Sony has not decided to improve the naming scheme of its flagship earbuds range, but maybe that doesn’t matter given that the fifth entry, the WF-1000XM6, is the best version yet.

The WF-1000X range is already famed for its excellent active noise cancellation (ANC) and best-in-class audio quality, and I am happy to report that after two weeks with the new earbuds firmly lodged in my lugholes that Sony has done it again.

The WF-1000XM6 manage not only to improve upon 2023’s WF-1000XM5, they also outperform the Apple AirPods Pro 3 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen, with better ANC and music sound quality than those two rivals. Sony claims it has improved both aspects over the older XM5, and I agree – which is not always the case when a company claims its new product is better than its last.

It just depends if you have £250 spare to spend on earbuds.

The XM6 have a completely new design compared to the XM5. They are larger and have a matte finish, and come with four eartip sizes in the box. Unlike the majority of earbuds, these tips are a mouldable material rather than smooth silicone. I was able to get a good seal with the smallest XS size. A seal is needed for noise cancellation to work properly and to get the best sound quality.

But just like I have experienced with every other generation of the WF-1000X series, the XM6 are not the most comfortable earbuds out there, which makes me stop short of whole-heartedly recommending them. All bodies are different, and my ear canals are on the smaller side, but I found it difficult to stop these buds from falling out. I really had to ram them in every time to get them to stay, then found them uncomfortable after an hour or so, needing to give my ears a break.

This is not the case with all earbuds for me. I find Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 comfortable enough to use for several hours at a time (unlike the newer Pro 3), and I also find Google’s Pixel Buds 2a very easy to wear. That’s not to say the XM6 won’t work for you, but I suspect they are better for larger ears – especially as the new design must nestle in your outer ear.

The buds rest in an austere matte plastic charging case that is angular enough to be uncomfortable in a skinny jeans pocket. This case, fully charged, will keep the buds going for 24 hours, with eight hours of listening from a single charge before you need to put them back in. You can also wirelessly refill it thanks to Qi charging tech inside the case, though it’s quicker via USB-C.

The buds may be more amorphous blob than AirPods clone, but that extra space is clearly working for Sony, with some of the most full, well-rounded audio I have ever heard on consumer earbuds. New 8.4mm drivers push a very full sound that suits many music genres right out of the box, although the excellent Sony Sound Connect app lets you tweak EQ whether you use an iPhone or an Android phone.

Android users get a slight advantage in that the buds will play using LDAC, Sony’s hi-res audio codec, which sounds slightly better than the AAC codec you are limited to on an iPhone. Note that you can only get LDAC on Android with these buds if you turn off the handy dual connection feature, which is annoying. This otherwise lets you connect to two devices at once, and works well.

Cameron Winter’s Love Takes Miles sounds beautifully realised on the buds, with audio separation of instruments rarely seen on in-ear buds. Radiohead’s 15 Step is unbelievably involved, with textures you simply can’t hear on lesser headphones. Fire up Fontaines D.C.’s Starbuster and you’ll be strutting down the street like you’re on Hollywood Boulevard, such is the powerful reproduction.

I tested the XM6 connected to an Android phone using hi-res music service Qobuz, as well as using Qobuz and Spotify via an iPhone. The buds sound better with the former set up, but I readily admit that they are so good in the first place, that even the technically inferior iPhone set up still rendered music excellently. You can also turn on Sony’s DSEE Extreme tool, which upscales compressed audio in real-time.

Touch controls on the outside of each bud are responsive and work very well, and you can customise what taps and holds do in the Sound Connect app.

The design also makes room for four mics on each bud, which has demonstrably improved noise cancelling chops over existing rival products. When visiting London, I turned on the ANC on the noisy Jubilee Line and marvelled as the screeching completely disappeared, masked by the cancellation and music playing. It’s not as good at blocking out loud noise as premium over-ear headphones from Sony, Bose or other brands, but this is the best noise cancelling I’ve experienced on earbuds – even beating Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen that were my previous gold standard.

It’s good enough that I can’t hear what someone is saying right next to me in a quiet room. If you want to block out sound with earbuds, these are the ones to get. The ambient sound mode lets the world around you in, and works very well.

Sony nails the basics very well, but it also delivers on features and software perks. The equaliser in the Sound Connect app is brilliant, and you can even do an in-app test to help you set your preferred sound. Adaptive Sound Control automatically adjusts the noise cancellation and ambient sound levels depending on if you’re sitting or moving and taking into account the noise around you, and there’s even a surprisingly good ‘background music’ mode that makes it sound as though whatever you’re listening to is happening around you, like it might in a café or larger room.

If I found the WF-1000XM6 more comfortable, I would have given them a rare five-star review, no questions asked. But despite their evidently superior ANC, sound and specs, with Sony’s very thoughtful app, I have found myself frustrated with the fit, and that the buds fall out when I go running or am eating.

But if you have ears that usually cope well with in-ear buds and you don’t mind the premium price tag, the Sony WF-1000XM6 are a luxurious choice that outperform the competition.

The Sony WF-1000XM6 go on sale on February 14, 2026. You can buy them from Amazon.