Sony’s next flagship headphones leak in official docs, and now I’m getting excited

FCC filing details battery, Bluetooth and construction
Bluetooth 5.3, but no confirmation on LE Audio
A redesigned and hopefully stronger hinge

Sony has filed details of the Sony WH-1000MX6 headphones, and it looks like they could improve on the current model, the Sony WH-1000MX5, in two key ways: in how they’re built, and in how they sound.

The filing is with the US FCC, as spotted by The Walkman Blog, and while it doesn’t go into extensive detail there are some interesting bits of information about Sony’s 2025 flagship over-ears.

Sony WH-1000XM6 image submitted to the FCC — (Image credit: Sony)

Sony WH-1000XM6: what’s new for 2025?

The WH-1000XM6 is described in the filing as a Wireless Noise Canceling Stereo Headset and it comes with the same battery voltage as the current model – although that doesn’t necessarily mean the same amount of play time, because the same voltage can deliver different milliamp-hours in different variants.

The Bluetooth this time around is Bluetooth 5.3 with Bluetooth LE, although it doesn’t specify whether that means Bluetooth LE Audio or just a standard low-energy connection for control from the app and so on. If it’s the former, that may also mean Auracast support – which seems likely, as that’s been a big trend in headphones this year so far.

One of the interesting details in the filing is what looks very much like a redesigned hinge. That’s not something we’d normally be too interested in, but we’ve had emails from readers whose XM5 headphones broke at the hinge, and the fragility of that section has been much talked about in headphone forums and subreddits.

There’s no indication of an official launch as yet, but the FCC filing’s confidentiality expires in July 2025, so a summer launch seems likely.

For all their excellence, the Sony XM5 don’t top our list of the best headphones in their various categories – not because they’re bad, but because the Sony WH-1000XM4 was so good, is still around, and is now much cheaper too. The XM5 arrived with a higher price, and weren’t ‘rush out and upgrade’ better. Hopefully Sony has some surprises for us with the 2025 model that make it a clearer must-have buy.

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