Sony WH-1000XM6: Latest Flagship Headphones Restore Favorite Design Feature

Forbes

20-05-2025

Updated May 20 with more analysis of the newly released headphones and pricing.
The new noise-cancelling headphones from Sony, WH-1000XM6, have just been unveiled. It's about three years since the last pair, so you'd have thought there would have been a lot of changes. You'd have thought right. And the bonus of the new release is also that the prices of two earlier models have dropped. The Sony series of headphones have routinely been well-loved and admired. Here's what's changed since the last model.
Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones in midnight blue
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At first glance, they look similar to the WH-1000XM5 headphones they supersede (but not replace, the WH-1000XM5 remain in the range at a reduced price: they were $399.99, now they're $349.99 from electronics.sony.com).
However, these headphones fold. The previous models let you turn the cups flat to be packed away, but you couldn't fold them in on themselves. A new hinge lets you fold them any which way, it feels like. The hinge includes metal supports which look and feel sturdy.
Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones are just out.
Max Freeman-Mills at T3 commented on the new hinge. 'Around those ear cups, though, there are a heap of changes. The biggest is the arrival of stainless steel hinges, which operate noiselessly and let you fold the headphones away in a manner totally skipped by the XM5. That'll put them among the best headphones for travel for many, then. The WH-1000XM6 can fold right up into a semi-circular shape if you like, although the case that comes with the headphones only puts them in a half-fold,' he reported.
Subtler details have also changed, like the angle of the headband. The angle of the hinge has been changed to bring to give a cleaner appearance and bring the headband closer to your head. It's also designed to make it more comfy — the headband is also wider than before. The fold is helpful for when you're packing them away in the case or slipping them into a backpack.
Sony WH-1000XM6 case with magnetic closure
The case, by the way, is also a new design, with a magnetic closure replacing the zip from last time for extra convenience. Some users may still find the case on the large side, even if it is simpler to use (and to pick up, as there's a handy tag at the top).
Freeman-Mill likes it, though. 'That case — which is color-matched to your black, blue or silver headphones — is now sealed with a nice little magnetic clasp, instead of the XM5-style zip, which Sony admitted to me was 'difficult to open'… It works a treat and offers good protection thanks to a hard shell design,' he said.
Sony WH-1000XM6 in silver finish
The new design also has more microphones: six on each earcup instead of the four on each side last time around. This is designed to improve call quality, with one pair of microphones facing back and up, to hear background noise accurately before quietening it. There's also a microphone inside each ear cup to hear noise there and deal with it.
The colors are the same as the original range for the WH-1000XM5: black, silver and midnight blue. Smoky pink was also added to the XM5s during its time as top-flight headphones.
Oh, one other change: Speak to Chat is no longer activated from the earcup. Speak to Chat is great: it quells what you're listening to, the second it hears you speaking. But some people, the sort who sing along to a song or find themselves shouting at a movie on the inflight entertainment, for instance, saw it kick into action when it wasn't wanted. You'll have guessed, dear reader, that I was one of the above people. The feature is still there but it's now activated from the Sony app instead.
Welcome to the new QN3 processor, which Sony claims is seven times faster than the chip in the last model and delivers a leap forward in sound quality, with or without noise-cancelling.
Sony's noise-cancelling has always been at the very highest level of quality, so any uptick will be impressive. T3 felt that this uptick was noticeable. 'The XM6 sound phenomenal, with adaptive noise-cancelling (ANC) that defies belief,' the report said, also saying that it was 'the best noise-cancelling I've ever heard.'
There's a new adaptive optimizer for noise-cancelling to help with this and to adjust air pressure, which can be a nuisance in noise-cancellers.
The headphones are available to purchase from today, Saturday, May 17 and cost $449.99 or £399 in the U.K. Both prices are a touch higher than the original release prices for the WH-1000XM5 headphones — to be precise, the price in the U.S. has gone up by $50, while the U.K. price is £20 more.
By the way, T3's major negative note in its commentary was the price increase, saying the extra cost was, 'not too bad as a percentage, but it's not nothing at all.'
Note that both prices are still noticeably less than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones or Apple AirPods Max which cost $499 and $549 respectively.
By the way, the WH-1000XM4 headphones are also still available, for $299.99, a price drop of $50. Sony routinely keeps the last-gen model in the range, so I think the newly price-cut WH-1000XM5 will hang around, and remember they're available in smoky pink as well as the other three colors found on the WH-1000XM6. However, there's no certainty that the WH-1000XM4 headphones will remain. I think it's more likely that current stocks could be the last. I have asked Sony to confirm this and will update this post when I hear back.