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Sony WH-1000XM6: https://geni.us/GC-SonyWH1000XM6
Sony WH-1000XM5: https://geni.us/GC-WH-1000XM5
So these are the Sony WH-1000XM6’s and it really shows that Sony is listening cause these addressed almost all of the hardware issues that I had with the Sony 1000XM5’s. Most notably the Sony 1000XM6’s have brought back their foldable design, their ear cups are a little more spacious, and their headband has a little more surface area so hot spots are less of an issue. And more importantly, these block out more noise than the Sony 1000XM5’s, which was already super impressive. However there are some firmware issues here that are preventing these headphones from being perfect. Nonetheless today we’re going to checkout the Sony 1000XM6’s and we’re going to see how they compare to both the Sony 1000XM5’s and the Sony 1000XM4’s… and we’re also going to be throwing in the Sony 1000XM3’s and the 1000XM2’s for good measure.
Regarding pricing, there has been another price increase. The Sony WH-1000XM6’s now have a retail price of $450… where as the 1000XM5’s had a retail price of $400 and the 1000XM4’s had a real price of $350 when they first came out. Nonetheless, I do expect these headphones to go on sale on a regular basis so 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 than you can always pick up some merch.
So first theres the case… cause just like the headphones, this case has gotten an upgrade from its predecessors. Since the Sony 1000XM6’s have a collapsible design again like the XM4’s and older… the XM6’s now have a smaller case than the 1000XM5’s which have a lay flat design to them… which means the XM5’s case just has a very large foot print. Now ive always said, I love the performance of the 1000XM5’s escpially when it comes to active noise cancellation… but since their case is so big… this weren’t my favorite headphones to fly with cause I felt this case was too cumbersome. But thankfully, the XM6’s case is back in line with the XM4’s case. But more importantly, this case is a hard shell case so its going to have no problem protecting your headphones even if you have them in a cramped backpack and this case is decently thin as well. But something that is new is that the XM6’s case now has a magnetic latch on it, so its very easy to open and close and since this latch is actually past the mid way point on the side of this case, this latch is actually very secure.
However, if you’re one of those crazy people that just attaches their headphones case to their back pack… and to me this just never makes sense cause I feel its very annoying to have this thing swing from your bag… and its also inviting someone to easily steal your headphones… I would still be cautious cause maybe this latch will open if you’re sprinting through the airport to your next flight. Now ive tried running and this case didn’t open up… but I would still play it safe. But as a normal person that stores his headphones in his back pack or carryon… having this magnetic latch on this new case is super conviente.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves… design wise, I love how the 1000XM6’s look. The 1000XM6’s share the same design language as the 1000XM5’s… but they look sleeker and they are more low profile… but they share the same characteristics as the 1000XM4’s and before cause they have a collapsible design to them again. Now the ear cups on the 1000XM6 have a lot of range of motion to them cause they pivot and swivel a lot so they are going to be able to rest on any head shape and they’re going to feel very natural… and just like the 1000XM5’s… the headband on the 1000XM6’s glides in and out… peronsally I prefer when my head band clicks like on the 1000XM4’s and before cause I know that if I go 7 clicks out on each arm… im always going to have my perfect fit. But more importantly… if we move up the headband on the 1000XM6’s you’re going to notice that this headband now has more surface area than the headband found on the 1000XM5’s… and like I said from day one, I didn’t like the slim headband on the 1000XM5’s cause this would lead to hot spots much quicker… but with the 1000XM6’s, since this headband is wider… hot spots aren’t as big as an issue… however I do wish that this headband had more padding on it like the headband on the 1000XM4’s… and finally theres the leatherette on these headphones. The XM6’s are using very similar leatherette to the one found on the XM5’s… its soft but theres a very slight grain to it… its kind of like soft touch… but with less friction to it. But more importantly, I think it feels better than the leatherette found on the XM4’s cause I feel that it feels very plastic.
