For the last month, I’ve had the not-so-arduous task of comparing the shiny new Sony WH-1000XM6 against their biggest rivals. Yep, I’ve tried wireless headphones from everyone, including all the big hitters like Apple, Bose Sonos…you name it! But as the headline has already spilled, there’s only one pair of headphones I’d recommend to all – and that’s Sony’s latest flagship cans.
In my Sony WH-1000XM6 review I made it clear – these are an exceptional pair of headphones that serve up a delicious cocktail of spectacular sound quality, a delightful design and, most importantly, class-leading noise cancellation. And so, it will be of little surprise that the XM6 swiftly pushed their way into our list of the best headphones.
Still, some of the competition is incredibly fierce. Models such as the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 earned a glowing five-star review from us – and believe me, they’re the real deal. But I can’t help but feel that the Sony WH-1000XM6 are the better pick for most people. Why? I’ll break it down into three key reasons.
1. Shutting off the outside world
If we’re talking ANC, there’s simply no one out there that can top Sony right now. That’s right, the WH-1000XM6 offer the best noise cancelling I’ve ever tested on a pair of over-ear headphones. Yes, even better than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra. And substantially superior to Sony’s previous effort, the Sony WH-1000XM5.
That’s because Sony’s latest cans harness the power of a new and improved QN3 HD noise cancelling processor, which fine tunes 12 microphones in real time to shut off the outside world. Oh, there’s also AI onboard, which does a bit of extra legwork to keep pesky external sounds from creeping in.
Whether I was walking near a traffic-heavy road, working in a chatter-filled room or vacuuming my apartment, the XM6 induced silence – or at least, near-silence. So, whether you’re looking to make those morning commutes a bit more bearable or perhaps just feeling a little anti-social, you can trust the XM6 to keep you locked into your favorite tracks and movies.
Oh, one more thing about that phenomenal mic system. It also helps to offer crystal-clear calling, with six beamforming mics helping to bring the focus to your mouth. Again, AI is at hand to carve out clamors from your surroundings, and this works incredibly well.
I attended a demo at Sony’s 5020 Studio in Madrid, where someone walked into an artificially noisy environment, but after placing the XM6 on and making a call, the only thing I could hear was their voice. You really are getting next-level clarity with these headphones – and yes, they’re considerably better in this area than previous models like the Sony WH-1000XM4.
2. Fluid, fool-proof controls
So, Sony’s come on significantly in the realms of ANC and call quality. But something else that’s been refined is the touch controls. On the XM6, swiping forwards and back to skip or return to a track, flicking and holding to adjust volume, and double tapping to pause or play music feels so incredibly smooth.
In fact, the XM6 supply the most intuitive, fluid touch controls I’ve ever seen on a pair of headphones. You can even cover the right earcup to enable passthrough mode – how cool is that?!
And after testing some rival models, I came to appreciate those touch controls even more. I absolutely adore the open, expansive, yet coherent sound of the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 – I think for the money, they arguably offer the best sound quality on the market right now. Yep, maybe even a bit better than the XM6 which, by the way, sound absolutely fantastic! But unfortunately for the Px7 S3, they’re limited to basic button controls which felt like such a downgrade to me after extensively using the XM6. This alone kept me going back to the Sony contender.
For reference, if you want to skip tracks on the Bowers headphones, you’ve got to double press the play button – and it’s three presses to go back. That, to me, feels a little rigid…and behind the times. Similarly, the Apple AirPods Max, which offer enticingly expansive audio, a beautiful design and excellent usability for iPhone users, are held back by physical controls (among other things).
I appreciate that some may find touch controls a little irritating. Perhaps you’ll accidentally skip a track when taking the headphones off. Maybe you’ll pause your music when adjusting your luscious locks. But the XM6 handle touch beautifully. I’m yet to experience any accidental playback alterations or the like. Touch controls – when done right like this – are so much more than a nice-to-have now.
3. All the features you could ever want…and then some
I could cap this off by talking about the beautifully balanced, dynamic sound of the XM6. I could even talk about their slim, comfortable design which brings foldability back to the fore. But instead, I want to talk about the insanely broad, yet detailed feature-list you get on these Sony headphones.
Yes, of course you get that phenomenal ANC and calling. But with the Sound Connect app, you unlock so much more. There’s scene-based listening and adaptive audio, which adjusts depending on your environment. There’s LDAC and DSEE for accessing higher-resolution audio over Bluetooth. And now, there’s a 10-band EQ tab, which comes with a Find Your Equalizer listening test too.
But I’m only scratching the surface! There’s even more, from Auracast through to a Cinema listening mode that really help to set the XM6 apart from their rivals. They truly have everything you could want from a pair of the best noise cancelling headphones and more.
Combine that with the above reasons and you’re looking at a pair of true all-rounders. The Sony WH-1000XM6 have every base covered, and nail all the fundamentals like sound quality and noise cancellation. So, if there’s one pair of the best over-ear headphones I recommend to everyone…it has to be these.
But wait – this is an open discussion rather than a final decision! Do you agree? If you already have the Sony WH-1000XM6, what are your impressions thus far? I’d be interested to hear from you, so feel free let me know your thoughts in the comments. Most of all, enjoy the music.
