Just like the Sony 1000XM5’s, the Sony 1000XM6’s are perhaps that best ANC Headphones to fly with cause they block out the most amount of noise, and thanks to their built in atmospheric pressure sensors, they should be able to block out the most amount of noise while at cruising altitude. And thankfully, Sony changed the hardware on the 1000XM6’s so they’re a little more comfortable than the 1000XM5’s and they have a smaller case again, making them better for traveling. But today we are going to compare the Sony 1000XM6’s to both the AirPods Max and the beats studio pro. Now the AirPods Max are one of my favorite sounding headphones, and they have a much better sounding microphone on them for phone calls than the Sony. But the Beats Studio Pro are hard for me to justify. Nonetheless, let see which ones are right for you.
Regarding pricing, the AirPods Max have a retail price of $550… which is a lot especially for all of the compromises that you have to make with these headphone, and honestly these are just status symbols for people that just dont know any better. The Sony 1000XM6’s have a retail price of $450… which is a price increase, but still justifiable… and then there are the Beats Studio Pro which have a retail price of $350 which is super overpriced and honestly I would only consider these headphones if they’re on sale for something stupid like $150. Nonetheless if you want to pick these headphones up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button, and if you want to further support the channel then you can always pick up some merch.
Now first lets talk about the included carrying cases cause this is very important if you plan on traveling with your headphones. Now the Sony 1000XM6’s come included with a decently small hard shell case thats going to keep your headphones protected even if you cram them into a cramped back pack. And this is what we expect to see to come included with our premium ANC Headphones. Where as the Beats Studio Pro… these come with a soft-shell case… so you run the risk of crushing these headphones. And then there are the AirPods Max who’s case doesn’t even fully protect the headphones. So personally I feel that the cases the come with Apple’s headphones are just unacceptable… where as Sony just managed to get this very simple thing right, plus this case is an upgraded compared to the Sony 1000XM5’s cause its smaller and it has this new magnetic latch which makes it super easy to get in and out.
But with the cases out of the way, lets talk about the headphones themselves. Regarding fit, the Sony 1000XM6 are hands down a lot more comfortable than both of Apples headphones for multiple reasons. Now first off, both the AirPods Max and Beats Studio Pro’s have a tighter fit to them. The Beats Studio Pro’s are tighter than the AirPods Max, so personally I feel that the Beats aren’t big head approved. Where as with the Sony 1000XM6, these have a more neutral fit, as in they aren’t too tight and they aren’t too lose, but more importantly, they are big head approved. But also there are the headbands on these headphones. Now the headbands on both the AirPods Max and XM6 are well padded and they dont cause any hot spots, and honestly, this net on the AirPods Max is one of the coolest things ever. But the headband on the Beats Studio Pro has very little padding on it, so it does cause a hot spot on the top of your head after like 30 or 40 minutes. But then, theres also the ear cups on these headphones. Now the ear cups on both the AirPods Max and Sony 1000XM6 have a lot of range of motion to them, which is great, where as the ear cups on the beats studio pro, not so much. So what happens with the beats studio pro is that their earcups will apply a little more pressure on the anterior portion of your ears making them feel a little unnatural. But then there are the ear cups on these headphones. The ear cups on the beats studio pro are very shallow, so they will press down on your ear cartilage, which does get uncomfortable after like 40 minutes as well. Now the earpads on the AirPods Max are more spacious, but their fabric earpads can get a little itchy at times. But finally there are the Sony 1000XM6 who’s earpads are more spacious than the earpads on the Beats Studio pro, but they aren’t as spacious as the AirPods Max. But still these earpads are more comfortable cause they aren’t as cramps as the Beats and they dont get itch like the AirPods Max.
