If I would say two things that bothers me as far as the APM, it would be price and battery life.
The price of APM is high compare to other competitors headphones, but as a whole I think it’s price is good due to built cost. I don’t mind spending a little bit more on headphones because I use them daily and most headphones I own last long for how much use. I don’t think I have one that quit on me yet and I own quite a bit, and a lot of high end ones too. The no power button is actually pretty nice to me and would be a much better experience if the battery life is longer.
The APM actually isn’t that heavy, but heavy compare to other competitors. I think it’s a fair trade off, considering it seems to be built for longer ownership (I’m not going to say for sure as I haven’t own them long enough.) I own Bose QC series where I place them in the case when not in use and after a few years all the pleather on head band and earpad just looked shredded. Ugly. I have Sony XM4 and it seems to hold up better, but I don’t feel as confident as APM. Same goes to it not folding, I don’t mind it as long as it extend life of usage. I do understand people saying it take up too much space which it does when traveling. Same can be said with between in ear headphones vs over ears.
I love the earpad of APM, it has good space for your ears and the mesh is more comfortable then pleather. I’ve been waiting for this and main reason why I jumped for APM. I got to give it to apple to be able to execute this with the ability to be able to give it good ANC and good bass without the use of pleather to trap sound from coming in and out.
Also, I hate how most headphones are going for swipe commands as I find them slow to respond and clunky. Buttons and all, all day long.
The Sony XM5 to me does look better, it has that clean look. The ANC is more consistent and better at blocking sound (although AMP does do an excellent job). It is lighter and having EQ is always good. It has better battery life.
I find it interesting how people don’t realize that there will always be people who prefer one to another and I don’t get how people bash one vs the other when these headphones that are being compared are practically top tier Bluetooth headphones. I get pointing out flaws, but some goes too far. It’s like hating on someone for liking Pepsi over coke or dr. Pepper.