Sony is likely to unleash a successor to its 2021 WF-1000XM4 in-ear headphones soon, if a discovered listing on the FCC website is any guide.
The Federal Communications Commission needs to approve any wireless device for use in the US before sale and a listing generally indicates that a product is imminent. That's exciting news for fans of Sony's earbuds for sure, as an alleged pair that are thought to be the WF-1000XM5 buds have been spotted.
The FCC filing was actually first revealed in late February, but (as found by The Walkman Blog) the certification now includes some technical images of the headphones and their case.
The first thing we can glean from the images is that the design of each bud looks similar to their predecessors. However, they seem to be a little smaller - which is no bad thing. It should make them a little more comfortable, although we have to say that we already find the current in-ears pleasant to wear - as you can find out in our review of the Sony WF-100XM4 earbuds.
The photo shows a shiny black exterior for each bud but that could be because these are dummy, prototype versions. It would be weird for Sony to move away from the tactile matte finish it uses on pretty much all of its headphones.
Also revealed in the pics is the case (and its proposed internal components). it looks very similar to the existing version, and will undoubtedly allow for wireless as well as wired charging through USB-C. One thing that's revealed in the FCC filing is that the case can accept a faster charge - 5V = 230mAh over the 5V = 140mAh capacity of the previous model.
The fact that these images are now part of the listing gives us hope that we'll hear more on the WF-1000XM5 TWS in-ears soon, although it's worth noting that the XM4 buds were announced in June 2021 and the XM3s in July a couple of years beforehand. Our money, therefore, is on another summer launch.
We'll keep you up-to-date with anything else we hear in the meantime.