The Best Highlight of the Sony WF-1000XM5 Is User Control Features

If you’ve kept track of the past earbud releases, you might’ve already noticed one thing. Most come with basic controls, and while some offer advanced controls, you’re forced to use products within the brand’s ecosystem. Well, the recently released Sony WF-1000XM5 is an exception in this regard.

Aside from offering class-leading audio and superb noise cancellation, the Sony WF-1000XM5 puts users in control. It has many customization features, allowing you to make the earbuds sound exactly how you want. And the great part is that you don’t need to use a Sony Walkman or smartphone to access those customization features.

Sony WF-1000XM5 Lets You Customize Almost Everything

One of the main highlights of the Sony WF-1000XM5 is Adaptive Sound Control. You can toggle this on through the Headphones Connect app, which is available for both Android and iOS devices.

And once the feature is on, the WF-1000XM5 will monitor your environment and automatically make adjustments to the audio parameters. The software can detect four different actions. Those are: walking, running, staying, and riding a vehicle.

For many, the Adaptive Sound Control will work like a charm in delivering a redefined audio experience. But there’s a treat for audiophiles. You can customize the feature deeper and assign different Adaptive Sound Control modes for various locations.

More About Adaptive Sound Control

Out of the box, the Sony WF-1000XM5 is set to the “staying” mode. In this mode, the earbuds tackle the sounds around your room, including the whooshing noise of your A/C unit. But you can disable the Ambient Sound Mode for the “staying” action.

After that, the earbuds will monitor the noises not generally heard inside an isolated room. For example, construction noises, traffic noises, and other outdoor sounds. And with that mode, you can use the Sony WF-1000XM5 as the perfect pair of headphones to stay productive at home.

Likewise, when you’re outside of the room, the earbuds will filter out the outdoor noise without needing you to switch anything. This means you can keep the Sony WF-1000XM5 in your ear in almost every environment without changing anything.

Adaptive Sound Control Is Not the Only Option

Aside from the Adaptive Sound Control, the Sony WF-1000XM5 comes with a custom equalizer. With it, you can adjust the audio with six different frequency ranges. All of them have +/- 10 increments, letting you fine-tune each of the audio frequencies for the earbuds.

But what do you do with the customized EQ option? You can get total control over how the drivers sound. For example, you can lower the bass level to a certain level to get the most out of the vocals and low-range sounds.

Built-in EQ Presets of Sony WF-1000XM5

Don’t want to spend the time to get the perfect sound out of the Sony WF-1000XM5? Sony has integrated eight different EQ presets into the app. And you don’t need to be an audiophile to understand what they do, as Sony has given them descriptive names.

To illustrate, there’s one called “Bass Boost,” which, as the name suggests, boosts the bass frequencies. Likewise, you’ll find a preset called “Speech.” As you can guess, it enhances the vocals and makes the speech of the audio sound clearer. You can use these built-in presents as a start and then get into the customized EQ option.

Find Your Equalizer Feature

For the Sony WF-1000XM5, Sony offers an interactive feature called Find Your Equalizer. Even though it’s currently in Beta mode, it makes it very easy to select the right EQ for your ears. But what does the feature do?

Find Your Equalizer gives you some interactive tests that gauge your hearing abilities. The feature then recommends an EQ that’s perfect for your ears from the test results.

Spatial Audio Personalization on Sony WF-1000XM5

Sony is one of the first companies to offer spatial audio personalization. And the great part is that it works on all devices. In contrast, the Apple AirPods Pro 2 or Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro requires you to use a compatible device to get spatial audio.

But what’s more important is that the personalization feature makes content sound even better after applying the HRTF.

Other Customizable Features of Sony WF-1000XM5

Bluetooth connection prioritization is a great feature of the Sony WF-1000XM5. It can come in handy in many different scenarios. For example, when you’re traveling, it can become pretty easy for Bluetooth earbuds to cut out or drop the connection.

Sony handles this dropout and cutout issue by letting you prioritize connection stability. But of course, when you turn the Bluetooth connection prioritization, the audio quality takes a hit.

Aside from that, the Sony WF-1000XM5 comes with multipoint connectivity, Speak-to-chat, and other control customization. To be exact, you can even set head gesture recognition, allowing you to reject or accept a call when you shake or nod your head.

These are some of the features that might not be impressive. But they surely make the Sony WF-1000XM5 offer a better user experience. And with them, the wireless earbuds become an easy pick as the best flagship wireless earbuds.

What’s more important is that the small customization features of the Sony WF-1000XM5 might not be unique, but they are not ecosystem locked. That means, unlike Apple AirPods and Samsung Galaxy Buds, you can use these features on any device. That is a major plus point if you asked me.