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Some brands have trouble following up a successful product with an even better sequel, let alone doing it five times in a row, with each new model outperforming the previous one.
But that’s exactly what Sony’s achieved with five generations of flagship wireless earbuds as it now attempts to make it six in a row with the WF-1000XM6.
It’s a testament to the tech giant’s ability to evolve its earbuds over time, add new features, improve existing ones, and still keep improving where it matters most – sound quality – but in today’s market, there’s no shortage of competition for Sony to contend with.
But if anyone can do it…
Price
Pricing for the Sony WF-1000XM6 is £250 / $330 / AU$500. These figures are pretty much par for the course at this level, but given the older WF-1000XM5 cost £259 / $299 / AU$419 at launch, you’ll see it’s a mix of good and bad news depending on the territory.
It’s similarly mixed news when you see that the WF-1000XM6 are cheaper than the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) in the UK (£250 versus £299), but more expensive than the Bose in the US and Australia, where they cost $330 / AU$500 (versus $299 / AU$450).
The other big rival for the Sonys comes in the shape of the five-star and Award-winning Technics EAH-AZ100, which cost £259 / $299 / AU$499. The Technics dropped lower (£209) during Black Friday last year, and over Christmas, but at the time of writing, they are back to their normal price. We’d expect them to follow a similar pattern this year.
Will we see any discounts on the Sony WF-1000XM6? Given they’ve only just launched, we doubt there will be any immediate cuts. Potentially, during Prime Day or Black Friday you could see some money off, but any drops will only be temporary and won’t be huge.
Design & comfort
Sony has a habit of tweaking the design of its flagship earbuds with each iteration, and WF-1000XM6 is no different.
The first sign that things have changed is the wireless charging case, which is surprisingly bulkier and taller than the WF-1000XM5 case. Its rounded top and straight sides actually give us slight WF-1000XM3 vibes for those of you who remember Sony’s likeable third-generation earbuds.
Sony WF-1000XM6 tech specs
Type True wireless earbuds
Bluetooth version 5.3
Codec support SBC, AAC, LDAC
Noise-cancelling? Yes
Battery life 8 hours (BT + ANC), 24 hours (including charging case)
Weight 6.2g each (earbuds); 47g (charging case)
Finishes x 2 (black, platinum silver)
The case does feel a little cheap, though, and we’re struggling to understand why it’s bigger than before. It’s taller and wider than the slim case that comes with the Technics EAH-AZ100.
Flip the box open, and you’ll see the body of each earpiece is also a bit more, er, boxy, especially when you compare them to the more teardrop-shaped WF-1000XM5.
The rectangular shape is to accommodate an extra mic and help give room for the new ventilation structure (highlighted by the perforations on the underside of each earbud), which increases airflow within the device to reduce any internal noise you might hear generated from things like chewing or footsteps.
The WF-1000XM6 have also been designed to be more ergonomic and sit in the ear more comfortably – Sony claims this has partly been achieved by making them 11 per cent slimmer than the WF-1000XM5.
Inside each earbud, you’ll find an 8.4mm driver unit similar to the one used in the previous model, but the design has been tweaked so it now uses a ‘soft edge’ surround for greater bass performance, and also has a new fitting which makes it easier to squeeze into each earpiece.
The antenna used in the WF-1000XM6 is one-and-a-half times larger than the one used in XM5 and claims to allow for a more stable and solid connection.
During testing, we find this to be the case and don’t have any issues in crowded airports or train stations, where the headphones are competing with multiple wireless signals bouncing around.
WF-1000XM6 comes in two different finishes – black and platinum silver. Gone is the glossy, slightly slippery plastic of the older model, and instead, it’s been replaced by more of a matte feel.
We certainly find them easier to get to grips with, but it’s interesting to note that there are subtle differences between the new finishes too.
The black boasts a slightly smoother surface, while the platinum silver finish has more of a texture to it, which comes from, according to Sony, “added metal flakes and glass beads”.
Sony has chosen to stick with the same eartip material as the older model and the same sizes: extra small, small, medium and large.
