The Sony WH-1000XM5 — some of the stylish headphones on the earth — are getting a point from the Apple AirPods Max in their rearmost update.
In an update that went live moment, the Sony WH- 1000XM5 will now support spatial audio with head-shadowing as well as advanced multi-point Bluetooth that allows you to leave the LDAC turned on while connected to multiple biases.
Despite Apple launching its AirPods Max flagship headphones with those features, they’ve only just come available on the Sony WF- 1000XM5 wireless earbuds that launched before this week and are now being brought to Sony’s flagship over-ear headphones.
The caveat then’s that the head-tracking spatial audio is limited to certain apps and certain biases for now, that’s just Netflix and Android 13 phones with head-shadowing like the Google Pixel 7 Pro — so be sure you are using the right bias to take advantage of the new features.
How to Get the Sony WH-1000XM5 Update
Theoretically, as long as you have the Sony Headphones app installed on your phone, you should be notified that there’s an update available the coming time you connect your headphones.
That said, if you didn’t get this communication yet, you can always force the update by going into the Sony Connect app with the headphones connected to your device. Once you’re in it, you should be urged to modernize your device with the new firmware.
As for enforcing head-tracking spatial audio, you’ll need to make sure you’re paying for Netflix’s Premium plan if you want to hear it — unfortunately, Netflix’s introductory league doesn’t offer spatial audio support.
Eventually, for the multi-point Bluetooth to work duly, make sure you have it enabled in the settings of the Sony Headphones app. else, you might only be suitable to pair the headphones to one device at a time or have them drop back from LDAC to the introductory SBC audio codec when connected to an alternate device.
Not sure which brace of flagship noise-canceling headphones are right for you? Check out our Sony WH- 1000XM5 vs AirPods Max showdown to get the pros and cons of both models.
