiting for these to drop for a while’ to expressing hopes Sony addressed battery issues, allegedly present in the WF-1000XM4.

The ‘For the silence’ part of the company’s tweet raises hopes that the new pair will deliver a substantial upgrade in the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) field. If you’re paying top dollar for earbuds, you want maxed out capabilities, right?

Wait, what’s the price?

Details about the Sony WF-1000XM5 did leak in all of June, as a matter of fact. They weren’t exclusively specs-focused (we’ll overview the technical stuff in a moment, stay tuned), the eventual price was highlighted more than once. You know where this is going, don’t you? Yes, there’s a possible price hike not only for the upcoming smartphones, but apparently for all tech, earbuds including.

$319.99 is the possible price for these ultra-fancy music corks. I’m not bashing the pair even the slightest bit, but once you cross the $300 barrier, you can expect raised eyebrows and acidic remarks. The rumored price is exactly $40 more compared to that of the Sony WF-1000XM4, which debuted at $279.99.

OK, what do I get for $40 more?

In a word, top class quality. We can argue which price is more adequate ($320 vs. $280), but truth to be told, there’s a reason why premium earbuds are priced as ‘premium’. Most users coming from basic $20-$30 earplugs will get such an audio-revelation with a pair like Sony WF-1000XM5 that they’ll be happy to pay top dollar.

Now, on to the promised specs: the Sony WF-1000XM5 are expected to pack а ‘Dynamic Driver X’ technology, 8.4mm drivers, two proprietary processors, three microphones (on each earbud), plus a real-time noise reduction tech. According to the leaks, there could also be features like Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint connection, Precise Voice Pickup functionality, and wireless charging support.

In terms of battery life, they should provide up to 24 hours of playback (charge from the case included). If you’re in a hurry and forgot to charge them, don’t worry: three minutes of charge should result in one hour of usage.