Sony recently launched one of its most-anticipated products of 2025 in the WH-1000XM6 headphones. The company’s previous efforts, namely the XM4 and XM5, have proven incredibly successful, so it’s unsurprising that Sony felt the need to continue the lineage.
Those previous models have actually proven to be so popular that both will remain on sale alongside their newly upgraded sibling.
I’ve been using the XM6 for about a week now to find out if they could dethrone my trusted Sonos Ace as my go-to over-ear cans. But, as you would have already guessed from the headline of this piece, they’ve fallen a bit short in that challenge for the top.
It’s got nothing to do with sound quality or noise cancellation, although I’ll touch on those features further down. Instead, it has everything to do with how they fit.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a fan of Sonos’ first attempt at producing a pair of headphones, predominantly because I find the Ace so darn comfortable, and that’s still true nearly a year after they launched in June 2024.
I’ve never worn the previous XM4 or the XM5 for prolonged periods, but having read my colleague Gerald Lynch’s Sony WH-1000XM5 review, which praised the overall comfort level, I was expecting glorious things from the XM6.
According our new Sony WH-1000XM6 review, those expectations should have been met. For me, however, they’ve unfortunately missed the mark.
Perhaps I have a fussy head (hopefully not) or abnormally large ears (the shame) but, for me, the XM6 feel like they’re clamping down a little too much, at least when compared against the Sonos Ace. Sony has said it’s increased the clamping force of the new model compared to the XM5 to help aid with passive noise isolation, and it does indeed work on that front.
For my noggin, though, it’s just a little too forceful for comfort. They feel more akin to on-ear headphones when I wear them because the padding presses onto my ears a little too much. The Sonos Ace earcups, meanwhile, completely envelop my ears and feel much softer, and as a result feel way more comfortable.
I should add the realization that the Ace earcups envelop my ears more is an interesting one, because the openings are physically smaller than the Sony pair. I think the fact that the space inside the earcups of the Ace is deeper than on the XM6 is the reason for this peculiar phenomenon.
Despite weighing roughly 50g more than the Sony, I think the Sonos engineers have done a better job of distributing the weight of the Ace too. Again, I’m probably just being fussy, but it’s something I noticed as soon as I wore the XM6 for the first time and haven’t been able to shake.
In my opinion, one of the biggest factors to support my claim that the Sonos Ace feels more comfortable for me is the hinge mechanism used.
Both pairs feature hinges that integrate into the earcups, but the one on the Sonos Ace appears to have a greater range of flexibility, so it’s able to better conform to the shape of my head.
In contrast, the hinge on the Sony XM6 has a more limited range and so can’t adjust to the shape of my head as freely. That said, Sony’s said the XM6 are inspired by an older hinge design, inherited from the XM4, that allow them to better fold for traveling. The Sonos mechanism, meanwhile, doesn’t fold away as compactly, so that could have something to do with it.
Don’t get me wrong, that extra compactness is absolutely a great feature to have – although one that’s admittedly a little lost on me, as I don’t travel that much – but my head is probably just a little too limiting. Perhaps the hinge will loosen up over time and the XM6 will fit me better? We’ll see.
Mind you, the carry case for the XM6 is, hands down, a winner over the Sonos design in my view. Sony has implemented a magnetic fastener this time around and it works a treat. The zip on the case of my Sonos Ace broke within a few months, rendering it next to useless – a trait I’ve noticed many other Sonos Ace owners have come across. I hope other headphone manufacturers follow Sony’s design choice with new pairs in the future.
One person’s music is another person’s sound
I’ve learned in my years writing about speakers, headphones and other hi-fi components, sound quality can be subjective and that, ultimately, if you like what you hear, then that’s the product for you.
There are instances where it’s impossible to say something sounds good. But more often than not, I’ve found that I don’t necessarily appreciate how a particular product sounds despite someone else thinking it’s great, or vice versa.
It’s a similar story here, because while our Sony WH-1000XM6 review heaps praise upon their sonic capabilities, I’m a little less enthusiastic. Or at least, I don’t think the Sonos Ace should be completely disregarded if your budget can afford either pair.
As I’ve said, though, sound is a personal preference and I actually prefer the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless to either of these competitors for outright sound quality. However, comfort is still at the top of my wishlist, which is why I keep returning to the Sonos Ace. If I could get the Sennheiser sound in the Sonos body, it could just be my dream set of headphones.
I will admit the Sony headphones sound objectively better than the Sonos Ace. They’re more energetic, unearth a bit more detail and have tighter control over particularly tricky songs such as The Darkness’ I Believe in a Thing Called Love, resulting in a more cohesive listen.
While the Sonos Ace don’t sound bad in any sense of the word, I find myself having fun and bopping my head with the Ace in place when listening to dance music, which is my go-to genre – far more than when I’m listening to the same tracks on the XM6.
This could boil down to the fact that my ears don’t feel as constrained when using the Ace, resulting in a more 3D-like soundstage.
Silence is golden
Now, when it comes to ANC performance of headphones, I personally don’t notice much of a difference between many of the latest pairs from the top brands. That could be because I listen to music quite loudly (perhaps to my own future detriment) and can’t hear any ambient sounds over it, including colleagues sitting next to me in the office. So it’s hard for me to judge if the noise-canceling tech is working as promised or not.
However, going off the in-depth reviews on TechRadar and speaking with my colleagues, the consensus is the ANC performance of the Sonos Ace isn’t class-leading. The opposite is the case for the Sony XM6, which are “the real deal as far as ANC is concerned” according to our reviewer.
This, too, might well be a personal preference. The amount of external noise you want to be blocked out could be different to my preference. If I can hear a train announcer telling me what station is coming up next, it doesn’t particularly bother me. If anything, it’s proven to be helpful if I’m taking a journey for the first time and I’m not sure where I’m going.
If you do want total silence, however, then I have to give it the Sony XM6 – though you could also consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, which have long been considered the class leader. The Sonos Ace are great, but ANC performance isn’t an area I can confidently defend them for.
With both the Sonos and Sony pairs costing a not-insignificant amount of money – Sonos Ace retails for $449 / £449 / AU$699 and Sony XM6 come in at $449 / £400 / AU$699 – neither should be an impulse buy. If you’re looking to spend this kind of money on a new set of headphones, then I’d strongly recommend auditioning both pairs first if you’re able to.
While you’re at it, you should probably give the recently released Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 a listen too, along with the aforementioned Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. B&W’s premium over-ears have always been excellent where sound quality is concerned, but have often lacked in other areas such as ANC. That’s no longer the case with the Px7 S3, which have much-improved noise canceling capabilities. Combined with their gorgeous looks, they could be the ultimate pair in this price bracket.
Therein lies a positive to take away from all of this: we now have so many quality choices when choosing a pair of headphones, that it’s hard for even experts like me to give a definitive answer on which brand one-ups the other. And given just how personal our choices are (one of my colleagues prefers the XM6 to the Ace for fit, for example), deciding upon and choosing the right pair is something only you can do for yourself.
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