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Audio · head to head

Px8 S2 vs WH-1000XM5

Reddit's answer is the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2. Buy it if you value rich sound and solid build quality and can live with ANC that some find merely adequate. The WH-1000XM5 is a Stay Away — don’t buy it — get the Sony WH-1000XM4 instead.

Bowers & Wilkins · Audio

Px8 S2

Buy If—
80% of 407 owners recommend
No recurring failure pattern found across 113 threads.

Buy it if you value rich sound and solid build quality and can live with ANC that some find merely adequate.

+ Dominates the threads as the single most cited strength — 204 mentions put it well above everything else.

− A vocal minority flag fit issues; 28 mentions suggest the headphones don't suit every head shape.

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Sony WH-1000XM5
Sony · Audio

WH-1000XM5

Stay Away$248
38% of 2,486 owners recommend
~1 in 3 failure rate — ~1 in 3 long-term owner reports describe a failure, overwhelmingly the hinge, typically surfacing between 6 and 23 months in. That onset window straddles the warranty period, and warranty outcomes lean unresolved — most reports land outside coverage or go unaddressed. At 31% serious failure reports versus a category baseline of 27%, this is the 9th-worst reliability record of the 10 wireless headphones we track.

Don’t buy it — get the Sony WH-1000XM4 instead

+ Repeatedly mentioned as the reason owners keep coming back despite everything else.

− A recurring complaint — hinge cracks and breaks dominate long-term owner reports.

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Questions people keep asking

Which is better, the Px8 S2 or the WH-1000XM5?

Reddit's answer is the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2. Buy it if you value rich sound and solid build quality and can live with ANC that some find merely adequate. The WH-1000XM5 is a Stay Away — don’t buy it — get the Sony WH-1000XM4 instead.

Is the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 worth it?

Reddit's verdict is Buy If. Buy it if you value rich sound and solid build quality and can live with ANC that some find merely adequate. The most-recommended wireless headphones of the 14 we track — sound and build praise dominate, but long-term sentiment dips noticeably from the early high.

Is the Sony WH-1000XM5 worth it?

Reddit's verdict is Stay Away. Don’t buy it — get the Sony WH-1000XM4 instead. The XM5's ANC and sound still earn fans, but ~1 in 3 long-term reports describe a hinge failure — the worst reliability of the wireless headphones we track.