If you’re in the market for a new pair of headphones, then Sony is likely one brand that’s popped regularly in your search results.
The company has cemented its position as one of the big names in the audio market, constantly tussling with the likes of Bose, Apple and others for market supremacy and often earning a top spot in our headphone best lists. But which Sony headphone is right for you?
We’ve put this guide together to include the best headphones from Sony’s repertoire. This includes picks from the best wireless over-ears to the best true wireless earbuds and the best gaming headsets.
If you’re already a Sony user looking to upgrade your cans, you’ll find our latest recommendations right here, while those who haven’t tried Sony before can use this page as a guide to skip straight to our favourite headphones from the Japanese giant.
Each pair of headphones has been thoroughly tested and reviewed in real-world settings. Below you’ll find pros, cons and a short summary containing all the important bits you need to know about each pair before you make your decision. Of course, we also recommend that you click through to our full review at the bottom of each entry to discover our in-depth thoughts on each headphone.
We take into account everything from design and features to battery life and performance in our reviews and listen to a variety of genres, judging the headphones’ value before settling on a final score.
Scroll down to discover our favourite Sony headphones or visit our other audio best lists to explore broader categories, such as the best headphones, the best over-ears, the best wireless earbuds and the best noise-cancelling headphones.
Best Sony headphones at a glance
- Best wireless headphones: Sony WH-1000XM5 – check price
- Best in-ear option: Sony WF-1000XM4 – check price
- Best gaming headphones: Sony Inzone H7 – check price
How we test
Not just anybody can review a pair of headphones. You don’t need superhuman hearing to tell what’s good, but you do need to know what to listen out for.
Our headphone tests are done by some of the best and most prolific reviewers in the industry, with years of experience listening to everything from the plasticky freebie earbuds that come with your smartphone, to five-figure beasts of glass and marble. We love music and we want your tunes to sound good, too.
So we listen every pair of headphones we can get on or in our ears. We use a variety of sources, from basic MP3s playing on a laptop to high-quality tracks on dedicated hi-res audio players.
Our test tracks are wide-ranging to give headphones a thorough challenge. They’re also familiar, so we know every track backwards, and we know which bits might trouble the lesser performers.
We listen again and again, and we do that for weeks in case the sound changes – because it usually does. Then we’ll listen to similarly priced rivals and come up with a verdict that reflects the performance and features for the money.
- Excellent comfort
- Musical, rich audio performance
- Impressively clean and natural noise cancellation
- Superb Ambient Mode
- Great call quality
- Non-foldable design
- Connection gets choppy in busy areas
- Impressively rich sound
- Excellent noise cancellation
- Compact design
- IPX4 rating
- Comprehensive feature set
- Beaten by Bose for noise cancellation
- More expensive than before
- Call quality suffers in noisy areas
- Immensely comfortable
- Superb passive noise isolation
- Detailed audio
- Great battery life
- Expensive
- Middling mic performance
- Fiddly software
- No option for a wired connection
Sony WH-1000XM5
Best Sony wireless headphones
Pros
- Excellent comfort
- Musical, rich audio performance
- Impressively clean and natural noise cancellation
- Superb Ambient Mode
- Great call quality
Cons
- Non-foldable design
- Connection gets choppy in busy areas
The Sony WH-1000XM5 aren’t just our favourite pair of Sony headphones, we rate them as the best headphones you can buy right now.
The headphones are an evolution of the WH-1000XM4, taking a more modern look and eking out a slightly more comfortable fit. The headphone’s design no longer folds flat like previous generations, a design choice that mirrors the likes of the Bose NC 700 and Apple AirPods Max, the reason being to improve noise cancelling performance by reducing the surface area that could cause wind noise.
Testing out the ANC, we did find that the XM5 were more adept at suppressing high frequency sounds than the XM4 although we didn’t find them be quite as good at dealing with voices. That said, the headphones perform an excellent job in a variety of settings, plus with the clear and detailed Transparency Mode you can hear what’s around in crystal clear clarity.
Features like Speak-to-Chat and Quick Attention mode make it possible to hold conversations while still wearing the headphones, and built-in voice assistance offers convenience for hands-free operation of the headphones. The Adaptive Sound Control builds custom sound profiles based on the locations you frequent most, and there’s 3D sound support with Sony’s 360 Reality Audio.
