Sony has debuted its latest flagship headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM5, in India months after announcing the product globally in May. The new headphones come with a new folding and more durable design, improved noise cancellation and sound quality and more connectivity options.
However, all these upgrades come at a premium as Sony has hiked the price of its flagship headphones. The Sony WH-1000XM6 is priced at Rs 39,990, which is Rs 5,000 dearer than what the predecessor commanded. The headphones come in Black, Platinum Silver and Midnight Blue colour options and are available on Amazon, Croma and Sony e-commerce and retail stores.
Sony’s 1000XM series is known for having one of the best noise-cancelling tech floating in the industry right now, and with the latest headphones, they claim to have improved upon that. The WH-1000XM6 headphones come with Sony’s HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN3, which is claimed to be 7x faster than its predecessor, the QN1 on the WH-1000XM5. Add to that, the 1000XM6 headphones come with 12 omnidirectional microphones, up from 8 on the XM5, which pick up ambient noises to effectively filter them out.
There is a new Adaptive NC Optimiser, which constantly adjusts for better suppression of external noise. XM5 users felt the Transparency (ambient) mode could have been better, and these upgrades, at least on paper, suggest the problem may have been resolved. We’ll test that in our review and update you.
Sony also claims to have improved upon the battery life with the headphones now promising up to 40 hours of playback with ANC off, while the predecessor claimed up to 30. There is a new feature which lets you use the headphones even as they charge, which is a reason for cheer for long-range travellers who like an uninterrupted music experience. Fast charging is available as usual, with Sony claiming three minutes of charge will give you three hours of playback.
The Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones have gotten a bunch of connectivity upgrades, too, with support for Bluetooth 5.3 (the predecessor had 5.2), which should ensure a stable connection with lower latency. Bluetooth LE Audio is also supported, which is a newer standard that enables lower power drain and higher efficiency, and also allows multi-device sharing. It supports LC3, the new codec for Bluetooth LE Audio, and Auracast, which is an LE Audio feature that lets one device broadcast audio to many headphones/earbuds at once.
All these connectivity upgrades make the XM6 future-proof, as most of these features are not mainstream yet. The 3.5mm jack is retained for wired connections. With support for LC3 and Auracast, Sony seems to align with a broader industry shift toward low-latency, energy-efficient wireless audio, with other brands beginning to integrate similar standards in 2025.
Adding to the increments is a new 10-band EQ for customisation in their Sound Connect app. The previous models, the XM4 as well as the XM5, supported five bands, so now users have finer control over tonal shaping. Gesture controls remain largely the same, except for volume, which you can now adjust by flicking and holding. The drivers remain the same at 30mm.
When it comes to design, the XM6 gets a new foldable design as opposed to the XM5, which lay flat and made them slightly inconvenient to pack. The XM6 also has a flatter, wider, asymmetrical headband and a redesigned earcup shape, aiming for better stability and comfort during long listening sessions. One pain point remains the same, though – we still have no IP rating, which means the headphones may not be your best buds in sweaty workout sessions. The headphones’ case is now magnetic, as opposed to a zipper earlier.
At the current price point, the Sony WH-1000XM6 will compete with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, JBL Tour One M3, and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 headphones in India. Sony has gained an edge over rivals with features like 10-band EQ, immersive spatial audio, extensive customisation, frequent app updates, and head gesture support. This makes it one of the most feature-rich ANC headphones on the market.
Sony’s predecessor flagship, the WH-1000XM5, now retails mostly in the range of Rs 25,000 courtesy discounts, which make the XM6 a rather pricey upgrade. However, the latest headphones come with a bunch of connectivity options, which make them future-proof, something which the XM5 lacks comparatively. So if you’re in it for the long run, the Sony WH-1000XM6 are a worthy consideration.
