The Sony WH-1000XM6 are over-ear headphones good enough to earn the title as the best overall. That’s not going to be surprising for those who’ve used Sony’s flagship headphones before, largely led by the fantastic noise cancellation.
Unlike other brands, Sony doesn’t launch a new pair of flagship headphones on a yearly basis. The previous WH-1000XM5 came out in 2022, so the three-year gap suggests a bigger leap. Except, how do you leap forward when the models that came before were industry leaders? The short answer is you don’t. You just find ways to improve and address whatever shortcomings were evident in those pairs.
Sony WH-1000XM6 in action
Sony WH-1000XM6 design
Sony’s headphones have rarely been about being flashy to stand out. The WH-1000XM6 are no different, regardless of which colour you wear. A matte finish with only two buttons and lack of noticeable frills punctuates a very Sony-like design language. The ear cups are rounder this time, a move that makes more sense when factoring in the touch-based controls.
A key difference is that these headphones fold both flat and inward, giving them a smaller footprint when you pack them in the included case and carry them with you. A great move considering Sony actually removed this feature with the previous XM5. Prior to that, folding inward was part of the design. The hinge also feels more durable this time around. Bringing it back enabled Sony to widen the headband enough to ease pressure and reduce clamping on your head.
The ear cushions are soft enough to make them comfortable without feeling too hot or stuffy. It probably wouldn’t have hurt to make them a little thicker to ensure a wider subset of ears (including those who wear glasses) would find them equally comfy. I also feel that way about the headband cushion, which should be thicker to maintain the same comfort level throughout.
One reason why Sony likely did this is to slim down the carrying case. It looks similar to past ones, only with a design shift that lowers its height and introduces a magnetic latch to replace the zipper that was so common before.
Setup and connectivity
Pairing the XM6 is effortless, especially with Fast Pair on Android and Swift Pair on Windows. They’re also easy enough to pair with Apple devices. Multipoint Bluetooth works reliably across these platforms, letting you seamlessly switch between two devices, like taking a call on your phone while connected to your laptop for music or video. One notable omission here is the lack of Auracast support, a Bluetooth LE Audio broadcast feature that looks to grow quickly over the next few years.
On the hardware side, Sony upgraded from eight to 12 microphones—eight on the outside of the ear cups, four on the inside—to enhance noise cancellation and call clarity. The new QN3 processor is a major part of the equation as the brain that manages both the active noise cancellation (ANC) and sound processing on the WH-1000XM6’s. Part of this is adaptive, changing the effect of the ANC based on where you are and what you’re doing.
While you can simultaneously charge and listen on the headphones, you can’t pass audio through the USB-C port directly. The only way to listen to wired playback is to use the included 3.5mm cable and a USB-C adapter if your phone or tablet doesn’t have a headphone jack. That can be a problem if you like the idea of using these headphones for gaming without audio/video sync issues.
Sony’s Sound Connect app is a must for the initial setup, but also to manage and customize the available settings. Firmware updates come pretty regularly to fix bugs and enhance or improve certain features. You can tune the audio to your liking through the equalizer, try spatial audio, and plenty more to make these feel like they’re truly yours.
Controls and customization
Sony’s control layout is mostly unchanged, and that’s a good thing. The right ear cup is touch-sensitive, letting you double-tap to play/pause, swipe up/down for volume, forward to skip a track, back to repeat, and press and hold for fast-forward/rewind. While touch responsiveness is finicky with some headphones, it’s excellent here, rarely leading to accidental mistakes or misfires.
The two physical buttons are on the left cup—one for power and the other to cycle between noise canceling and ambient modes. The ANC button can also mute calls or be remapped (via Sound Connect) to open a specific streaming service like Spotify or Amazon Music with a double or triple press. Tap the power button once and a voice will announce battery status.
While you can turn off the touch gestures if you prefer, you can’t adjust their sensitivity or remap them to other functions, very much limiting personalization on that front. You either get used to the controls, or you don’t.
Audio quality
The WH-1000XM6 sound excellent out of the box with crisp highs, rich mids, and solid bass, all delivered with Sony’s signature clean and balanced tuning. Sony re-engineered the 30mm drivers for better clarity, and it shows courtesy of a wider soundstage that doesn’t feel artificial.
You can, however, take that further with the Find Your Equalizer tool in Sound Connect. It walks you through a few listening tests to build a personalized EQ profile based on your preferences. This works differently from other brands who use your ear shape, leaning more on personal taste than hearing ability. Going through that creates a custom EQ preset you can always turn to, or you can create your own by manually adjusting the sliders in the equalizer yourself.
Custom EQ settings won’t work with Sony’s 360 Reality Audio for spatial audio playback. It’s still very good when you find content and sources that support it, like Amazon Music and Tidal. You also get LDAC support for hi-res audio streaming, an advantage for Android users who want access to higher-quality. For iPhone users limited to the AAC codec, spatial audio and EQ features work the same on iOS devices.
Within Sound Connect, it may be worth turning on DSEE Extreme, a Sony feature that tries to upscale compressed audio formats, like the ones commonly found in streaming apps.
Regardless of what you listen to, the WH-1000XM6 prove ready to go. Phone and video calls are better this time, where a combination of the additional mics and AI-driven voice isolation help your voice stay clear, even in loud or windy environments.
Noise cancellation and Ambient Sound
Sony continues to thrive with noise cancellation, and the XM6 are likely to remain among the best with world-class performance. The QN3 chip does a nice job pushing the 12-mic array to drown out more background noise. I wore these on a couple flights and they cut down engine noise to a mere whimper. Nor could I hear anyone talking near me or announcements over the PA system.
When I needed to hear something, I could simply hold my hand over the right ear cup to activate Quick Attention Mode to lower volume and turn off ANC, letting me have a quick conversation or listen to an announcement. High-frequency sounds (sirens or screeching brakes) can still leak in, though they don’t detract from the outstanding ANC performance. Sony also has built-in volume warnings once you exceed safe listening levels in case you crank it up too high.
Sony’s Adaptive Sound Control takes things to another level by using the onboard mics to automatically adjust ANC and ambient modes based on location or activity. This means noise cancellation could vary in potency based on whether you’re walking, commuting, or sitting still, for instance.
This is actually part of another feature in Sound Connect called Scenes that lets you manually choose whether you’re walking, running, or at the gym to automatically start playing music once you engage in either activity. This way, if you start running, for instance, Spotify can resume playing whatever you were previously listening to. You can even specify if this should only happen in certain locations. Voice Cue is an add-on that reads notifications so you can hear them as they come in.
If you are considering these for workouts, just know they have no IP rating or official water or sweat resistance. Your best bet is to eliminate any lingering salt from sweat by wiping them clean with 70% isopropyl alcohol.
Battery life
Sony claims the XM6 can last up to 30 hours with ANC on, and it turns out to be a pretty accurate number depending on how loud you go. Given the improved efficiencies here, you might even go above that. It’s not a big leap over the previous XM5 but it ensures you can go through days of consistent listening before you need to charge them again. In a pinch, you can plug in for just three minutes and get up to three hours of playback.
Final thoughts
The Sony WH-1000XM6 are top-flight over-ear headphones that deliver some of the best noise-cancellation around. The sound is great, made even better when you try to tailor it more to your own tastes, it’s also high quality and great for any genre you like listening to. They are pricey, but are more of an investment if you plan to hang onto them for years. It’s hard to tell how much competitors will evolve to take on Sony’s prowess in this space, but for now, these are one of the best pairs you can wear.
The Sony WH-1000XM6 are available now in black, blue, silver. Check out all the latest over-ear headphones.
