How to Spot Fake Sony WF-1000XM5 Earbuds

Opening lid reveals the earbuds, which could be passed off as the real thing, that is until the red LED lit up in the microphone mesh.

The red earbud LED is not as noticeable on my black fake, but it shines through the plastic on the platinum silver colour a lot more. This could be due to thinner plastic on the silver model. Here is a photo from an Aliexpress listing.

Here are some photos of the LEDs from my fake earbuds. If you are wondering why there is only one earbud, that is because the right one was already taken apart. It did not go back together.

Removing the earbuds from the case, we can see that earbud design is close to the real thing. Here are the differences I spotted:

• The gap around the top sensor is larger on the fake
• The microphone mesh holes are bigger on the fake
• Audio outlet has a white mesh covering the opening
• Logo is silver not gold

There is a noticeable weight difference with the case, but not the earbuds. The fake case is 31g, where as the real one is 49g. The fake earbuds are 4g each, while the real ones show up as 6g.

Here is a closeup of the fake and real earbuds. The 2 things that stand out are the mesh and seam I mentioned earlier. The fake earbuds do not ship with the foam tips, but the silicone tips. The silicone tip are pretty decent.

A shot of the mesh in the audio outlet.