When it comes to noise-cancelling wireless headphones, Sony has been knocking it out of the park for a long time. The company’s 1000XM series of headphones have consistently been one of my favorite headphones in terms of sound quality, battery life, ANC, and pretty much everything else.
Now, thanks to a livestream scheduled by Sony, we know that the next iteration of the 1000XM series of headphones is launching tomorrow. Officially, the company has simply named the live stream “New Product Announcement”. However, the silhouette of a pair of headphones and the hashtag “#forthemusic” makes it fairly obvious which product it’s going to be.
Information around what to expect from the WH-1000XM6 is sparse, and the few leaks we’ve seen seem to indicate that the headphones might feature detachable earpads, and a new hinge design.
The XM6 are also expected to bring in a new noise cancelling processor, beam forming microphones for better call quality, and they are expected to retain the headphone jack. As far as the price is concerned, the XM5 launched at $399 in the US, but the XM6 are reportedly going to be slightly more expensive due to the new US tariffs — around $449 is what most reports expect.
The launch itself is scheduled for May 15 at 9am PDT (that’s 9:30pm IST, and May 16 1am JST). You can watch the live stream here.
Toasty Take
I have always been a fan of Sony’s XM series of headphones. I extensively used the XM4s, and I tested the XM5s when they launched three years ago as well. And in both cases, I found the headphones to be remarkable at their job.
Naturally, I’m excited about the prospect of a new pair of Sony XM headphones. However, if the price is to go up, Sony might need some big improvements to justify the new headphones over their predecessors, especially because the XM4 and the XM5 were nearly perfect anyway.
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