The WH-1000XM5 had a structural problem that Sony never quite acknowledged publicly: the headband hinge cracked. Not on every unit, not immediately, but enough that Reddit threads about it ran into the hundreds of pages and replacement part resellers made a quiet business out of it. For a $350–$400 pair of headphones, that’s a meaningful failure.

The WH-1000XM6, released in mid-2025, ships with a redesigned hinge - visibly reinforced, with a metal pivot replacing the plastic assembly that gave out on the XM5. After about six months of daily use, including being thrown into bags without cases more times than I’d like to admit, the headband shows no stress marks, no creaking, no early warning signs. It feels like the build Sony should have shipped three generations ago.

The Audio Side Held Up Too

Beyond the structural fix, Sony tuned the drivers differently on the XM6. The low-end on the XM5 was satisfying in a broad, slightly pillowy way - good for hip-hop and electronic, less accurate for anything acoustic. The XM6 tightened that up. Bass still has presence but doesn’t bloom the same way. On jazz recordings - Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue in particular - the upright bass now sits in the mix rather than underneath it. Whether that’s an improvement depends entirely on what you listen to, but it reads as a more honest tuning.

ANC performance remains class-leading by most accounts, though the gap between Sony and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra has narrowed enough that it’s no longer the obvious differentiator it was in 2021.

The Price Problem

At launch the XM6 retailed at $449, a $50 bump over the XM5’s launch price. That’s not outrageous given the build changes, but it’s hard to ignore that the XM5 now sells for under $250 at most major retailers. If the hinge on your current pair is still intact, the upgrade math doesn’t work in Sony’s favor.

For first-time buyers in this category, though, the XM6 is the version of this headphone that finally earns its reputation without an asterisk. The XM5 was nearly great. The XM6 is just great - and that word doesn’t need the qualifier.