Sony updates its best buds and headphones to support Google’s Find My network

By Phil Nickinson Published October 4, 2024

If you have either of Sony’s top-tier earbuds and headphones — that’d be the similarly named WF-1000XM5 or WH-1000XM5 — you’ve got an update waiting for you in the new Sony Sound Connect app. (That’s the rebuilt and rebranded Headphones Connect app that was released earlier this week.)

Before we say anything else, though, know this: The update process takes a while. Like, 40 minutes if you’re on an Android device, and up to an hour if you’re using an iPhone. Sony’s not kidding about that, so set aside a little time. And it’s not quite set it and forget it — you’ll have to pay a little attention, if only so you don’t wander out of range while the update is transferring.

That said, this also is an update you’re definitely going to want to grab as soon as you can, especially if you’re on Android, as it adds support for Google’s Find My Device network for both models. The earbuds also get Google Fast Pair, as well as Auto Switch, which allows them to (somehow — we haven’t gotten to try it yet) automatically switch back and forth from the new Sony LinkBuds Speaker, which also was just announced this week. The headphones also get some sort of security update, Sony says.

Once that’s done, you can use the Find My Device app to help track down the devices. It’ll even make them play a little sound, though that’s not really of any great use considering that by design, headphones and earbuds are only supposed to be heard when you’re, ya know, wearing them. But sure enough, they’ll make a tone just fine.

And that’s about it. Again — and we can’t stress this enough — the update takes a little while. But once you run it, you’ll be on version 2.3.1 for the headphones and version 4.0.2 for the earbuds. And you’ll also once again see why both the buds and headphones have consistently had a place on our lists of the best headphones you can buy and the best earbuds this year.