Sony WH-1000XM quick comparison: XM2 vs XM5
3I've been using noise cancelling headphones for quite some time, starting with a Bose QuietComfort a long time ago (powered by a AAA battery if I recall).
I moved to a pair of Sony WH-1000XM2s a few years ago and have been quite happy. There is the usual wear of the soft parts which I'm hoping is fixable ... some searching shows the ear cushions are pretty easy to obtain, but the headband cushion isn't. The closest I've found is a headband "protector sleeve" that covers the headband cushion (by a company called Geekria).
On my recent trip I bought a pair of WH-1000XM5s which seem to be their latest iteration. They cancel noise as well as the XM2s, as far as I can tell (tested on a B737 from SYD to AKL and a B787 from AKL to PPT). They did some weird things when I was eating a meal, but I think it might be down to the paired app on my phone doing weird shit. I'm a little concerned that the coating will go the way of similar coatings from the late 90s/early 00s and become sticky in a few years ... ?
The XM5s don't come with an airplane adaptor, so I tried using the one that came with my XM2 with no success. Will try again on my return trip.
I don't see much value in using the app, apart from firmware updates so I'll probably stop using it.
I'm sure there's plenty of professional reviews of how well they cancel noise, frequency response, etc.
If you have XM2s already and are happy with them, then I'd stick with them (unless you were stuck with "champagne" colour because black was unavailable). They had XM4s available at the same time, so they're a cheaper alternative.
Follow-up video here:
https://youtu.be/xqe0F8zK8s0