Sony WH-1000XM6 review: The best wireless headphones for almost everyone

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In some ways, Sony didn’t need to update its flagship wireless headphones. Even as of May 14, 2025, one day before the official launch of the WH-1000XM6, you’d have been hard pressed to find a list of the best wireless headphones (including here at Digital Trends) that didn’t put Sony’s WH-1000XM5 in first place. This, despite the fact that the XM5 are now three years old, and virtually all of their competitors have been update during that time. That’s how good they still are.

But we all have a tendency to gravitate towards the newest, shiniest object, and besides, for all of its merits, the XM5 did have one or two areas that needed improvement. So here we are.

Let me cut right to the chase. The WH-1000XM6 are amazing. Stellar. The best. And if I’m being honest, you should just buy the WH-1000XM5 while they’re still available. Here’s why.

Design

If you’re looking for an excuse reason to buy the $450 WH-1000XM6, look no further than their updated design. Sony may claim otherwise, but this is where you’ll find the biggest difference between them and their predecessors.

I’ve always liked the look of the XM5, but now that I’ve laid my eyes on the XM6, I can’t unsee the areas where the XM5 feel a little cheap. For the XM6, Sony has found a plastic formulation that doesn’t look or feel like plastic at all. It’s more like synthetic stone, and it gives these cans an upscale vibe that the XM5 were aiming for, but never quite hit.

The earcups are now seamless, solid shells, their matte surfaces interrupted only by the eight microphone openings. But even these are beautifully crafted, with flush-mounted metal grilles instead of gaping holes. The earcushions are now much easier to remove.

The hinges are also remarkable. When you look at the AirPods Max, Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, or the WH-1000XM5, you realize that when you connect a headband to a set of earcups via a single point of contact (instead of the usual yoke approach), you tend to sacrifice the ability to fold up and fold flat, leaving a less compact shape.

Sony’s new hinges bring back that missing second axis of movement without resorting to the older, yoke-style architecture — which Bose opted for on its QuietComfort Ultra Headphones.

The other significant change is the headband. It’s now wider, better padded, and asymmetrical. The first two are all about enhanced comfort, but Sony hopes the asymmetrical shape will help folks figure out the headphones’ orientation a little faster. Sonos did the same thing on the Ace headphones, but in both cases, I find it easier to just look at the earcups (if the two control buttons are in my left hand, I know they’re the right way ‘round).

Oh, and let’s give Sony some serious props for giving the XM6’s travel case a quick-release magnetic closure. So much better than a zipper!

Sony WH-1000XM6 specs

Comfort, controls, and connections

The headband isn’t the only change for comfort’s sake; the earcushions are also more generously padded. Sony has upped the clamping force, too, and the result is a more secure fit that remains very comfortable, even for several hours in a row. I don’t really get the whole full-size over-ear headphones thing at the gym or while running, but I know there are many who do. If that’s your thing, the XM6 are a better choice than the XM5. Just remember, they have no official IP rating for water or sweat resistance.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the XM6’s clever new hinge design relies partly on a spring-loaded mechanism, similar to the one Apple uses on the AirPods Max. This puts the pivot point where the hinge meets the earcup, as opposed to the XM5’s mechanism, which puts it at the midpoint of the earcup.

For me, it creates a small but perceptible gap between the bottom of the earcup and my head, unless I extend the headband sliders more than feels normal. It’s not a deal-breaker by any means, it’s just something to be aware of.

The XM6’s controls are almost identical to the XM5. The right earcup gives you physical buttons for ANC mode selection and power/pairing, while the left is touch sensitive for playback and volume gestures. The one difference is that you can now enable a microphone mute function via the ANC button while on a call.

It’s a very intuitive setup and works brilliantly. The only drawback is that XM6’s controls aren’t cold-weather friendly unless you have capacitive-compatible gloves.

