The Best Consumer Headphones Ever? Sony Unveils the WH-1000XM6

If you have even a slight interest in audio products, I can bet that you know about Sony’s line of painfully-named consumer headphones. The WH-1000XM5 (I just say 1000X Mark 5) stood as king for a very long time, bringing excellent audio quality and noise cancellation that was pretty much unbeatable.

Today, three years later, Sony has brought out the successor to those excellent cans. The WH-1000XM6 will have big shoes to fill, but on paper, it looks like the headphones might just be doing that. In fact, these might be the best headphones that you can get as a consumer, especially if you love noise canceling. The biggest problem, though? The price.

Sony’s New WH-1000XM6 Levels Up on Its Predecessor in Almost Every Way

Some manufacturers would find it hard to beat the Sony WH-1000XM5, which were released in 2022, and we wouldn’t blame them too much for that. However, Sony has no option but to make those headphones even better, and it seems that that’s what they’ve done this year. Let’s talk about it.

Design

Compared to last year, Sony has slightly redesigned its flagship headphones. The flat surface on the side of each earcup is now perfectly circular instead of oval. The stem connecting the headband to the earcups is now perfectly straight, instead of having a little kink in it. The headband also changes shape slightly. I’m not sure whether the average person will be able to notice, though.

However, the most important aspect of its design is that the headphones can fold again. For some inexplicable reason, Sony didn’t design the 1000XM5 to fold, but this year, the folding is back, allowing for a more compact build for traveling. The carry case is also redesigned, and a magnetic clasp instead of a zipper is used. That makes opening and closing it so much faster than before.

The headphones are available in three basic colors:

• Black
• Midnight Blue
• Platinum Silver

Audio

The most important aspect of a pair of headphones is how good your music sounds when using them. Sony has never been a slouch in that regard. These were developed in collaboration with the best mastering engineers, and new drivers mean that these probably sound amazing.

Of course, there’s support for High-Res Audio, both wired and wireless (which will be a lot more accessible for the average person if Spotify finally does what it needs to). DSEE Extreme also helps make compressed music sound much better.

Call quality should be better than last year’s model, considering that there are six beam-forming microphones used for calls on this pair of headphones. Those are used for noise canceling, but they also help pick out your voice from among all the other nonsense in the background.

Noise Cancellation

For a lot of people, ANC is the biggest reason to choose Sony’s headphones over any of the competitors. After all, a lot of audio OEMs provide great sound. Sony does too, but it brings everything else to the party, too, including class-leading noise cancellation. In fact, Sony says this is the “best noise cancelling”.

Besides its 12 mics, these headphones have the new HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN3, which operates seven times faster than the previous model. Needless to say, that should help a lot. Plus, the Adaptive NC Optimizer adjusts to any kind of external noise to cancel it out effectively.

Plus, there’s Auto Ambient Sound, which is an incredibly cool feature that will help let in only specific external sound, such as announcements or conversations.

Features

You probably know this already, but the surface on the side of the headphones is a touch panel. But if you’re not a fan of that, you also get tactile buttons for switching between noise canceling, ambient mode, and mic mute. Of course, there’s also a button to turn the device on.

You get features like Quick Access, which lets you use taps on the touch panel to start playing music. Sony has also developed Scene-Based Listening to play music based on the activity it detects, whether that might be a walk or working out at the gym.

The headphones come with fast charging, so that a three-minute charging session gives you enough power to listen for three hours.

Pricing

The pricing of the Sony WH-1000XM6 might be the part of the equation where most interested parties sign off. The headphones are more expensive than last year, at $449. Considering last year’s model also had a price increase compared to its predecessor, these cans are getting dangerously pricey.

It’s hard to say they don’t deliver on their price. On paper, they might be the very best headphones that most consumers would be willing to pay for, so perhaps they warrant that price. Who knows. Are you considering getting these headphones? Let us know in the comments.