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Bottom line: If you work from home in Korea, this is the single best quality-of-life upgrade you can make. The ANC is genuinely class-leading, the battery lasts forever, and call quality is superb.

My apartment building in Seoul started a full renovation of the floor above me in October. The drilling started at 8 AM and didn't stop until 6 PM.

I was trying to run video calls for a remote job. I was losing my mind.

I'd been putting off buying noise-cancelling headphones because ₩390,000 felt like a lot. After two weeks of scheduling calls during "construction breaks" and apologizing to clients for background noise, I bought the Sony WH-1000XM5. I should have done it sooner.

The ANC Is Not Marketing. It's Legitimately Great.

I've tried the previous generation (XM4) and the Bose QuietComfort 45. The XM5 is better on active noise cancellation in real-world conditions.

The combination of 8 microphones and the QN1 HD Noise Cancelling Processor analyzes incoming sound from multiple angles simultaneously and generates inverse waves in real time. The practical result: low-frequency noise (construction, traffic, HVAC) is reduced by what feels like 80-90%. Higher-frequency noise (voices, music from other rooms) is attenuated significantly but not eliminated.

For working from home purposes, this is exactly what I needed. The constant background hum of the city disappeared. I could hear myself think.

Battery Life: The 30-Hour Claim Holds Up

I get about 28-30 hours with ANC on, consistent with Sony's specs. In practice, I charge once every 3-4 days with daily use of 6-8 hours.

The 3-minute quick charge for 3 hours of use is a genuine feature, not marketing — I've verified it repeatedly. Scramble to charge it while making coffee and you have enough for a full work morning.

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Call Quality in Video Meetings

This was my primary concern given the construction situation, and the XM5 exceeded expectations.

The 8-microphone array captures voice precisely while suppressing ambient noise. In practice: meeting participants regularly commented that they couldn't hear any background noise from my end. This was during days when the drilling upstairs was audible to anyone in the room with me.

Teams, Zoom, Google Meet — all work seamlessly. The headphones also support multipoint connectivity, so you can connect to your laptop and phone simultaneously without manual switching. This is essential for anyone who switches between devices during the workday.

Sound Quality for Music

The WH-1000XM5 has a warm, full sound signature with emphasized bass and smooth highs. It's tuned for enjoyment rather than studio accuracy — which is appropriate for a consumer-focused product.

LDAC support (Sony's high-resolution codec) enables wireless audio up to 990kbps on compatible Android devices. If you have a recent Samsung, Pixel, or other LDAC-enabled phone, the wireless sound quality approaches what you'd get from a high-quality wired connection.

iPhone users: you're limited to AAC. Still sounds excellent, but you won't benefit from LDAC.

XM5 vs AirPods Max — Which Should You Buy?

This is the obvious comparison if you're in the ₩350,000-500,000 range for headphones.

Choose AirPods Max if: You're deep in the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, Mac, iPad), prefer the Apple-specific features (Spatial Audio, Transparency mode), and don't mind the extra weight (385g vs 250g for the XM5).

Choose Sony WH-1000XM5 if: You use Android, want LDAC support, prefer a lighter headphone for extended wear, and want to save ₩150,000+ compared to AirPods Max pricing in Korea.

The ANC is genuinely competitive between both — it comes down to ecosystem preference.

I'm on Android. The choice was easy.

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