Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones may not get longer battery life after all

New photos of Sony’s upcoming WH-1000XM5 have surfaced. A Reddit user already managed to get their hands on the new headphones, although it’s not out yet. The packaging mentions a battery life of up to 30 hours, which is less than expected.

The photos on Reddit confirm, among other things, the renewed design of the WH-1000XM5. Compared to its predecessors, the headphones get a more minimalist design with a thinner headband and new hinges above the ear cups. It would no longer be possible to ‘fold’ the headphones with this. Those changes were already shown in leaked renders, which TechnikNews shared last month.

The same website then claimed that the Sony WH-1000XM5 offers a battery life of up to forty hours. That is ten hours longer than the current WH-1000XM4, which lasts for thirty hours. On the leaked photos of the XM5, however, a battery life of up to thirty hours is stated. So it seems that the new XM5 model does not offer better battery performance. The WH-1000XM5 may still achieve a battery life of forty hours, but only with a more efficient audio codec, this is how The Walkman Blog reasons. The battery life of the current XM4 can also be extended to 38 hours when using the SBC codec, writes The Verge.

It is not known when Sony will release its WH-1000XM5 headphones. Previous models usually appeared in August, but because the retail packaging of the XM5 has already surfaced, the release could also fall earlier this time. However, this has not yet been confirmed.

The retail packaging of the Sony WH-1000XM5. Source: Chez5160, via Reddit