We were hoping Sony might revisit the material or at least include an extra large eartip size to experiment with – a couple of members of our test team don’t feel quite as confident with the fit and seal as they do with rival models from Bose and Technics.
Sony does provide an air pressure fit test in its Sound Connect app, which gives you a tick if your fit/tip choice is isolating you properly.
After a few attempts, our fit gets the green light, and during long listening sessions, the WF-1000XM6 don’t feel uncomfortable, but everyone’s ears are different, so we always recommend trying them for yourself.
Features
Brand new for WF-1000XM6 is Sony’s third-gen HD Noise Cancelling processor QN3e. It’s the brains behind multiple elements of the earbud’s performance, from helping to control the mics and noise-cancelling to reducing the signal-to-noise ratio and improving the DAC performance.
The new model carries over the integrated processor V2 from the old model but it’s now capable of handling 32-bit processing, compared to 24-bit previously.
Sony’s DSEE Extreme processing is once again present and has been a mainstay for a couple of generations now. It helps improve the sound of low-quality music files, and if you do tend to listen to tracks that are compressed, even podcasts, we’d recommend having this switched on. In our experience, it does provide a subtle but audible uplift in sound quality.
The Sonys are IPX4 rated and also offer Multipoint Bluetooth so you can connect up to two devices simultaneously. Technics still has the edge here, though, as the EAH-AZ100 give you the option of hooking up to three devices at once.
Anyone who wants to tinker with the audio from their WF-1000XM6 earbuds can delve straight into Sony’s Sound Connect app. Here you’re given a wide range of customisation options, including a 10-band graphic equaliser which will help you fine-tune their performance.
Know the kind of sound you like, but don’t want to get your hands dirty playing with the manual EQ? You can use the Find Your Equaliser function, which takes you on a journey of different sonic signatures so you can settle on your favourite flavour.
The Sony app also give you other customisation options which include rearranging the functions of the touch controls (which, incidentally, work well and are responsive), optimising the earbuds for spatial audio, and altering the intensity of Sony’s Ambient Sound (transparency) mode when you’re out and about.
The mode gets a boost for the WF-1000XM6, and it’s impressive the amount of information the earbuds allow you to hear while they’re still in place, even if it does give voices a slightly processed edge when talking.
The same goes for the Quick Attention mode, which kicks in when you press and hold down on the left earbud. It lowers the volume so you can, say, hear an announcement that’s going on in the background.
Battery life
Battery life for the WF-1000XM6 comes in at eight hours, which we’d call solid but unspectacular for a flagship pair of earbuds. It’s longer than the six hours offered by the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) but two hours short of the ten you get from Technics EAH-AZ100 with noise-cancelling turned on.
We’re a little disappointed Sony hasn’t been able to stretch it out to nine or more, but it appears the new processor requires a little extra juice, which has prevented Sony from going for longer from a single charge.
You do get two extra full charges out of the wireless charging case, which makes for a total battery life of 24 hours.
ANC & call quality
As we’ve alluded to further up this page, Sony’s taken several steps to get the best noise-cancelling and call quality possible out of WF-1000XM6.
The addition of the new QN3e processor ups the computational power, and you’ve got four mics in each earbud, which work to isolate you from outside noise.
You’ve also got Adaptive NC Optimiser, which automatically adapts the ANC algorithm to your fit and for the environment you’re listening in.
And during testing, it certainly feels like the quality of ANC has been given a bump compared to the XM5, especially in the midrange and higher frequencies.
We took the Sonys on the London tube and on a couple of short-haul flights, and they impressed us with their consistency and ability to extract both low-frequency rumbles of carriages and aeroplane engines, but also more high-pitched screeches and whistles that crept into our environment.
It still doesn’t quite feel as intense as Bose’s ANC and the QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) might still have the edge in blocking out low frequencies, but the gap between Sony and Bose is now as small as it’s ever been.
Like their ANC performance, Sony’s recent premium earbuds have performed strongly with regard to call quality, and the WF-1000XM6 continue this trend.