Still, unlike the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones and Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Headphones (which also use touch-based gestures for some or all controls), Sony gives you an alternative: hands-free voice commands.  If you enable them in the Sound Connect app, you can say, “Hey, Headphones,” followed by “play song,” “pause song,” “raise the volume,” etc. Basically, everything you can do with a gesture or button, you can do with your voice, and it’s seamless. The one caveat is that you must choose between Sony’s voice commands or button-based access to your phone’s voice assistant (or hands-free Google Assistant on Android).

Sony’s Bluetooth connections are always rock solid, and the WH-1000XM6 are no exception. When using an Android phone, Google Fast Pair makes pairing very easy (plus it adds the XM6 to Find My).

Multipoint lets you keep the cans connected to two devices simultaneously, and the Sony Sound Connect app makes managing those devices a breeze.

Sound quality

One of the biggest reasons Sony’s 1000X series has dominated lists of the best headphones over the years is their sound. These cans have always provided powerful, precise, full-frequency sound, with plenty of detail. The XM6 are no exception.

What these new cans bring to the table are subtle improvements in clarity, especially through the midrange — traditionally the hardest part of the frequency spectrum to achieve additional detail.

You can think of it as peeling back another layer of onion skin.

When Sony introduced the XM5, it shifted slightly away from the XM4’s bass-forward balance to a more neutral tuning. Curiously, even though the XM6 is a twin to the XM5 when it comes to sound signature, that added level of detail and nuance helps low-end bass feel tighter. It’s not more prominent — again, the balance is almost identical — but you can hear the improvement in separation from the lower mids.

Sony offers a variety of EQ presets and customization options in the Sound Connect app as well as its “Find My EQ” personalization test, but I ignored them all — the company’s factory tuning is that good.

All of this to say, if you like the XM5, I think you’ll like the XM6 even more when listening critically, particularly if you have an Android phone and take advantage of Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth codec.

And if you’ve never tried any of Sony’s flagship headphones, prepare yourself to be wowed. They’ve always been a top-notch choice, and the XM6 are the best so far.

The one thing I wish Sony had included is USB Audio. In this price range, it’s nearly ubiquitous — even Apple added it to the AirPods Max, and that company has a track record of being slow to adopt new tech. USB Audio would give the XM6 a truly lossless connection with support for hi-res audio up to whatever Sony’s built-in DAC can handle (likely 24-bit/96kHz or better). For such a great-sounding set of cans, this feels like a real oversight.

Spatial audio

New for the XM6 is the ability to spatialize any stereo sound using the Sound Connect app’s listening mode settings. Sony calls it 360 Reality Audio Upmixing and has decided that it should be all about making video content more immersive. It even calls the spatial audio mode “Cinema.”

Despite the name, it works on any audio — not just movies or TV — and in typical Sony fashion, it’s masterfully executed. The soundstage opens up, getting wider, deeper, and even a little taller, and there’s a greater sense of spatial separation between audio elements like vocals and instruments. Most importantly, Sony’s processing mostly avoids the unpleasant level changes that lesser spatial systems often produce. In the worst versions, bass can become smeared, and vocals lose much of their presence. Sony’s Cinema keeps things focused. Stereo purists aren’t going to love it — there’s no avoiding the sensation that you’re listening to processed sound — but if you dig that more immersive sound, Sony’s version is a lot of fun.

Sadly, iPhone users will have to satisfy themselves with a “static” spatial presentation. The XM6’s head tracking is only enabled via Android 13 or higher. For music, I don’t think it matters. For Sony’s cinematic ambitions, however, head tracking is the key that unlocks the sensation of sitting in a home theater. It keeps the relative position of each virtual 5.1 speaker locked in space — turning your head makes it feel like you’ve turned away from the central source of dialogue right in front of you.

It’s not as effective as Apple’s version using the combo of an iPhone or Apple TV 4K with a set of AirPods Max or AirPods Pro, and it’s currently limited to just a few services like Netflix and YouTube.

Noise cancellation and transparency

Active noise cancelling (ANC) on the XM5 is already excellent. In fact, the only headphones that can beat them are Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. For the XM6, Sony went all out to change that ranking, giving the new cans more microphones (12 vs 8) and seven times faster ANC processing.

