Customer Ratings & Reviews

These Sony WF-1000M6 (M6) earbuds are my first pair by Sony so I have no reference to older versions. I have owned many other premium buds though. To my ears, the M6 hits the difficult trifecta of audio fidelity, near- impeccable noise cancellation, and effective phone call capabilities. And that’s listening to them using an iPhone 17 Pro Max which doesn’t support the M6’s hi res codec. My guess is, if you use an Android phone that supports LDAC your ears are in for an even more satisfying treat. If you are only interested in quick take on whether the M6 deserve top consideration, my answer is a vocal “absolutely” if punchy, but clean, layered sound is your #1 priority. I’m far from being an audiophile, but I do recognize and appreciate clear, detailed, and emotional, but not exaggerated music reproduction. This is what the M6 produces whether listening at low volume in a secluded hide-a-way or cranking it up in a rush hour subway. My experience and thoughts about key areas of the M6 is below if you want more details. CHARGE CASE The charging and storage case is eye catching with its rounded sides paired with straight edges top and bottom. I find those straight edges offer a secure grip, especially when fishing out of a pocket, so they are purposeful too. I have no fear they are going to pop out of my hand. Holding the case prior to my first open felt like an overture of a great opera. It’s in-hand feel conveyed an upbeat sense of what was to come. A gentle thumb flick and the lid jumps opens to reveal the X6’s and remains up until lowered. The functionality of the case, however, is standard fare with a LED battery indicator and a USB-C charge port. It’s also Qi wireless charging compatible. But it doesn’t have any extras like speakers or NFC to help locate it when lost under a pile of papers on your desk, or anywhere else. And while the M6 buds are IPX4 sweat and splash resistant the case is neither water nor dust resistant. In the big picture these are small nitpicks. BATTERY LIFE The M6’s are rated at 8 hours with ANC on. While I have yet to get 8 full hours on a single charge, it’s been within 45 minutes of that mark. I’ll never be in a position where I’m wearing buds for 8 hours straight or won’t have the carry case around so I’m fine with 8-ish hours. If you activate any of the M6’s other features, like voice control, battery life is well under 7 hrs. High volume level will eat into battery life too. I find 40% comfortable and efficient when using them outside my home. In addition to the case’s battery indicator, the specific % level of the case and each earbud is available in the Sound Connect app. If you have voice control enabled you can also ask for battery level. FIT The M6’s are chonky looking and that concerned me until I placed them in my small ears. This was one of those “don’t judge a book by its cover” lessons for me. They snuggle in like a perfect puzzle piece and feel as invisible as buds can. Positioning them into the ear has a natural feel and I never have to look for which side is up. Once in, about half the bud’s shell is visible. It looks silly, as all wireless buds do, but no one wears buds for fashion. I use the M6’s for about 2.5 hours at time and find the tips comfortable. I’ve yet to experience fatigue, itchiness, or soreness. The hold is excellent even when I’m running hard and my ears are moist. CONTROL I’m a hard button guy but admit, the M6’s tap controls are precise and immediate. The various tap sequences are semi-customizable in the app as well which can reduce the learning curve and make controls more logical to you. But if you are 100% anti-touch, or maybe you wear gloves, voice and voice assistant control is available. Voice control is the M6’s internal system and summoned by saying “Hey, headphones…[command].” You must use specific phrases listed in the app or it won’t understand your request. Voice assistant is the ability to use your phone’s built in assistant like Siri or Hey Google. Turn it on in the app. Then it activates by saying, “assistant.” Wait for the tone then make your request. You can have either or both features available, but they do pinch battery life. In my case it was about 20%. But since I don’t like touch controls, I find it handy, especially when running. It works well in most situations but can be flaky if the ambient noise is especially loud. I find Siri’s response time is slower than when activating directly on my phone or via a pair of Airpods. Still, this integration on the M6’s makes them a serious consideration for iPhone users. For phone calls, head gesture control is also an option. The gestures are intuitive, head shake up and down answers, side-to-side sends to voice mail. SOUND CONNECT APP If you have app fatigue you’ll be happy to learn Sony Connect (iOS and Android) for the M6 is truly useful with extra features and extensive customization. There are so many options I can only offer a broad overview, but about every aspect of the M6 can be fine-tuned to taste and need. Neither an account nor sign in is required to access most features. However, the app is only accessible when the buds are out of the case and turned on, which is annoying. For frequency tweakers there’s a 10-band equalizer, though not parametric. If equalizers intimidate you a questionnaire will help you dial in your sound preference. And for those always on the move Adaptive Sound Control eliminates the need to constantly adjust settings. When enabled various audio aspects automatically change based on your location or situation. For example, it can turn on noise cancelling when out for a run and then switch to ambient mode when you are home. Some options are motion triggered while others are GPS tracked (with permission). AUDIO QUALITY To my ears the M6’s native, no adjustments, sound is even, lively, and unforced even with compressed 320mbps AAC tracks. The bass is slightly boomy but appropriately tight and energetic. Mids (vocals) are clearly prominent. It’s not technically a neutral sound, but it’s not outrageously biased either. I welcome this especially when running. It’s an effective second wind catalyst when I hit the mid-course doldrums. The high range frequencies are the most “neutral” aspect offering clean cymbal crashes and bold, not brash, trumpets. Herb Alpert would approve. The “out of the box” sound will thrill most ears, but if you want to spice it up more there is the equalizer and pre-sets. Of course, satisfying tuning relies on a solid audio foundation, and that is the M6. Certainly in-app equalizers are common, but the M6’s base capabilities are clearly top of the mountain. NOISE CANCELLATION The M6’s base audio is terrific but 2026 consumers demand even more to award Gold. Noise cancellation is no longer a novelty and its intruding artifacts are unacceptable in high-end earbuds. Many potentially great headphones have been felled by either meddlesome or wimpy noise cancellation. Apparently, Sony took note because the M6’s sound quality with noise cancellation activated is outstanding. To my ears, the musical difference between noise cancellation mode, transparency mode and all modes off is negligible. While “all off” is slightly fuller sounding, noise cancellation does not materially degrade clarity or punchiness with distracting white noise or hollowness. It’s quite impressive and I can only think of a few other buds I’ve tried that can accomplish this feat. In short, noise cancellation quiets outside sounds without muting the frequencies you want to hear. I can’t offer a scientifically derives percent on how much outside noise is removed, but my guess is about 90%, which is higher than almost all my other earbuds. For a “real world” example, when on a pedestrian path adjacent to a busy parkway on one side and an airplane landing route on the other, sounds that leak are low frequency, high decibel; jet noise directly above, ambulance sirens whizzing by and jackhammers 100ft away. Everything else that isn’t both of these qualities is audibly concealed. Even a 10-mph wind is as inaudible as it is invisible. CALL QUALITY The M6’s super effective noise cancellation contributes greatly to making phone conversations audibly comfortable even in loud places. Calls using the M6’s on the aforementioned path exhibit a combination of clarity and noise cancellation that most other buds fail to reach. The M6 is a winner in this situation and removes my stress of missing a word or phrase from the other end of the call. There also no “tunnel” sound. In my experience, the key to a great conversation in a noisy environment using the M6 is to turn off “Capture Voice…” in the “Calling” section of the settings in the app. When I had this setting on considerably more background noise leaked in compared to noise cancellation mode with music playing. I asked many of the people I was talking with using the M6 if my voice was clear and the response was always, yes. Next, I asked if they could hear any background noise, and while most could tell I wasn’t in the office or home none guessed I was next to a parkway with cars rushing by 20 ft to my right. CONCLUSION The M6’s are my new “go to” earbuds because they sound amazing no matter what I’m playing or where I’m using them. Too boot they also work well enough with Siri, which I use a lot for basic control even though she gets a bad rap. So, if you, like me, really enjoy the subtleties of a recording with clearly defined instrument and vocal separation above everything else, the M6’s should be a primary consideration. Some extras found in other earbuds are missing, but the M6's do music and noise cancellation better than almost all of them and if you need to pick up a call they won’t embarrass you.