And finally theres the weight of these headphones. The Sony 1000XM6 are the lightest headphones here weighing in at 254 grams, where as the Beats Studio pro weigh in at 260 grams, but then there are the AirPods Max which weigh in at a hefty 384 grams… so these headphones are very noticeable then they’re on your head. Now the reason why the AirPods Max weigh so much is because they are using much more premium materials, but these premium materials shouldn’t be to the detriment of comfort. Where as with the Sony 1000XM6 are a lot easier to forget that you’re wearing when you’re sitting still and you notice them shifting around a lot less when you’re walking around with them on. So overall, the Sony 1000XM6 are a lot more comfortable than both of Apple’s headphones for multiple reasons. They have less clamping force, their headband doesn’t create a hot spot on the top of your head, they sit more naturally on your head cause their ear cups have good range of motion, their ear cups are more spacious than beats, their ear cups dont get itchy and they’re very light weight. Plainly said, if you’re headphones dont fit well, you’re not going to want to wear them.
But now lets talk about tech specs. When it comes to battery life the Sony 1000XM6’s have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on, and with their ANC turned off they can go for as long as 40 hours.
Where as with the AirPods Max, these have an advertised battery life of 20 hours with their ANC turned on… which is below average… and the Beats Studio pro, they have an advertised battery life of 24 hours which is okay, but the ANC on these headphones isn’t all the great. And with both of these headphones you can use them with their ANC turned off they can go for as long as 40 hours.
And to charge these headphones, they al charge via a USB C Port. However with the Sony 1000XM6’s you can also use these headphones while they’re chargning which is a big deal if you plan on using these as a gaming headset. However, you cant use this USB C port as a wired connection. Where as with both of apple’s headphones you can.
However, both the Sony 1000XM6’s and Beats Studio Pro have an audio jack and they come with an audio cable… where as with the AirPods Max, if you want to use an audio jack, you have to buy a separate cable. However with the Sony 1000XM6’s you can use these headphones passively, where as with both of Apple’s headphones, even if you want to use them with a wired connection, they have to be powered on.
Now when it comes to wireless connectivity, the AirPods Max are a great option for any apple power user cause you can very easily hot swap between all of your apples devices associated to your iCloud account thanks to the H1 chip. Where as the Beats Studio Pro dont have the H1 chip, so hot swapping between devices isn’t as seamless.
But with the Sony 1000XM6’s, these headphones can be connected to any two bluetooth devices regardless of eco system so you can easily hot swap between devices as well. But more importantly latency isn’t an issue for any of these headphones so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone. And when it comes to audio codecs, both of apple’s headphones have support for SBC and AAC where as the Sony have support for SBC, AAC and LDAC which is Sony’s own in house high res audio codecs. However if you want to use LDAC you have to be an adnoird user cause iPhones top out at AAC and if you do use LADC that is going to take its toll on the battery life cause with LDAC your battery is going to go from 30 hours to 26 hours.
But now lets talk about sound. Now the Sony 1000XM6’s sound good. They have really good instrument separation, they sound very open and vocals are very well defined on these headphones. However these headphones aren’t all that much fun to listen to cause they bass doesn’t have all that much kick or resonance to it. Now you can adjust the EQ on these headphones, but I dont like to use a custom EQ on these headphones cause I feel like they lose some of their instrument separation.
But then there are the beats studio pro, these sound almost as open as the Sony 1000XM6’s, but more importantly these are more fun to listen to cause they have more resonance in their bass and the bass has a good amount of kick to it. But then there are the AirPods Max, and these sound as open and have as good instrument separation as the Sony 1000XM6’s… but more importantly, they’re a lot more fun to listen to cause the bass has more resonance to it and the bass has more kick to it. Overall, yes I know that I bag on apple’s headphones a lot cause they have a lot of issues, but sound quality wise, I prefer both of these over the Sony 1000XM6’s. Now the Sony 1000XM6’s still sound good, but they aren’t as fun.
