Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Industry Leading Noise Cancelling Headphones with Auto Noise Cancelling Optimizer, Crystal Clear Hands-Free Calling, and Alexa Voice Control, Black Well I finally felt time to upgrade my headphones. I've been using the old Boss quiet comfort 3's. Quite dated I know. But it lasted me a very long time. It's done well for me Now after much time passed I finally picked up this Sony xm5. My comparison is with that old headphone. Perhaps not the best apples to apples fairness. I don't look for studio reference flat sound with these . I look daily music listening whilst working. Something to work out with. Something that has good enough clarity in highs and deep bass for pop music. My high fi lilistening is done by wired headphones which is a total other category of audiophile gear. For these I need superb noise cancelling that is superior to Bose . I need exciting lively bass tightness and crispy highs without harshness. A good mic for conference calls. An ambient mode to use when jogging. This Sony xm5 delivers and TLDR I can easily replace my Bose qm3 with these. 1. Sound . First thing I noticed immediately... This has ultra tight bass . Bass is as deep as you want it. And can be set to create a super tight quick reacting bass. Very satisfying in all musical genres. Wayyy exceeds Bose bass performance which IMO was its weakest point . By default thigh highs are flat and lifeless but after a super quick EQing session I got it to my preferred listening and it sounds amazing. I'm very happy with the sound. It feels smooth and unfatiguing when I want it... And then it can be eq'd to be clinically sharp but not harsh.... Whenever you feel like it. It is hands down a huge step above Bose. 2. Noise cancelling. TLDR? Huge upgrade over Bose qc3. It's dead quiet. It is scare silent actually... Really eerie. I love this because I turn it on and just use it as a way to work I'm office without the hum of the hvac system. 3. Ambient mode. The Sony app allows you to adjust the levels to satisfy how much exterior sound to leak into your headphones. I like this. It also allows you to setup detection mode to allow you to swap to ambient mode automatically when you talk and have conversations.... Music stops. After 15 seconds the ambient mode reverts back to noise reduction mode and resumes music. Really handy. Love it. 3. Mic for conference calls. Absolutely outstanding without premature cutting off of voice which is a common issue with these headphone mics... Bose suffered from this greatly. This is crystal clear mic and no issues using this in professional conference calls. 4. Tap controls.. very simple straight forward. Uses a swipe or tap setup on the right ear. The entire right side ear flat side is a drawing board . Large surface area makes for superbly reliable gestures that make it consistent and easy to control. Swiping up and down is volume. Swiping fwd or back is tracks. Double tapping pause and resumes. Theres no way to adjust the gesture actions on the app. .nor is there a way to make the left side become gesture side in case you prefer left side .... It's ONLY right side. To me it is not a show stopper but perhaps for others it could be. The only other buttons is the ANC button to toggle noise cancelling mode and ambient mode. You can program double or triple clicking of the button to launch Spotify or other music apps but I only use double tap for Spotify. The other button is on/off / pairing. This isn't customizable. I would have liked to see a bit more customizable actions here but it's OK... Sometimes it's better to have more simplicity. Oh by the way you can turn OFF the tap swipe gestures entirely case you find this to be annoying with accidental taps especially when You're wearing the headphones laying down 5. Automatic modes. Based on location , you can have your phone help detect location and automatically set your profile for you. Example if you're working , set noise cancelling ... Or if it detects jogging then setup ambient mode . Etc... handy but not something I would use. I like to be in control. 6. Comfort. This is a really light weight product. Very comfortable. Wraps FULLY account ear. Theres no issue with long wear time because it's so light and feels great. The vinyl material wraps the foam and doesn't feel sweaty . You can replace this with other materials ( third party). Lots out there. I really wished there are larger Labelling of L and R to quickly visually see which side is right. It's a tiny little R on the inside of the headphone head piece ... The BOSe had a huge R and L on the inside of the headphone ear foam so it's hidden front he outside but still stealthy. I get that Sonys design for these headphones are minimalist stealthy look but the R and L could've been larger and still stealthy. 7. This uses USBC. And charges quick and lasts a long time. Whilst not as long as my Bose, it's long enough for me to be reliable to last me entire day and MORE. no problem. I have no issues here. It's fantastic. 8. The Sony connect app is clean and easy to use. It's what unlocks the Sony headphones to another level. Much better than Bose software. You need it for eq and various profiles . Without it you're going to miss out. So to conclude I'm gonna give it huge 5 star rating. Rare for me. It's a fantastic device. Huge upgrade from my Bose qc3. Really happy with this so far. And what made it a great buy from me is I've found it in Amazon warehouse open box pricing. You can't beat that . Hope this helps