These changes give the XM6 an edge over their predecessors, and I’d even go so far as to say that in certain circumstances, where external noises tend to be highly variable, they do a slightly better job than the QuietComfort Ultra. But for pure, brute-force destruction of constant droning sounds like in an airplane cabin or on public transit, the QuietComfort Ultra still reign supreme.

However, if you’re very sensitive to ANC side effects (some people report an unpleasant, sucking sensation), you may be better off with the WH-1000XM6. Sony’s ANC system may not cancel quite as much noise as Bose’s, but it’s also gentler on your ears.

Transparency mode is also excellent, giving you a nearly perfect reproduction of the outside world. Are the WH-1000XM6 better than the AirPods Max and QuietComfort Ultra? No, but you may still prefer Sony’s version, which slightly boosts the higher frequencies associated with speech, instead of going for a completely natural passthrough.

I think what I like most about Sony’s ANC and transparency is how quickly you can shift between them — it’s nearly instant.

You can also turn on Sony’s Speak-to-Chat feature, which switches to transparency mode automatically when it detects you speaking. It’s very clever but your mileage may vary: I couldn’t find a setting that reliably detected my voice without being triggered by false positives like clearing my throat.

Call quality

At the risk of sounding repetitive, calling on the WH-1000XM6 is also a subtle improvement over the XM5, which were already pretty darn great. I’d say the biggest difference is that the XM6 preserve more of your voice’s natural sound. There’s better tonality and less sibilance on all of those ess-sounds.

The XM6’s ability to cancel background noise remains top-notch. Your callers will likely never know you’re walking past a construction site.

For the first time, Sony has added a mic muting option, which is very handy. Just keep in mind that your phone app probably won’t reflect these mode changes (the iPhone doesn’t), so you’ll have to remember which mode you’re in.

You can switch to transparency mode at any time to hear your own voice more clearly and Sony includes a specific voice boost option in the app to help with that if you need it.

The only wireless headphones that are better for calls are JBL’s Tour One M3.

Battery life

This might be the one area where Sony has made no improvements at all. Playtime with ANC on is rated at 30 hours and 40 when it’s off. One minute of charging buys you an extra hour of operation, but a full charge still takes about 3.5 hours.

Does it matter? I doubt it. When it comes to battery life, more is always better, but I think most folks can get through 99% of their lives on 40 hours or less.

The one big improvement is that you can now charge and use the XM6 simultaneously, something no previous 1000X series can do.

Extras

The XM6 are the first of their kind to support Auracast, which is great. Unfortunately, it requires manually shifting to LE Audio within the Sound Connect app, then switching to the Android Bluetooth menu to find and connect to a local Auracast broadcast, which is a pain in the butt. Also, iPhone users are out of luck.

This is disappointing to me. Much like Sony’s spatial audio feature, it feels like a half-measure. Moreover, we know that better is possible — JBL’s Tour One M3 suffers from none of these limitations.

Sony has given its Adaptive Sound Control feature (which turns ANC on/off based on activity) a boost with its new scenes feature. You select from different scenes like running or going to the gym, and then choose the time and place associated with these activities and what you’d like to listen to (on an iPhone, your choices are Apple Music, Spotify, or Endel). I appreciate that Sony wants to build some intelligence into the listening experience, but I don’t find these features especially useful.

Conclusion

Sony’s WH-1000XM6 are a meaningful upgrade from the company’s WH-1000XM5, and take their place as the best overall wireless headphones I’ve ever tested. They’re not perfect — no USB audio, a bizarrely awkward Auracast setup, and spatial audio that can only be used to its fullest on Android, are drawbacks that must be considered, especially given that Sony has increased the price of its flagship cans to $450.

I acknowledge that none of these issues stopped me or anyone I know from enjoying the XM5, and in all of the other areas that matter (sound, ANC, design, and comfort), the XM6 are a stellar choice.

Bose is still better overall for noise canceling, but the XM6’s real competition comes from its own predecessor. Now that Sony has discounted the XM5, and will likely keep prices low until it runs out of stock, you’d be well advised to consider that model before buying.