is a senior reviewer covering TVs and audio. He has over 20 years experience in AV, and has previously been on staff at Digital Trends and Reviewed.
Apple, Bose, and Sony are in a running battle for the best noise-canceling earbuds, and the Sony WF-1000XM6 put Sony back in first place — if you can get a good fit with the included foam tips.
With each iteration of the XM series, Sony has aimed for — and delivered — incredible noise-canceling performance with a pleasing and balanced sound profile, and features that work equally well with iOS and Android. The XM6 push even further by adding additional noise-canceling mics (for a total of 8), a new chip, newly designed drivers, and a new shape that’s supposed to better fit a wider selection of ears. That’s a lot of promises, and the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds fulfill them all — almost.
One of the things I’ve liked most about both the in-ear and over-ear Sony XM series is the sound performance. Out of the box, the XM6 sound balanced and clean. They use a new driver with a softer edge material that allows for deeper bass, combined with a high-rigidity dome for clear high frequencies. I was impressed by the bass response, even in the lowest notes of “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish, which sound resonant and punchy. Vocals, such as Jarvis Cocker’s on “Common People,” cut through thick textures, and cymbals and hi-hats have a nice sparkle to them. There’s also more drive in the midrange than with the Apple AirPods Pro 3 or Bose Ultra Earbuds gen 2 — both of which are balanced a bit more toward the high end, especially the Bose.
The top noise-canceling earbuds — the Bose Ultra Earbuds gen 2, Apple AirPods Pro 3, and these Sony WF-1000XM6 — are all great at blocking low-end frequencies like the engine noise in an airplane cabin. They’re all good at tamping down midrange sounds, including voices, but the XM6 are better at tuning out other people’s conversations better than any other earbuds I’ve heard.
Sony improved the bone conduction sensor in the XM6, and in conjunction with AI beamforming mics, the earbuds do a great job blocking out environmental sounds while on calls. I tested both sides of a call with the XM6, and found that traffic can cause some swishy noises. And when there was a lot of extra traffic and wind, my voice would sound a bit compressed, but not to an extent that was distracting or caused me to be unintelligible.
Sony WF-1000XM6 specs Price: $329.99
Battery life: 8 hours (24 including the case)
Colors: Black, light gray
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Auracast
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