Sony WF-1000XM6 Review – 6 Months Later

By Josh Teder

It’s been six months since I bought the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds. But in a world where the competition from Samsung and Apple has gotten a lot better in recent years, does Sony still hold up, and why would you get these over buds tied into your phone’s own ecosystem? Let’s get into it.

Noise Cancellation

One of the biggest reasons to get these over the competition is the noise cancellation. It’s excellent, and it beats out what I’ve experienced on the AirPods Pro 3 and the Galaxy Buds4 Pro. With the AirPods, I’ve had issues with the noise cancellation degrading over time, but with the Sonys, it just stays strong from the moment you put them in. They pretty much eliminate background noise like traffic in the distance completely (modified car exhaust included, if that’s a pet peeve of yours like it is mine).

On a flight, you’ll normally hear things like coughing or babies crying, but with these, the sounds felt pretty distant, and overall ambient cabin noise got removed really well. There’s also no noticeable static or hiss when you’ve got noise cancellation on and nothing playing, which you can sometimes get with other buds. Overall, Sony just did an awesome job here.

Sound Quality

Sound quality is another highlight. It’s got a nice warmness to it with good detail and clarity, though I’d say the signature leans more warm and flat compared to the punchier tuning from the competition.

Unlike years past, where Sony’s buds sounded noticeably better than Apple’s and Samsung’s to me, that’s not really the case anymore. I’ve found they all sound pretty good at this point, and I wouldn’t say I prefer Sony’s default sound to those. In a lot of instances, I’ve actually thought the AirPods Pro 3 sound a hair better, with more detail and a punchier bass, especially in a track like the Game of Thrones intro. The Buds4 Pro are even punchier still, which some people will like, but I’m more mixed on it.

These buds support higher-fidelity audio over LDAC if your phone supports it, like my Pixel 10 Pro XL. Sony also includes a full-band EQ in their app so you can tune the buds to your liking, though I think the default flat signature is one most people will be happy with.

Quick Access, Battery Life, and Extra Features

Another thing I’ve really liked is the quick access feature. It lets you trigger music to start playing from Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, or Amazon Music with a gesture, like double-tapping the left bud. Props to Sony for actually supporting all the major streaming services with this (apologies to Tidal users, but you’re a tiny fraction of this market).

Battery life has also been a highlight. These are rated for 8 hours with ANC on, matching the AirPods Pro 3 and beating the Buds4 Pro by a good bit. I haven’t had issues with weird battery drain, and standby battery life after not using them for a week or two has held up well too.

A small but nice touch: Sony lets you turn down the default sound effects, like the chime when you toggle noise cancellation, in settings. I wish other brands like Nothing did the same with their headphones. On Android, you can also put Gemini on the buds and trigger the assistant hands-free, which has been nice. And while you can’t add them to Apple’s Find My app, they do integrate with Android’s Find Hub, so you can see their last location and ring the left or right bud (though I do wish that functionality was built into Sony’s app for iPhone users too).

Sony packs a lot more into the Sound Connect app, like listening modes, Speak to Chat, ambient sound adjustments, Sound AR, and adaptive sound control. Those are all fine features, but they’re not ones I’ve found myself using much over the past six months.

Where They Fall Short

Now let’s talk downsides, because I’ve run into a few.

The first is fit and comfort. The foam tips Sony uses are still the best I’ve used, and that helps a lot with blocking out background sound, but I was a bit disappointed to see Sony made these buds larger than the previous generation, which felt better in my ears. I can still wear them comfortably, but after a while my ears do get a bit sore, which didn’t happen with the XM5s. The foam tips themselves were also a bit firm when I first got these, though they softened up after about a week.

Another downside is durability. The buds and case are only IPX4 rated, meaning they can take splashes but can’t handle being submerged like the AirPods Pro 3 or Buds4 Pro, and the case itself has no water resistance at all, unlike the AirPods Pro 3 case, which shares the same rating as the buds.

The case is also a downside on its own. It’s bigger than the previous version, and I’m not sure why Sony made it chunkier while also losing the rounded edges the old one had. Compared to what other players in this space are doing, I’d much rather have a slimmer case with rounded edges in my pocket.

Transparency mode is another issue. My own voice sounds a bit too loud when it’s enabled, and there’s nowhere in settings to tweak that, which would be a nice feature to add.

It’s when you look at what these buds are competing against that it gets harder to justify spending $330 on them.

Should You Buy Them?

So overall, do I recommend these buds? Yeah, while I haven’t enjoyed them quite as much as the previous generation, the noise cancellation is still excellent, and the sound and battery life hold up well too. But it’s when you look at what these buds are competing against that it gets harder to justify spending $330 on them. You can see current pricing on these and everything else I mentioned in the Featured Products section below.

The AirPods Pro 3 are often found on sale for $200 or less, sound as good if not a bit better than, the Sonys, and if you have an iPhone you also get features like Dolby Atmos spatial audio across your phone, Mac, and Apple TV, seamless switching between devices, a better water resistance rating, and a more comfortable, slimmer design. If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, I’m not sure why you’d go with the Sonys instead.

Sony’s buds have traditionally appealed more to Android users anyway, but even there, once you compare them to Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds4 Pro, the advantages aren’t as big as they used to be. The Buds4 Pro have worse battery life, but I find the fit more comfortable, and if you’re on a Samsung phone, you get extras like seamless switching and game mode.

If you’re on a non-Samsung Android phone and you prioritize sound, and specifically noise cancellation, and you’re willing to pay for it, that’s where I think Sony’s top-of-the-line buds sit right now. If you’ve got a Samsung phone or an iPhone and you’re still tempted by these, let me know why (or why not) in the comments. You can also check out my AirPods Pro 3 review for more on how that pair holds up, and subscribe on YouTube for my upcoming Buds4 Pro review.