Sony is back with their new flagship noise-canceling wireless headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM6s. I was very excited to review these because the WH-1000XM5s (or the Mark 5s) from last year impressed me a lot. Each generation of this line of headphones has been at the top of the headphone game, and I think this is the main reason Sony didn’t change the previous generations by a lot.
The last generation, the Mark 5s, had a lot of problems, and they left me wanting more from Sony. Thankfully, the newest generation, the Mark 6, updates a lot of the stuff that the Mark 5s fell short on, with a new design, a new case, and so much more.
Read our full review of the Sony WH-1000XM5s
Sony WH-1000XM6 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones Review
Design
The new Sony XM6 headphones have a simple, clean design, just like their predecessors. They are super light, only 254 grams. The earcups are made from vegan leather, and they are soft. The headband is very flexible, and you can easily wear the Mark 6s for a long time. They are still the best headphones for traveling, which is big praise when you have headphones like the AirPods Max out there. The Sony XM6s come in three finishes: Silver, Black, and Midnight Blue.
The last generation of these headphones wasn’t optimized for traveling, because the headphones couldn’t fold at all. They had a huge case which took up a lot of space in my bag, and it was just inconvenient. I am happy to say that the WH-1000XM6 headphones don’t have this problem. They can fold, and they have a new, smaller case that fits easily in my bag.
The case doesn’t have a zipper anymore; it opens and closes with magnets and a buckle, and this makes it extremely fast to open and close. It comes with a 4-foot headphone cable and a USB-C to USB-A cable for charging. These cables go in a little pocket in the case, and overall, it‘s just very simple.
Another thing you can do with the Sony Mark 6s is rotate the earcups. So if you’re wearing the headphones around your neck and you want to place the earcups flat, you can do it. This is a weird thing to note, but it is something that the XM5s didn’t do, so kudos, Sony!
The buttons and microphones of the Sony WH-1000XM6 are also a little different. On the left earcup, right next to the headphone jack, the power button has been made much bigger. This lets you distinguish between the power button and the noise cancellation button more easily, which was a big problem in the XM5s. The right earcup is the same, there is just a USB-C port for charging.
Sound Connect App
The new Sound Connect app (formerly called the Sony Headphones Connect app) gives you 20 different levels of ambient sound for the WH-1000XM5 headphones. You can change between different modes, and you can switch between different EQ presets or create your own.
There is a new neat feature called Listening Mode. With this, you can toggle on Background Music and Cinema Mode. With Background Music, it sounds like the music is coming from a set of speakers behind you, and there are three levels to this as well. With Cinema Mode, which upmixes your audio to a 360-degree sound, kind of like a movie theatre.
Voice Quality
Sony added two more beamforming microphones to the front of the headphones so that people can hear your voice better when you’re on calls or in meetings. Honestly, it doesn’t make much of a difference. The voice quality of the Sony XM6s is average, and I hope Sony focuses on this in future generations.
Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode
Sony made a bunch of changes to the WH-1000XM6 headphones to improve noise cancellation. There are now 12 microphones in these headphones, which is an upgrade over the 8 microphones in the last generation. There is a powerful Sony QN3 chip inside, which, on paper, is 7 times faster than the chip in the XM5s.
Sony also trained the XM6s on 500 million voice samples using AI, so that they can distinguish better between human voices and environmental noises. Overall, the Sony WH-1000XM6s are really good at cancelling out white noise, significantly better than the Sony XM5s.
Transparency Mode is also excellent. If you want to hear human voices, the Transparency Mode ( or Ambient Sound Mode) is up at the level of the AirPods Max.
Sound Quality
The big question: how do the Sony WH-1000XM6s sound? The headphones have new, better drivers, and I’ve been testing them for about 3 days. I’ve taken them on a flight, on a train, and used them at my home, and I can see the improvement. The bass is deep and punchy, and the sound is detailed through the mids and the highs.
The Sony XM6s have the most detailed sound I’ve ever heard in a wireless headphone. You get to enjoy every instrument separately, and they are all blended in the end. Post Malone collaborated with Sony for the launch of these headphones, and so the first song I played was Rockstar. I felt the bass here, and the beats just flowed into my ears.
Sony WF-1000XM5 vs Sony WF-1000XM6
I tested out the Sony XM5s and the Sony XM6s side by side, and I could hear the difference at once. Some tracks sound better with the Sony Mark 6s; the bass is stronger, especially at lower frequencies. If you look at the Mark 5s after listening to the XM6s, you start to notice the differences in bass and sound quality.
The WF-1000XM5 headphones already had very good noise cancellation, and the Sony XM6s upped that a notch. The same is the case with Transparency Mode, it went from being distorted and muddy with the XM5s to clean and natural with the Mark 6s.
What else, the XM6s are more comfortable, and they have a smaller case that can fit easily into bags. Battery life, however, is the same 30 hours as the previous generation. I don’t know about you, but 30 hours is enough for me, and I’m happy with this battery life.
Last thing, the price. The Sony WH-1000XM6s cost US$449, and the WH-1000XM5s retail for US$399. I think the Mark 6s are worth it, just because these are the best, most comfortable headphones available on the market as of now. However, the Mark 5s do frequent sales a lot, and they go as low as $349. If you get the Sony XM5s, you won’t regret it, they are still way better than most of the competition. If you have some money to spend and you want the premium experience, then the Sony XM6s are the way to go.
Verdict
If you’re just looking for the best headphones that sound great, look great, feel comfortable, and are easy to travel with, then get the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones. They are worth the $449, and I think they are even better than the AirPods Max, which cost $510 on Amazon. Sony went all out here, and I am even more excited to see what they come up with next.