I ditched my AirPods Pro 3 for Sony's WF-1000XM6 and only lasted a week

I expected the Sony WF-1000XM6 to replace my current daily drivers, the AirPods Pro 3. They sound excellent, the ANC is among the best I’ve tested, and Sony’s 10-band EQ is one of my favorite features on any pair of earbuds.

But after a week using them, my AirPods Pro 3 are back in my pocket. Not because the WF-1000XM6 earbuds sound worse, but because I realized I care more about convenience than sound quality.

I noticed the case every time I left the house

The WF-1000XM6 case isn’t much bigger than the one that comes with my AirPods Pro 3, but it feels very different in a pocket. The faux leather finish feels great in the hand, but the racetrack shape has long, squared-off edges that don’t slide in and out of a pocket as easily as Apple’s case.

I appreciate that Sony’s case stands upright on a desk, but that’s not how I use my earbuds. They’re constantly going in and out of my pocket as I cycle to work, walk to the grocery store, or run errands. I don’t want to think about my earbud case. I just want it to slide into my pocket without a second thought. The case wasn’t the only thing I noticed.

There’s no getting around it: The WF-1000XM6 are big earbuds. They protrude noticeably more than my AirPods Pro 3, and while they initially felt secure, I became increasingly aware of them the longer I wore them. After about an hour, I usually found myself wanting to take a break.

I also found myself readjusting them throughout the day. Sometimes it was because they’d shifted after talking or chewing. Other times, I just wanted to restore the seal. And don’t get me started on accidentally triggering the touch controls every time I went to make an adjustment.

I missed Transparency mode more than I expected

Transparency mode is easily the feature I use most. I like keeping my music at a low volume while still hearing traffic and everything else going on around me.

Sony’s Ambient Sound mode is good, but it never sounded quite as natural to me. Combined with the plugged-up feeling of the larger earbuds, the outside world still sounded slightly muffled. It also picked up a lot of wind noise on my bike commute, to the point where I found myself switching back to ANC just to make the ride more enjoyable. That’s really not how I like to use my earbuds.

That’s what keeps me coming back to the AirPods Pro 3. Their Transparency mode sounds so natural that I often forget I’m wearing earbuds. For me, that’s what makes them such great daily drivers.

Sony still gets a lot right

None of this means Sony got the WF-1000XM6 wrong. Quite the opposite. They’re among the best-sounding earbuds I’ve used, the ANC is excellent, and Sony’s 10-band EQ is still my favorite way to tune a pair of earbuds. At $329.99, they also cost about $80 more than the AirPods Pro 3, but price isn’t what sent me back. They just optimize for different things than I do.

It took me a few days to notice I kept reaching for my AirPods Pro 3 without thinking about it, and that turned out to be the whole point. The best earbuds aren’t always the ones with the best specs or the highest price tag. They’re the ones you never have to think about.