“It is not best that we should all think alike,” according to Mark Twain—and far be it from me to contradict him. But while he obviously had his mind on higher things when he said it, there’s something to be said for unanimity of opinion when it comes to, for instance, true wireless in-ear headphones.

Take Sony’s WF-1000XM4 from 2021. Critical opinion was unanimous: They were high on the list of the best true wireless earbuds you could buy, period. And when critical opinion aligns like that, it takes an awful lot of sweat out of the decisionmaking process for consumers.

It’s that unanimity of opinion that makes the launch of Sony’s WF-1000XM5 so much more interesting than that of any other true wireless in-ear headphones. A new pair of true wireless earbuds is launched every day (or, at least, it very much seems like it), but the chance to find out whether the replacement for the GOAT continues the dynasty doesn’t come around that often. About once every two years, in fact.

Initial impressions are very good indeed. There’s not much in life that people are prepared to pay more for in order to get less of, but the WF-1000XM5 are much smaller and lighter than the earbuds they replace. The WF-1000XM4, for all their many virtues, were on the chunky side. But the WF-1000XM5 tip the scales at just 5.5 grams per earbud and 37 grams or so for their charging case. So already we’re ahead, at least where discretion and comfort are concerned—and the fact that Sony has been good enough to include four sizes of eartip in the packaging (which is, incidentally, made from a combination of bamboo, sugarcane fibers, and post-consumer recycled paper that Sony calls “original blended material”) only increases your chances of finding the WF-1000XM5 comfortable in situ.

The eco-credentials of the WF-1000XM5 extend beyond their packaging. The charging case and earbuds themselves are mostly made from a material composed almost entirely of recycled plastic. For the charging case it’s very slightly textured, while for the earbuds it’s so smooth it makes getting them out of the case trickier than it should be.

Despite a form factor that’s around 25 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter than the model they replace, the WF-1000XM5 manage to hold almost exactly the same amount of battery power. With active noise cancellation on, the earbuds are good for around eight hours; turn ANC off and that figure rises to around 12 hours. There are two additional full charges in the case, too, so anywhere between 24 and 36 hours of listening is available before you’ll need to visit the mains. Adequate, then, is the word best applied to battery life.

Despite the reduction in physical size, though, Sony has found space to squeeze in some of its newest technologies. The bulk of the business is taken care of by the new “integrated processor v2.” Along with amplification and 24-bit audio processing, it also works in conjunction with the “HD noise canceling processor QN2e” to deliver what Sony is boldly claiming to be “the best noise-canceling performance on the market.”