Despite their ever-presence on best lists all over the internet, I wasn't actually all that much of a fan of the Sony WH-1000XM5. Don't get me wrong, I completely understood why so many users and reviewers were enamoured with Sony's flagship over-ears, but there were a number of reasons that they didn't hit right with me.
Their extremely narrow headband that dug into my head, and I wasn't a fan of their weird, squishy protective case and their extremely plasticky build. It added up to a pair of headphones that didn't match up to the similarly priced competition. So when Sony announced the XM6, I was ready for a new pair of headphones that could take their place upon my melon.
Their release specs were exciting. It looked like Sony had thought about all my issues and fixed the problems. A wider headband, a new sturdy case, a folding frame. And then I got them in my hands. The WH-1000XM6 are a good pair of headphones—they deserve their 4-star review, after all—but they're not the best headphones around.
I've now had my hands on the XM6 to really make a solid opinion beyond the review of the cans — here's what I've found.
Minimal ANC upgrades
Sony's headphones have always featured excellent ANC — I can't knock them for that. When you turn it on, the world seems to melt away into your music. Recent models have negated some of the pressure and claustrophobia that older versions created, and new features have been introduced to rank them amongst the best noise-canceling headphones you can buy.
Perhaps we're now reaching peak noise canceling. The point where the only improvements firms can make are negligible, the top of the curve as it flattens itself out. Maybe the fact that the XM6 aren't all that much more effective at noise canceling than the previous headphones is down to some cosmic ANC limit that we've now reached.
They are better than the XM5, and in my testing time, I've found that they are, indeed, very good. But I was hoping for more.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are undefeated. They still block out more noise than Sony's headphones, and they've been out for a full year by the time that Sony launched the XM6. To counteract, Sony created an algorithm that changes the ANC depending on where you are, measuring the noise of your environment to change the ANC on the fly.
I understand this decision, but it also sounds a lot like ANC's chief purpose reworded for a specs list. I've stacked the XM6 up against their nearest rivals in a range of different environments and I've seen little difference in 'max ANC' in any of them. The feature, it would appear, doesn't make much sense.
The ANC is very good, there's no doubt about that. But considering how good the Bose competition is at blocking noise, I was really hoping for more — and time hasn't done them any favors.
The design doesn't sit right with me
One of my main complaints with the XM5 was just how flimsy they felt. Their all-over matte finish and plastic build made them feel cheaper than they actually were, and the squishing case was novel but ultimately too large and annoying.
Then there was the headband — a thin, padded affair that pressed down in one spot on my head to make for an unfortunate pressure point.
The XM6 have ironed out a whole bunch of these issues. The case, for example, is much sturdier and its magnetic clasp has grown on me in my time with the headphones. I'm still not entirely convinced as to this mechanism's longevity, but it feels secure and tactile as of right now.
I miss the magnetic cable store door inside, but I appreciate the folding mechanism that means the case can be more compact. I've found it easy enough to port the headphones around as a result, as they take up less space in a backpack.
That folding mechanism does raise a continued issue with the most recent XM designs, however. The XM5's plastic armatures were a key weakness and failure point, so to add a folding mechanism into what appear to be similarly sized points feels... interesting.
Nothing has broken in Tom's Guides XM6s as yet, but it's something I know I'll be keeping an eye on as my testing continues.
Over my time with the headphones, I've had mixed experiences with the new padded headband. It is much better than that found on the XM6, but it has to sit just right to not cause any comfort issues on your crown.
Too far forward or too far back and the same problem persists. Even then, for longer periods of wear, the XM6 aren't as comfortable as the far better-padded Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3 or QuietComfort Ultra Headphones.
Overall build remains the bugbear. I still don't like the matte finishes that seem to conjure skin grease and fingerprints from thin air, or the overly simplistic style of the XM series. I particularly don't like how light and hollow the headphones feel — while the lightness makes them more comfortable, it also makes them feel much cheaper than their $449 price tag would suggest.
That feeling has only been exacerbated over my extended use of the headphones. I want something expensive to feel expensive, and the fairly non-descript looking XM6 neither look or feel the part. They're not badly built, I should re-iterate. They just don't feel expensive.
A mixed bag of sound
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the XM6 sound bad. I can't. That wouldn't be true — the XM6 sound good.
There's solid balance on display, as well as some top-notch vocal clarity that AV Managing Editor Nick noted in the review. But, when you compare them to some of their similarly priced and even cheaper competition, there are significant chinks in their sonic armor.
Sony's typical overemphasis on the low-end is still very much present here. For most listeners, that's not going to be a problem, but it does mean they lose out when compared to the more controlled and tighter sound profile of the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3. There's more detail out of the Brits as well, and an all-around more complete audio experience.
I've found the EQ helpful in my testing, but there's still a strange hollowness that I can sense no matter how much work I put into the sliders. It feels like "good sound by numbers" as opposed to a passionate team of audio engineers creating a unique sound profile.
Most people aren't going to have a bad time with the XM6. They'll put them on and say, "Wow, those sound great!" and then go about their day. But put them side by side with their closest rivals price-wise, and things get trickier for Sony's flagship.
An unexpectedly minimal update
If you put the XM5 next to the XM4, I think that most would be able to fairly quickly work out the differences between the two pairs of headphones. Do the same with the XM5 and the XM6, and things would go differently. Much like the minimal physical differences, the updates inside make the XM6 feel a bit like de ja vu.
The battery life remains the same at 35 hours, and the touch controls and app features are pretty much identical. The color-matched cables from the old models are gone, and the ANC key is the same. Dive further in and the XM6 separate themselves out, but this still feels like less of an update than we might have hoped for.
As a result, this is not a must-update for XM5 owners. I've found an experience that is almost entirely the same as the XM5 during my extended testing. If your XM5s are still going strong, don't upgrade — wait and see what the XM7 has in store for us in a few years.
As for those looking to buy a new pair of flagship headphones, I think you should consider the competition. The XM6 don't sound as good as the PX7 S3 and don't block out as much noise as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones.
I don't hate the XM6 by any means. They're a very good pair of headphones. But when the competition are 'excellent', 'very good' doesn't quite seem to match up.
More from Tom's Guide
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