But then theres just the overall durability of these headphones… just like the XM5’s, the XM6’s are using a lot of recycled plastics… they have a slight slate finish to them so they offer a lot of grip… but more importantly I think we have to look at these hinges… now Sony’s headphones have this reputation of usually breaking at the hinges cause therye mostly plastic… and this was defiantly a big issue with the XM5… but with the XM6’s it looks like sony went in and reenforced this hinges cause we actually have metal arms now, unlike the hinges on the XM4’s which are just straight plastic. So heres hoping that the new reenforced hinge design will lead to better long term durability on the 1000XM6’s… but this is something that only time and a large sample size will be able to prove.
But then theres the overall fit of these headphones. When it comes to clamping force, the Sony 1000XM6’s have a neutral amount of clamping force just like the XM5’s and XM4’s… which means they aren’t lose fitting like with lets say Bose’s headphones… but they aren’t overall tight like the Beats Studio Pro. The Sony 1000XM6’s offer a very natural fit and most importantly, they are big head approved and even if you like to wear hats, these headphones will have you covered. And like I mentioned earlier, since these ear cups pivot and swivel a lot, these headphones will sit very naturally on your head. And when they’re on your head… therye much sleeker and much more low profile than the XM5s… which I personally really appreciate cause I feel the XM5’s just looked very bulbous when you had them on.
And just like the XM’5 and the XM4’s… the XM6’s are very light weight weighing in at 254 grams… just like the XM4’s… where as the XM5’s weigh in at 250 grams. But more importantly since the XM6’s are so light weight, therye aren’t super noticeable when you’re walking around with them on cause you dont feel them shifting around all that much… and therye very easy to forget that you’re wearing them if you’re sitting at your desk or while on the plane… or if you’re just lying in bed. But then there are the ear cups on these headphones. Now the ear cups on the XM6’s have a very similar diameter to the ear cups on the XM5’s… however, the ear cups on the XM6’s are more spacious than the ear cups on the XM5’s cause these ear cups actually push in. So the ear cups on the XM6’s are going to be able to accommodate slightly larger ears or ears that stick out more a lot better than the more shallow ear cups found on the XM5’s. But then there are the ear cups on the XM4’s… these ear cups are still more spacious than the ear cups on the XM6’s. For me, the ear cups on the XM6’s fit me just fine… but I still prefer the roomier ear cups found on the XM4’s.
But more importantly, since the ear pads on the XM6’s have so little surface area coming in contact with your skin… and since these earpads aren’t overly stuffed with padding… these earpads actually do a really good job of staying cooler for longer. So overall, I really like the new design of the XM6’s. They look much sleeker and more low profile than the XM5’s… but they brought back the collapsible design. I like that they increased the width of the headband from the XM5’s so this helps with hot spot prevention and I like that they reenforced the hinges on these headphones. And the ear pads on the XM6’s are more spacious than the earpads found on the XM5’s. But personally I wish the earpads on the XM6’s were as spacious as the earpads on the XM4’s, and I wish the XM6’s had a little more padding on the underside of the headband like on the XM4’s.
But now lets talk about tech specs. Regarding 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 that can go as long as 40 hours. So battery life on the XM6’s is the same as the XM5’s and XM4’s and in general this is a little above average. Overall battery life on the XM6’s is still very good for headphones in 2025, but for the XM7’s I would like to see a meaningful battery life increase.
And in order to charge these headphones, they charge via a USB C as they should. But something that is new for the XM6’s is that you can now use them while they’re charging, which is actually very good if you plan on using these headphones as a gaming headset. And when it comes to fast charging, if you were to charge these headphones up from a dead battery for 3 minutes, you’re going to get 3 hours of playback time.
However, you can not use the USB C port on these headphones as a wired connection… but more importantly, these headphones still have a 3.5 millimeter audio jack and they come with an audio cable… so you can use these headphones with the entrainment system on an airplane… and you can still use these headphones passively which is good if you’re flying or if you want to use these headphones for content creation.
