Sony just gave its best noise-canceling headphones a sports makeover

What happens when your favorite noise-canceling headphones meet NFL fandom? Sony just showed us by reworking its flagship WH-1000XM5 into a limited-edition NFL collection. The first to drop is a Detroit Lions model that slaps the team’s logo on an all-silver chassis, according to Sony’s post on Instagram.

Underneath the new exterior, nothing critical has changed. You still get the same adaptive sound control, which tweaks audio based on your surroundings. The soft-touch build that helped cement the XM5’s reputation also remains.

You might have expected Sony to roll out these team-specific designs on its newest model, but the company has opted to use the WH-1000XM5 rather than the newer WH-1000XM6. That isn’t a dealbreaker by any stretch. The XM5’s advanced noise canceling relies on two processors handling eight microphones.

You also get top features like LDAC high-resolution wireless audio, DSEE Extreme upscaling for compressed music, multipoint Bluetooth, a built-in voice assistant, and speak-to-chat.

The battery life remains impressive. You get up to 30 hours with noise canceling on, or 40 hours with it off. A quick charge gives you hours of listening time after just a few minutes of charging.

The main attraction is the new look. The Detroit Lions Edition replaces the usual black or beige with a shiny silver finish and the team’s charging lion logo on the earcups. If you’re a big Lions fan, you can get these now on Sony’s website.

Even better, although the regular price is $400, early buyers can get them for $330. If you’re waiting for other teams, mark your calendar: the Buffalo Bills Edition comes out on December 8, and the Houston Texans Edition follows on December 11, as per a report from eCoustics.