I find that getting noise canceling right in earbuds seems to be exceptionally hard. Not all earbuds that include the feature are able to execute it very well. While I have had success with some pairs that I have owned, the Sony WF1000XM6 are easily the ones to beat now. They are very comfortable to wear for long periods of time, never fall out of my ears, have great battery life, and sound excellent as well. -- Setup Getting started with the earbuds was about as easy as it can get. After charging them in the included case, I simply opened the case near my phone and was immediately prompted to pair them. It literally can't get any easier than that. While they were immediately ready for use by then, there is additional features available through the Sony app. One thing that was especially interesting during the setup, was the app testing how well the noise cancelling was working by checking the seal of the attached earpieces while I was wearing them. Helping me determine if I needed a larger attachment to make sure the noise canceling was working as well as it could be. This is the first time I have seen something like that before, and it was very useful. There are also nice little touches, like turning off noise canceling if you remove one of the earbuds. There is a lot of smart decisions made in general with these earbuds. Through the app, there is also equalizer settings and presets. There is also a cool feature, similar to what is available through their headphones, that allows you to set or detect locations. Which is helpful if you need more noise canceling or other settings while at work. -- Performance As you might expect from any of the XM series of headphones from Sony, these sound absolutely stellar. Clear audio and punchy bass. Of course, as I have mentioned, the noise cancelation is the true star here. I will not fly without noise canceling headphones anymore. They make traveling much more comfortable in general. They way these earbuds adapt to the surroundings is excellent too. No matter if I am in public places, or quieter areas, like my office. Touch controls work very well, making it easy to answer calls, or control music quickly. Speaking of calls, the call quality was excellent. I received similar feedback from the people I spoke to as well. The battery life is very good as well. They easily get well over 4 hours of battery life and can be charged quickly in the case. The case supporting wireless charging is a nice touch as well. Being able to just set it on a wireless charger is nice. -- Design I like the looks of these a lot. They're unobtrusive and look pretty sleek. They fit my ears well too. I would say both the case and earbuds are very elegant looking. One minor complaint, for me, I kind of wish the case had a bit more rounded edge. Only because it would make it a bit more comfortable in my pocket. That being said, it's easy to just drop these into my backpack. Overall, it's really tough to find any faults with these. They look and sound great. Pros: Superb noise canceling, comfortable, good battery life, great app and features Cons: I wouldn't mind the case having more rounded edges

