Sony WH-1000XM6 hands-on: back to the fold

Sony's WH-1000XM6 noise-canceling headphones have arrived three years after their popular predecessors. That's a longer gap than usual for the lineup, but don't expect any earth-shattering changes. Whereas the 1000XM4 to 1000XM5 upgrade brought a significant design overhaul, this time Sony is mostly focusing on sound, noise cancellation, and quality-of-life hardware refinements, rather than messing with the visual style.

The 1000XM6 are an amalgamation of the best traits from Sony's past models and should be the best of the series. But they're also the most expensive. Sony has raised the price to $449, a $50 jump compared to the prior model and $20 more than Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. That's a lot of money for headphones that are unabashedly plastic.

Apple's AirPods Max have a design befitting of their price, even if they're overly heavy as a result. But much like Bose, Sony sticks to a different game plan by prioritizing long-term comfort for frequent flyers, commuters, and anyone who needs to dial down the outside world for a few hours.

The 1000XM6 borrow most of their DNA from the 1000XM5 with one extremely welcome change: they can fold up again. Sony added a joint …

Read the full story at The Verge.