The battery life is 30 hours, and we managed to get through a week without requiring another charge when listening for a few hours a day. Battery life is better than the Bose QuietComfort 45 but the same as the older model despite the new, improved V1 processor that features on this model. Where the processor granted longer battery on the WF-1000XM4, through various reasons that couldn’t be done here. Perhaps we’ll have to wait until the WH-1000XM6 for longer endurance.
Of course, audio quality is the most important aspect here and the XM5 build on the foundation of the XM4 model, with even more texture and depth in the bass frequencies, a richer and more detailed midrange, and slightly more expressive high frequency performance. There are potentially more accurate-sounding headphones like the B&W Px7 S2, but few that are as fun to listen to as the Sony.
Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sony WH-1000XM5
Sony WF-1000XM4
Best Sony in-earphones
Pros
- Impressively rich sound
- Excellent noise cancellation
- Compact design
- IPX4 rating
- Comprehensive feature set
Cons
- Beaten by Bose for noise cancellation
- More expensive than before
- Call quality suffers in noisy areas
Like the WH-1000XM5, the WF-1000XM4 take on a different look from their predecessor. They’re smaller and more ergonomically-shaped than the WF-1000XM3, offering a more secure and comfortable fit, and the charging case is more pocketable too.
The XM4 are powered by Sony’s new V1 processing chip that is responsible for its noise cancellation and wireless performance. It ekes out a more efficient performance from the battery, as the XM4 carries the the same battery life as the XM3 with ANC on despite the much smaller charging case. The total battery life is 24 hours, or 36 hours with ANC off.
The ANC has also seen improvements, though we still found the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds to be more effective. Virtually all the features found on the over-ear models have been transplanted here, with Adaptive Sound Control, Speak-to-Chat, Quick Attention Mode and Alexa and Google Assistant built-in, as well as fast pairing for Android devices and EQ customisation in the Headphone app.
As far as audio quality goes, the XM4 are the best sounding earbuds we’ve reviewed so far. They’re as versatile as the XM3 in the music genres they can handle, offering a natural and balanced presentation that’s supplied with plenty of energy and subtlety. We found they offered more dynamism, flow and width than the Bowers & Wilkins PI7, and a richer tone the Bose earphones, so if you’re after the best sounding earbuds, we’d recommend this Sony pair.
Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sony WF-1000XM4
Sony Inzone H7
Best Sony gaming headphones
Pros
- Immensely comfortable
- Superb passive noise isolation
- Detailed audio
- Great battery life
Cons
- Expensive
- Middling mic performance
- Fiddly software
- No option for a wired connection
If you’re in the market for a wireless gaming headset, we suggest you look no further than Sony’s Inzone H7. InZone is a new range of peripherals from Sony, a range made up of three pairs of gaming headsets, with the H7 sitting in the middle.
The design borrows cues from the WH-1000XM5, with a smooth and clean appearance that also borrows from the aesthetic of the PlayStation 5. At 325g, they’re lighter than the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max and we found them to be very comfortable to wear during our gaming sessions.
The headphones offer some of the best passive noise isolation we’ve experienced on a gaming headset, blocking out music from a room over and loud neighbours with ease, though anyone after noise cancellation should look at the more expensive H9 model.
The playback controls are thoughtfully placed on the headphone and compatibility is good as you’re able to connect to a PC or PS5 using Bluetooth or the bundled USB receiver. Unsurprisingly there’s no Xbox Wireless compatibility, nor is there a headphone jack to support wired connections.
The InZone H7 offered refined and detailed audio with good tonal balance. The soundstage is wide, which makes it possible to pinpoint enemies based on their speech, though we did think the low end could be more tightly defined as it occasionally drowned out more subtle sounds in horror games.
At $229 / £199, the H7 isn’t among cheaper gaming headsets but the design is comfortable, the sound is detailed and the battery life is great.
Reviewer: Reese Bithrey
Full Review: Sony Inzone H7
We also considered…
We’ve reviewed
See all reviewsFAQs
Sony has taken away the foldable design to improve the noise cancelling performance on its flagship headphones series.
The WF-1000XM4 are water resistant up to IPX4. The other headphones in this list have no IP rating.
Sony 360 Reality Audio is an audio format that places you in the midst of the audio, making it sound more immersive. You can read more about it in our guide.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.