The Sony WF series of buds has been at the top or near the top of most music listeners lists for years. 2026 welcomes the XM6 and the buds have changed their shape a bit and added more microphones and the audio is easily as good if not better than previous years. My previous model is the XM4 and while still great, they are well worn and the XM6 is worthy upgrade for call quality and daily listening. The app is far more open to allow changes to make the buds more you and less some engineers sonic idea of perfect. Yet, even without the app, Sony has tuned the buds as close to my listening preference right out of the eco-friendly box. Pros: ANC is far superior when paired with the foam tips Call audio is more isolated for clearer conversations Easier to get buds out of the case and replace to charge Better app features to manage sound preferences Decent battery life. Minutes of charge for hour of use is great Cons: Adaptive sound control not working for me Touch controls not always easily repeatable as touch zone is lower than expected Sleeping with buds in is still not really possible Price likely keeps many from buying App: Sony has unlocked just about everything for the menu layout and audio settings in the app for these buds. Move the settings most used to the main page. A few custom 10 band EQ's to dial in the levels I like most. Best of all, custom taps for what you do most. Each setting has decent descriptions so you know what each setting does or might do. Top shelf app. Fit and touch controls: The memory foam tips might not be everyone's cup of tea. They can be removed/swapped and have several sizes included. The overall fit is very secure and unlike my XM4's do not feel like they are slipping or need adjusting while I worked outside for hours. As the XM6 does sit a bit more pronounced in ear. I would not classify these as sleep capable. A nap in a chair yes. Side sleep in a bed with normal pillows, not so much. The new jelly bean like shape sits in my ear securely, but the angle for touch seems to be lower than where I naturally want to touch. Practice might help, but for me I usually tap the top of the bud and nothing happens and have to hunt for the side tap zone. The touch zone is not as defined as the older buds. Sound: I get the most time use of my buds anytime I am doing chores around the house. With ANC at full isolation, it can be very immersive when the right songs come on. Bass thump is still not rock concert level, but at half volume with custom EQ. It is enough to get into the songs that motivate me to get going. Higher bitrate tracks are super clean and where the audio quality shines for the XM6. I still want to use spatial audio, but it is not common in my music. LDAC works perfectly for me and my top of the charts music selection. With a several days of use, never a connection loss. ANC: Clearly this has improved quite a bit and where the money spent to buy the XM6 goes. I don't know if the extra microphones or the new chip or Ai is doing the magic. It just works. Call quality is really better for the other end not knowing you are somewhere noisy or just sounding hollow. I tested with a loud TV and a call to my wife. She could not hear the TV in the background. For those who play hooky from work or school, have these on when you call from where you shouldn't be. The bigger issue might be not being too loud in public as I don't hear my voice as much. Ambient Sound/ transparency will likely help here. As for blocking noise that mess with my music. ANC on (Ambient Sound Control/ Noise Canceling) kept a noisy gas pressure washer almost completely silent while cleaning my truck and driveway for a couple hours yesterday. I look forward to blocking my zero turn mower noise this spring. Notice: On max ANC (Noise Canceling), be prepared to be startled a lot by people you thought snuck up on you. A 6am trash truck crew can hide in the silence Sony XM6 creates. Look around occasionally or allow pass through audio. Noteworthy: The Adaptive Sound Control gets setup when you first use the buds. I did day one update and while sound control was on. The several hours I was pressure washing it kept switching between full ANC and maybe the Ambient transparency mode every few minutes for some reason. Silence and music to hearing roaring engine is surreal. I turned Adaptive off and the buds locked out the world as I wanted. Maybe it works as intended or buds need update/reboot. I will leave it off for now. Lastly, the touch zone as mentioned above is not as defined as the XM4. Might be my ear angle or more practice to get it right. The XM6 is a very worthy upgrade for me over my much older XM4's. The new light gray color is easier for me, a guy to choose now. The older champagne color was what my wife liked as I went black last time. Wish Sony carried the blue over from their over ear headphones. If your budget allows, these are very good earbuds and worth a look.

