The two most dominating brands of headphones and earphones on the market today always starts and ends with these two brands…Sony and Sennheisers. The Sony xm5 just released and they were met with outstanding praise. The sonys xm5 finally appeals to audiophile listeners as they did a better job with the balancing across the frequency. No longer the overly heavy bass previous model had but a better quality of bass with better mids, highs and vocals.
They maintain their same impressive 30 hour battery life but changed the looks with the telescope hinges over the traditional functions they had prior(credit to Apple to first do this design). Gone is the folding design and the bulk they previous model had. But better noise canceling is present and better phone quality. And yes Multiple pairing options are on deck.
But shortly after the launch of the Sonys the Sennheisers are set to deliver this month. And for what I’m told is that this headphone has 60 hours of battery life(with n/c or without…not sure). They also have redesigned their look as well. They stuck with the new standard of removing the folding design they had and go with a single fixed frame, something a lot of people didn’t want to see again.
But they didn’t stop there. They also got rid of their uniqueness in design and went with the very basic generic looks. The headphone is absent of anything special on looks besides a single logo on the side of the headband. And while I can appreciate the choice to put only a single brand logo on thr product …I think the blank look of the earcups design leaves a lot to be desired. I mean it’s just too basic looking coming from Sennheisers. It truly looks cheap or unfinished in my opinon. But again…looks aren’t everything. Normally I can come back and point to sound but so far I’m hearing that the sound is the same as it was on the previous model unlike Sonys attempt that at least decided on better sound quality . Nope…Sennheisers felt a 60 hour life was enough and for some…that might be true. But something tells me that Sony still be outsell the Sennheisers. Their headphone …even though cost more..still represent a more exciting difference in design and sound compared to the generic basic look of the Sennheisers with the same exact sound signature they had last generation. Yes…60 hours is impressive for battery life but most that own Sony headphone at 30 hours still justify those hours as all they need. Even Apple’s 20 hours on the airpod max still gets praise but some. So this tell me after a certain amount…battery life just doesn’t wow people if it’s not something they have a lack in. Having more hours vs spending more money on another headphone or earphone if they already have the hours they need in another device, doesn’t work for them.
At the end of the day I don’t have the Sennheisers…and most likely won’t get them unless something happens to my Xm5s. I also admit that the early reviews could be wrong about the same sound signature as last generation. But if true …I just can’t see a lot of people being overly excited about the same exact headphone sound quality being put into a generic case worth it even if it has more battery life.
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