And when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, these headphones can be connected to any two bluetooth devices at the same time which is good if you’re a power user cause you can quickly hot swap between any two devices regardless of eco system, latency is not an issue for these headphones so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone, and when it comes to audio codecs, the XM6 have support for SBC, AAC and LDAC which is Sony’s own in house high res audio codec. Just keep in mind that if you do want to use LDAC you have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC… and if you do use LDAC, that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life. Cause with ANC turned on and with LDAC turned on, your battery life is going to go from 30 hours of playback to 26 hours of playback.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these headphones. Now the Sony 1000XM6’s sound good any they get the job done. The 1000XM6’s actually sound very similar to the 1000XM5’s in the sense that they have much better instrument separation than the 1000XM4’s and they also do a much better job of focusing on the vocals… vocals are very prominent on these headphones… but the problem with the 1000XM6’s is that they some how have less kick in their bass than the 1000XM5’s. So with the Sony 1000XM6’s, they sound good, open and detailed… but they’re kind of just missing some fun cause the bass on these headphones isn’t going to kick, or resonate like with a lot of other headphones out. And with the 1000XM6’s, they no longer have a dedicated clear bass slider like with either the XM5’s or XM4’s. Now you can always go in and adjust the EQ on these headphones… but I dont like using a costume EQ on the XM6’s cause it sounds like they lose a lot of their instrument seperation and openess. And even if I were to go in and raise the bass on the XM6’s… this bass dont perform like the bass on the XM4’s and more importantly like I just mentioned, they loose some of their instrument seperation.
So overall, I think the Sony 1000XM6’s get the job done, they sound good cause they have really good instrument seperation, they sound very open and the vocals on these headphones are very prominent just like with the 1000XM5’s… but since these headphones have even less phsycailllty in their bass than the 1000XM5’s, they aren’t as dynamic or as fun to listen to. And if I had to choose, personally I still prefer to listen to music and watch movies with the 1000XM4’s. Now the 1000XM4’s dont have as good instrument seperation as either the XM5’s or XM6’s and admiditly they can sound a little hollow at times by comparison… but since the bass on these headphones is a lot more dramatic and you can actually get some tickles when the bass starts resonating… I feel that its more fun to listen to music with the XM4’s cause they make you feel like you’re in your music… where as with the XM6’s, these just sound too subdued or therye a little too affriad to bend the rules and they strictly color within the lines. So im not saying that the Sony 1000XM6’s sound bad… im just saying that I prefer how the 1000XM4’s perform over the XM5’s and XM6’s.
Now when it comes to the media controls on these headphones, just like with most of Sony’s headphones, the XM6’s have a touchpad. You can double tap to play or pause your music, and you can swipe front or back to skip through your music and you can swim up or down to adjust the volume. And pro tip, if you swipe up or down and hold you can continually raise or lower the volume. And overall these touchpads are very accurate and they’re easy enough to use.
But also, the 1000XM6’s still have wear sensors so they’ll automaticity play or pause your music when you put them on or take them off and these wear sensors are very fast to react which is good. But if you dont want to use the wear sensors on these headphones then you can always turn them off.
And the XM6’s actually have a few more gimmicks up its sleeve, first off these headphones have gesture controls so you can node yes or no to accept phone calls… and these headphones can also do head tracking if you’re going to be listing to 360 degree audio formats. And the XM6’s actually have their own built in voice commands so you can say hey headphones lower the volume, or you can say hey headphones noise cancelation on… but overall, all of these extra gimmicks I just turn them off.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancellation on these headphones. Now for the last few years the Sony 1000XM5’s have been the king of active noise cancelation cause they managed to block out the most amount of noise with the least amount of cabin pressure… and both the 1000XM5’s and 1000XM4’s were the best ANC headphones to fly with cause thank to their built in atmospheric pressure sensors, they were able to block out way more noise than other premium ANC headphones while at crusing altitude.
But now we have the 1000XM6’s which first off has a new QN3 chip for active noise cancellation and they now have 12 built in microphones versus the XM5’s 8 microphones and the XM4’s 4 microphones. And I can confidently say that the 1000XM6’s block out noticeably more noise than both the XM5’s and XM4’s and they do so with minimal cabin pressure. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test… and we’re even going to be including both the 1000XM3’s and the 1000XM2’s in this test.
