In terms of personal audio, 2023 was a relatively quiet year. There was the usual flurry of launches and new versions of established ranges, but in Star Wars terms, they were more an Attack of the Clones rather than A New Hope. We got lots and lots of shiny new products, but for the most part, brands seemed to stick with what had broadly worked for them in the past – even the claims-to-be-radical Nothing repeated the broad design and functionality of its Ear range of flagship TWS. To be brutally honest, we basically got the same wine in new bottles. But there was a silver lining: some of the old wine actually got better – significantly better – this year.
This is why we think that the best ANC TWS and the best wireless headphones of 2023 were actually products launched in 2022 – the Google Pixel Buds Pro TWS and the Sony WH-1000XM5 Bluetooth headphones. They both were acclaimed as very good products in that year, but in 2023, both went from being good to great, courtesy of something that has been mainly associated with computers and smartphones – software updates.
Software updates come to the audio world
In fact, 2023 saw software updates make their presence felt in the wireless audio world in a very big way. It is not as if they did not exist in the past – but their main role was more to fix issues (generally of connectivity) than to add features. That. however, has been changing in recent years. Predictably, Apple (you guessed it!) had a role in making software updates a thing for earphones by publicizing its updates for the AirPods, often adding features to them.
Other brands have since followed suit, making software updates to their audio products more visible. However, 2023 saw Google and Sony use steady software updates to take their 2022 flagships to another level altogether. So much so that we ended the year recommending them to anyone wanting TWS and headphones outside the Apple ecosystem.
The WH-1000XM5: Going from Super ANC to ANC Supremo
Sony had launched the WH-1000XM5 in May 2022. We must confess that while we were very impressed by the level of ANC that the headphones served up, we were a little disappointed at a discernible dip in audio quality as compared to its predecessors. It also seemed odd that flagship headphones from Sony came without spatial audio and head-tracking, which the AirPods had made a thing in late 2021. Add a few bugs (audio did not sometimes pause when we took the headphones off), and the WH-1000XM5 looked oddly out of place and synced for a premium wireless headphone launched in 2022.
That did not stop them from getting rave reviews upon launch, mainly for their exceptional ANC. To its immense credit, Sony did not rest on these review laurels and set out to improve the performance of the WH-1000XM5 and add features to it. 2023 saw the headphones get two major updates and a few minor ones, and such was their impact that we think the headphones pretty much were the best of the year. At the time of writing, the WH-1000XM5 had not only got support for head tracking and spatial audio but also allowed users to use high-quality LDAC even during multipoint connections, which were not available earlier. Wearing detection had been improved to near perfection, and ANC had been improved even further, with improvements to the noise canceling optimizer function. What’s more, audio quality and general performance (including call quality) have been improved as well, so much so that a fully updated edition of the headphones could actually be sold as a WH-1000XM5s version.
They still have odd niggles – head tracking and spatial audio are available only on limited apps, the non-folding form factor makes them bulky to carry, and while the audio has improved, it is still (in our opinion) not in the league of the BOSE QC 45 for mainstream listening. But if you are looking for an ANC headphone today with exceptional ANC, good audio quality, and smart features, the Sony WH-1000XM5 would be our recommendation. And it is mainly because of all the updates they got in 2023. And from what we know, they are likely to get a few more in 2024. Oh, and the fact that they are more affordable and often available for under $275 / Rs 25,000 (they were launched at $378/ Rs 34,990) makes them an even better proposition.
Google Pixel Buds Pro: Android’s answer to the AirPods Pro
Like the Sony WH-1000XM5, Google’s Pixel Buds Pro TWS got rave reviews when they were launched in 2022. But they still had a number of shortcomings, most notably the absence of spatial audio and head tracking, slightly iffy call quality, and the absence of any equalizer. They had a lot of smart features, especially when used with a Pixel phone, and had a very eye-catching design, but just as with the Sony headphones, they did seem rather pricey for what they offered.
Google could have simply opted for launching a new edition of the buds in 2023, but the Search giant instead opted for the software update path, constantly improving the Pixel Buds Pro and adding to their feature set. The buds got a 5-band equalizer and better right and left bud controls in October of 2022 itself. Another update improved call quality, and early this year, spatial audio and head tracking were added to the Pixel Pro mix. That wasn’t all, though. Even while the world focused on the launch of the Pixel 8 range, Google updated the Pixel Buds Pro yet again, this time adding conversation awareness (the buds go into transparency mode when they hear you speaking), improving sound and call quality further, while also adding a special low latency mode for gamers.
The result? The Google Buds Pro today are a far better version of the ones that were launched in mid-2022. Once again, they are not perfect (no LDAC support, no iOS app), but given the huge improvements in their performance in 2023 and their almost seamless bonding with Pixel flagships, they are the closest things Android has to the AirPods Pro. They are often available at prices that are much lower than their launch price of $199/ Rs 19,999 (they are sometimes sold at as low as $150 / Rs 11,999 on some e-portals). And we have been told they, too will get better, thanks to some planned updates.
More than OK, Google; Super, Sony; Learn, others!
They may have been released in 2022 (mid-2022 in fact), but 2023 saw them actually come into their own, which is what makes the Sony WH-1000 XM5 and the Google Pixel Buds Pro our best ANC headphones and TWS of 2023. We so hope 2024 sees other brands take a page out of Sony and Google’s audio firmware update books!
Buy Pixel Buds Pro (USA) Buy Pixel Buds Pro (India)
Buy Sony WH-1000 XM5 (USA) Buy Sony WH-1000 XM5 (India)
