Sony WH-1000XM6 Review

The Sony WH-1000XM6 is the latest evolution in Sony’s industry-leading 1000X series, and it arrives with high expectations. Building on the solid foundation of the WH-1000XM5, the XM6 introduces subtle yet meaningful improvements in design, comfort, noise cancellation, and sound quality. If you’re searching for the best noise-canceling headphones in 2025, the WH-1000XM6 might be your new go-to companion, whether you’re commuting, working, or relaxing with spatial audio. Let’s go right ahead and unpack everything from its upgraded QN3 processor and immersive soundstage to its revamped touch controls and Bluetooth capabilities to help you decide if this is the right pair for your listening lifestyle.

What You Get

• WH-1000XM6 headphones
• Carrying case
• Headphone cable (approx. 1.2m)
• USB charging cable

Look & Feel

The Sony XM6 is molded after the XM5, but with a few refinements. Each of these refinements stacks up, turning a few small improvements into a superior build overall. I was surprised by how sturdy the XM6 is, as the earcups never swiveled around just picking them up. Everything stays in one place as a tightly put-together headphone without any seams. This improves the fit of the XM6 as well, especially with the slightly modified headband. The XM6 feels a tad heavier than the XM5, but the XM6 has a much more snug fit that doesn’t move around too much. Just like its construction implies, the XM6 sits comfortably in one place. Lastly, if you miss the way the 1000x headphones used to fold, that makes a return with the XM6, which might be enough of a reason to upgrade.

Design & Functionality

Sony reminds you why they’re at the forefront of industry-leading wireless headphone technology with the XM6. Nothing says that more than their active noise-canceling technology, which continues to grow. The XM6 uses a QN3 noise-canceling processor, their most advanced yet. In effect, the XM6 is as dead quiet as it gets with ANC headphones. It mutes just about everything in the environment, including high-powered fans and general walla from crowds. Voices aren’t completely attenuated, but it’s hard to make out what anyone is saying next to you.

Thankfully, the XM6 also has Talk-Thru, where you’ll be able to dampen the sound and listen to people next to you without needing to pause your music. All you need to do is put the tips of your fingers on the right cup and hold them there. This worked every time I used it, which is a problem I’ve had with 1000x series headphones in the past. You would always need to press hard to get the action you want, but the XM6 has more responsive touch gestures this time. What impressed me the most was the sliding volume controls, which have never been more exact. Three taps on the right side will play and pause your music, but the XM6 also has a wear sensor that automatically controls playback when you take off and put on the headphones.

Sony’s Sound Connect app offers as many options as ever, including EQ, DSEE sound enhancement, new spatial audio modes, and scene-based listening.

Bluetooth

The XM6 uses Bluetooth version 5.3, which isn’t the latest version, but still offers fast pairing and high range. You can always rely on the stability of its connection. Like past versions of the XM6, you can expect high-end CODECs like LDAC and also LC3. It also has a multipoint connection, allowing you to connect the headphones to two devices at once.

Battery Life

This is the only area where the XM6 doesn’t seem like it’s at the top end of everything. It has 40 hours with ANC off and 30 hours with ANC on. Other headphones that cost much less have eclipsed the XM6 already, with playback time over a hundred hours. However, they don’t do as much as the XM6 can, and this battery life will still get you through a few days of use before needing to charge.

Soundstage

While the stereo soundstage still shows clear barriers, this is the most natural the 1000x series has dealt with imaging. It’s not the most concise sound placement, but the XM6 spreads its sound field further than past iterations. The left and right channels feel like they have more identity, adhering to a more stereo appearance with separation. Everything still sounds like it’s coming from inside your head, but the XM6 has a much bigger scale to it this time around.

Sound elements are significantly taller and possess a larger width compared to other models. There’s a limit on how far the instruments are allowed to expand, but the sound is still very sizable for Bluetooth headphones. Instruments that are panned hard left and right have more movement to them, preserving more spatial properties in tracks without the need for spatial audio. More singular elements stand out, like vocals that are slightly lifted. It makes the XM6 sound closer to wired closed-back headphones than any past model has. Using EQ enhances it a bit, especially using the “clear” preset, or your own personal EQ through the “find your equalizer” function.

Then there’s spatial audio, which has more implementations on the XM6 than ever before. Sony’s 360 Reality Audio isn’t exclusive to a few services. You can now activate it in the Sound Connect app. At any time, you can activate Cinema mode, which will spatialize any track that’s currently playing. At first, activating this mode pushed all of the sound forward. That scale I mentioned is thinned out a bit when in Cinema mode, but the sound is slightly more holographic. It seems like the sound is meant to appear like it’s being played at you from a source outside of your headphones.

The more I listened to the XM6 in Cinema mode, the more I believed it, but it takes some getting used to. Movie scores seemed to be the most ideal genre to test this on, and it definitely had the most success. Going back to the standard mode made a difference, as the sound was now less dome-like. I wouldn’t suggest using the XM6 in Cinema mode if you want to hear separated instruments, but it’s occasionally cool.

Low End

Like with every 1000x model from Sony, the bass response is the most prominent feature. However, its quality still varies, with EQ being the most important factor. I typically find these headphones to be muffled in their factory settings, which the 1000x series tends to make up for by injecting the frequencies with the thickest tone possible. This is true for the XM6 as well, as the bass is generally punchy but lacking definition. With presets, you can clear up a bit of the bloat, but then the bass might sound limp. I was able to reach a satisfying bass using the “find your equalizer” feature, which made the bass more balanced but still thumpy.

Mids

There’s somewhat of an effort to make the mids appear more prominent on the XM6, but it’s still recessed and veiled for the most part. Instruments rarely have a clean timbre, even with the extended space they’re granted with the XM6. However, the XM6 offers better note clarity than past models, with more pointed elements that cut through the mix more significantly. This becomes more prominent when you sort through the low-mid haze and start to notice the more emphasized plucks and stabs. That’s all without EQ. Using EQ, you can give the mids more of a shape in the mix and make vocals sound more lively.

Highs

I don’t think the tone of the highs will anger anyone with the XM6. These frequencies are crowd pleasers, showcasing a good level of presence while generally being pretty soft. There’s a good click to them, with the slightest amount of shimmer on cymbals. It comes across as the most transparent region of the sound signature, providing a respectable amount of gain that you can crisp up a bit with EQ if that’s your style.

Summary

The Sony WH-1000XM6 delivers exactly what you’d expect from Sony’s flagship ANC headphones: refined comfort, upgraded tech, and class-leading noise cancellation. While the bass-heavy tuning and recessed mids might not appeal to every audiophile out of the box, the customizable EQ options allow for a surprisingly versatile sound signature. Add in smart features like responsive touch controls, improved multipoint connectivity, and expanded spatial audio capabilities, and you’ve got a serious contender for the best over-ear Bluetooth headphones of the year. Whether you’re upgrading from the XM4 or XM5, or buying into the 1000X lineup for the first time, the WH-1000XM6 proves that Sony is still at the top of their game in 2025.

The Sony WH-1000XM6 is available at Audio46.