Beats Studio Pro vs. Sony WH-1000XM5 Comparison Review
How Does the New Beats Studio Pro Compare With Our Reigning Portable Headphone King?
Beats are making the headlines yet again for their redesigned Studio Pros. So, we got a pair. Is the hype real? Beats have taken so much of the consumer audio market share that I don’t even need to say “headphones” for you to know what I’m talking about. Good job in that regard, Beats. But I’m here today to test how they stack up against our top pick: the Sony WH-1000XM5. Sony’s latest noise-canceling headphones had all of us impressed here at Moon Audio, which is saying a lot for an under-$400 headphone.
The Beats have also released their latest iteration of the Studio Pro for $349.99, and it’s getting all the praise around the interwebs. So it got us thinking - is the hype real? We haven’t necessarily seen many “audiophile” takes, so here’s one from us.
Beats Studio Pro vs. Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphone Comparison Review Video
PROS
CONS
Design
Beats by Dre - "If It Ain't Broke"
So right off the bat, the styling is nothing particularly special, but I'm a big fan of the blue. It's sleek looking, and although the cushioning is lacking in many respects, the Beats are much thinner than the competition, so it is actually nice that they don't jut out on your head like other headphones do. I appreciate the slimming design despite the padding, or lack thereof compared to other headphones in this price range. I wish the ear cups had a little more articulation for various fits and head sizes, and the clamping force in comparison is a bit tighter than the XM5. This makes them great if you want to use them for more rigorous activities like working out or running, etc. The Beats haven't had a design change in quite some time, I would have liked for them to do away with the folding mechanism, but it's obviously working for them from a portability perspective as they do fold up into a nice compact size. The XM5 could offer a few more color options like Beats to spice things up.
Overall, there's nothing terribly new or surprising in this department for the Beats, and that's okay. You do you, Beats.
Sony WH-1000XM5 - New, Bold, Intuitive
In comparison, the WH-1000XM5 feels much more premium. Smoother materials, smaller size, more flex, and even more padding. The added gesture controls are also super intuitive and easy to use - making the huge plastic button on the Beats ear cup feel like a toy. It just doesn’t stack up in the comfort department. The XM5 doesn’t fold up as compactly as the Beats do, but at least I’m getting better materials and more functionality right out of the box.
The headband is a big change, instead of being designed with a hinge-style where the ear cups can fold up into the headband when packed away, Sony went for a more traditional style fixed-band design. This allows for the ear cups to be rotated flat, and the accompanying hard case is designed the same way obviously. To be honest, The padding is actually enhanced since the new headband design accommodates more padding along the entirety of the band. It's also a smaller diameter, but it's strong enough - you're going to have some sort of flex with plastics. The ear cups themselves have remained similar, with a minimal aesthetic and smooth and sleek design. Like the XM4, the only buttons you'll find on the left ear cup are the power on/off and the noise-canceling buttons.
Sound
Beats Studio Pro
So we’ll start off with the most important part here. How they sound. The Studio Pro lineup of Beats is their TOL (top-of-the-line) model, providing all the best tech they have to offer. The noise-canceling is effective here, about what you would expect for this class of headphones. It's certainly more efficient at canceling out noises when the music is going - whereas with the XM5 I could definitely just put them on and enjoy the silence. I can still hear some slight ambient noise with the Beats running without music.
When it comes to the overall response of the headphones, they're V-shaped, a lot like the XM5. They're a lot more balanced than previous iterations of Beats - there's some nice clarity in the higher frequencies - mids are reduced a bit, so I wish there was a little more there, and the bass is ...well... inconsistent? Like I can see how bass heads would want more beef, but there were times when I felt like the low end was bloated on certain songs. You can't please everyone, but I wasn't necessarily impressed either. The best way I can describe it is that they try to mimic the tuning of the XM5 but it just falls short.
One thing the Beats do well is their imaging. Utilizing things like spatial sound and other Apple sound enhancements goes a long way toward showing off the potential of these headphones. I say potential because it still doesn't quite get there. The unfortunate (or fortunate - however you look at it) thing here is that the headphones sound best when cabled. The USB-C cable allows you to access true hi-res music, unhindered by wireless, compressed audio. I used our Black Dragon USB cable to get the most from this. They actually sound quite nice this way, it's just a shame that in order to get the best sound out of a wireless headphone, I have to use a cable. Kind of defeats the purpose.
Sony WH-1000XM5
Now, Sony has done it right. The XM5 has best-in-class noise-canceling as far as we're concerned. Pure silence, even without music playing. The processors and chips just handle it a lot better than the competition. You have to hear it to believe it. Especially when A/B testing one right after the other here, it's readily apparent that the Sony WH XM5 is superior when it comes to ANC. That's just a fact.
Like the Beats, the XM5s also had a driver redesign from the previous generation. The new drivers provide more dynamics, and clarity - especially in the upper frequencies, and it's a more nuanced tuning overall. It's like wiping away a full layer of dust on your furniture and adding some polish - they just shine. Like the Beats, the XM5 handles pretty much every genre out there really well, but the sound is just more refined on the XM5.
Features
Beats
Beats have their own proprietary app for Android - and they work natively with Apple or Android. The app for iOS is mostly for the Beats Pill speaker on the other hand - the headphones integrate natively into the Apple ecosystem. The Studio Pro offers a lot of the same high-end Airpod Max features like head tracking and spatial audio - and they sound great - especially when paired with an Apple phone. A lot of reviews online are favoring the Studio Pro over the Airpod Max in this regard due to the lower price. It misses out on touch or gesture controls though, and when compared to the XM5, it just feels a little behind the times. If you didn't have the XM5 to compare, you wouldn't know any better. It does what it does just fine. But as we'll see, the XM5 is just a more refined and premium experience.
Sony
The Sony Headphones Connect app is superb. Offering all the controls and customization you need at your fingertips, the app opens up the functionality and sonic possibilities of how the headphone integrates into your day-to-day life. Touch controls are a big plus, and the headphones offer intuitive voice activation features where you don't even have to take off the headphones if you don't want to. The XM5 is more luxurious and better in every way. Sound enhancements, EQ control, superior ambient noise detection, LDAC, and hi-res Bluetooth streaming. The WH-1000XM5 just can't be BEATS - see what I did there?
Dragon Cables
Verdict
Yes, the new Beats Studio Pro is getting a lot of attention right now - and rightly so - if you're already a previous Beats owner. That's the big thing here. Sure it's an upgrade, but only relative to what Beats headphones came before. The Sony WH-1000XM5 is still the noise-canceling, wireless headphone king in our book, for all of the previously stated reasons. You can check out our standalone review for tons of additional information on why they're vastly superior to the competition. It's WELL worth the extra fifty bucks for better materials, better ANC, MUCH better sound quality, and better (and more) features.
If you're looking for the best high-end consumer or entry-level audiophile (however you want to classify it) headphones on the market, then the Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones are still the headphones to consider. With a brand like Sony, and all the sound enhancements and features included, it's hard to go wrong.
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