Sony WH-1000XM6

Back Story: Around January 2026 I posted a review of the Soundpeats Cove Pro. This inspired me to investigate other mainstream headphones with ANC, including Bose and Sennheiser. On the 11th of February I purchased the Sony WH-1000MM6 wireless noise cancelling headphones and have been wearing them on and off since. I was using the Cove Pro as my ‘daily driver’ for those AM train journeys for five months until the end of July 2026 and have just finished testing the battery in the last week, with, by the way; better than listed results (so check out my review, here on Product Review).

Back to the Sony WH-1000XM6’s:

So, back to the Sony WH-1000XM6, now as my morning train journey partner.

Let me tell you something, they are better than I remember them. The look, the setup, in and out of the clam shell case, the connection, fit and feel and oh, yes – the mind-blowingly good ANC, but first, some tech specs.

Key details and specs for the Sony WH-1000XM6:

• Type: Over-ear, closed-back wireless headphones

• Noise canceling: Yes; Sony’s HD Noise Canceling Processor QN3, 12 microphones, Adaptive Noise Cancelling Optimizer, Ambient Sound mode, Auto Ambient Sound

• Sound: 30mm driver, High-Resolution Audio / Hi-Res Wireless, LDAC, DSEE Extreme

• Bluetooth: 5.3

• Supported codecs: SBC, AAC, LDAC, LC3

• Multipoint: Yes, connect to 2 devices at once

• Call features: 6-mic AI beamforming system, built-in mic, wind-resistant design

• Battery life: Up to 30 hours with noise canceling on, up to 40 hours with it off

• Charging: USB-C, about 3.5 hours to full

• Quick charge: Yes

• Wired use: Yes, 3.5 mm input included

• Weight: About 8.96 oz / 254 grams

• Impedance: 48 ohms powered on via cable; 16 ohms powered off

• Frequency response: 4–40,000 Hz (JEITA); Bluetooth audio up to 20–40,000 Hz with LDAC

• Colors: Black, Midnight Blue, Platinum Silver, Sand Pink, Sandstone

Unboxing:

The headphones came in a fairly large white coloured recycled cardboard type box, with a paper sleeve wrapped around the box vertically.

Once the sleeve is removed you can see the front of the case is embossed with the words ‘1000X SERIES’.

Take the front lid off the box, you find the charcoal grey coloured case, sitting angle towards the top-right corner of the rectangle box.

The headphone carry case had a dark grey strap connected to a ‘starter pack’ slim cardboard box, with information about setup on the outside and documents on the inside.

I slipped the carry strap out of the starter pack box and removed the carry case from the outer box.

The side of the carry case has and interesting strap design which has an elliptical hole the fits over a plastic bar on the bottom of the case and simply clips on and off.

Opening the case is a nice experience. The lid and base inside material is light grey in colour and feels lovely and velvety to touch.

The headphones sit in the base of the case, wrapped around the left earcup, with the headband arching around the top curve of the base of the case.

There is a pocket on the lower right corner of the base, to house the USB C charging cable.

What strikes you immediately, is how plain stealth looking the matt black ear cup shells are. They are quite sooth, only very slightly textured. The ends of the earcups are completely flat, for touch controls, which I will cover later.

First Test:

Taking the headphones out of the case is also a nice, smooth experience and it makes you appreciate the engineering that has gone into the design.

You flip out the ear cups, then slide the earcups down via the internal bar that moves in and out of the bottom of each side of the headband. There is no ratchet mechanism here, only a smooth grip on the earcup bar that lets you slowly expand and contract the internal bar. It holds position perfectly and does not slip (an interesting piece of engineering)

The left ear cup houses the on-off power button and the 3.5 mm jack port. The right earcup houses the touch sensor control panel for playback, calls, volume, track skipping, voice input, and Quick Attention Mode. It also lets you tap, swipe, or hold gestures for those functions.

The Sony Sound Connect app allows you to quickly set up the headphones. Once you power on the headphones, it goes into paring mode, and you do so in the normal way via your smart phone or Bluetooth device.

The App:

The Sound Connect app has a nice and simply splash page, with a high-resolution picture of the headphones and quick information regarding batter power for the headphones.

There are shortcuts to set the ANC or ‘Ambient Sound Control’:

• Noise Cancelling • Ambient Sound • Off

5-Band Equalizer:

There is an arrow that will take you to the app 5-band equalizer, and you simply adjust the bars at the relevant frequencies to taste. After a little bit of fenagling, I just raised the bass and the treble slightly, to give the EQ a bit more of a ‘V’ curve.

First Impressions: ANC, Oh, ANC!:

The first thing that hits you when you are outside and walking the dogs, is how (almost) complete the ANC is, only letting slightly in sound from the loudest vehicles on the road.

You cannot hear your feet on gravel paths.

On train journeys you cannot hear any of the ambient sounds in a train car.

The only thing I could hear on the train was the occasional loudspeaker announcement and some very loud squealing of train wheels on the tracks.

Truth be told, I found the ANC of the Sony’s to be one of the most natural and almost complete, to the point where if you close your eyes, you can easily drift off with the music and skip a few stations. Touch Panel (Right Earcup):

The touch sensor panel on the flat of the right earcup works as follows:

• Double-tap to play/pause or answer/end calls

• Swipe forward/back to change tracks

• Swipe up/down to change volume

• Hold to use voice input

• Cover the whole panel with your hand for Quick Attention Mode. Y

You can also turn the panel on or off in the Sony Sound Connect app.

