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Sony WH-1000XM6 Review: A Damn Near Perfect Pair of ANC Headphones
2025
Sony has a team of magicians on staff. It’s the only rational explanation I can come up with for how it’s raised the bar for active noise-cancelling headphones year after year. I really thought Sony couldn’t improve upon last year’s model, the class-leading WH-1000XM5. But the WH-1000XM6has so many new features—a revamped design that folds again, a new processor and drivers, and more mics—I can’t argue with the results.
The XM6 ANC headphones don’t have many flaws to speak of. Although the estimated 30 hours of battery life is solid, I’m always looking for more time off the charger. Honestly, the only downside is the hefty price tag, but then again, Apple seems to have no problem selling AirPods Max for Sony WH-1000XM6 Sony's WH-1000XM6 outdoes its predecessor in just about every category, making them the headphones to beat this year, noise cancelling or otherwise. Pros Cons At first glance, you may not notice all the refinements that Sony made to the XM6. But I assure you, they all add up to a more comfortable and polished pair of headphones. The leatherette over-ear cups create a nice passive noise-cancelling seal, the headband is wider for better weight distribution on your dome, and it’s great to see Sony listened to feedback and made them foldable again. Even little touches like a larger power button that’s easier to press are worth appreciating.
Sony’s playing it a bit safe with the usual black, silver, and midnight blue colorways, but hopefully it’ll roll out more interesting shades down the line. It’s not hard to get the XM6 connected to your smartphone or laptop. The minute you flip the included magnetic hard case open, you’ll get a pairing prompt on your phone, which walks you through connecting the headphones via Bluetooth, and then you’re ready to go. The initial pairing process only takes less than three minutes, but I still wish it was faster, like it is on most modern wireless earbuds. Play your cards right, and you’ll rarely have to touch your phone. Unlike AirPods Max, you can control audio from the touch-sensitive surface on the right ear cup using taps and swipes. A double tap plays and pauses audio or answers and rejects a call, while a forward or backward swipe switches to the next and previous track, respectively. Swiping up or down adjusts the volume, while holding your hand over the earcup launches Quick Attention, which pauses audio until you remove your hand. And if you don’t feel like touching the headphones, you can nod your head or shake it to answer or reject a phone call.
© Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo The NC/AMB buttonalso pulls double duty. Press it twice to Quick Access a chosen app. You can program a second app to launch with three taps, but you’ll need the Sony Sound Connect appto configure that. I’m always wavering between Bose and Sony when it comes to noise-cancelling tech. Right now, Sony has taken a noticeable lead. In its quest for silence, or at least a quieter environment, Sony has brought its new QN3 processor and 12 upgraded microphones. It also wouldn’t be 2025 without a healthy dose of AI. To that end, the XM6 has AI noise reduction, which the company says was trained on over 500 million voice samples. The result is some seriously quiet phone and video calls. You also have a refreshed AI Noise Optimizer feature, which works to identify and eliminate pesky ambient noises.
I took the XM6 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones for a trip on the New York City subway—a place full of random smells and noises. Neither pair of cans did anything for the summer bod funk in the air, but plenty for the latter. In terms of regular train noises, the XM6 was slightly better at muting the din without any music playing. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Sony’s newest ANC headphones also did a better job of shielding me from a lover’s spat on the train. I typically hear more ambient sound while wearing Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra. I cued up Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” on the XM6 and committed myself to minding my own business. Okay, I may have switched over to Ambient Sound to hear some of the juicier details, but not for the whole conversation.
Speaking of Ambient Sound, that’s the mode I engage when I’m walking alone at night or in unfamiliar surroundings. It lets in outside noise so you can keep tabs on your surroundings. One minute, I’m hearing nothing but the deep bass and raunchy lyrics in the Ying Yang Twins’ “Wait,” and the next, there’s birds chirping and traffic sounds filtered in. Deeper bass, brighter highs, and fuller mids—what a difference a driver makes. The 30mm drivers utilize a more rigid dome construction, which translates into more balanced audio performance. Since my regular playlist covers a wide swath of music genres, I kept the built-in equalizer off to get the flattest frequency possible. That means when I listened to Sevendust’s “Enemy,” there wasn’t any artificial bass being added. It was just me, crisp cymbals, bombastic percussion, an energetic set of electric guitars, and silky smooth vocals juxtaposed against guttural screams.
© Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Even without spatial audio or Cinematic mode, the XM6’s soundstage is seriously generous. I can really make out the finer vibrations of the twang of the guitars on “Raised Right” by Reyna Roberts. The violin and vocals were just as clean, where I could hear some of the plosives as Roberts enunciated words like “night” and “taught.” But what about the low end? No, the XM6 don’t go as hard on the bass as the Sony’s Ult headphones. But I discovered they still bring the boom as I listened to Pop Smoke’s “Dior.” The bass was nice and weighty but didn’t overwhelm the violin, hi-hats, or the Nextel chirps and other electronic elements throughout the drill track. Whether I’m watching a movie or listening to music, spatial audio has become one of my favorite features to indulge in. Seriously, cue up a music service that supports Dolby Atmos or Sony’s 360 Audio format—you’ll thank me. It’s a cool, almost eerie feeling to move your head from right to left or up and down and have the music respond to your location accordingly. It essentially creates your own personal concert hall. Spatial audio is at its best watching action scenes, as the gunfire and subsequent explosions gain an extra dimension of immersion.
Previously called Headphone Connect, the renamed Sound Connect app retains all previous functionality while adding new features. While I love a kitchen sink approach to features, I have a feeling that many users won’t touch more than 50% of them. Speak-to-Chat, Spatial Audio, Ambient Sound Control, Adaptive Sound Control, and multipoint pairing are all present. Something new to the scene is Listening Mode, which lets you toggle between Standard, Background Music, and Cinematic modes. The first one is pretty straightforward: you listen to your music with whatever settings you’ve got enabled. Background Music lowers the volume so you can carry on a conversation. The audio is a bit diffused, but you can still bop without losing too much detail. Cinematic mode is the exact opposite and expands the soundstage. It’s not on a par with spatial audio, but it’s the mode I recommend using when you’re watching movies or TV.There’s also Scene-based Listening. This goes hand-in-hand with Adaptive Sound Control. Where the latter automatically adjusts noise cancellation based on your location, SBL will start playing music from your chosen player based on activity or location. You can set it to play at the start of your commute, while you’re taking a jog or working out at the gym and the app will learn your habits and adjust ANC levels accordingly. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo My only complaint is that some of the cooler features, like spatial audio and Find Your Equalizer, aren’t front and center. Instead, they’re tucked away in smaller menus that aren’t easy to navigate. You really have to hunt for the setting you’re looking for. I already mentioned the XM6 has a set of 12 microphones on each side, half of which are beamforming devices designed to focus on picking up your voice. Combine that with the AI Reduction technology, and you’ve got crystal clear calls whether you’re connected to a smartphone or laptop. I was most impressed with how well the AI reduction worked. Whether I was in a busy coffee shop or walking down a construction-laden street, my callers reported little to no background noise. That doesn’t mean that they totally blocked out the jackhammer I walked by or the overhead train. The headphones muted them and all but killed any wind resistance, but certain noises don’t totally disappear.
The XM6 has the same 30 hours of battery lifeas the XM5, with a quick charge that translates to three hours of power after being plugged in for three minutes. The battery shoots up to 40 hours if you disable the noise cancellation. Keeping the volume at about 50%, I’ve only had to charge the headphones twice over the course of a week. While I would have loved for Sony to give the XM6 even more battery life, that doesn’t mean the company didn’t give us some sort of improvement. Unlike previous headphones in the WH-1000 series, you can charge the XM6 while they’re in use. Instead of having to face a long commute from Brooklyn to the Bronx sans music or ANC, I just plugged them into my Anker battery pack and maintained my peace on the train. I’m going to do my damnedest to stop doubting Sony when it comes to outdoing itself. But it’s so hard when it seems like the company’s ANC headphones can’t get any better. Because let’s be clear, the XM5 landed on many a best noise-cancellation headphones list. But the Sony WH-1000XM6 has taken just about everything I loved about its predecessor and given it a big update. Better driver? Check. New processor? Yep. Actually useful AI features? You betcha. The result is a refined and feature-packed pair of premium ANC headphones with best-in-class ANC and a comfortable, albeit safe design.
