Most of you aren't buying the Sony WF-1000XM6. Here's why

We put the question to our audience across our website and YouTube channel: Would you buy the Sony WF-1000XM6? Nearly 1,600 votes later, 61% of you said no — and the comments told us exactly why.

The numbers

On our website, 69% of the 394 voters said yes, they’d pull the trigger. YouTube told a different story: of the 1,200 people who voted there, 71% said no. Combined, skepticism won out by a comfortable margin. The difference likely comes down to audience: site visitors tend to be further along in their research and closer to a buying decision, while YouTube’s broader audience is quicker to balk — especially at a $330 price tag.

What you said

The concerns fell into a few clear buckets. Price came up most often — the XM6 launched at $330, a $30 jump over the XM5, and many of you felt that money was better spent elsewhere.

Competition was the natural follow-up, with the AirPods Pro 3 at $249 cited repeatedly as the smarter buy for iPhone users. Size and comfort were also deal-breakers for a vocal group, with several commenters put off by reports of the earbuds sitting bulky in the ear. And for some, the issue wasn’t the XM6 at all — it was that their XM5 still does the job.

• “Not for that price. Makes AirPods Pro 3 a no-brainer if you have an iPhone.” — @ElRobin
• “Too bulky sticking out of my ears too much… so I’ve just ordered the Bose instead.” — @eddieo1952
• “The noise cancellation is noticeably better on the Sony, but the Technics sound way better, even when messing with EQ.” — @cookie7993
• “My XM5’s sounds and works just fine!” — @Daausby

The WF-1000XM6 is a genuinely good pair of earbuds, and our measurements back that up. But good isn’t always enough when the price has climbed, the competition has sharpened, and plenty of XM5 owners see no reason to upgrade. Sony has the brand. Now they need to give buyers the reason.

Sony WF-1000XM6 price history