You’re likely buying these either because you’re looking for the best noise canceling ear buds or you’re looking for the best sounding earbuds. Luckily you can check both boxes with the WF-1000XM6’s. Noise Canceling The noise canceling on these are fantastic. When working in a noisy environment or you just want to cancel out distracting noises when trying to focus, I’d hesitate to say there’s any other earbuds that would do better. While I didn’t get the chance to fly with these, I literally have a construction zone outside of my home where they’re building new houses. I took the opportunity to open my window while working while using noise canceling and I couldn’t tell they were making noise. While impressive, and likely the peak of consumer noise canceling technology, you can still very loud sounds and at very low volume, certain sounds. I found that if not listening to any music, you can still pick up on voices and louder sounds, but you really have to be looking for it. With music, they’re almost non-existant. Music Quality I love the sound quality and especially how far along deep bass has come in earbuds. I will preface that I’m not an audiophile, so I cannot articulate sound profiles the way a more trained ear could, but what I can say is how clear and clean the sound is, especially if you do some tuning to the EQ included with the Sound Connect app. Earbuds have gone a long way to delivering deep bass while not muddling out the treble or creating distortion. Within the app you can also prioritize sound quality over connection, along with Sony’s DSEE Extreme which enhances compressed audio sources to improve sound quality. Calibrating spatial audio can create a surround sound experience that makes videos and movies more immersive. Also unique within the app is an option to set your music to “Background Music” which adjusts the audio to sound more like ambient music in a café or walking through a mall. Transparency Mode One thing that is hard to get right is transparency mode and there’s only a few earbuds and headphones I’ve used that do this well. It easily picks up on the environment, voices, and really any sound as if you weren’t wearing them at all. You can also adjust different levels of transparency. At about 12 I found it’s enough to still be aware of my surroundings but still keep surrounding noise from being a distraction. Good if you don’t want to miss someone talking to you or catch an overhead announcement. The only thing I wish it did better is when you talk it does sound a bit like your voice is in your head. It’s hard to describe but it can be a bit distracting in a conversation. Design The headphones are comfortable and have a very modern and sleek design. They’re not too heavy in the ear and the foam tips fit comfortably. There are a total of 4 different ear tips to swap between and you can do a fit test within the app to help find the one that’s best for you. They’re fairly easy to pop off and back on if you need to swap them out. They stayed in my ears nicely and I haven’t had any issues with fit or falling out from my ears. I find that the case fits nicely in my pocket. I don’t really find the edges to be harsh and the lid has a satisfying snap when it closes. The earbuds fit nicely inside the case and are easy to pull out. No issues with battery life for my use case. I wear them off and on throughout the day, placing them back in the case to grab a quick charge. I like that wireless charging is included and charges from the bottom. The capacitive controls are easy to use and responsive. It took me a few tries to get used to where to find the touch zone but they can be used to answer the phone, skip tracks, or adjust the volume. Other Thoughts I found that call quality is great. People who I’ve talked to reported very clear phone calls, even in a noisy environment. I really like that the app includes an EQ that extends beyond 3 sliders and the app allows 2 custom presets. The ability to connect to two devices and switch between the two is very convenient. To go from one device to another seamlessly, especially for work when you’re switching between music on your phone and calls on teams, is a nice to have. I love the texture of the case and earbuds, they feel premium and look great. The gray color goes with almost any color you wear. Sony is a top player in ANC so I’m not surprised when they say they’re the best ANC as of the release of this product. It certainly seems from my experience that they can make that claim. Along with an app that allows customization of sound, features, how much ANC you actually want, and Sony’s great sounding speakers, it’s easy to love these and even easier to recommend.

I have been using Sony wireless earbuds for many years and with every new model, they make relatively modest incremental improvements but with the release of the WF1000XM6, they seem to have made a very substantial gain in sound quality. Im pleasantly surprised and these new M6s may have just dethroned my favorite earbuds by another maker. Contents of the box included the charging case, the earbuds, 4 sets of sized silicone ear tips ( XS,S,M & L), a USB A to USB C charging cable and the usual instruction/warranty booklets. I actually decided to use a third party foam ear tip as I prefer foam to silicone with all my earbuds. I chose the matte gray buds which are made of a soft plastic material. They also come in a matte black if that's your preference. They're rated IPX4 sweat and splash proof so they should hold up very well to most exercise activities. The battery life is listed as 8 hours for the buds and an additional 16 hours in the case. The case can be charged wirelessly or via a USC B cable. The shape of these new M6s is a bit larger and more bulbous than previous iterations. I assume they needed the extra space for the additional processors and internal components. They still posses touch control which can be customized via the app. In the app, you are given four tap control options for each bud and I have them set to the standard play/pause, fwd/rev, volume up or down and noise cancelling on or off. They are many more options offered but I choose to keep things simple. These buds offer multipoint connection so they can be connected to 2 devices a the same time and have an "Auto Switch" function that allows music to keep playing from the earbuds to a monitor of shelf speaker set when you take the earbuds out. Set up was fast and easy. I already have the Sony Sound Connect app but if you don't, it's really essential for getting the most of these amazing earbuds. Once connected to the app, there are a myriad of features and functions to choose from. I am focusing on the main ones here but definitely explore the app as it has so much to offer. These buds have a wear sensor so when you insert them, it chimes letting you know you're connected. The app offers noice cancelling options so you can customize ambient sound control versus strictly noise cancellation. Speak-to-chat is also featured which mutes playback when you start talking. There are a couple of listening modes including standard playback but it also offers "Background Music" which makes the music sound like it's coming from speakers farther away resembling background music. Interesting concept and it works quite well. 360 Reality/Spatial audio is also available and you can customize that experience within the app. This time, Sony offers up a 10 band equalizer which allowed me to really fine tune the sound stage. It worked extremely well for me and I was able to adjust the levels to hit my sound "sweet spot". I've attached my personal settings so you can give them a try and see if they also work for you. Sony continues to use their impressive LDAC bluetooth codec and these buds also can upres older/lower sound files via DSEE Extreme AI technology. Noise cancelling is also improved and this time, there are now 8 microphones and 2 processors inside that get the job done. Sony says its new QN3e processor is 3 times faster than the previous processor found in the M5s. I always test them while vacuuming my place and they were superb at keeping the hum to a minimum. Zero complaints there. I imagine the myriad of mics and the new processors also keep phone calls crystal clear. I never use my buds for calls so Im assuming this but I have little doubt in Sony's expertise when taking class from the M6s is concerned. The sound quality is without a doubt a substantial improvement in these new M6 buds. I noticed a significant difference immediately from the M5s. Sony says these new buds were designed with help from world-renowned audio engineers and it really shows. Everything has amazing separation-from highs to lows-and nothing gets muddied or sounds harsh. Depth and clarity is paramount and these buds have plenty of power to express deep base without it getting distorted. I am simply amazed at how good they sound. I have another set of 2025 earbuds from another manufacturer that were my top sounding earbuds of all time but Sony has now equalled and honestly surpassed them for the best sounding buds I have ever listened to. It's stunning what a difference a year can make in technology that allows for such a distance improvement in sonic quality. Overall, Im extremely happy and impressed and highly recommend these M6 buds to everyone.

