Sony WH-1000XM6 Review: The Best Noise-Canceling Headphones

Excellent sound canceling. Very enjoyable listening experience. Thirty-hour artillery life. Great touch controls, easy-to-use beingness buttons. App-based customization. Multipoint pairing. Replaceable earpads.

The headband could usage a spot much padding.

For complete a decade, Sony has been taking nonstop purpose astatine Bose’s noise-canceling domination. Every twelvemonth aliases two, Japan’s champion and brightest engineers revise its flagship WH-1000 noise-canceling over-ears to hit retired whatever nan folks successful Boston person cooked up, to awesome effect. The conflict has led to immoderate of nan champion headphones successful history, pinch 1 aliases some brands topping our database of nan champion wireless headphones successful astir endless succession.

With Sony’s caller WH-1000XM6 ("1000X people six”), we’re now half a twelve iterations into a brace that began life arsenic a bully brace of headphones. This caller type uses that acquisition to create thing astonishing. You get a dramatically refined sound signature and streamlined design; you get 12 microphones and, Sony claims, 7 times nan processing velocity of nan erstwhile exemplary (9/10, WIRED Recommends). It's capable to person moreover nan famously superlative-averse marque calling nan WH-1000XM6—accurately, successful my experience—the champion sound canceling headphones connected Earth.

If you are shopping for a brace of premium over-ears for activity aliases travel, aliases conscionable to flight your neighbor’s annoying canine while you watch Netflix, these are astir apt the champion all-around wireless headphones correct now. They costs $50 much astatine motorboat than their predecessors, but they're much than worthy nan other cash.

Recent Revisions

There are 2 chopped eras of Sony’s WH-1000 statement visually, pinch nan latest starting pinch a refined, streamlined look successful nan WH-1000XM5—abandoning nan much businesslike Bose creation it utilized for generations 1 done four.

Visually, nan latest type is moreover prettier than nan exemplary that came before, pinch clever folding earcups that thief them fresh much easy wrong a streamlined difficult lawsuit that now uses a magnetic clasp alternatively of a zipper.

It’s a sleek hard-shell protector that comes pinch a clever pouch wrong for cables and adapters for illustration astir high-end headphones connection these days. A somewhat protruding clasp astatine nan separator of nan lawsuit keeps it from ever tumbling open.

On nan headphones themselves, it's each astir subtlety. Even nan Sony logo is somewhat hidden connected nan broadside of nan headband alternatively than prominently appearing connected an earcup for illustration you’d spot successful astir headphones successful this value range—heck, Focal moreover goes truthful far arsenic to put a ray down its logo truthful folks cognize really fancy you are.

There isn’t overmuch successful nan measurement of visible controls either; you’ll find a powerfulness fastener connected nan bottommost of nan near earcup, pinch a fastener that adjusts nan noise-canceling mounting that’s a different style (for easy remembering which is which) supra it. On nan bottommost of nan near earcup you’ll find a 3.5-mm larboard for wired listening. The USB-C charging larboard is connected nan bottommost right.

As usual, nan mostly of nan playback controls travel successful nan shape of touch controls connected nan correct earcup, wherever you tin swipe backmost and distant to alteration songs, pat to play and pause, and swipe up aliases down to set volume. Most touch-based controls are woeful erstwhile compared to clever beingness counterparts for illustration nan cool bezel you’ll find connected Apple’s AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends), but these are nan champion successful nan business. In aggregate days of testing I didn’t person nan accustomed misfires and mishaps that often travel pinch a strategy that lacks beingness feedback. I person a mentation that Sony simply makes its touch pad larger than competitors, frankincense allowing much elasticity successful use, but I person yet to pry 1 of these very overmuch nonreplaceable earcups unfastened to spot if I’m right.

Speaking of: At first, I was convinced that nan caller pleather earpads weren’t replaceable. They are, they conscionable latch a spot beneath wherever you deliberation they mightiness wrong nan earcups pinch integrative tabs, providing nan cleanable look you spot connected from nan extracurricular of nan headphones. It’s clever, and it apt useful to thief supply moreover amended passive sound isolation.

The earpads aren’t nan astir comfortable things successful nan world, particularly erstwhile compared to higher-end offerings for illustration nan Focal Bathys MG (9/10, WIRED Recommends), which travel pinch specified good leather you’d ideate it being sewn into King Charles’ dress shoes. These are somewhat cheap-feeling and rubbery faux leather, but they do person very comfortable representation foam that ensures a soft seal astir your ears. The non-leather is simply a bully prime for durability and is shockingly resistant to sweat, which I recovered retired while spreading a caller furniture of mulch astir my raspberries.

The headband, however, leaves a spot to beryllium desired. I recovered it to beryllium a spot uncomfortable aft a fewer hours of coagulated listening, which is thing I can’t opportunity astir nan erstwhile model. Maybe it’s a head-shape thing, but I consciousness location could beryllium a spot much padding.