And when it comes to the media controls on these headphones, the beats are using physical buttons but I hate the placement and layout of these buttons… but they get the job done. Where as with the AirPods Max, they have their crown which is a lot sleeker than the button set up on the beats… and then theres the touch pad on the Sony 1000XM6, you can tap to play or pause. Swipe front or back to skip through your music and you can swipe up or down to adjust your volume. And pro tip, if you swipe up and hold, you can continuously adjust your volume. Overall the touch pad on the sony is good, but I know some people prefer the physical buttons on Apple’s headphones.
But also, both the AirPods Max and Sony 1000XM6’s have wear sensors so they’ll automatically play or pause your music when you put them on or take them off… but interestingly enough the Beats Studio Pro dont have wear sensors even though they have a premium price tag. Overall I dont really care for wear sensors, but they are there if you want them.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. For the last few years, the Sony 1000XM5’s have been the best headphones to travel with cause they blocked out the most amount of noise… and thanks to their built in atmospheric pressure sensors, both the Sony 1000XM5’s and Sony 1000XM4’s blocked out the most amount of noise while at cruising altitude. At cruising altitude, the Sony 1000XM4’s are able to block out noticeably more noise than both the Bose QC Ultra and Bose QC.
But now, we have the Sony 1000XM6’s and these continue to block out a ton of noise, and they block out noticeably more noise than the Sony 1000XM5’s as well. Which I feel is super imrepssive. And they block out a ton of noise without having a lot of cabin pressure. Where as with the AirPods Max, these headphones block out a lot of noise… but they have a lot of cabin pressure compared to the Sony 1000XM6’s. And then there are the Beats Studio Pro who’s active noise cancelation performs more like a pair of mid tier ANC headphones. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC Test
ANC Test
So first off, if active noise cancelation is very important to you, then you should stay away from the Beats Studio Pro. The ANC on the Beats Studio Pro performs more like the ANC on a pair of mid tier ANC Headphones like the Sony ULT Wear. The ANC on the Beats Studio pro is useful for your bus ride commute or if you’re in a chatty cafeteria… but the ANC on the beats studio pro does not justify its premium price tag.
But then there are the AirPods Max and Sony 1000XM6… and the Sony 1000XM6’s block out noticeably more noise than the AirPods Max while also having less cabin pressure. Specifically, the Sony 1000XM6’s do a much better job of blocking out higher frequency sounds. So the Sony’s have less of a high pitched hum to them when blocking out road noise or a jet engine… and they also do a better job of blocking out people’s voice, even higher pitched ones.
But what really makes the XM6 special is just like with the XM5’s and XM4’s, these have built in atmospheric pressure sensors and they are constantly calibrating themselves. And while at cruising altitude, both the XM5’s and XM4’s are able to block out way more noise than lets say the Bose QC Ultra, Bose QC Headphones, AirPods Max or Sennheiser Momentum 4’s, so its also safe to assume that the XM6’s are also going to block out a ton of noise while flying, and rest assured that we will be putting out a separate video on that.
But overall, the Sony 1000XM6’s sound good, but I prefer how both the Beats Studio pro and AirPods Max sound cause they sound more fun cause they have a lot more kick and resonance in their bass. However you can not deny that the Sony 1000XM6’s block out way more noise than the Beats Studio Pro, which isn’t all that great to begin with given their price… but they also block out more noise than the AirPods Max, while also having less cabin pressure. If you’re looking for a pair of headphones to fly with, you want the Sony 1000XM6.
But then there are the ambient modes on these headphones. Now the ambient mode on the Sony 1000XM6’s sounds a lot better than the ambient mode on the Beats Studio pro… and it almost sounds as good as the AirPods Max’s ambient mode. However none of these ambient modes properly protect your hearing if a siren suddenly starts playing… so I hope they can fix this through a firmware update. However the Sony 1000XM6’s do have a very extra features over apple’s headphones like speak to chat which works like this.