In a market flooded with all kinds of earbuds, Sony stands with a small number of others on top of the hill. The new Sony WF-1000XM6 are my new favorite daily drivers. Comfort, sound and quality exceeded all my expectations. I absolutely love them. Inside the eco friendly packaging you get the buds, case, charging cable, 3 extra sets of different size ear plugs and literature basically saying scan the QR code to download the Sound Connect app. As I already have the app for other headsets, pairing was a breeze. Just take out 1 bud while case is open and my phone asked if I wanted to pair instantly. Sound quality is great to amazing. Everything I listened to on my playlists, videos streamed and podcasts sounded perfectly and to my own preferences. In the app itself, you can use multiple presets for the EQ or you can create your own custom choices. The minor issue I mentioned in the title comes from the noise cancellation - pass thru option. What happens is that no matter what I do (I prefer turning on noise cancellation), after I take off the buds, place it down on my desk or even place back into the case, the buds keep turning off noise cancellation and activates pass thru every single time. I have yet to find out if I'm in the wrong here or I just keep missing an option to stop it but it gets annoying when I want to listen to my music and I keep hearing my co-workers gossip instead. Call quality is excellent as well. No issues making and receiving calls and the quality is on par with about all other high end buds. Battery life is great for a normal workday. Sony claims 8 hours on a charge and 16 more from a fully charged case. Also charging the buds for 5 minutes buys you 1hr of playback. So far the claims have held up pretty well. Another thing I should mention is comfort. The body is slightly bigger than I am used to with previous buds, but I got used to it within 5 minutes. Once on, you really can't tell they're in your ears and feel weightless. They do stick out a little, but I have not had any complains of discomfort at all. For the audiophiles, the only codecs I have the option of using are SBC and AAC. No aptX, LDAC etc. I have replaced my Samsung Buds and Sony WF-C710N with these and have never been happier. If you are wanting the best of the best, give a look at the new 1000MX6. You can't go wrong.

Great sounding earbuds that both kill at music reproduction and noise cancelling! Just be aware you have to use the right sized foam tips to get there. Comfort, sound and ANC (active noise cancellation): The buds come with foam tips. While foam tips give you great sound, giving you great bass reproduction especially, and help tremendously with the active noise cancelling, for me it comes at the cost of giving me a bit of fatigue on my ears because of the pressure of the foam. While there are 4 total sizes of eartips, S, M (installed right out of the box), L, XL. For me, M was the best size for them to not fall out of my ears and give me best sound quality. I found the S size the buds would fall out. I wish there was one size in between the S and the M. The M fatigued my ears a little bit after about that time. For my use cases this is just fine, as I really only use these earbuds for workouts while listening to music, going for walks, and just around the house. I also use these for calls, but I don’t tend to have calls that are very long anyway. My primary use case for using these is for music. Hip-Hop, electronic, indie, metal and electronic music all sound phenomenal with these earbuds, the best earbuds I have ever had for music hands down! The Sony Sound Connect app allows you to customize not only all the noise cancelling and passthru sound options, but gives you presets for sound, but most importantly a 10 band equalizer. This is really where you can get these to sound how you like. Also included is a very short USB-A to USB-C cable that you will need to provide your own charger for. Battery life is really good considering how good these sound and how well they cancel out noise with ANC (active noise cancellation turned up to max). I was a little concerned about the pill shape design of the earbuds, but for me they didn’t bother me at all. The Sony Sound Connect app also has a function that can check you are getting a good seal from the foam tips on both ears for the best sound and noise cancelling performance. The app uses your phone's camera to help determine this along with another section of the app that seems to measure the sound in your ear canal. The ANC on these buds are just fantastic. These are the best ANC earbuds, hands down. My previous WF-1000XM4 earbuds I had were very good too, but noises that were not just low humming, or “steady” sounds used to kind of get through. I don’t know what Sony exactly did here, but now even other more random kinds of environmental noises seem to get tampered down quite a bit to my ears. If ANC is your top priority, look no further, these are great! Phone calls: The noise cancelling for me with these earbuds, as with music is great, especially when I would be outdoors. The people I spoke to seemed to think I sounded pretty good too, even when I was on a somewhat windy road. Charging case and earbud material: I actually really like how simple this charging case is. I have had other earbuds that were more rounded shapes in the past, and while they certainly look nice, I so much prefer the matte finish on this case along with a flat top, bottom and back and front. They are harder to go flying around on a surface while charging, or just laying around. The earbuds are also, THANKFULLY not a slick surface too. That can be an issue with the earbuds slipping out of your hands while handling them, an issue you do not want to have when outside or somewhere crowded. Battery life: Sony says the earbuds themselves give you about 8 hours on a full charge. I haven’t actually had them on in my ears that long in a single setting, but based on the percentage of battery level I see in the app after having them on for two hours in one sitting that seems to be accurate. Another thing here with the Sony app and the earbud batteries themselves is there is now a battery care mode that limits the charge the earbuds can receive. This helps the earbud battery's lifespan longevity by not charging completely to 100 percent. Since I don’t foresee a time I would actually have these in for more than 2 hours at a time, I am leaving this feature on all the time in the app. Hopefully this helps these earbuds last me longer. Overall - I will say these earbuds are fantastic, however just keep in mind your comfort level may vary, and people’s ears are not all the same. For me, I wouldn’t be using these in ear for longer than 1.5 - 2 hours in one sitting, and I value music preproduction more than anything else and those foam tips are what help get you that seal that really gives you great sound and especially bass. I just wish there was at least one extra foam tip size, as I think with something right in between the S and M would have made my ear canals feel a little less pressure over longer listening periods.