The AI beamforming, mixed with the bone conduction sensors, the presence of the extra mics and the wind noise reduction design all combine to great effect.
During testing, we find the Sonys do a great job subduing and minimising background noise, including tricky-to-handle wind noise – voices come through loud and clear with a great level of detail.
Sound
It’s great to have ANC and call quality that’s up to scratch, but where do the Sonys stand sonically?
Speaking to Sony at a press briefing for the WF-1000XM6, representatives told us to expect a more natural sound than the WF-1000XM5.
And during testing, it doesn’t take longer than a minute or two to hear that the new buds are quite a different beast.
There’s a newfound sense of natural warmth throughout the frequency range. But before you start getting worried that this is achieved at the expense of detail and insight, don’t be.
Everything that you expect to be present in a pair of flagship wireless earbuds is there: a fantastic sense of timing, an expressive midrange, weighty yet well-defined bass and crisp, nicely controlled highs. The Sonys cover all the bases and then some.
The WF-1000XM6 make the WF-1000XM5 sound lean and lacking substance in comparison. They also show the Bose up as being overblown and lacking sophistication and refinement.
Listen to the two, one after the other, the Bose sound like a blunt instrument compared to the Sonys, which dispatch not just lows, but also highs and mids with accuracy and razor-sharp precision.
But don’t think the Sonys deliver analysis at the expense of emotion, which can sometimes be the case with earbuds that just want to deconstruct the music. This is where their natural tone and superb sense of integration come into play.
The Sonys make instruments and vocals sound believable, just as if you were standing in the room getting a private performance.
Playing Tom Odell’s Black Friday, the Sonys give you a front row seat and reveal themselves as expert communicators. There’s delicacy and subtlety in spades, which helps the earbuds extract fantastic emotion and feeling from the track.
As fingers slide up the neck of the acoustic guitar, you can explicitly hear the little shifts in dynamics and the fine details in the gentle piano play, both of which mix beautifully with the sweeping strings that flow alongside both instruments.
The WF-1000XM6 capture and express the sadness and raw emotion in Odell’s voice superbly. They drag you in even further than the Technics EAH-AZ100, and make the Award-winners sound like they’re holding back dynamically. The Technics are still sweet-sounding, smooth and refined, but the Sonys give you a bit more insight into the music.
We switch to Dead Inside by Muse and the Sonys exhibit all the bass power and weight you could ask for, but it’s the way the notes are controlled and defined which really sets the Sonys apart from some of their rivals. They make the lows dispatched from the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) sound unkempt and overcooked.
There’s great depth to the bass notes and drum thwacks, but there’s also great agility. Notes don’t hang around longer than they need to, but they’re packed with texture and information and never feel like they’re telling you only half the story.
Add the Sony’s newfound naturalness, and it brings the whole presentation together – the track sounds like a complete performance with no element too prominent or hidden away.
We finish off with Sugarhigh by King Unique, a slice of noughties dance music with a great mix of drum beats and percussion, and the Sonys’ rhythmic abilities come to the fore. The tribalistic drum beat drives the track along, and the XM6 dispatch it effortlessly.
As layers of electronica, percussion and drum machine come in from all angles, the Sonys keep a fine grip on all the different elements – the XM6 slot straight into a groove and never sound in danger of veering away from it.
Verdict
The premium wireless earbuds market has never been healthier, and your choices have never been wider and more varied.
But just when you thought Sony might be pulled back into the chasing pack, the WF-1000XM6 push the brand ahead again with a breathtaking all-round performance.
Sony might have changed the flavour of sound, but it’s all for the better with a natural tone that just connects with the listener, whatever track you care to throw at them. Dare we say, it’s benchmark-setting at the money…
Add noise-cancelling that’s up there with the very best, brilliant call quality and broad customisation options, and you’re left in no doubt the WF-1000XM6 are serious contenders.
Review published: 12th February 2026
SCORES
- Sound 5
- Comfort 4
- Features 5
MORE:
Read our review of the Technics EAH-AZ100
Also consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
Read our Apple AirPods Pro 3 review
Best wireless earbuds: top pairs tested by our reviewers
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