ANC Test
So like you may have just seen, this ANC test is pretty straight forward, as you move down the list, these headphones are able to block out more and more noise. However, whats super imrepssive is that the amount of noise additional noise the XM6’s are able to block out compared to the XM5’s is actually super noticeable. If you were to compare the XM4’s to the XM5’s the difference is marginal… but if you were to compare the XM5’s to the XM6’s… the XM6’s are just able to block out much more of those higher frequency sounds… so when it comes to road noise theres less of the higher end hum and when it comes to block out chatter, people’s voice are just much more effectively blocked out.
Now another thing with both the XM5’s and XM6’s is that they are constantly calibrating themselves depending on your wearing position and atmospheric pressure… IE if you’re on ground level or if you’re flying in an airplane… where as with the XM4’s and older you constantly need to go through the calibration process yourself if you want the best ANC performance. And this is something that you should defiantly do if you’re flying and once you land you actually want to go through this process again.
Now I know that this sounds like a whole lot of marketing fluff, but the atmospheric pressure sensors on Sony’s 1000X series of headphones just made both the XM5’s and XM4’s the best ANC headphones to fly with cause while at cursing altitude both the XM5’s and XM4’s were able to block out way more noise than lets say the Bose QC Ultra, Bose QC headphones, AirPods Max or Sennhesier Momentum 4’s. And I expect the 1000XM6’s to also perform extremely well while at cruising altitude thanks to the built in atmospheric pressure sensor on these headphones as well, and rest assured that we’ll be publishing this test soon in a separate video.
But overall, yes, the Sony 1000XM6’s are able to block out even more noise than both the XM5’s and XM4’s… and the active noise cancelation improvement on the XM6’s is pretty significant even if you’re comparing them with the XM5’s. And thanks to the built in atmospheric pressure sensor, these are poised to continue to be the best ANC headphones to fly with if you want to block out the absolute most amount of noise.
And then theres the ambient mode on these headphones, now just like with sony’s other ANC headphones you can adjust how much ambient noise they let in and you can also set it so that they block out noise pollution but still let in people’s voices. But if you’re planning on running through an airport terminal with these headphones, I recommend that you let everything in so that you can understand what they’re saying through the louder speaker. But the important thing here is, the Ambient mode on the XM6’s also sounds more clear and more natural than the ambient mode on both the XM5’s and XM4… it doesn’t sound as natural as the ambient mode on the AirPods Max… but its super close. But more importantly, the microphone array on these headphones also do a really good job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors.
But something that is really disappointing about the XM6’s is that their Ambient Mode doesn’t do as good of a job as blocking out sudden loud sounds like sirens. And this is very disappointing cause both the XM3’s and XM4’s are able to do this without any problems… but both the XM5’s and XM6’s still cant manage to get this right, but let me just show you, and this is your head hopes warning.
So like you may have just seen, the XM6’s dont even react, they just let in every thing. And even if we were to set them to Auto Ambient Mode and set them to high sensitivity… they dont block out the noise, like this.
Active ambient mode demo XM6 Auto
So in this second demo the XM6 reacted a little… but then they just let everything back in again. Where as with the XM5’s… they actually react, but they turn off their ambient mode on and off and on and off, like this.
XM5 active ambient mod
So like you say, the XM5’s actually reacted… but they still weren’t able to execute properly… but then theres the XM4’s which actually get it right, like this.
XM4 Active ambient mod
So like you just saw, with the XM4’s when they detected that loud sound they turned off their ambient mode and it stayed off until that loud sound stopped. And this is super important to prevent your ears from just getting blasted. And I just dont get why Sony hasn’t been able to get this right after the XM4’s came out… so I really hope that they can fix this through a firmware update… but right now I dont have high hopes cause I have been saying the same thing with the XM5’s and they still preform the same since day one. I know that im being very nitpick here… but since the Sony WH-1000XM6’s are a pair of very premium ANC Headphones I think its fair to expect good execution especially when its software side.
But also, the XM6’s have speak to chat which can also be found on the XM5’s and XM4’s and it works like this.
Speak to chat demo
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.
Mic XM4 quite
And finally heres the microphone test… and sony has also been progressively improving the miphone on their headphones.