Upon receiving the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds, I was glad to find them in the Platinum Silver variant. The package included a USB-C charging cable, ear tips in XS, S, M, and L sizes, a charging case, and of course, the earbuds themselves. Since my ear canals are small, I opted for the XS tips, which proved to be the most comfortable fit. After charging the earbuds to full capacity, I began the setup process. Having already installed the Sound Connect app on my iPhone 16 Pro Max, the earbuds were quickly detected once I pressed the pairing button on the back of the case, indicated by the blinking blue light. The app offers a wide range of features for these earbuds, and after exploring them, I was genuinely impressed. It's worth mentioning that a firmware update was offered, which took about 90 minutes to complete. My initial step was customizing the settings to suit my preferences. I enabled Noise Canceling, selected Standard for Listening Mode, and chose the Clear preset on the Equalizer as I intended to test phone calls first. These earbuds feature dual beamforming microphones, a bone conduction sensor, and AI-driven noise reduction technology, which effectively isolate the user's voice and reduce surrounding noise. I kept Adaptive Sound Control set to STAYING. When I called a friend, the audio on both ends was crystal clear, which made me very satisfied knowing I’ll frequently use these buds for calls. Next, I connected to Apple Music and was blown away by the excellent audio quality. Every track I played sounded remarkable. The earbuds provide a 10-band equalizer with presets including OFF, HEAVY, CLEAR, HARD, SOFT, GAME, MANUAL, CUSTOM 1, and CUSTOM 2. Personally, I found the Clear setting ideal for phone calls, whereas for music and YouTube videos, I preferred the SOFT preset, as I’m not much of a bass enthusiast. I experimented with all the equalizer options to find the best fit. The earbuds feature on-ear controls that allow me to toggle the microphone, adjust volume, and manage playback effortlessly. They also support built-in voice commands and head gesture controls, which can be activated through the app. By simply nodding or turning my head, I can control the earbuds without touching them. Additionally, it’s possible to connect to two devices at once, with the buds automatically switching between them when enabled. Under the CONNECTION tab in the app, there is an option to prioritize a Stable Connection, along with a Classic Audio only mode—though the latter is currently in BETA testing. Regarding battery performance, the earbuds nearly matched Sony’s claims. I was able to enjoy approximately 8.5 hours of continuous use, with an extended playback time of 15.5 hours when including the charging case. When pressed for time, a brief 5-minute charge can provide up to an hour of playback. Additionally, activating Battery Care through the Sony Sound Connect app helps minimize battery deterioration. Overall, my experience with the Sony WF-1000MX6 earbuds was excellent in every aspect I tried. They are comfortable to wear for long periods, clarity is excellent and the battery life more than sufficient. Sony has truly created a top-notch product, and I wholeheartedly suggest buying them. I’m very happy with mine!