#sony #wh1000xm6 #review #damn #near
Sony WH-1000XM6 Review: A Damn Near Perfect Pair of ANC Headphones
2025
Sony has a team of magicians on staff. It’s the only rational explanation I can come up with for how it’s raised the bar for active noise-cancelling headphones year after year. I really thought Sony couldn’t improve upon last year’s model, the class-leading WH-1000XM5. But the WH-1000XM6has so many new features—a revamped design that folds again, a new processor and drivers, and more mics—I can’t argue with the results.
The XM6 ANC headphones don’t have many flaws to speak of. Although the estimated 30 hours of battery life is solid, I’m always looking for more time off the charger. Honestly, the only downside is the hefty price tag, but then again, Apple seems to have no problem selling AirPods Max for Sony WH-1000XM6 Sony's WH-1000XM6 outdoes its predecessor in just about every category, making them the headphones to beat this year, noise cancelling or otherwise. Pros Cons At first glance, you may not notice all the refinements that Sony made to the XM6. But I assure you, they all add up to a more comfortable and polished pair of headphones. The leatherette over-ear cups create a nice passive noise-cancelling seal, the headband is wider for better weight distribution on your dome, and it’s great to see Sony listened to feedback and made them foldable again. Even little touches like a larger power button that’s easier to press are worth appreciating.
Sony’s playing it a bit safe with the usual black, silver, and midnight blue colorways, but hopefully it’ll roll out more interesting shades down the line. It’s not hard to get the XM6 connected to your smartphone or laptop. The minute you flip the included magnetic hard case open, you’ll get a pairing prompt on your phone, which walks you through connecting the headphones via Bluetooth, and then you’re ready to go. The initial pairing process only takes less than three minutes, but I still wish it was faster, like it is on most modern wireless earbuds. Play your cards right, and you’ll rarely have to touch your phone. Unlike AirPods Max, you can control audio from the touch-sensitive surface on the right ear cup using taps and swipes. A double tap plays and pauses audio or answers and rejects a call, while a forward or backward swipe switches to the next and previous track, respectively. Swiping up or down adjusts the volume, while holding your hand over the earcup launches Quick Attention, which pauses audio until you remove your hand. And if you don’t feel like touching the headphones, you can nod your head or shake it to answer or reject a phone call.
© Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo The NC/AMB buttonalso pulls double duty. Press it twice to Quick Access a chosen app. You can program a second app to launch with three taps, but you’ll need the Sony Sound Connect appto configure that. I’m always wavering between Bose and Sony when it comes to noise-cancelling tech. Right now, Sony has taken a noticeable lead. In its quest for silence, or at least a quieter environment, Sony has brought its new QN3 processor and 12 upgraded microphones. It also wouldn’t be 2025 without a healthy dose of AI. To that end, the XM6 has AI noise reduction, which the company says was trained on over 500 million voice samples. The result is some seriously quiet phone and video calls. You also have a refreshed AI Noise Optimizer feature, which works to identify and eliminate pesky ambient noises.
I took the XM6 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones for a trip on the New York City subway—a place full of random smells and noises. Neither pair of cans did anything for the summer bod funk in the air, but plenty for the latter. In terms of regular train noises, the XM6 was slightly better at muting the din without any music playing. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Sony’s newest ANC headphones also did a better job of shielding me from a lover’s spat on the train. I typically hear more ambient sound while wearing Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra. I cued up Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” on the XM6 and committed myself to minding my own business. Okay, I may have switched over to Ambient Sound to hear some of the juicier details, but not for the whole conversation.
Speaking of Ambient Sound, that’s the mode I engage when I’m walking alone at night or in unfamiliar surroundings. It lets in outside noise so you can keep tabs on your surroundings. One minute, I’m hearing nothing but the deep bass and raunchy lyrics in the Ying Yang Twins’ “Wait,” and the next, there’s birds chirping and traffic sounds filtered in. Deeper bass, brighter highs, and fuller mids—what a difference a driver makes. The 30mm drivers utilize a more rigid dome construction, which translates into more balanced audio performance. Since my regular playlist covers a wide swath of music genres, I kept the built-in equalizer off to get the flattest frequency possible. That means when I listened to Sevendust’s “Enemy,” there wasn’t any artificial bass being added. It was just me, crisp cymbals, bombastic percussion, an energetic set of electric guitars, and silky smooth vocals juxtaposed against guttural screams.
© Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Even without spatial audio or Cinematic mode, the XM6’s soundstage is seriously generous. I can really make out the finer vibrations of the twang of the guitars on “Raised Right” by Reyna Roberts. The violin and vocals were just as clean, where I could hear some of the plosives as Roberts enunciated words like “night” and “taught.” But what about the low end? No, the XM6 don’t go as hard on the bass as the Sony’s Ult headphones. But I discovered they still bring the boom as I listened to Pop Smoke’s “Dior.” The bass was nice and weighty but didn’t overwhelm the violin, hi-hats, or the Nextel chirps and other electronic elements throughout the drill track. Whether I’m watching a movie or listening to music, spatial audio has become one of my favorite features to indulge in. Seriously, cue up a music service that supports Dolby Atmos or Sony’s 360 Audio format—you’ll thank me. It’s a cool, almost eerie feeling to move your head from right to left or up and down and have the music respond to your location accordingly. It essentially creates your own personal concert hall. Spatial audio is at its best watching action scenes, as the gunfire and subsequent explosions gain an extra dimension of immersion.
Previously called Headphone Connect, the renamed Sound Connect app retains all previous functionality while adding new features. While I love a kitchen sink approach to features, I have a feeling that many users won’t touch more than 50% of them. Speak-to-Chat, Spatial Audio, Ambient Sound Control, Adaptive Sound Control, and multipoint pairing are all present. Something new to the scene is Listening Mode, which lets you toggle between Standard, Background Music, and Cinematic modes. The first one is pretty straightforward: you listen to your music with whatever settings you’ve got enabled. Background Music lowers the volume so you can carry on a conversation. The audio is a bit diffused, but you can still bop without losing too much detail. Cinematic mode is the exact opposite and expands the soundstage. It’s not on a par with spatial audio, but it’s the mode I recommend using when you’re watching movies or TV.There’s also Scene-based Listening. This goes hand-in-hand with Adaptive Sound Control. Where the latter automatically adjusts noise cancellation based on your location, SBL will start playing music from your chosen player based on activity or location. You can set it to play at the start of your commute, while you’re taking a jog or working out at the gym and the app will learn your habits and adjust ANC levels accordingly. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo My only complaint is that some of the cooler features, like spatial audio and Find Your Equalizer, aren’t front and center. Instead, they’re tucked away in smaller menus that aren’t easy to navigate. You really have to hunt for the setting you’re looking for. I already mentioned the XM6 has a set of 12 microphones on each side, half of which are beamforming devices designed to focus on picking up your voice. Combine that with the AI Reduction technology, and you’ve got crystal clear calls whether you’re connected to a smartphone or laptop. I was most impressed with how well the AI reduction worked. Whether I was in a busy coffee shop or walking down a construction-laden street, my callers reported little to no background noise. That doesn’t mean that they totally blocked out the jackhammer I walked by or the overhead train. The headphones muted them and all but killed any wind resistance, but certain noises don’t totally disappear.
The XM6 has the same 30 hours of battery lifeas the XM5, with a quick charge that translates to three hours of power after being plugged in for three minutes. The battery shoots up to 40 hours if you disable the noise cancellation. Keeping the volume at about 50%, I’ve only had to charge the headphones twice over the course of a week. While I would have loved for Sony to give the XM6 even more battery life, that doesn’t mean the company didn’t give us some sort of improvement. Unlike previous headphones in the WH-1000 series, you can charge the XM6 while they’re in use. Instead of having to face a long commute from Brooklyn to the Bronx sans music or ANC, I just plugged them into my Anker battery pack and maintained my peace on the train. I’m going to do my damnedest to stop doubting Sony when it comes to outdoing itself. But it’s so hard when it seems like the company’s ANC headphones can’t get any better. Because let’s be clear, the XM5 landed on many a best noise-cancellation headphones list. But the Sony WH-1000XM6 has taken just about everything I loved about its predecessor and given it a big update. Better driver? Check. New processor? Yep. Actually useful AI features? You betcha. The result is a refined and feature-packed pair of premium ANC headphones with best-in-class ANC and a comfortable, albeit safe design.
#sony #wh1000xm6 #review #damn #near
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