The Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones have leaked again, and this time, there’s almost nothing left to the imagination as the design, colors, and announcement/launch date have all been revealed. This is in addition to basically all of the specs and included accessories. So, all that’s really left to figure out is how much they’ll cost.
Sony’s WH-1000XM6 headphones have been highly anticipated now that it’s been a couple of years since the release of the current model, the WH-1000XM5. These are Sony’s flagship headphones, and they garner excitement every single year for several reasons. Most notable is the active noise cancellation. Sony’s ANC in its flagship headphones has topped the charts for years. And it’s poised to be even better this time around. The new model will be using a brand-new chip inside called the QN3, which is said to offer advanced HD noise cancellation. The headphones will also feature 12 noise cancellation microphones, up from 9 on the previous model. In short, we’re probably looking at noticeably higher quality ANC.
Leaked images reveal the design of the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones in full
The design of the WH-1000XM6 has partially leaked before, back in January, when a picture of the user guide was leaked as part of information found from the FCC certification. This new leak, which once again comes from The Walkman Blog, is a full suite of images that show every aspect of the design. These are all real images of the product as well, and not drawings from the user guide.
The images show off both the design of the headphones themselves as well as the new case that was mentioned in yesterday’s report. Speaking of the case, you can see the design of the new magnetic closure that’s replacing the zipper from the case that came with the WH-1000XM5.
You also now get a better look at the colors of the headphones. It probably comes as no surprise that the colors are pretty much the same. They’ll come in black, platinum silver, and blue. All of which come with a case that has a matching color. Of course, the big design change this year is the return of the folding hinge. The folding hinge was present on older models, but with the WH-1000XM5, Sony removed it. This made the headphones harder to pack because they took up more space. However, the WH-1000XM6 is bringing the hinge back so the headphones fold up again.
Sony also looks to have made the headband thicker. It looks as if the earpads might be slightly thicker as well, but that’s unclear.
Sony has teased a reveal for May 15
While Sony hasn’t confirmed much about these headphones yet, it has now teased the reveal date. Sony Australia has teased an announcement for a new pair of headphones at 2AM AEST on May 16. That’s 9AM PST on May 15 here on the West Coast. So at 9AM next Thursday, these will be officially announced.
While the price is still unknown, it’s highly likely Sony will announce this next week. It’s also worth mentioning that the current rumor suggests these will be retailing for $449.99 in the US. That’s $50 more than the launch price of the WH-1000XM5.
The headphones will have the same battery as the WH-1000XM5
The battery life was mentioned in the report from earlier this week, but now there’s information on how big the battery is. It seems the battery in the WH-1000XM6 will be exactly the same as the WH-1000XM5. That is to say, it’s a 4.56Wh battery. This should help the headphones last for up to 30 hours, with 3 hours of listening time coming from a 3-minute quick charge.
Some of the other specs and features include 360 reality audio with head tracking, 360 upmix for cinema sound, support for AAC, SBC, LDAC, and LC3, and a Game EQ for enhanced sound when gaming. They also feature personalized spatial audio, wind noise reduction, and multipoint support. The headphones are powered by the Sony V2 processor, which is just the MediaTek MT2833 processor.
2025-05-10 15:06:30