Mic xm5 quiet
And up until recently, I think the Sony 1000XM5’s had one of the best performing microphones cause it sounds very good while in a quiet room and this mic also does a great job of dealing with noise pollution.
Mic XM6 quite
But with the Sony 1000XM6’s… unfortunanlty this mic isn’t as good as the mic on the XM5’s… even though the XM6’s are using 6 beam forming mics versus the XM5’s 4 beam forming mics. Now while in a quite room, the mcirphgone on the XM6’s sounds very similar to the mic on the XM5’s and it sounds better than the mic on the XM4’s.
Mic XM6 Road Noise
But when it comes to blocking out noise pollution, I dont know what’s happening here cause these are just letting in all of this road noise and there’s interference going on with my voice.
Mic XM5 Road Noise
Where as with the XM5’s, these are doing a much better job of dealing with this noise pollution, cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to the Sony 1000XM5’s it is severely reduced and theres minimal interferences going on with my voice.
Mic XM4 Road Noise
The Only positive thing that I can say is, the XM6’s dont sound as bad as the Sony 1000XM4’s when it comes to blocking out road noise.
Mic XM4 Chatter
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, the Sony 1000XM4’s really struggle here as well cause they are just letting in everything as well.
Mic XM6 Chatter
And its sad to say that the Sony 1000XM6’s are also really struggling here when it comes to blocking out chatter cause they’re letting in everything and theres interference going on with my voice.
Mic XM5 Chatter
Where as with the Sony 1000XM5’s these are doing a much better job of dealing with this chatter cause again for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter, but if we were to switch back over to the Sony 1000XM5’s it is severely reduced. Yes theres a little bit of interference on my voice, but the chatter is actually blocked. So personally I am very disappointed to see that the Mic on the Sony 1000XM6 doesn’t perform as well as the Mic on the 1000XM5’s and I really hope that Sony fixes this as well through a future firmware update and they need to do it fast.
But with all of that being said, the Sony WH-1000XM6’s are good but there are certain things that are preventing these headphones from being expectational… but some of those things can be fixed through a firmware update. First off I really like that Sony listened and they brought back the collapsable design to the XM6’s… which also means we get a smaller and more convenient case again which is great for flying… and the magnetic latch is a nice touch, I really like it. And overall, I like the look of the XM6… but personally I still find the XM4’s are more comfortable than the XM6’s thanks to their more spacious ear cups and better padded headband.
But when it comes to active noise cancelation, you can not deny that they Sony 1000XM6’s block out noticeably more noise than both the XM5’s and XM4’s… and thanks to the built in atmospheric pressure sensor, the 1000XM6’s are poised to be the best ANC Headphones to fly with cause they’ll be able to block out the most amount of noise while at crusing altitude. The ambient mode on these headphones also sounds super natural. However I really need sony to go an adjust the ambient mode on these headphones so that they will actively and properly block out sudden loud sounds like the Sony 1000XM4’s. If both the Sony 1000XM3’s and Sony 1000XM4’s can get this right, theres no excuse why the Sony 1000XM5’s and Sony 1000XM6’s can’t get this right either.
And while Sony’s at it, they need to fix the mcirpgone performance on the Sony 1000XM6’s as well. The Mic on the XM6’s sound good while in a quiet room… but these dont block out noise pollution as well as the XM5’s. And again, if the XM5’s can get this right, the XM6’s should as well.
And finally theres the sound, the Sony 1000XM6’s sound good, they sound very open, they have great instuemetn separation and the vocals are very promintinte on these headphones… but im missing the kick in the bass so the Sony 1000XM6’s aren’t as fun as the Sony 1000XM4’s. And im not asking for an unreasonable amount of bass like on the ULT wear, but I need enough to that I get some tingling down my spine.
But regardless, the Sony 1000XM6’s are a great option to consider if you’re planning on flying a lot with your headphones cause these things genuinely are blocking out a ton of noise and thanks to their new old design, they now have a smaller case again which is a lot more comfortable for traveling. But what sony really needs to do ASAP is fix the microphone performance on these headphones and if they can fix the active ambient mode on these headphones as well, that would be nice.