Sony WH-1000XM6 Review – Excellent ANC, Great All-Rounder

Unboxing & Walkaround

Here’s the sixth generation headphones from Sony’s critically-acclaimed 1000X series, aptly named WH-1000XM6. The outer packaging is the same as the preceding model WH-1000XM5, though inside reveals a new storage case that is smaller, and comes with a big convenience upgrade: it’s now magnetically-attached, doing away with zip that can be quite cumbersome to open and close. Even better, opening the case reveals the WH-1000XM6 itself, which now folds!

The items included are minimal – you have the 3.5mm cable for operating the headphones in passive mode (wired mode), along with a cable that is, admittedly, way too short to function as a charging cable. That said, you can always bring your own USB-C cable for charging, which is its only purpose. The user guide is stored inside the small paper box attached outside of the case as seen in the photos above.

In terms of design, the WH-1000XM6 is mostly iterative in this regard compared to its predecessor, with slightly different hinge design and pointier earcups, with touch control panel embedded on the right earcup. For this particular unit, we have the Black color option, though this pair of headphones can be had in Midnight Blue and Platinum Silver color options as well.

The hinge continues to adopt the single-point pivoting mechanism instead of the Y-shaped hinge of hold (last featured in XM4 in this lineage), which is spring-loaded to apply more pressure on ears for a tighter seal. On the left earcup, there’s the power button (also a pairing button), ANC switch button and a 3.5mm audio jack; on the right, you have the USB-C port along with the charging indicator.

Specifications

Sony WH-1000XM6

Full specifications available in product specification sheet.

Form Factor	Over-ear closed-back headphones with memory foam earpads
Drivers	30mm dynamic driver
Driver Impedance	48 Ω (headphones on) 16 Ω (headphones off) *Applicable to passive mode (3.5mm wired) only
Sensitivity	103dB/mW (headphones on) 102dB/mW (headphones off) *Applicable to passive mode (3.5mm wired) only
Frequency Response	4Hz – 40,000Hz (wired) 20Hz – 20,000Hz (Bluetooth 44.1kHz) 20Hz – 40,000Hz (Bluetooth 96kHz LDAC)
Microphones	12 omnidirectional MEMS microphones (6 per side)
Connectivity	Wireless: Bluetooth 5.3 SBC, AAC, LC3, LDAC codec Bluetooth Multipoint support Wired: 3.5mm headphone jack (audio only)
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)	Yes + adjustable transparency mode
Companion App	Sound Connect
Battery	Capacity unspecified up to 30 hours playback (ANC on) up to 40 hours playback (ANC off)
Dimensions & Weight	Dimensions unspecified / 254g
Colors	Midnight Blue, Black (as tested), Platinum Silver
Ingress Protection	None

User Experience

While the WH-1000XM6 can be operated on its own from the get go, most of the features that really expands the headphone’s capabilities is the Sound Connect app available in smartphones. There are plenty of features to discover in this app, but as far as basic controls go, you have the ANC, equalizer, and connection settings to start with.

New for XM6 is the ‘Listening Mode’ section, which comes with two built-in sound effects – it’s worth keeping in mind these are only for specific uses only. The ‘Background Music’ option sonically puts the music in a far distance to simulate the environment of cafés, whereas ‘Cinema’ is for, you guessed it, cinematic viewing. If you’re just actively listening to music, be sure to switch to ‘Standard’ mode.

I will say the app isn’t exactly the easiest to navigate if you’re not familiar with it beforehand, although everything configuration-related is laid out in Sound and System tabs. In terms of customizable controls though, it’s still a bit of a pain point that the app only provide preset configurations instead of allowing users to fully customizable what each tap does, which some other brands do for their apps.

For audio, the WH-1000XM6 is brilliant as ever, providing a solid balance of bass and timbre, which is an improvement over the XM5 with its slightly bass-heavy character. I do still use custom EQs to adapt the audio into my preferred listening profile (a V-shaped EQ curve), although most people wouldn’t have any issues leaving the EQ as is. If you want higher listening quality, you can always enable the LDAC codec (as long as your device supports it), though this may increase the chance of audio dropouts in places with plenty of noisy Bluetooth signals, so keep that in mind.

In terms of microphone quality, it’s excellent in noise isolation, although separation of voice from background noise can be a slight miss in particularly noisy environments. The noisy sample is recorded in a busy traffic with fairly high noise levels, so it’s still quite impressive on Sony’s part to virtually suppress all noises while keeping most of the user’s voice.

I also tested the cans in passive mode, which is a mode that disables the headphone’s Bluetooth functionality once you connect it via a 3.5mm audio jack. Keep in mind this only allows for audio outputs, so you will need a separate microphone source if you’re connecting it to a PC; the drivers behaves differently depending on whether the headphones is powered on or off as well. When turned on, it produces more audio volume than headphones off, and you can still enable ANC or transparency mode this way, which gives you a bit of that open-back headphones experience.

The Good

The Sony WH-1000XM6 has a lot of things worth the praise, namely its well-balanced sound signature compared to its predecessor – compared to the XM5, the driver tuning is less bass-leaning and overall produces a better balance in terms of brilliance and bass. Some headphones require quite a lot of EQ tuning to get the sound right, whereas the XM6 in my case require less aggressive tuning to achieve similar results, as it is fairly close to my ideal profile from the get go.

The XM6’s upgraded ANC hardware also makes it one of the best in the market when it comes to noise cancellation. Case in point: I took this headphone to the Computex trip in Taipei recently, and I can attest the XM6 does an excellent job at suppressing the noise of turbofan engines onboard the Airbus A330 that I boarded in both flights. This is also helped by the excellent seal the headphones create through the memory foam earpads along with a relatively strong clamping pressure, so it doesn’t slip around even if your head shakes a little harder than usual.

A big pain point removed for the 1000X series in particular is the return of foldable hinges – when Sony introduced the WH-1000XM5 with a major hinge redesign, it lacked the ability to fold, which significantly increased its footprint in storage; the XM6’s foldable hinge design meant the storage case is now smaller and therefore easier to carry around.

The Bad

Generally, the XM6 is an excellent set of cans, though there are some minor points worth mentioning here for improvements. In terms of its ear cup size, while I personally have no issues wearing it, your mileage may vary depending on your ear shape, as the earcup is a fair bit shallow in depth. Another limitation comes in the form of touch controls, and in this case, you can only configure between different touch presets and not customize the controls individually to your liking, which is a bit of a bummer (although I will say it works fine-ish by default).

Additionally, keep in mind that this headphones has one major limitation: water resistance. Specifically, it has none that we know of, so keep this cans away from water and bad weather, or just avoid outdoor use if you live in a spot where it frequently rains, or is hot enough that sweat is a certainty, like Malaysia right now.

Verdict

At RM2,099, the Sony WH-1000XM6 is among the best headphones you can get today if ANC is at the top of your priority list, but as far as sound goes, it’s right up there among the best in its class as well. The price is increased compared to its predecessor, putting it right above the likes of Sonos Ace and close to the prices of Apple AirPods Max; but if you can afford it, Sony’s cans won’t disappoint you.

Special thanks for Sony Malaysia for providing the WH-1000XM6 headphones for this review.