Silencio

The 8 microphones connected nan extracurricular of nan 2 earcups and 4 wrong nan earcups do an fantabulous occupation of parsing what is going connected successful nan extracurricular world, and erstwhile paired pinch nan accrued processing powerfulness of nan WH-1000XM6 they create a staggering level of silence. I was routinely terrified by my woman aliases canine sneaking up connected maine while astatine work, and things for illustration my riding section mower and HVAC strategy were rendered mute.

The accrued speediness of nan processing is peculiarly noticeable successful nan precocious end, wherever nan accelerated frequencies are harder to tame than lower, slower sounds. Even my agleam and clicky mechanical keyboard was hardly a lucifer for nan WH-1000XM6. You tin perceive them pinch thing playing, but nan sound disappears arsenic soon arsenic moreover nan lightest euphony aliases podcast starts.

I didn’t person clip to return these connected a formation during my short reappraisal period, but I did play hours of level and HVAC noises astatine real-world decibels done my workplace monitors while listening to euphony connected them, and they proved to beryllium much tin than immoderate headphones I’ve ever tested successful dealing pinch those sounds. It’s almost shocking really good they do pinch a debased hum for illustration that of a robovac—I kept accidentally bumping into nan moving puck connected my level erstwhile wandering astir nan location pinch these on, forgetting it was progressive astatine all.

Hear-through functionality is highly lifelike, which makes these awesome for putting connected euphony astatine debased volumes and still proceeding what's going connected astir you. Likewise, telephone value from nan microphones, and particularly nan expertise to isolate your sound amid a dense background, is great. The activity awesome connected Zoom calls.

Better Sound

Sound value is thing I ne'er fell afloat caput complete heels successful emotion pinch successful erstwhile generations of nan WH-1000X, but these travel closest to my platonic perfect of studio-style flatness pinch a tinge of high- and low-end boost to adhd a spot much nosy to much tepid mixes. I person been enjoying nan slurry lo-fi vibes of Broncho’s latest record, peculiarly the opus “Dreamin,” connected these headphones. I still person fundamentally nary thought what half of nan words are—which are decidedly successful English, nan connection I speak—thanks to nan layered vocal mixing and delivery, but I emotion nan measurement nan acoustic guitars travel done astatine nan edges and nan punchy footwear drum successful nan very halfway of nan stereo image.

Everything feels accurate, but location is simply a definite joyousness to nan philharmonic reproduction coming from nan redesigned move drivers wrong these headphones that I was missing connected older Sony headphones. Classics for illustration nan Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See” travel done pinch soft portion warmth, perfectly layered bass, and a searing, gravely vocal.

The WH-1000XM6 usage sound canceling to create a perfectly silent philharmonic backdrop pinch which to bask your favourite music. If you unopen your eyes you really tin spell anyplace pinch nary distractions, arsenic agelong arsenic nan measurement is up supra astir 1 4th and you’re not opinionated dangerously adjacent to a moving pitchy engine. This is nan type of full audio separation I could only person dreamed of pinch nan first model.

Sony has spatial audio connected board, truthful you tin besides usage these to awesome effect pinch movies while traveling. I thoroughly enjoyed watching a fewer episodes of Andor play 2 pinch them—the fantabulous debased extremity is peculiarly noticeable connected explosions and during different heavy-action effects.

Usable Anywhere

App-based controls fto you dial successful said spatial effect, and you tin besides set sound canceling, transparency, and equalization settings wrong nan app—relatively modular fare for immoderate modern headphones.

One unsocial Sony characteristic I emotion is that you tin still cup your manus complete nan correct earcup to temporarily region your media and tube successful extracurricular sound, which is awesome connected airplanes erstwhile you don’t want to return your headphones disconnected to springiness a portion bid aliases to perceive an announcement successful nan airport.

Sony really has made these immoderate of nan easiest-to-use headphones connected nan market. Pairing is astir instant, you person multipoint Bluetooth for connecting to your telephone and laptop aliases tablet astatine nan aforesaid time, and 30 hours of artillery life is much than capable for immoderate journey, particularly pinch speedy charging that tin springiness you 3 hours of powerfulness successful 3 minutes.

The astir annoying point successful my testing? It took maine a mates tries to get utilized to folding nan headphones nan due measurement to put them backmost successful nan case. You study nan method beautiful quickly—place nan near earcup pad-side down successful nan case, past fold it over—but it’s not arsenic intuitive arsenic you’d deliberation from specified a streamlined brace of headphones.

Otherwise? These sound amended than the latest Bose model, connection amended sound canceling, and are mostly amended to use. Compared to nan equivalently priced AirPods Max, each those things are besides true, isolated from that you mightiness beryllium capable of an iOS stan that nan AirPods merge amended into your ecosystem. In immoderate case, I’d powerfully urge you cheque retired a brace of Sony’s caller flagship headphones earlier you make a purchasing decision. They’re 1 of nan finest wireless pairs of headphones ever made.