The Sony WF-1000XM6 (henceforth to be referred as the XM6) marks the 6th generation of their 1000 series earbuds. Yet unlike its headphone counterpart, the earbuds seem to change design upon every release. Some for the better while others for the worse. It seems this time around, the exterior design is improved upon for the better (at least to me). The earbuds come in a more angular pill shaped case, which is odd since the XM5 before it was decently designed. The tip size is medium out of the box and comes included with 3 other size sets – extra-small, small, and large. Finding the right fit should not be a concern for many people. My size ended up being XS on left and S on right, which goes to show that everyone has different sizes and shapes for ears. The earbuds for the XM6 finally resolves a personal critical point for the previous generation XM5. The earbuds now have a matte surface which makes it easier to grip and take out of the case. This is in addition to the new pill-like design which also helps in gripping the earbuds themselves. Using a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL as my primary device, pairing is quick and easy. Google’s quick pairing system picked it up right away. And along with Sony’s Sound Connect companion app, it guides me along with the setup process. To make the most of the earbuds, the Sound Connect app is necessary. Some of the options and settings for the earbuds will definitely make the listening experience much better in the long run. The Sound Connect app makes available a variety of settings to fine tune how you listen to your media. There is a setting for how much noise cancellation you desire as well as a setting for “Listening Mode.” Listening Mode has only two settings – Standard and Background Music. For the latter, it applies some kind of audio effect to emulate audio being played back through speakers in a large room. A setting for Bluetooth Connection Quality is available to set a priority on audio quality, connection stability, or lowest latency (flagged as beta at the time of review). After going through my personal playlist that I use for testing audio devices, I can say that the audio sounds quite good and neutral. While I cannot say with absolute certainty how well it handles the three basic frequency levels (lows, mids, and highs), it sounds good to me and tuned so that I can listen to almost any genre of music without hearing something out of place. To me, that is more important than emphasizing lows/bass for a more punchy sound. Also of note, even after a 2 hour listening session, the XM6 did not feel uncomfortable, which is a big plus if you’re on a long trip. The ANC is better than its predecessor in that it cuts out more sound than before. All outside noise was cut out as I was chipping away snow chunks off the driveway. A fire engine came by with sirens blaring but I did not know how close it was until it was about (at rough estimate) 200ft away. I fear the ANC may work too well for people who commute in public transits. A little tweaking with the ANC level can be the difference between getting off at your stop or missing it entirely. With all the praises I’ve been giving these earbuds, it is not perfect. The bad parts are not with the earbuds themselves but outside of them. For one thing, the (charging) case is a bit odd. The previous generation had a more smoother shape and can easily slip into a pocket. With the new case, which is pill shaped yet extruded with no smoothness to the edges, it can really stick out. I am finding it a little confusing on this design aspect. It’s just a shame that the edges aren’t smoothed over like the XM5’s case. Lastly, and I do want to make it a point that I dedicate this entire paragraph to it, is the insanely and stupidly short charging cable. It is but a mere 6 inches in length. For many generations, be it on their headphones or their earbuds, the included charging cable has always been the dumbest choice Sony makes. I have called it out many times yet it always falls on deaf ears. It is nothing but a waste to include such a short cable. Either Sony includes a longer cable (preferably 18 inches or longer) or don’t bother packing one at all. There is no point in including a USB cable of that length. Overall, this is an iterative improvement from the previous generation. The ANC is still top tier as I expected. I like the new earbuds design since I have used its predecessor. But is it worth the upgrade from that predecessor? It’s very hard to say. The new price makes it hard to recommend with that in mind. But if you have something older than that, then it is worth spending extra just for all the improvements the XM6 has to offer. Owners of the XM5 may want to wait a bit for any flash sale or discount before jumping in. The Good: one of the top ANC for earbuds, good neutral sound, has XS, S, and L foam tips for that perfect fit, matte surface and pill shape for earbuds make for better gripping/handling The Bad: USB charging cable is still stupidly short The Ugly: the new case design? Verdict: Buy if your current earbuds are older than Sony’s XM5

Bottom Line: The Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds deliver class-leading sound quality, excellent active noise cancellation, and good call quality. Pros: excellent sound quality; good noise cancellation; microphones deliver good call clarity; feature rich app Cons: chunky design/fit Review: Sony is well-known for its ability to deliver superb sound quality, and the WF-1000XM6’s deliver on that front. I’ve tested a good range of headphones, and the mids and highs sound crystal clear on this set. Bass performance is remarkably deep and rumbly for earbuds and should not disappoint those who listen to bass heavy tracks. Soundstage is very good for earbuds, but performance in this area has not yet caught up to my two generation old over-ears. Sony’s companion app provides a roust equalizer and, one of my favorite functions, adaptive listening. This feature allows location-based settings, such as always having ANC on at home or automatically switching from ANC to ambient sound mode while outside and/or moving on the street. Active noise cancelling is on par with what one would expect for high-end earbuds. The microphone array does a good job of providing clear voice during calls. My wife remarked that the sound quality on her end is much better than my other earbuds/headphones, although she could still tell that I was using headphones. Design and fit, I think, often come down to personal preference. In this area, I’m a bit conflicted. On one hand, the WF-1000XM6’s are, for me, the most secure fitting earbuds I’ve ever owned. For whatever reason, earbuds do not fit securely in my left ear and tend to fall out easily. The WF-1000XM6’s, however, do not (I prefer to use the Large ear tip but even the Medium stays put). On the other, the design is somewhat like a “chunky” block such that about half of the earbud tends to sit outside of your ear. Although it really doesn’t have an impact on the sound quality, I think other earbuds have a more streamlined look.