Speak to chat
But personally, I’m not a really big fan of speak to chat because it is very easy to accidentally active it. If you’re talking to yourself very quietly that can activate it, if you’re singing along to your music, that can activate it, if you start laughing that can active it, and on rare occasions loud enough outside noises can activate it. So that’s why I don’t use it.
Personally, I still prefer to use quick attention on these headphones cause its a lot more intentional. When you fully cover the touch pad on these headphones they’re going to lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you like this.
Quick attention demo
And then when you let go, the headphones will go back to normal. Now like I said, I prefer quick attention cause its a lot more intentional. And this feature is extremely useful especially when you’re flying with these headphones. But I still feel that sony should change it so that when you have this touchpad covered for 5 seconds or more, they should lock themselves in this state so that you can let go, cause keeping your arm up can get uncomftabel and award after awhile. And again, this is something that they can change through a software update.
But overall I really like quick attention cause its super useful especially if you plan on flying a lot with these headphones. Where as with both of apple’s headphones, if someone tries to ask you a quick question you either have to take your headphones off or you have to pause your music and turn on your ambient mode… so its not as sleek.
Mic XM6 quiet
But finally heres the microphone, and unfortunately the Sony 1000XM6’s have the worst performing microphone here.
Mic Beats quiet
Now while in a quiet room all of these headphones sound good enough to take phone calls with while in a quiet room room.
Mic AirPods Quiet
But I do feel that the AirPods Max are the best sounding mcrihpone here while in a quiet room.
Mic AirPods Road NEW
But what really separates apple’s headphones from the Sony 1000XM6 is how they manage to deal with noise pollution. Now the AirPods Max are doing an okay job dealing with this road noise, it is reduced and you can understand what im saying.
Mic Beats Road NEW
But surpsignly the beats studio pro are doing a really good job of blocking out all of this road noise. Cause for comparison, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clealery hear all of this road noise. But if we were to switch back over to the Beats Studio Pro, it is severely reduced.
Mic XM6 Road Noise
And then here are the Sony 1000XM6’s and these dont do a good job of dealing with this raid noise cause there is a lot of interference going on with my voice.
Mic XM5 Road Noise
Cause compared to the Sony 1000XM5’s, these do a much better job of dealing with this road noise. My voice isn’t as emphasized as the AirPods Max… but they have a lot less road noise in the background.
Mic XM5 chatter
And the sony 1000XM5’s also do a decent job of dealing with this chatter…
Mic XM6 Chatter
Where as with the Sony 1000XM6’s these have a lot more chatter in the background and they have a lot more interference on my voice.
Mic beats chatter NEW
Now the beats studio pro are trying to reduce this chatter, but they are also pushing down on my voice a lot. So its very hard to understand me.
Mic AirPods Max Chatter NEW
And then here are the AirPods Max and these are really struggling here as well.
Mic XM5 Chatter NEW
And here we have the Sony 1000XM5’s again and these are doing a better job by comparison of dealing with this chatter. Cause again if we were to switch back over to my lapel microphone, youre going to clealery hear all of this chatter, but if we switch back over to the Sony 1000XM5’s it is reduced. So overall, apple’s headphones do a better job of dealing with road, but all of these headphones are struggling to block out chatter.
But with all of that being said, personally I prefer how both the Beats Studio Pro and AirPods Max sound over the Sony 1000XM6 cause of their more dynamic sound signatures and physicality in their bass, and both of apple’s headphones have a better performing microphone on them to take phone calls with. But I do feel that it is hard to just getting either the AirPods Max or Beats Studio Pro over the Sony 1000XM6 cause they are both very uncomfortable to wear for different reasons, they also dont come included with a proper case for traveling, the battery life on the AirPods Max is very below average, and the ANC On the Beats Studio Pro is not in line with what you’d expect for a pair of premium ANC Headphones. With the Sony 1000XM6’s, these headphones are a lot more comfortable, they hands down block out way more noise then both of apple’s headphones and they have a proper case with a new magnetic latch. However I really need Sony to fix the mic on these headphones, at least.