Sony WH-1000XM6 Review: The Noise-Cancelling King, Refunded
Sony fixed the fit and kept the crown. The best ANC headphones you can buy.
The XM6 is a small but meaningful update: better ANC, a foldable hinge again, and a sound profile that’s less muddy out of the box. The price went up. So did the gap to everything else.
Score
8.9/ 10
★★★★☆
Verdict
Buy
For most people, this is the move.
Published
Who it's for
Commuters, flyers, and open-office workers who want silence and good sound in one pair.
The good
- +Best-in-class active noise cancellation, clearly ahead of Bose
- +Foldable hinge returns — packs into a smaller case
- +Sound is cleaner and less muddy than the XM5 out of the box
The bad
- −Price is up again — these are not cheap
- −Touch controls still awkward for some gestures
- −LDAC aside, no high-res Bluetooth codec everyone can use
Sony’s WH-1000X line has been the ANC reference for years, and the XM6 is the version where they stopped iterating and started fixing. The result is a small update that’s a big improvement in use.
Noise cancellation
Sony is, again, ahead. The XM6 closes the gap to silence that the XM5 opened back up against Bose. On a plane, the engine is a memory. In an open office, the keyboard two desks over is gone. Bose’s QC Ultra is close; this is a step further.
The adaptive part actually adapts now. It notices when you’re on a train versus a café and shifts the profile. You don’t have to think about it.
The hinge
Sony removed the folding hinge on the XM5 and everyone hated it. It’s back. The XM6 folds into a case that fits in a bag instead of dangling off the side. This alone makes it a better travel headphone than its predecessor.
Sound
Out of the box, the XM6 is cleaner than the XM5. The XM5 had a low-mid warmth that read as mud on some tracks. The XM6 is more neutral, with better separation. If you want the old sound, the EQ in the app can get you there. But the default is now closer to right.
LDAC is here for Android users with supported devices. iPhone users get AAC. Neither is the lossless dream, but Bluetooth headphones aren’t that, and these are the best of what’s available.
Battery and the rest
30 hours with ANC on is honest in my testing. Three minutes on the charger gives three hours of playback — the kind of feature that saves you on a delayed flight.
Touch controls remain the one annoyance. Volume works. Skipping works. The squeeze-to-pause is fine. The edge-swipe for ANC level is the gesture I still get wrong. Sony: add a button next time.
Should you buy it
If you want the best noise-cancelling headphones made, this is them. The price is high and there’s no way around that. But if silence and sound matter to your day, the XM6 is the pair that delivers both, and the foldable hinge means you’ll actually carry them.
Specs at a glance
- Type
- Over-ear, closed-back
- ANC
- Dual-chip adaptive, 8 mics
- Battery
- 30 hrs (ANC on), 3 hrs in 3 min
- Codecs
- SBC, AAC, LDAC
- Weight
- 250g
- Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint, USB-C wired
What we like
- +Best-in-class active noise cancellation, clearly ahead of Bose
- +Foldable hinge returns — packs into a smaller case
- +Sound is cleaner and less muddy than the XM5 out of the box
- +30-hour battery with ANC on, USB-C fast charge
What we don't
- −Price is up again — these are not cheap
- −Touch controls still awkward for some gestures
- −LDAC aside, no high-res Bluetooth codec everyone can use
- −Plastics creak slightly in cold weather
Lytyear
Reviewer
Lytyear tests laptops for the work, not the spec sheet — writing, video calls, builds, and the occasional export. If the trackpad is awful or the fan spins up under a Zoom call, that’s the review.
