3 reasons why I won't buy the Sony WF-1000XM6

The Sony WF-1000XM6 have just launched and represent the company’s most accomplished earbuds to date. Packed with powerful noise cancelation, excellent sound quality, and a new comfortable form factor, there’s a lot to love about Sony’s latest offering. However, despite their accolades, they’re not as complete as I’d hoped. Most notably, they do not yield significantly better features than their predecessor, and they lack burgeoning wearables technologies. To that end, here are the three main reasons why I won’t buy the Sony WF-1000XM6 at launch.

Battery capacity is great, but unchanged

The Sony WF-1000XM5 still have some of the best battery life of any wireless earbuds on the market. This lasts 9 hours and 32 minutes on a single charge when playing music continuously at 75dB (SPL). You can expect 24 hours of total playtime with the charging case, and the buds can be topped up with a Qi wireless charging pad. If you’re in a pinch, Sony’s Super Quick Charge feature delivers 51 minutes of juice from a 3-minute top-up.

The new Sony WF-1000XM6 go further, but it just isn’t as impressive as I’d hoped. In total, you can expect the buds to last 9 hours and 41 minutes per charge, with 24 hours from the case. That’s only 9 minutes longer than the XM5, and Sony’s Super Quick Charge feature delivers just 45 minutes from a 3-minute top-up. That’s 6 minutes less than their predecessor, which means you can’t listen for as long if you need to charge the buds quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, both earbuds offer exceptional battery life — 8 hours is the average for flagship ANC earbuds and is comparable to the AirPods Pro 3’s 8 hours and 42 minutes. However, the XM5 last nearly two hours longer than the XM4. When spending more on Sony’s flagship model, it’s right to expect battery life to last longer. Even without increased battery duration, the XM6 could have implemented replaceable battery cells, like those found in the Fairphone Fairbuds. This is significantly better for the environment, as you don’t need to throw the earbuds away when the battery degrades. Sony has missed a trick here.

LDAC is inferior to aptX at 330kbps

Sony released its LDAC Bluetooth codec in 2015, supporting wireless listening with up to 990 kbps 24-bit/96kHz audio sampling. Unfortunately, like all Bluetooth codecs and despite deceptive marketing jargon, LDAC isn’t capable of passing Hi-Res content unaltered, and it falls short of wired 24-bit/96kHz equivalents.

True, streaming LDAC at 990 and 660kbps delivers roughly CD-quality audio. In Hi-Res mode, the codec should pass audio data up to 48kHz and, in CD mode, should reach 20kHz untouched before quickly losing fidelity. However, LDAC’s 330 kbps setting falls significantly short of CD quality, regardless of the mode. In particular, the codec features a steep, high-ripple filter occurring just before 18kHz. This falls short of aptX and SBC, which extend right the way up to 19kHz before exhibiting a smooth roll-off, reaching just -6dB at 20kHz.

Due to connection stability, most smartphones default to LDAC streaming at either 660 or 330 kbps. However, LDAC’s 330kbps noise floor at 15kHz reaches -35dB, interfering with high-frequency presentation. SBC is nowhere near this bad, and it’s by far the worst high-frequency performance of any Bluetooth codec. When set to CD quality, LDAC at 330kbps performs worse than aptX and SBC across the frequency spectrum. All use similar bandwidths, meaning reliable “Hi-Res” connections are far from guaranteed. However, LDAC’s available resolution and 18kHz cut-off frequency are objectively inferior to Qualcomm’s aptX codec.

Higher price tag, minimal feature upgrades

Sony has packed its Sound Connect app with dozens of handy features. For example, the WF-1000XM6 earbuds boast a new Background Music mode. This extends the perceived spatial depth to push music back as though it were emanating from a greater distance. The custom EQ has also been upgraded to 10 bands, each with ±6 dB of adjustment. Scene-Based Listening makes an appearance, which selects music from your streaming app to match your current activity or environment. Finally, Spatial Sound Optimization with Head Tracking takes over from Sony 360 Reality Audio to deliver immersive listening experiences.

However, aside from these and a new bone conduction pickup inside the earbuds, the Sony WF-1000XM6 feature limited improvements. For example, they only ship with one ear tip type, whereas the XM5 include both foam and silicone tips out of the box. Their capacitive controls are largely the same, and both support LE Audio/LC3 and Auracast connectivity. noise cancelation with the XM6 is just 1% more powerful than that of their predecessor, while the XM5 offer superior isolation with the included foam tips. Unlike Apple’s AirPods Pro 3, the Sony WF-1000XM6 cannot be used as a hearing aid and does not support native Live Translation features.

Worse still is that the Sony WF-1000XM5 sound subjectively better than their newer counterpart. This is particularly true when the XM6’s ANC is enabled. Indeed, our MDAQS results show that most people will marginally prefer the XM5’s sound quality over that of their newer sibling. All this at a time when the Sony WF-1000XM6 are launching for $329.99 — $30 more than the XM5’s initial retail price. This cost differential is only going to widen as time passes, making it increasingly difficult to justify spending more on earbuds with marginal improvements. Until the Sony WF-1000XM7 make an appearance with significant upgrades, it’s highly unlikely that I’ll buy the Sony WF-1000XM6.