Call experience:

I tested the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones with the following results:

• Quiet office: Exceptionally clear, audible voice with nil background noise.

• Simulated plane sound: Clear audible voice with nil background noise.

• Simulated noisy restaurant: Audible voice but somewhat garbled at the end of words, but can make out each word with low level background noise.

• Wind test (in front of a large fan): Quite clear, enough to hear every word. Some slight. lowering in volume of voice, as wind from fan hit outside of cup and some slight drop out at the end of a word here and there. You can hear the wind sound as a distance washing sound on the outside of the earcups.

• Road traffic noise: Voice quite audible, with all words clearly made out. Nil background noise.

Other tests:

• Walking into a headwind playing music: you can hear a slight wind noise, but it sounds distant and external, around the very outside of the earcup. Not like other headphones, like the Soundpeats Cove Pro, where the wind sound comes right into the earcup and into your ear.

Overall Sound Quality:

They Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones deliver clear, well-imaged and full-bodied sound.

The app equalizer assists greatly in tuning, to get that last bit right.

Sound delivery is emphasised due to the excellent ANC. The overall presentation and balance just sounds great; it is present and correct.

Value Proposition:

In simple usability terms, these headphones work right out of the box; from removing from the case, unfolding, adjusting the headband to fit your head, placing them on your ears, tuning them in, connectivity, ANC and a full bodied, well-imaged sound: - it has it all.

These are one of the best wireless headsets you can buy right now.

No, these are not the cheapest headphones.

You can pick these up right now at JB Hi-Fi (on sale) for $548 AUD, however I shopped around and did a website price-match, for an even better price, which JB matched for me.

Yes, these are at the higher end of Bluetooth headphones, but for what you get right now, and especially if you can get yourself a deal, you can’t get a much better deal than the RRP.

Competitors:

Other brands competing at this price range like the Bose QC Ultra 2, Apple Air Pods Max, Sennheiser Momentum 5 and HDB 630 will give the Sony’s a good run, for value and features, but if you love that seamless ease, smooth full-bodied sound, with lightweight, easy to fit and useful features – look no further.

Yes, other brands do some of the things a bit differently; some are heavier (with a lot stronger clamp-force), some have better bass and imaging, some have better more granular EQ – ultimately, it comes down to taste, user experience and budget.

I have read that some people have found the Sony’s somewhat flimsy and breakable at the headband, earcup swivel, but it all comes down how you look after them: take them out of the case, use them, put them back into the case: Job done!

Final Thoughts:

The Sony WH-1000XM6 is a full package.

You can’t really go wrong if you look after your stuff.

They can be a long-term daily-driver, until the next upgrade comes out (and even then, I generally wait for the second upgrade, as usually the next one is more of a slight update than an upgrade)

If I was to score Sony WH-1000XM6’s out of 100, I would give it a 96: as the ANC doesn’t block out 100% of outside noise, but it comes very close. So, this is nit-picking, right, but you can’t say these are perfect, if there is still room for improvement, however small.

Last Word:

Sony made it easy to review these headphones, because they are so good.

Seeing is believing, how far they have come in a short space of time.

Competition is fierce and Sony’s WH-1000XM6 is, in my humble opinion, up to the challenge.

I believe they are worth your consideration – go try them out, give them a full test with your test tracks – places like JB will do their best to oblige you.

For your hard-earned money from your J-O-B, it needs to perform as described and you need to do your due diligence and give then a thorough test, to see if they are right for you.

I say this as I am wearing my Sony WH-1000XM6’s, playing the Butcher Brown album, track: ‘Love Lock’ and even though I am not playing the track loud, to give myself clarity to think in typing these last paragraphs, the music is so well isolated and compelling.

This has been another Ant review.

I hope you have enjoyed reading it, as much as I have had in compiling it.

I cannot recommend anyone purchase these headphones. Below is a timeline of my experience with them after just over four months. Sony rejected my claim, claiming abuse of the headphones. You can see below they are without a mark. Product: Sony WH-1000XM6 Headphones Purchase Date: 12 March 2026 (Direct from Sony Australia Store) Serial Number: S01-5350094-C

Chronology of Events: - 12 March 2026: Purchased brand new. - 07 July 2026: After 4 months of normal wear, the inner hinge mesh lining fabric detached. There are no impact marks, scratches, or signs of physical dropping on the unit. - 07 July 2026: Filed a hardware warranty claim with Sony Australia. - 10 July 2026: Sony Support rejected the claim via email, stating the issue was due to "physical damage/external factors" and noting that 4 months was a "considerable amount of time" of use. They offered a paid repair or trade-in. - 10 July 2026: Formally requested a remedy under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) consumer guarantees regarding acceptable quality and durability. Sony repeated their rejection. - 10 July 2026: Lodged a formal dispute with Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV Reference: C2026/07/003975). - Update: CAV has advised that because they do not have enforcement powers to compel an outcome, the appropriate next step is to lodge a civil claim with VCAT.

I am currently proceeding with a VCAT application to seek a full refund of the purchase price under statutory consumer guarantees. I am sharing this timeline purely to document the durability of the component and the company's response to an ACL claim within 4 months of purchase.