Hello, everyone. I’ve been thinking about getting the WF-1000XM5, but I’m not sure if it’s a good investment. I’ve heard that the WF-1000XM4 had a major battery drainage problem. Is this still the case with the WF-1000XM5?
Right now, I am using the WH-CH710N. They’ve been great, but recently they started to break. They still work, but the ANC doesn’t isolate the same way on the right ear as in the left ear, and they aren’t really compact. So I’m looking for an upgrade. I know that over-ear headphones are superior when talking ANC, but they aren’t as compact as in-ear. I’ve also heard that the AirPods Pro are a good option. But as an Android user, I usually tend to avoid Apple products.
Do you guys have any recommendations?
I’m all in on headphones. Been using IEMs for a decade but the annoyances they have always ruin the experience for me. Wireless IEMs are also made to be as non-repairable as possible, so if those WF XM5s break after 2 years you’ll have to buy new ones. Headphones are usually somewhat repairable.
Over-ear for me (both for wired and wireless). In-ear devices will fall off my ears every 5 minutes.
For a specific recommendation, I’d recommend the Monoprice BT600-ANC. It has really good ANC for just $100-$150, good battery life, and the sound quality of it is on par with my $70 wired headphones. You can also use it with a wire (albeit without ANC) if the battery dies.
I’d rather have over ear than iem if I had to choose. Even a cheap pair of soundcore q20s are really really decent tbh. You could get both for the price of the rather expensive xm5s
True wireless in-ears have gotten a LOT better at ANC in the last few generations. Currently, I carry the Pixel Buds Pro as my dailies, but I also have a pair of the Soundcore Liberty 3 Pros. Both are pretty great, I tend to prefer the Pixel Buds because they play nicely with my Pixel. I’ve been through I-couldn’t-tell-you-how-many pairs of true wireless buds, and so far those two are the only ones I haven’t hated wearing for extended periods. I’d give an honorable mention to the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro as well (with the caveat that some of their functionality, including factory reset, requires a Samsung device).
NB: I tend not to like the silicone ear tips, so most of the time when I buy a new pair of buds I’ll buy Comply memory foam eartips. I’ve found they create a MUCH better seal and more confident fit. Evidently my ear canals are weirdly shaped, because no matter what brand, I seem to have trouble keeping anything in my ears and those helped.
I have the Liberty 2 pro+ and I can vouch for them, they’re good earbuds. I’ve never tried their over-ear headphones though, can anyone vouch for them?
I got the Life Q30 (or 35? I don’t know offhand, but they’re pretty similar) as a gift a couple Christmases ago. The sound is…alright out of the box. The stock EQ isn’t the best; I found it to be too bass heavy, but the app lets you set a custom preset. Battery life is really solid, and they come with both a USB-C cable and 3.5mm out of the box. The 3.5 works even if the battery is flat (you just don’t get ANC, obviously). ANC is definitely not as good as my old Bose QCs, but then again I haven’t found much that is. It’s good enough to make flying a lot quieter, though, and they’re loud enough without leaking to make up for the weaknesses in noise cancellation.
How are they for phone calls in noisy environments (for the person on the other side of the call)?
