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Unreleased Sony WH-1000XM6 Headphones Appear in FCC Filing

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Sony could be close to launching the successor model to its popular WH-1000XM5 over-ear noise-canceling headphones, if a new FCC filing is anything to go by.

sony-headphones-1.jpg

The company's WH-1000XM5 cans, which we compared to Apple's AirPods Max back in May 2022, are considered by many to offer some of the best noise-canceling in the business, providing great sound, excellent comfort and long battery life.

Now it appears that Sony wants to go one better, with news that the company has filed for certification for the next model in the series.

First spotted by The Walkman Blog, the filing shows a diagram of the headphones, which appear to feature a new hinge that may or may not indicate a return to the folding design used in the XM4's. Elsewhere are what look like detachable earpads, similar to AirPods Max, and behind them is a "user-visible name plate" showing the model and serial number.

Specs-wise, aside from support for fast charging and Bluetooth 5.3, the filing doesn't reveal much about the "Wireless Noise Canceling Stereo Headset," but they are made in Malaysia and described as an engineering prototype rather than pre-production – just like the XM5 filing, which turned out to be accurate.

sony-wh1000-xm5-filing.jpg
Image credit: The Walkman Blog​

With so much going for the current model, it's difficult to know what improvements Sony is aiming for in the XM6's, but anticipation for their release is likely to be high nevertheless. Comparing the filing's short term confidentiality (STC) date to the XM5 filing, The Walkman Blog believes we can expect the headphones to be announced around late April to early May, 2025.

Article Link: Unreleased Sony WH-1000XM6 Headphones Appear in FCC Filing
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/01/24/sony-wh-1000xm6-headphones-fc-filing/
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Companies should really try adopting new bluetooth standards faster. Bluetooth 6.0 is out, it has higher bandwidth and positional tracking - something headphones can really benefit from.
It's pretty lame that it takes them years to finally adopt a new standard by the time the next version basically out.

Next AirPod Pro's/Max NEED this.
 
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Reactions: DeepIn2U, SFjohn, Amadeus71 and 5 others
Are the new models good? I have a pair of XM3 which I bought new for a nice deal (180EUR). They are nice for office/conference usage but for music consumption I find them poor. Noise canceling is nice but impacts sound, also really uncomfortable for my head, stereo field is really narrow and too much low end. Maybe nice for hip-hop/dance, but for rock/metal they lack mid-range. I use the 99 Classics from Meze Audio at home and they are better in any possible way (unfortunately you need a headphone jack :D )
 
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jayryco said:
Companies should really try adopting new bluetooth standards faster. Bluetooth 6.0 is out, it has higher bandwidth and positional tracking - something headphones can really benefit from.
It's pretty lame that it takes them years to finally adopt a new standard by the time the next version basically out.

Next AirPod Pro's/Max NEED this.
Click to expand...
Yes - lets hope this is the reason they just added usb-c for now
 
robertosh said:
Are the new models good? I have a pair of XM3 which I bought new for a nice deal (180EUR). They are nice for office/conference usage but for music consumption I find them poor. Noise canceling is nice but impacts sound, also really uncomfortable for my head, stereo field is really narrow and too much low end. Maybe nice for hip-hop/dance, but for rock/metal they lack mid-range. I use the 99 Classics from Meze Audio at home and they are better in any possible way (unfortunately you need a headphone jack :D )
Click to expand...
on paper these are all good headphones- however in my view the AirPodsMax provide an overall better experience.
 
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I hope Apple hasn't abandoned the AirPods Max. I absolutely love mine, but it's getting a bit frustrating needing a lightning connector just for them. Makes no sense to upgrade to USB-C only, but a new, actually upgraded model I would buy in a heartbeat.
 
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I have had the Sony XM5's for a year or two. Sound, comfort, noise cancelling etc are really excellent. I also tried the AirPod Max in a shop and they were also excellent. But i got the Sonys for half the price of the apple cans. For just over £200 the Sonys are unbeatable. Mostly use them at home, could not care less about folding hinge. They also come with an audio cable to plug in to my MacBook for EVEN BETTER SOUND. wired audio will always be better than bluetooth...
 
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Can these be paired to multiple devices allowing a seamless switch.
Also, can you actually use them to make phone calls in louder environments - both didnt work with the XM3 and understand that subsequent models only introduced minor improvements.

Depending on your use case,
The Sony headphones irrespective of minor differences in NC or sound quality, need to stack up to the user experience of Airpod Max. They just beat any headphone if you have build an Apple ecosystem around you.
 
MacRumors said:


Sony could be close to launching the successor model to its popular WH-1000XM5 over-ear noise-canceling headphones, if a new FCC filing is anything to go by.

sony-headphones-1.jpg

The company's WH-1000XM5 cans, which we compared to Apple's AirPods Max back in May 2022, are considered by many to offer some of the best noise-canceling in the business, providing great sound, excellent comfort and long battery life.

Now it appears that Sony wants to go one better, with news that the company has filed for certification for the next model in the series.

First spotted by The Walkman Blog, the filing shows a diagram of the headphones, which appear to feature a new hinge that may or may not indicate a return to the folding design used in the XM4's. Elsewhere are what look like detachable earpads, similar to AirPods Max, and behind them is a "user-visible name plate" showing the model and serial number.

Specs-wise, aside from support for fast charging and Bluetooth 5.3, the filing doesn't reveal much about the "Wireless Noise Canceling Stereo Headset," but they are made in Malaysia and described as an engineering prototype rather than pre-production – just like the XM5 filing, which turned out to be accurate.

sony-wh1000-xm5-filing.jpg

Image credit: The Walkman Blog​

With so much going for the current model, it's difficult to know what improvements Sony is aiming for in the XM6's, but anticipation for their release is likely to be high nevertheless. Comparing the filing's short term confidentiality (STC) date to the XM5 filing, The Walkman Blog believes we can expect the headphones to be announced around late April to early May, 2025.

Article Link: Unreleased Sony WH-1000XM6 Headphones Appear in FCC Filing
Click to expand...
Hopefully this time the sound signature is more neutral and balanced rather than just bass.
 
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Previous generations sound great, have excellent ANC and so-so transparency, have so-so controls (the mx3 for example would randomly pause, play and change tracks when worn in temperatures under 20 degrees), look and feel cheap.
 
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dasmb said:
Previous generations sound great, have excellent ANC and so-so transparency, have so-so controls (the mx3 for example would randomly pause, play and change tracks when worn in temperatures under 20 degrees), look and feel cheap.
Click to expand...
sums it up nicely - you could add the cumbersome bluetooth coupling and lack of seamless switching (major benefit of Apple devices)
 
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