Pricing for Sony’s WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds has leaked, and it's bad news

The Walkman Blog image of Sony's rumoured WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds

(Image credit: The Walkman Blog)

We’re still to get any official confirmation from Sony regarding the existence of its much-rumoured WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds, but we’ve seen a few leaks make their way onto the internet in recent months. Headphone lovers across the world are starting to build a picture of the headphones and learn more about the specs and features that will supposedly be on offer.

The latest leak to emerge concerns the pricing of these new premium wireless headphones. We emphasise the word premium because the price in Euros, according to one journalist’s post on Twitter will be €319.99. Given the current WF-1000XM4 launched at €279, at first glance, this €40 increase is quite the price hike. However, given the current economic climate in which we find ourselves, an increase might not come as a massive shock to many.

Sony wants 319,99 Euros for the new WF-1000XM5s. Seems a bit steep.June 24, 2023

At the time of writing, that €319.99 (we’ll round it up to €320) roughly translates to around £276 and around $350 give or take a few pennies/cents. Of course, these are crude calculations done using current exchange rates, but if the leak is on the money, so to speak, there’s a very good chance wherever you buy them, you’ll be paying more for Sony’s top-of-the-range earbuds if/when they launch this year.

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Is it the end of the world? If they give us a jump in sound quality compared to their predecessors and perform up there with the very best at this level, then it might be a price many are willing to pay. Remember, Bose’s excellent QuietComfort Earbuds II aren’t exactly cheap at £280 / €295 / $299, and we deemed them worthy of five stars because they perform so well and are a clear jump up in quality from cheaper models.

Besides price leaks, we’ve also seen reports the new WF-1000XM5 will be lighter than their predecessors, with a tweaked design, wireless charging and Bluetooth 5.3 all part of the package.

But what do you think about a potential price hike? Would you be willing to pay a premium if the performance and features were up to scratch? Let us know with a comment below.

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Andy is Deputy Editor of What Hi-Fi? and a consumer electronics journalist with nearly 20 years of experience writing news, reviews and features. Over the years he's also contributed to a number of other outlets, including The Sunday Times, the BBC, Stuff, and BA High Life Magazine. Premium wireless earbuds are his passion but he's also keen on car tech and in-car audio systems and can often be found cruising the countryside testing the latest set-ups. In his spare time Andy is a keen golfer and gamer.