Sony's Flagship Earbuds And Headphones Are Getting Some Great Upgrades

Sony has bestowed its flagship WF-1000XM5 earbuds and WH-1000XM5 headphones with new features via a firmware update, chief among them being Google Find My Device and Fast Pair capabilities, as well as something called Auto Switch. The Sony companion app—somewhat clunky and dated-looking compared to much of the competition—has also been refreshed with a new coat of paint plus a new name: "Sound Connect."

Owners of Sony's WH-1000XM5 and WF-1000XM5 (plus the LinkBuds S) are reporting that the latest firmware update is quite literally a feature-drop fest. With the WH-1000XM5 headphones (S/W version 2.3.1), WF-1000XM5 TWS earphones (S/W version 4.0.2), and LinkBuds S (S/W version 4.2.1), users are getting Google's Find My Device and Auto Switch. On top of that, the WF-1000XM5 will obtain Google Fast Pair abilities.

While the headphones already had Fast Pair since launch, it's better late than never seeing it on the WF-1000XM5. Even mid-tier true wireless earphones come with the feature nowadays, so it's good Sony's caught up in this area. Fast Pair is basically a quicker way for users to pair their phones/tablets with their Bluetooth listening devices. Rather than needing to head into Bluetooth settings to manually pair the devices, when a Fast Pair-enabled device is in proximity with a supported phone/tablet, a pop-up window automatically appears for quick pairing and companion app setup.

The other interesting add is Auto Switch. All aforementioned Sony devices will now be able to swap playback between Auto Switch-enabled products. For example, if you're listening to tunes on your Sony headphone, you can seamlessly transfer audio to another Auto Switch device by turning the headphone off, and vice versa. So far, the entire Sony LinkBuds series have this ability, with more being added soon.

Find My Device is probably more useful for TWS earphone owners who may misplace them between couch cushions or under car seats. With the app, FMD will play a loud beep through the earphone drivers, but the caveat being that the feature only works via Bluetooth and only if the lost device(s) are connected to the user's phone at the time.

As the cherry on the cake, Sony's Headphone Connect app doesn't just have a new name (Sound Connect), but has also been given some extra polish. The old yellow headphone icon for the app has been replaced with something more graphical, while the bottom tabs have been reorganized into My Device, Discover, and Menu. Of note, the once separate Auto Play function is no longer part of another application; it's now part of Sound Connect.

If you're interested, use these Amazon links to purchase the WH-1000XM5 ($298, save 25%) WF-1000XM5 ($228, save 24%), and Linkbuds S ($128, save 36%), all which are on sale at the moment.