Sony WH-1000XM6 review

Sony has gone back to the foldable style design for the XM6 after taking feedback from people who didn’t prefer the non-foldable design of the XM5. This is good because it makes the case smaller, but folding the thing is also a fiddly affair in my opinion, because you have to match the fold the correct way to get it perfectly into the case. A minor inconvenience, honestly. However, the case now takes up less space than before, but very slightly, and I still prefer the XM4 case design. The case itself has a magnetic clamp to open and shut it without the need for a zip. It opens like a book, and this saves me time, which I will inevitably waste while trying to fold the headphones the correct way.

Wear the thing next to the Sony XM5 and you’ll need Sherlock’s wits to find the difference. The Sony WH-1000XM6 have slightly softer edges on the cups and a wider headband, which offers overall better comfort. These clamp down slightly more than the XM5 but nothing that will give you a headache. The clamping force is well-judged and even adds better passive isolation than the predecessor.

I wore them for a measly one-and-a-half-hour flight to Goa, and the headphones were not fatiguing. They have plenty of swivel and rotation of the hinges, and don’t make any creaking or unpleasant sounds, even if you sleep with them on a flight. Sony has maintained that reassuring build quality, which the XM line of headphones is known for.

All the touch controls are on the right earcup like before, and now they have a slightly smoother and faster touch response compared to the previous generation. I would still prefer physical buttons over touch controls because it’s very easy to accidentally touch the earpads while sleeping on a flight. I use ANC for silencing the plane noise to get some shut eye, and with the Sonys, I have to strategically get a left side window seat to rest my head on the left side of the earcup. Very specific, yes, but also a very real problem with touch controls.

Oh, the earpads are now replaceable. It’s locked in place with plastic hooks, which are not as easily removable as the Apple AirPod Max’s magnetic earpads, but I will take this option over the XM5’s earpads that require a prying tool and the precision of a surgeon.

Plonk these on your head and you’ll be shocked at the level of performance Sony has squeezed from their new 30mm driver. It’s the same size as before, but it’s paired with a new QN3 processor that is responsible for ANC and also the sound quality. Sony says the QN3 has a ‘look-ahead noise shaper’, which advances the digital-to-analogue conversion and improves timing and rhythm. Call me impressed because the darn thing works, and the improvement over the QN1 (yes, they skipped a generation number) is immediately noticeable.

The Sony WH-1000XM6 don’t waste time catching the rhythm in Dracula by Tame Impala. Where the AirPods Max and Sony’s own WH-1000XM5 sound good, but the Sony WH-1000XM6 bring a level of detail and expressive sound that is impressive to say the least. 

The Sony's place the backup singers and the percussion instruments in The River of Dreams with precision, clarity and detail, and does that without colouring Billy Joel’s falsetto and spiritual candour. Everything just comes together here with immaculate cohesion and timing that it’s easy to get lost in the melody and tap along to the rhythm. You can hear every breath in detail from the singers as the song reaches its final minute and breaks into a choir.

The WH-1000XM6 have depth and detail that is unlike anything I’ve heard in this price range. You can hear Ryan Karazija’s voice as clear as if he’s recording the vocals right into your ear. The texture in his vocals for I’ll Keep Coming by Low Roar stays until the final crescendo with the drums, synth, bass, cello and guitar all coming together for the final payoff.

The Sony WH-1000XM6 do lean towards being a bit mid-forward in my opinion. These emphasise the vocals a wee bit too much for my liking, and compared to my Apple AirPods Max, it’s apparent. But it doesn’t lose any of the finesse or the emotions in Conor Mason’s voice in Impossible by Nothing But Thieves. Even Trip Switch and Wake Up Call sound energetic and fun, which makes the Sony WH-1000XM6 so incredibly great. These are the headphones I can recommend to anyone, regardless of their choice in music. The same can be said for the XM5, but the XM6 have a more expansive sound and brings out a level of detail that was missing in this category.

If you asked anyone which is the best headphone to take on a flight for ANC, we’d point at one with a Sony logo on it and this time, the Sony WH-1000XM6 continue the noise-cancelling legacy of its predecessor. The number of mics has been increased from 8 to 12 compared to XM5, and it has a clever trick called Auto Ambient Sound, which detects noise around you like a chatty colleague and shuts it out before you even realise it. 

Arguably, the best feature of the XM6 is the noise-cancelling. We took a flight to Goa and never even heard the plane rumble once. Where some sounds of chatty folks around you would seep in on the XM5, the XM6 targets those as well and shuts them out. Crying babies and yapping Indian uncles are never an issue with these on. 

The beamforming mics placed outside also have a metal grille to improve wind noise reduction. That, and the Integrated Processor V2 uses AI to keep the plosives and tinny sounds in check when you’re on a call. The result is that Sony’s mic sounds better than the AirPods Max, which was my gold standard for wireless headphone mic in this price bracket.

Sony hasn't just been tinkering under the bonnet with the sound and silence; the XM6s are stuffed with features. Fancy a cinema experience in your head? The 360 Upmix for Cinema turns any two-channel stereo into a blockbuster audio experience. For your less-than-pristine MP3s, DSEE Extreme gives them an AI-powered spit and polish, upscaling them in real-time for near hi-res quality. If you're a tweaker, the revamped EQ now sports ten bands for granular control, while a new ‘Find Your Equaliser’ mode makes it EQ-sy for anyone to find their perfect sound. Feeling lazy? Head Gesture Control lets you nod to accept calls, which is a real no-brainer. And in what might be the most clutch feature of all, if you're caught short on juice, you can now keep listening while they charge. Take that, low battery anxiety.

Got battery anxiety? The XM6s are the cure. They'll serenade you for a solid 30 hours, which is more than enough to survive a trip to the other side of the planet. And for those 'Oh no, I forgot to charge them' moments, a lightning-fast three-minute charge gives you three more hours of playback. That's what we call a power nap.

Are the Sony WH-1000XM6 the new cans to beat? In a word: absolutely. Sony has taken the already brilliant XM5s, listened to the grumbles, and delivered a sequel that's less The Godfather Part III and more The Empire Strikes Back. The audio quality is sublime, delivering a level of detail and expression that'll have you rediscovering your favourite albums. The noise-cancelling is so ridiculously effective it might just be actual witchcraft, capable of silencing everything from engine roar to the most determinedly chatty seatmate. 

They've brought back the foldable design (hooray!), made them even comfier for long hauls, and packed in a raft of genuinely useful features. While the audiophile in me notes a slight mid-forward push, and the fiddly folding mechanism is a minor niggle, these are tiny quibbles in an otherwise flawless performance. If you want the best all-round wireless noise-cancellers money can buy, your search ends here. Sony isn't just in the lead; they're so far ahead they're practically lapping the competition.