Are you looking for a fantastic pair of headphones? If you want the best of the best, the real battle is between the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra. Both are amazing and expensive, but both are also on sale today! You can get the Sony WH-1000XM5 for $298, instead of the $399.99 usual retail price. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra are $100 off, at just $329.
Both of these offers are available from Amazon. The discounted prices apply to all color versions of both headphones, with only one exception: the Bose QuietComfort Ultra in Sandstone, which appear to be out of stock.
Sony WH-1000XM5 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra
Are you not sure which to get? Let’s go over what makes each pair of headphones unique and why you may want to pick one over the other.
Sony WH-1000XM5
The Sony WH-1000XM5 are highly respected and widely recognized as the best headphones in the industry. This is because they offer a great overall package, excelling in most departments, while most other headphones have some general shortcomings in one area or another.
The experts at our sister site, Sound Guys, have given the Sony WH-1000XM5 a very favorable review. These have excellent audio quality, as well as impressive ANC performance. They compete only against the best out there, and most struggle to even get close to them. Even the microphone is outstanding.
Of course, these are high-end headphones, so there is more than sound quality to praise them for. The design is minimalist, durable, and very comfortable. You’ll also enjoy a plethora of features, including Bluetooth Multipoint, touch gestures, Find My Device support, and a battery life that will keep you listening for long sessions. Based on the Sound Guys standardized tests, these can last over 31 hours with ANC enabled. Turn off ANC, and things get wild, extending battery life to an impressive 53 hours.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
Quality and comfort noise canceling headphones
Going ultra with their ANC headphone experience, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra noise cancelling headphones offer up to 24 hours of battery life, a comfortable fit, Spatial Audio support, and powerful ANC.
Most people will likely enjoy the Sony WH-1000XM5 more, and it helps that they are slightly cheaper, even when discounted. That said, there is one area where the Bose QuietComfort Ultra is undefeated. These headphones have the best ANC performance we’ve ever experienced. If you really need to silence the world around you, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra will be your best bet. This is a nice advantage to have if you commonly travel using loud transportation like trains or plains. They will also be life-savers if you live in a loud city, like me.
These are also high-end headphones, so they also excel in most other areas. The audio quality is outstanding, and it has one of the best passthrough modes we’ve heard. You’ll get nice added features, such as Bluetooth Multipoint, Snapdragon Sound, a very nice design, etc. Additionally, our internal tests managed to get about 27 hours of battery life, which is pretty nice, even if not as impressive as Sony’s.
If you’re getting either of these, you should probably act quickly, as these deals usually only last a few days at most, before prices bounce back up. They are both really close to all-time lows, so we’re not sure it’s worth waiting to see if the prices will go any lower.
