So you've googled your way here. Good. That means you're thinking about earbuds and want to know whether you should buy a product from a Japanese megacorporation or headphones from a 14-person company from Oulu. Fair game. Let's go through this like adults — honestly.
Sony's WF-1000XM5. The model number alone is longer than our entire product catalog. By the way, do you know who Sony's CEO is? You don't. Our great leader Henri drives an Alfa Romeo that breaks down more often than Sony's headphones. That's public information.
Sound quality — the only thing that really matters
Sony's XM5 is a good earbud. Let's admit that right away, because we're not the kind of company that claims everything is shit except its own product.
But sound quality is a different thing than a spec sheet. The NL25's sound is tuned by Jasse Kesti, whose ears are insured and whose expertise is the reason our headphones sound the way they do. Sony uses algorithms and focus groups. We use Jasse. Jasse wins.
NL25 supports the aptX Adaptive codec on top of Bluetooth 5.4. In practice, this means the audio travels from phone to ear less compressed than with Sony's AAC/LDAC implementation on Android devices. On iPhone, both use AAC, so the difference narrows.
ANC — the truth about noise cancelling
Here, Sony wins. Period.
Sony's ANC is among the best on the market. The NL25's noise cancelling is good — it removes airplane hum, office background noise, and most of the world's noise you don't want to hear. But if you need absolute silence without music, Sony does that a shade better.
That said: ANC doesn't completely remove kids' screaming or your boss's nagging. Not Sony's, not ours, not anyone's. Physics is physics. Low frequencies go, highs remain. You need music to help.
Price — and here's where it gets interesting
Sony's WF-1000XM5 costs around 250–300 euros new. NL25 costs a fraction of that.
With that price difference, you can buy lunches for three months. Or one fill-up for Henri's Alfa. Or fund 0.000001% of our Death Star — which we think is clearly the best option.
Repairability — this is where the contest ends
Sony's earbuds break after two years. You throw them away and buy new ones. Sony likes this. Sony's shareholders like it even more.
The NL25 gets repaired. We have our own service in Kajaani, where real people fix real devices. Something broke? We'll fix it. We don't believe in disposable electronics, even if it would be more profitable.
Other differences in brief
- Battery life: NL25 offers 4.5 hours with ANC on, 6 hours without. Sony promises 8 hours. Sony wins here.
- Design: NL25 was designed by Jussi Timonen. Sony's was designed by a committee.
- Ear tips: NL25 comes with both memory-foam and silicone tips. The right tip in the right ear does more for sound quality and isolation than any ANC algorithm.
- Vincent van Gogh mode: You can use the NL25 one bud at a time. Sony doesn't offer this as smoothly.
Who should choose Sony?
Be honest with yourself. Choose Sony if:
- You absolutely need the best ANC on the market in earbuds
- You want longer battery life without charging breaks
- Brand matters to you more than money or repairability
- You don't care what happens to your headphones after two years
These are perfectly valid reasons. We don't judge. Much.
Who should choose NL25?
Choose NL25 if:
- You want better sound quality for less
- aptX Adaptive and Bluetooth 5.4 mean something to you
- You want to support a 14-person Finnish company instead of a megacorporation
- You want to fund the Death Star
Summary
Sony WF-1000XM5 is a good earbud. Better ANC, longer battery. NL25 is the better earbud for the price: Jasse's tuned sound, repairability, aptX Adaptive, and a price that doesn't require selling a kidney.
If you have unlimited money, buy both. If you have limited money like all of us — the NL25 gives you more value.
Thank you for your money. It goes to a good cause. Henri needs a new timing chain for his Alfa, and the Death Star's corruption budget won't fill itself.
