Sony WH-1000XM6

The WH-1000XM6 is Sony picking up the pieces of the divisive XM5 and quietly fixing the complaints. The folding hinges are back — stainless steel, and genuinely the headline change for anyone who travels — and the redesigned magnetic-clasp case, while still bulky, is at least less fiddly than a zipper. Add concave earcups, a wider headband and properly differentiated physical buttons, and this feels like a design that was iterated on by people who actually used the last one.

Under the hood, the jump to 12 microphones and the QN3 processor is the sort of spec bump that could easily be marketing noise, except the results back it up: reviewers across the board call the noise cancelling best-in-class, and the call quality class-leading. At 254g with 30 hours of battery, LDAC and LC3 support, and a mature app offering EQ presets, adaptive ANC, Speak-to-Chat and auto-pause, it covers the commuter and open-plan-office brief about as thoroughly as anything on the market.

This is for frequent flyers, commuters and remote workers who want the quietest, most polished all-rounder and don't mind paying $449.99 for it. Critical listeners chasing soundstage and separation, and gym-goers who need a durability rating, should look elsewhere.

Judged as a noise-cancelling travel headphone, the XM6 is close to the top of the class. The ANC and microphone performance are the two things people actually buy these for, and both are consistently rated among the best available. Sound quality is reportedly the strongest the WH-1000 line has shipped with out of the box — big bass, balanced tonality — though it's worth noting one long-term reviewer found sibilance that needed EQ to tame, and a soundstage that falls short of proper audiophile cans. The new Cinema, Standard and Background Music modes are a nice addition, with Cinema widening things up, but they read as bonuses rather than reasons to buy.

The frustrations are the kind that grate at this price. There's no USB-C audio, which in 2025 feels like an odd omission on a $450 flagship, and no aptX HD either — SoundGuys flagged the connectivity options as something that may age poorly, and that's a fair concern for a product you'd expect to keep for years. There's no ingress protection rating at all, so this isn't a workout or bad-weather headphone. Comfort is the other asterisk: reports of firm clamping force and tight interior earcup space mean bigger ears may not get along with it over long sessions, which undercuts the travel pitch somewhat. And the case, redesigned as it is, still won't shrink for folded storage.

Nothing here is disqualifying, and the competitive set — Bose QuietComfort Ultra, B&W Px7 S3, AirPods Max, Sennheiser's Momentum line — all make their own compromises. The XM6 earns its flagship badge on ANC, calls and refinement, and loses points for a spec sheet with a couple of conspicuous gaps and comfort that won't suit everyone. A strong four out of five: buy with confidence if the fit works for you, but try before you commit if you can.