Sony WH-1000XM6 Review: The best wireless headphones?

Design

• Foldable
• Great comfort
• Substantial redesign

The most controversial aspect of the WH-1000XM5’s design was that it didn’t fold inwards. Sony has backed the truck up and brought the WH-1000XM6 back into the fold. But let’s not congratulate Sony for backtracking on a change it didn’t need to make in the first place.

But being able to collapse the headphones isn’t the only change. I’d expected the Mk6 to be similar to the Mk5, but they’re not.

The earcups are angled in, presumably for comfort reasons, though I imagine that’ll help in terms of firing sound to the ear. The headband is wide and more angular, and it conforms to the head better making for a far more comfortable fit. Once your ears are tucked into the earcups, you’ll forget you’re wearing headphones at all.

The clamping force is a light touch in the same way as the WH-1000XM5, so if you wear glasses (as I do) or have longer hair, it’s not particularly problematic.

The earpads are of a similar design to the older model, depressing against your skin so the headphones sit closer and seal better. The earcups are deeper, which I assume will help the audio performance. They can be replaced and you can perform this yourself, although Sony would prefer you let them do it.

The power button is bigger and more obvious to locate. The NC/Ambient button carries over, as does the 3.5mm jack which means the Sony still supports a wired analogue connection.

The WH-1000XM6 aren’t the most stylish pair, which is a slight disappointment. They’re functional rather than standout, workmanlike instead of glamorous. Some may not be too fussed by the low profile appearance but for £400/$449 expected more of a wow factor.

As the headphones can fold (again) the carry case is smaller and shallower, saving some space for when it goes in your bag. The case comes with a magnetic latch which as soon as I saw it, I wondered why more headphones don’t do this instead of a zip that constantly gets caught (I’m looking at you Sonos Ace).

Finishes include this white version, black and Midnight Blue. I’m hoping down the line Sony introduces more vibrant colours but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that.

Features

• Sony voice control
• Stereo upmix to ‘3D’
• Auracast and Bluetooth LE Audio support

Sony headphones arrive stacked with features and the WH-1000XM6 are no different. The sheer number might intimidate more casual users but for those who like to tinker, there’s a lot to customise. Even for those who prefer simplicity, there’s plenty of automation through the Sound Connect app.

All the classics return from Speak-to-Chat that pauses music when the headphones sense you’re speaking (and restarts when you’ve stopped); to Quick Attention where you put your hand on the earcup to hear the outside world, to Adaptive Sound Control that monitors (with your permission) the places you go to and allows for a custom noise-cancelling profile that automatically turns on through geolocation.

Built-in voice control is Google Assistant this time, though the WH-1000XM6 do support Sony’s own voice controls where you can ask to check battery life, turn the noise-cancellation on or raise the volume, among other things.

It won’t work as well if you’re in a noisy area and you’re not speaking loudly enough, and you have to say specific phrases such as “Hey headphones, battery check”, to prompt them. I’ve found it’s worked well and really amps up “look, no hands” magic of using these headphones. It has, on occasion, popped up when I’ve said absolutely nothing, which is strange.

The WH-1000XM6 bears 360 Reality Audio for immersive 3D music support. Head-tracking is supported, though the number of apps that support 360 Reality Audio has dwindled to 360 reality Audio live, Artist Connection and nugs.net. So much for that spatial audio revolution.

New for this headphone is the 360 Reality Audio Upmix for Cinema which, clunky name aside, takes stereo sound and makes the soundstage wider. It works, but aside from stretching the soundstage (while still maintaining clarity), I can’t quite see the point of it.

There’s also the 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer which works with a Sony Bravia XR TV to create a spatial audio profile that’s specific to you.

The stereo upmix is one of the WH-1000XM6’s three listening modes. Cinema is joined by Standard and the Background Music feature that launched with the LinkBuds Fit and Open models.

The Mark IV are the best implementation of the Background Music feature, which pushes music further away from you. You can spread the sound out through three modes (My room, Living room, Café), though the sound quality isn’t the best in some of the modes but that’s not the point. You can’t use this feature when voice control is enabled, nor can you access the equaliser with it on.

The Bluetooth spec is the v5.3, which I’m sure won’t mean much to many, but there’s support for Bluetooth multipoint to connect to two devices simultaneously, while streaming codecs covers SBC, AAC, the higher quality LDAC, Auracast, and Bluetooth LE Audio (LC3) that uses less energy when enabled. You can have LDAC and multipoint on at the same time, which wasn’t the case with older models.

The headphones support Apple’s MFi (Made For iPhone) program, Google Fast Pair helps get the headphones connected to Android devices speedily, and Microsoft’s Swift Pair makes it easy to connect to Windows 10/11 devices quickly. If the headphones are ever misplaced, you can find their location through the Find My service.

You want more? Spotify Tap brings up your favourite tracks/playlists with a touch of a button and the same goes for Amazon Music Play Now. Endel Quick Access offers relaxation through soundscapes and Ingress Prime is an AR (Alternate Reality) game that uses audio cues to help you play.

