Sony Unveils WH-1000XM6 Headphones With A Big ANC Upgrade And Scene-Based Profiles
It's been three years of wondering and waiting, but we guess Sony was taking its time honing and refining its all-new WH-1000XM6 headphones. Building on the previous WH-1000XM5 as well as listening to its core fans, Sony promises that the WH-1000XM6 brings worthwhile and significant advancements in noise cancellation, sound quality, and user convenience. Major improvements include the significantly more capable QN3 chipset, revised audio tuning, 12 onboard mics, and the return of the foldable, portable design from the XM4.
The Sony WH-1000XM6 has finally arrived, three years after the XM5, and some nine years after the OG model. The Japanese electronics giants is rightfully proud of its new creation; among the biggest changes include a new HD Noise Canceling Processor QN3, which Sony claims is seven times faster than the previous QN1 in the XM5. Such processing power, coupled with an array of twelve microphones, allows for real-time optimization of noise cancellation, adapting to various environments and the user's specific wearing conditions. Early reviews have noted that ANC performance might actually top the current ANC king, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra.
Beyond that, the WH-1000XM6 has stayed with 30mm drivers but they've been tweaked by master audio engineers to improve the sound. There's LDAC codec support for high-resolution audio streaming plus Sony's proprietary DSEE Extreme tech that upscales compressed digital music files.
Design-wise, Sony has listened to user feedback, bringing back the foldable design for enhanced portability – a feature missed by many who used the XM4 model. The headband and earpads have been widened and feature a softer synthetic leather for a more comfort during extended use.
Sony's new headphones also have multipoint connectivity to allow seamless switching between two devices, along with Bluetooth 5.3 and Bluetooth LE Audio support. Battery life remains roughly the same as before, offering up to 30 hours of listening with ANC enabled. Notably, users can now listen to audio while the headphones are charging via USB-C, although they still can't listen to audio with a wired USB-C connection. This was the case with the Apple AirPods Max at launch; it created such a fuss with fans that the feature was added in a recent firmware update.
Available right now for $448, the Sony WH-1000XM6 is offered in Black, Platinum Silver, and a new Midnight Blue colorway. If you'd rather save quite a bit of moolah, there's the still-excellent WH-1000XM4 ($228 at 34% off) or the WH-1000XM5 ($284.99 at 29% off).
