Sony WH-1000XM6 vs WH-1000XM4: What’s changed in 5 years?

Hannah Davies
2025-05-15 12:03:00
www.trustedreviews.com

Sony has officially unveiled its latest pair of flagship headphones, the WH-1000XM6. Here’s how they compare to 2020’s WH-1000XM4 over-ears. 

Sony’s WH-1000X headphone line have long been some of our favourite headphones here at Trusted Reviews, with the WH-1000XM4 (2020) and WH-1000XM5 (2022) both earning the title of Best Headphones at the Trusted Reviews awards in their respective launch years. 

In fact, the WH-1000XM5 currently holds spots on several of our audio best lists, including the best headphones, best wireless headphones, best over-ear headphones and best noise-cancelling headphones. Needless to say, the XM5 and XM4 both remain great pairs of over-ears even in 2025. 

Keep reading to learn all about the new Sony WH-1000XM6, along with how they compare to the heavily discounted Sony WH-1000XM4. 

Price 

The Sony WH-1000XM6 were announced on May 15 2025 with an RRP of £400/€450 and will be available to buy from May. 

The Sony WH-1000XM4 launched nearly five years earlier in August 2020. The headphones were priced at $349/£349/€389 at the time, but have since been discounted as low as $222/£187/€199 on Amazon. 

The WH-1000XM6 are designed with a wider headband 

The WH-1000XM6 have a familiar design that includes a few tweaks, including a wider headband to reduce the pressure on the head during wear. The headband is designed to be asymmetrical to make it easy to tell which ear cup goes on which ear. 

There are also the adjustments made to the design with the WH-1000XM5, including the more seamless ear cups and the vertical positioning of the logo at the thinner junction where the headband meets the ear cups. 

WH-1000XM6
WH-1000XM5

Furthermore, Sony has brought back the folding mechanism that was absent on the WH-1000XM5, meaning that, like the WH-1000XM4, the WH-1000XM6 can fold more compactly for travel. 

The WH-1000XM4 was available in Black, White, Platinum Silver and Midnight Blue, whereas the WH-1000XM6 comes in Black, Silver and Midnight Blue. 

The WH-1000XM6 can cancel noise faster 

When it comes to the internal components, the WH-1000XM6 are powered by the HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN3, which is seven times faster than the QN1 Processor in the WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5. The result is better sound quality and improved noise-cancelling from the new model. 

More precisely, the WH-1000XM6 fine-tune a total of 12 microphones – 1.5X times more than the eight microphones in the WH-1000XM5 and 2.4x more than the five mics in the WH-1000XM4 – in real-time to offer improved performance in both of the aforementioned areas. 

WH-1000XM6
WH-1000XM4

This higher number of microphones allows the headphones to adapt to fit the wearer and different environments more effectively, with features like Auto Ambient Sound mode (which was also available on the WH-1000XM4) seeing improvements and the new Adaptive NC Optimiser delivering more precise noise-cancelling. 

When it comes to audio quality, the new processor features an advanced look-ahead noise shaper which helps the WH-1000XM6 to predict and optimise quantization noise and respond faster to sudden changes, meaning you’ll hear more detail, richer bass and a more natural overall sound. 

The WH-1000XM6 support Bluetooth LE 

Unlike the WH-1000XM4, which relied on Bluetooth 5, the WH-1000XM6 feature the latest Bluetooth standard, giving them access to LE Audio and all its perks. 

WH-1000XM6
WH-1000XM4

This includes ultra-low latency performance when gaming and access to broadcasts with Auracast. There’s also Bluetooth Multi-Point and Auto Switch, making it easier than ever to move between different devices. The WH-1000XM4 supported Multi-Point but without the convenience of Auto Switch. 

Another improvement is the ability to listen to music while the headphones are charging, which you can’t do with the WH-1000XM4. 

The WH-1000XM6 include a new Scene-based Listening feature 

Another new feature coming to the WH-1000XM6 is Scene-based Listening. This feature uses sensing technology to play music automatically according to your activity and adjust the ANC levels based on your location and surrounding environment. 

WH-1000XM6
WH-1000XM4

Early verdict

It’s been five years since Sony unveiled the WH-1000XM4, but the company has made a good number of upgrades with the WH-1000XM6. 

Of course, the wider design, new features and improved performance are all things we’ll need to test ourselves to determine whether these aspects are worth the price of picking up the latest model over the WH-1000XM4. Keep an eye out for our review of the WH-1000XM6 for a more in-depth look at the headphones along with our final verdict. 

The post Sony WH-1000XM6 vs WH-1000XM4: What’s changed in 5 years? appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

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