Battery Life

• Same battery life as before
• Quicker fast-charging

There’s no change in battery life, which stays at 30 hours and is slightly disappointing for anyone looking for more. Especially when headphones like the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless and Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 are pushing 50+ hours.

Sony, perhaps wisely, has decided to focus on improving its quick-charge game with three minutes providing another three hours of playback.

This fantastic stat is rendered moot by the fact that a USB-C PD adaptor is required and is not included with the headphones. Doesn’t sound so fantastic now, does it?

With ANC switched off, the total battery life is 40 hours – the same as WH-1000XM5. In the tests I carried out, the WH-1000XM6 only lost 2% over an hour streaming Spotify at 50% volume. And that was in the headphones’ LDAC/ANC mode, which is pretty fantastic.

Noise-Cancellation

• Improved noise-cancellation
• Clear Ambient Sound mode
• Clear call quality

Sony has made a big noise (ironically) about the WH-1000XM6’s noise-cancellation, and it is very good, but you’ll want to know how well it fares against the competition.

Compared to the WH-1000XM5, the XM6 is a step up in terms of suppressing sounds when tested with a pink noise test. I thought the WH-1000XM5 were pretty great back in 2022 and the WH-1000XM6 makes a mockery of the simpleton who thought that.

It’s against the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones were things get tricky. The performance is pretty much identical in terms of suppressing the pink noise test, and if there’s a difference, it’s beyond my hearing capacity to tell.

I find there’s no discernible difference between them, which considering the Bose launched two years ago, doesn’t give the Sony any real advantage. It might also say something about how wireless headphones might have hit the ceiling as far as ANC goes.

In real-world use I didn’t sense Sony’s latest pair was much better than the competition either. Wearing them on the Northern Line, they cut down a savage amount of noise yet sound still got through. It’s not as if the WH-1000XM6 presented a completely silent experience.

Using them in Leicester Square, the headphones made everything around me sound further away such as the busker singing or people milling around. Wind noise is comfortably managed.

Things are substantially quieter with the headphones on, though the Mark VI headphones continue an aspect of the Mark V’s ANC performance I wasn’t as fond of, which was how it dealt with voices. I can hear a scattering of voices but neither the headphones’ design nor the noise-cancellation puts a stop to hearing people’s voices.

What’s good about the Sony is that it cancels noises very naturally, and by that I mean there’s none of that noise-cancelling sound or pressure you’d associate with ANC headphones.

Just as natural is the Ambient Sound mode which lets sound in with a great sense of clarity and detail – no noise or harshness, it just sounds very clear.

Call quality is very good although perhaps not the best. My voice sounded natural, the voice of the person on the other end sounded clear, but they mentioned there’s a little more noise coming through on the Sony than there was using the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3.

Sound Quality

• Better treble performance
• Clear, balanced sound
• Wider soundstage

The aesthetic of the Sony WH-1000XM6 is not the only biggest change that’s been made, with the audio receiving an overhaul too. Where the WH-1000XM5 and the models before it had a richer sound, the Mark IV has pushed towards a more neutral audio profile.

If you weren’t a fan of the Mark V’s richer bass – and a few weren’t – this headphone sounds more balanced.

But don’t take a more neutral sound to be ‘bland’, ‘clinical, or ‘flat’. Compared to the WH-1000XM5 and the WH-1000XM6 is a better listening experience across the frequency range.

The most notable change is with the treble, an area I’ve found previous Sony over-ears to be a little lacking; on the Mark IV the highs have greater presence within a track. They don’t sound as smothered as they did on the previous model, and treble is given greater clarity and detail.

Along with the more balanced sound profile, you can hear those highs with more brightness and sharpness in a track such as Andreas Ihlebæk’s Come Summer.

Jumping to the bottom of the frequency range and I’d say that the WH-1000XM6 has a stronger sense of bass through the 30mm driver than the older model. With aespa’s Supernova there’s more punch to the low frequencies than there was on the Mark V, more clarity and definition too but without the richness that was a characteristic of Sony’s headphones. The key word again is balance.

With the same track, I noticed that the soundstage is a little wider, and the way the WH-1000XM6 organises the soundstage has changed. The soundstage has been brought forward closer to your ears, so it’s closer rather than distant. Instruments sound bigger, the level of detail extracted from is better and this extends to voices too.

Frank Sinatra’s voice in Fly Me to the Moon is not only much closer to your ears, but it sounds bigger and clearer. There’s a little more insight with this model – I wouldn’t describe the sound as crisp as it still carries that smooth tone to music but it does come across as clearer and more balanced.

What I wouldn’t say about the WH-1000XM6 is that they’re any more dynamic in terms of conveying the difference between quiet and loud. They also suffer from the same problem many headphones do these days, where they sound slightly tame at normal listening volumes. Pump the volume up and there’s more energy and excitement.

Most of all though, the WH-1000XM6 aren’t the best-sounding wireless headphones at this price. While all the changes Sony has made have been positive, the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 sound clearer, more detailed and dynamic for the same money. The Sony WH-1000XM6 sound good as plenty of music genres, but the Px7 S3 are a step up.

Should you buy it?