Sony’s long-awaited WH-1000XM6 wireless noise-canceling headphones are here and – as you’ll hear – I think they’re a very tasty package indeed.
Yes, there are the class-leading improvements to sound quality and noice cancelling that you’d expect but crucially they bring back one ace feature that was missing from 2022’s WH-1000XM5. They fold. Yep – once again Sony’s flagship wireless headphones are foldable.
We’ve been lucky enough to review them too – check out what our writer Esat Dedezade thought about them in our full Sony WH-1000XM6 review.
Despite several leaks Sony has managed to keep the detail of the new headphones mostly under wraps, even if it was heavily rumored that they would hit streets soon before Sony itself confirmed a new launch was coming. I can now reveal that they’ll launch later this month for $450/£400/€450. It’s a high price, but that’s what premium headphones are regularly costing now.
Despite the older XM5s still sounding great, sound quality for the XM6s has been further improved thanks to various enhancements with the circuitry, even extending to new solder that contains gold. There are new 30mm drivers, too, and it’s all powered by the latest-gen HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN3 . The WH-1000XM6 now support Hi-Res Audio Wireless as well as DSEE Extreme. 360 Reality Audio Upmix for Cinema also delivers spatial audio.
Noise-canceling has also been revamped thanks to a newly designed Adaptive NC Optimiser. A Scene-based Listening feature adjusts both the music and noise cancellation based on your activity and location.
Comfort has been enhanced, too, thanks to a wider vegan leather headband. Again, there are soft leather earpads, noiseless movement and fingerprint-resistant material has been used.
Call quality has had a power-up thanks to six beamforming mics helped by software tech that nowadays we seem legally bound to call ‘enhanced by AI’. Indeed, there are 12 mics on the headphones in total, three more than on the XM5s. There’s also the nice option of mute from the headset (configured via the app).
They’ll also support multi-point pairing as you’d expect, while they can also now auto-switch. Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast are also supported as well for ultra-low latency listening.
Aside from the similar weight to the XM5s (252g vs 250g) the only key spec that remains unchanged (and that I think matters) is battery life which is stuck at 30 hours. Although it’s still pretty good, I’m now seeing rivals above this.
The headphones are available in three matt colors – black and silver (which is basically an off-white) as well as midnight blue.
