Black Friday has come early for Sony and those who love the company’s audio gadgets. A bunch of our favorite headphones and earbuds are already on sale, including the excellent WH-1000XM5. They’re currently discounted by 13 percent, so you can grab them for $348. That’s still a steep price for a pair of ANC headphones, but considering they’re our favorites at the moment, this discount is a good one. Meanwhile, the still solid WH-1000XM4 cans are $122 off and down to $228; the budget-friendly WH-CH710N cans are down to only $68; and the Sony LinkBuds S earbuds are on sale for $128.
Sony built upon the solid foundations in the XM4 to make this year’s XM5. The new design makes them even more comfortable to wear for long periods of time, and they have noticeably better active noise cancellation as well. Now, the ANC in the XM4 was already stellar, so Sony just took it up a notch with the XM5 by adding a separate V1 chip to accompany the QN1 chip that was the star of the show in the XM4. In addition to that, the XM5 have a total of eight ANC mics, double the number in the XM4, and all of that adds up to a system that does a fantastic job of blocking out all kinds of noise.
Aside from that, the XM5 have all of the same features that the XM4 had: good sound quality, solid touch controls, multi-device connectivity, Speak-to-Chat and a 30-hour battery life. It’s not surprising that they topped our list of best wireless headphones, nudging its predecessor off the list, so it’s also not surprising that you’ll have to pay a premium for them. We don’t expect them to drop much lower than $348, so this is a good deal that you can get even before Black Friday proper. However, if you’re willing to skip the enhancements in the XM5, the XM4 are still really great headphones that are made much better by this Black Friday sale price of $228.
If you’re sticking to a strict budget this holiday season, Sony’s WH-CH710N headphones are a steal at $68. They don’t have as slick of a design as the XM5 (or the XM4, really), but they are comfortable and have decent ANC. We also like their 35-hour battery life, plus the fact that you can take calls hands-free if you link the headphones up with your phone’s virtual assistant. As for the LinkBuds S, they are some of Sony’s newest wireless earbuds and their key feature is smart playback. The buds will automatically play and pause music depending on your activity, plus they support ANC and high-resolution audio.
Buy Sony WH-CH710N at Amazon – $68Buy Sony LinkBuds S at Amazon – $128Shop Sony Black Friday deals at Amazon
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