FCC filings potentially give us a glimpse at new Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones
Is this Sony's new flagship headphone?
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Sony’s line of excellent noise-canceling headphones has given us four revisions so far, and we’re using the first generation of them as we type this, meaning that we’re due for an upgrade pretty soon. With the WH-1000XM4s released way back in August of 2020, we’re due another upgrade from the Japanese master of home audio. The XM4s still reign as being one of the best in class for noise-canceling headphones, and we could be seeing our first-ever glimpses of a brand-new headset in the works in the form of the WH-1000XM5, or, as it’s called in these various filings, YY2954, or BMS002.
The WH-1000XM4’s were more of an incremental upgrade in the stack, meaning that many users just opted to purchase the relatively old WH-1000XM3 for a discounted price, as Sony still appears to be producing the headset. Our hopes for the WH-1000XM5 is that it might get more fully featured than the previous iteration, and give users a reason to upgrade, rather than just persist with an older generation of hardware. Though, for many, Sony has already nearly perfected the art of noise-canceling wireless headphones, meaning that we could potentially be seeing the upper limits of what they are able to achieve in this particular product space. Regardless, we can’t wait to see what Sony is cooking up with the WH-1000XM5’s.
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Sony WH-1000XM5 FCC listings
While not specifically mentioning the WH-1000XM5 by name, a recent FCC filing by the company, as reported by TheWalkmanBlog. The Filing YY2954 gives us a glimpse of what is to be an engineering prototype. The significant tells of the filing include a battery rating of 3.8V, against the WH-1000XM4’s 3.7V. Additionally, we have two different USB ratings, 5V, and 9V. This could mean that the battery for this headset could be switching between two speeds, the normal 5V speed, and a fast-charging 9V method, too.
Additionally, you can find an import listing for YY2954 as being a ‘WIRELESS NOISE CANCELING HEADSET’ with two different SKUs available. S and B, which both presumably mean that we could be seeing the headset launch with a Silver and Black color variant.
In addition to this, you can see that the design is named the BMS002, which was listed on the same day as YY2954, meaning that these two filings and designs could correspond to each other. Sony describes the headset as a ‘Bluetooth Platform’ which simply appears to be a fancier way of saying that the headset will use Bluetooth and to hide its true name, which we believe to be the WH-1000XM5. Leaks previously blew the lid off of the WH1000-XM4s release, so we wouldn’t be surprised if it eventually comes to light that this filing is indeed Sony’s new flagship headphone.
TheWalkmanBlog delves further into file uploads, which report that BMS002 / YY2954 could also be featuring LE audio, but that’s a technical path to walk down and isn’t corroborated with anything but a theory.
Sony WH-1000XM5 potential release date?
Sony likes to get the hype train rolling with its headphones at Computex, so you can expect to see the headset begin to make its way to the public after the Summer. If their previous releases are anything to go by, you might be able to expect the headset to be released in August of this year. But, with leaks and filings such as this coming to light, we might get our first glimpses of the actual product a fair way in advance of its actual release date.
You can expect pricing to remain similar to other headsets in the line, meaning it could retail for around $350 USD. This is going to be Sony’s premium headset, with all of the new bells and whistles that commonly come with a new generation of headset, so be sure to start saving those pennies. If the WH-1000XM5 ends up being even half as good as the WH-1000XM4s and its other predecessors were, you’re definitely not going to want to miss out, so keep your eyes peeled for more as we get it.
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