Sony WH-1000XM6 Review: The Bar Was Already High. Sony Raised It.

The WH-1000XM5 was, for three years, the correct answer to the question “which noise-cancelling headphones should I buy?” The answer was never enthusiastic — the ANC was excellent, the sound was competent, the comfort was acceptable — but it was reliable. The XM5 was the responsible choice.

The XM6 makes the responsible choice exciting.

The new QN3 processor doubles the noise-cancelling processing channels from eight to sixteen, and the difference is audible in a way that noise-cancelling improvements rarely are. On a train, the XM6 removes engine noise with a thoroughness that approaches sensory deprivation. In an open-plan office, conversation at moderate distance disappears. The XM5 was good. The XM6 is eerie.

Sound quality has improved in ways that the spec sheet doesn’t capture. The XM6 uses a new 40mm driver with a redesigned diaphragm that extends treble response without introducing the hardness that afflicts most attempts to extend headphone high-frequency performance. Voices are rendered with more presence. The low end is tighter than the XM5 without losing warmth.

Battery life: 38 hours with ANC on. Charge time: 3.5 hours to full, 3 minutes for 3 hours of playback. The quick charge is genuinely useful in a way that most headphone quick-charge implementations are not.

The 9.1 reflects the only remaining complaint: the touch controls on the right ear cup remain the most accidentally activated touch controls in headphone history. Sony has been iterating on this for three generations without solving it. Everything else is class-leading.