Sony WH-1000XM6

A refined, lighter and more comfortable flagship with class-leading noise cancelling, long battery life and a very good mic, held back mainly by inconsistent audio delivery (especially for glasses wearers), instability during intense movement, and a still-limited Bluetooth LE ecosystem.

A strong, well-rounded successor that fixes past complaints with excellent ANC, good sound, and long battery life, held back by thin earpads, missing USB-C audio, and no newest Bluetooth standard.

A superb flagship wireless headphone that excels in sound detail, dynamics, noise cancelling and call quality, with only minor drawbacks in codec support, case size and lack of wired USB-C audio.

A very strong premium headset with class-leading noise cancellation, rich sound and excellent call quality, held back by average comfort on long sessions and a build that feels less luxurious than its price suggests.

~9/10

The writer calls the XM6 a ringing success: versatile headphones with top-tier noise canceling, excellent sound and strong call quality, held back mainly by a high $460 list price, and only slightly behind Bose in overall ANC.

9.3/10

The writer considers the WH-1000XM6 a modest but meaningful upgrade over the XM5 and, thanks to better noise canceling, sound, comfort and call quality, arguably the best premium noise-canceling headphones available, despite the higher price.

After three months of daily use, the writer calls the Sony WH-1000XM6 the best noise-canceling headphones available, praising their sound, noise cancellation, comfort and battery life despite the high price and a clumsy app.

Consumer Reports found the WH-1000XM6 offers very good sound and excellent noise canceling, but its bass is boomy, its midrange congested, and it sounds and fits much like the XM5 it replaces, with some comfort and stability issues.

After three months of use, the writer finds the XM6 a very good but only incrementally improved headphone that is outdone on noise cancelling by Bose and on sound by Bowers & Wilkins, and not worth upgrading to from the XM5.

~9.5/10

The writer finds the WH-1000XM6 a meaningful upgrade over its predecessor, with better sound, stronger noise cancellation and a huge feature set, making it the best headphones available despite a higher price.

4.5/5

Sony's best headphones yet, with class-leading noise cancellation, strong sound, a comfortable foldable design and a rich feature set, held back mainly by a higher price and unremarkable battery life.

A comfortable, feature-rich and improved successor with better noise cancellation and a more balanced sound, though it is not the clear class leader and is beaten on sound by the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3.

A clearly improved flagship with top-tier noise cancelling, strong customisable sound and better portability, slightly edging out Bose's best despite a higher price and a tight clamp.

ZDNET considers the WH-1000XM6 an outstanding flagship, with excellent noise cancellation, fuller sound and useful upgrades over the XM5, and gave it an Editors' Choice award, though the fit is snug and ANC can't be tuned manually.