The Sony WF1000XM6 earbuds have a premium feel and look. The build quality is solid without feeling heavy, and the included ear tips make it easy to find a good fit. The charging case is great and reasonably sized. Easy enough to carry around in a back or pocket. Noise cancellation is some of the best around and a definite standout feature. Sony describes it as “powerful, adaptive noise cancelling that keeps distractions out and your music front and center”. Although I don’t find it to be the strongest noise cancellation, it helps isolate the sound, so you can really hear the quality audio. The sound quality is clean, and the earbuds handle both music and podcasts well. I hooked up my handheld gaming console as too. Immersion and clarity are truly impressive. Call performance is also great thanks to the beamforming mics and AI noise reduction. Calls were clean and crisp even in noisy environments. Not the most critical for me, but as a daily driver, none the less important. Battery life is strong for daily use, and I found myself making it a full week with daily use. The Sound Connect app adds useful customization and the ability to update firmware. The biggest drawback for most might be price, but within the top typical consumer price bracket. Still, if you want top tier noise cancellation, excellent sound, and reliable call quality, these feel worth the splurge.

I’ve been using the Sony WF1000XM6 for almost a week now and I have some thoughts. I have mixed feelings about these earbuds. I really want to love these earbuds but they fall a little short of being “the best”. As soon as I opened the box I said hmm, the carrying case feels a bit cheap. The shape is fine, I feel like Sony is trying to make its case look different than the competition. But the lid and hinge feel cheap to me. I’m kind of worried the hinge will break if I carry it in my pocket all the time. The earbuds are lightweight and have a grippy matte texture. The tips are squishy like memory foam. The tips that come pre installed provided the best fit for me. They are comfortable for long sessions, and I’ve even fallen asleep with them on a couple of times. The earbuds have touch controls. The left side toggles ambient sound mode, and the right side controls playback. The controls are kind of sensitive, and i find myself accidentally pressing them sometimes while adjusting the buds or moving my head while in bed. Not the biggest deal but you have to be mindful about it. The sound quality of these earbuds in my opinion is just alright out of the box. I think I was expecting to have my mind blown (Or ear drums for that matter). While the default settings is fine for most music, podcasts. I found myself digging through the Sony sound connect app to adjust the EQ. I have to admit that I am a little let down by their sound profile. The best thing about these headphones is the battery life and fit. I can use them for 3/4 hours a day and didn’t have to charge the case til 3 days later. At the end of the day though.. based on sound quality. It’s hard for me to recommend these over other earbuds. I’ll give them a 4 stars, because they aren’t terrible, but they certainly aren’t the best either.

Upgraded from the Song xm5 earbuds. I also own a pair of Apple AirPod pros 3. Least to say, the new Sony WF XM6’s blow the airpod pros 3 out of the water sound quality wise. The richness and depth the xm6’s manage to capture in most of the songs in my playilist is simply unmatched. I also think the xm6’s earbuds, although a bit “bulbier” thanks to the redesign, are lighter and comfier than the previous xm5s (and boast a slightly wider soundstage by comparison). Overall, it’s a purchase I’m glad I made and would again (and will probably be looking to hawk off my airpods pro 3 soon..)

1 week in and so far I rate them higher than the XM5s they will be replacing. Clearer and boomier sound. My primary use is while cycling and I require buds that will lessen or eliminate wind noise. These greatly lessen noise when I am going faster than 20MPH and no noise was noticed when less than 20. These are easier to remove from and return to the charging case. The matte finish provide be better grip for someone with perpetually dry hands like myself. The tips are identical to those provided with the XM5s and I found those quite comfortable. Time and use will tell if the battery life claims are achieved. Also purchased in silver since my rides are often longer than the stated battery life.

These earbuds sound great and are some of my favorite pair of earbuds I’ve ever owned. Having the ability to create custom sound profiles is a great feature. ANC works exceptionally well on these. They drown out 99% of all outside noise when I have these on. My only concern initially was the ear tips. They take some time to get useful and can be a bit painful if you have smaller ears like myself. Over time though I felt like they fit better and don’t feel the same discomfort.

These are a great set of earbuds. I have the M5s and these fit and sound music wise very similar. I like the shape of these better because it's easier to get them into my ears than before. I can't tell if the noise cancelling is much better than the 5s but it is good. Call quality is good. The case is a bit bigger and doesn't fit in my pocket as comfortably as the 5s. But the case feels better quality and more sturdy than the 5s. Overall love these earbuds.

I waited to upgrade from the Mark 4. I had reservations about it at first because I didn’t feel the difference until I really took them out for a stroll. The fit is great. The noise cancelling is excellent. I use an iPhone which I know limits its feature set. I just never liked the sound of AirPods. I do hope for more features to be available in future firmware updates. I still think they were worth the purchase.

I accidently ran my WF-1000XM5 earbuds through the washing machine about a month ago and I heard about the new WF-1000XM6 coming out soon. I use my earbuds every day as I love listening to music, but I decided to wait patiently until these came out and it was worth it! The sound is amazing. I wasn't sure how Sony was going to top the previous model, but they did. Well done!

I've been waiting for some time to replace my Jabra earbuds. I anxiously waited for the announcement of the WF1000XM6 earbuds from Sony. I've been using them for a week and they haven't disappointed. My only gripe is the fit at times, but you won't find a better performing true wireless earbud like these.

Excellent update from XM5. Sound is great. Ability to use equalizer is nice. Noise cancelling is excellent. Bought to replace my lost XM5. Using it with iPhone