Sony WF-1000XM6 Review: The Price of Silence

Sony’s 1000X series of headphones and earphones needs little introduction. Each new generation arrives with considerable anticipation, and the WF-1000XM6 is no exception. Having reviewed the WH-1000XM6 headphones almost a year ago, the experience left us with the impression that Sony was content with refining rather than reinventing. The question now is whether the XM6 earphones follow that same philosophy, or whether Sony has something more to prove this time around.

What Is It?

The Sony WF-1000XM6 are the brand’s current flagship wireless noise-cancelling earphones. Compared to the XM5, Sony is promising improvements across the board in sound quality, comfort and noise cancellation. Under the hood sits an 8.4mm dynamic driver with Bluetooth 5.3, IPX4 water resistance and support for SBC, AAC, LDAC and LC3 audio codecs, along with multipoint connection for pairing with two devices simultaneously.

Battery life is rated at eight hours with ANC enabled and 12 hours without, and in practice the XM6 lives up to those numbers comfortably. I rarely found myself reaching for the case with any urgency, only topping it up when I happened to remember. A full charge takes around one and a half hours via the included USB-A to USB-C cable.

Opening Sony’s signature recycled-material box, the first thing you notice is how different the case looks. Gone is the rounder, sleeker silhouette of the XM5 in favour of something taller, wider and boxier. The environmental intentions are admirable, but the execution leaves something to be desired. The rough matte finish does not feel particularly premium to the touch, and the hinge feels noticeably lighter and flimsier than before, even if the satisfying magnetic closure remains intact.

The earphones themselves have also been redesigned from a round shape with a glossy finish to a pill-like oval with an all-matte exterior. Personally, I found the new shape fits in my ear easier than the XM5, though fit is always subjective. Those with smaller ears may find the XM6’s chunky form factor a tougher proposition. The shells also gain two additional microphones, one on each side, which Sony says contribute to the improved noise cancellation and transparency mode. We will get to whether that delivers in practice shortly.

Rounding out the box contents are four sizes of memory foam ear tips, the aforementioned USB-A to USB-C cable and documentation.

Sound Connect App

If you have recently used audio products from Sony, the Sound Connect app should feel familiar. It handles the expected functions: toggling ANC on and off, switching to Ambient Sound mode and enabling Adaptive Sound Control, which automatically adjusts the level of noise cancellation based on your surroundings.

Also carried over from the WH-1000XM6 is the Listening Mode feature, which simulates different acoustic environments like a café or a larger room to push the audio further into the background. As I noted in the XM6 headphones review, it works, though I personally feel that it sits firmly in the novelty category and is unlikely to become part of anyone’s daily routine.

The EQ section offers presets like Heavy and Clear alongside a 10-band custom equaliser, though the latter feels limiting enough that I defaulted to leaving EQ off entirely throughout my time with the XM6.

Touch controls are customisable per earbud. I settled on having playback controls on the left, where a single tap handles play and pause, a double tap skips forward and a triple tap goes back. The right earbud I assigned to ambient sound control, toggling between ANC and Ambient Sound with a single tap.

The one frustration worth calling out is volume adjustment. Lowering volume requires four taps on the left earbud, while raising it needs the same amount of taps on the right. On a set of earphones this expensive, that level of touch input invites misfires, especially when competing products have moved on to swipe gestures that handle volume far more elegantly.

How Does It Sound?

The XM6 leans into a V-shaped tuning with the warmth Sony’s house sound is known for. The mids take a step back in the mix, but the overall presentation is energetic and enjoyable, with a surprisingly expansive soundstage that offers good width and above average depth for a pair of wireless earphones. Instruments do sit rather tightly together within that space, and clarity is not the sharpest, but the overall image is more generous than you might expect at this price point.

Starting with the bass, sub-bass presence is tight and impactful though it does not extend particularly deep. Mid-bass is the more dominant force, hitting with real authority and adding a sense of fun and body to the low end. It can tip into boomy territory on certain tracks, but you could attempt to adjust the EQ if you find it excessive.

The midrange takes a slight back seat to the bass in terms of presence, though there is not much actual bleeding between the two. Vocals sound organic and natural, with male vocals gaining a touch of thickness from the low-end warmth while still remaining relatively neutral in character. Female vocals carry decent note weight but fall a little short on breathiness and air in the upper registers, which can leave them feeling slightly rounded rather than fully extended.

Treble rolls off gently, keeping the presentation smooth and free from any sharpness or sibilance. The trade-off is a lack of sparkle and crisp definition at the top end, which softens the overall sense of detail retrieval. It’s a forgiving tuning that makes long listening sessions easy, even if it will not satisfy those hunting for analytical precision.

Noise Cancellation Performance

The XM6 introduces Sony’s new QN3e chip, and the results speak for themselves. The noise cancellation here is not just the best Sony has produced, it is arguably the best available in any wireless earphone on the market right now. Its closest competition is probably the latest AirPods Pro, but even that comparison comes down to fit, and the XM6 simply fits my ears well enough to achieve near-perfect passive isolation before ANC even enters the picture. As cheesy as it sounds, switching it on feels like someone has pressed mute on the world.

Indoors, the hum of an air-conditioning unit drops to a low murmur. Voices from nearby colleagues are audible only as indistinct mumbles. However, higher frequency sounds like keyboard clacking and chair squeaks cut through more than lower frequency noise, which points to the limits of where ANC is less effective by nature.

Outdoors is where the XM6 really demonstrates what it’s capable of. Walking through a busy street at lunchtime, car engine noise is reduced to the point where traffic starts sounding like a row of EVs instad of ICE vehicles. I even walked past active roadworks involving a jackhammer and the ANC reduced it to something barely worth acknowledging. It is genuinely impressive.

A word of caution though: noise cancellation this effective does carry real-world risk outdoors. I found myself unknowingly walking into the path of a car behind me in an open-air carpark before realising it was there. For situations involving traffic or shared spaces, transparency mode is certainly the wiser choice.

Transparency Mode

Ambient Sound mode in TWS earphones in general is one of the harder features to get right. Letting in ambient noise is straightforward enough, but doing so while keeping voices sounding natural is where most implementations fall short. The XM6 handles this well, with a presentation that is natural and free from the harsh, over-brightened quality that some other brands produce in their transparency modes. It falls just short of the near-invisible transparency that Apple has refined on the AirPods Pro, which remains the benchmark in this regard, but it is definitely above average.

Is It Worth It?

The Sony WF-1000XM6 is a genuinely excellent pair of wireless earphones, but excellence at this price point comes with caveats. At RM1,599, it is a significant ask, and those upgrading from the XM5 specifically will find the gains incremental rather than transformative.

The noise cancellation is the standout case for buying in, and if that is your primary concern, the XM6 delivers on it convincingly. Audio quality here is also one of Sony’s best and will please both audiophiles and casual listeners alike. However, those with smaller ears should also try before they buy given the chunkier fit.

The Sony WF-1000XM6 are available in Black and Platinum Silver and retail at RM1,599, though they are currently going for RM1,249 on Sony’s Official Store.