3 wireless earbuds I would buy instead of the Sony WF-1000XM6

I reviewed the Sony WF-1000XM6, and I stand by what I said: these are Sony’s best earbuds yet, with excellent noise canceling and great sound. They’re also one of the most expensive flagship earbuds you can buy at $329.99, and the price buys you some real tradeoffs. The earbuds are very big and don’t suit smaller ears; they only carry IPX4 water resistance, they run on older Bluetooth 5.3, and the batteries are sealed in, so they are only bound to last you a few years. Most of you told us you weren’t buying them, and honestly, I get it.

If you want flagship earbuds without paying Sony’s premium, here are three I’d buy instead. Each costs less, and each beats the XM6 at something you’ll notice every day.

Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5

This is the pair to buy if you want earbuds that last for years, not just a couple. The MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 are among the first flagship earbuds with user-replaceable batteries in both the earbuds and the charging case. When the batteries eventually wear down, you undo a couple of tiny screws, swap in new cells, and keep going, instead of throwing out a $300 product. They’re also tougher than the Sony, with an IP54 rating that adds dust protection, and they run on newer Bluetooth 6.0 with aptX Lossless for Android phones that support it. All that, and they’re $30 cheaper.

The trade is a little performance. Noise canceling is very good, but a step behind Sony’s, and the battery lasted 6 hours and 17 minutes in our testing, compared to the XM6’s 9 hours and 41 minutes. The default tuning also pushes the treble harder than most people would like, so S sounds in vocals can turn sharp, though the app’s EQ can tame that. Auracast support isn’t here yet, either, and is promised in a future update. When we put the two head-to-head, Sony won on performance, but the Sennheiser is still the one I’d buy, because no other pair here will still be going strong in five years.

Apple AirPods Pro 3

If you have an iPhone, this is the easy call. The AirPods Pro 3 have the strongest noise canceling we’ve ever measured in earbuds, slightly ahead of the XM6, and they cost $80 less at full price. They regularly drop to $199 on sale, too. The earbuds are much smaller than Sony’s, so they’re more comfortable for long listening sessions, and the IP57 rating means they can survive a dunk in water. You also get extras Sony doesn’t offer, like a heart rate sensor for workouts and clinical-grade hearing aid features.

My colleague Dave tried switching from his AirPods Pro 3 to the XM6 and lasted a week, and his reasons are ones you’ll feel daily: a case that slides easily in and out of a pocket, earbuds that don’t stick out of your ears, and a transparency mode so natural you forget you’re wearing them. The catches are that there’s no EQ to adjust the sound, the tuning gets bass-heavy at lower volumes, and they lose almost every feature on Android.

Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro

If you have a Samsung phone, the Galaxy Buds4 Pro are the AirPods Pro 3 of your world, and they save you $80 over the Sony. In our testing, they scored the same as the XM6 on our listener panel model for overall sound quality, so you’re not giving up much in how your music sounds. They’re also lighter and less bulky, with a stem design that sits more comfortably for all-day wear, and the IP57 rating is far better suited to sweaty workouts than Sony’s IPX4. Auracast support is included, as well.

I’ve used them nearly every day since launch, and six months later, they’re still the only earbuds I want to use. Pair them with a recent Galaxy phone, and you unlock Samsung’s own high-resolution audio codec and other extras. Off a Samsung device, though, they lose much of that appeal. Noise canceling is a step behind Sony’s; battery life is about 6 hours, and there’s no true multipoint, so you can’t stay connected to your phone and laptop at the same time. Still, if you’re a Galaxy owner, none of that should stop you.