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Credit: Illustration by Ian Moore and product image courtesy of Amazon.
Sony’s 1000X series has been around since 2016, improving on the previous iteration to eventually land on the Sony WH-1000XM6 in 2025, which are the best over-ear headphones I tested in 2025 (and ever, really). Right now, you can get the WH-1000XM6 headphones for $398 (originally $459.99), their lowest price ever, according to price-tracking tools.
The XM6 headphones improve on what were already excellent headphones. Sony upped the count of microphones from eight to 12 when compared to the XM5, which improves more than just how well you sound to someone on a phone call. The microphones are used in almost all of its features, like ANC, Adaptive Sound Control, and the headphones’ Ambient Sound mode. They hear your surroundings to adapt their features accordingly. If you switch from a noisy room to a quiet one, the XM6 can switch from ANC to aware mode (if you have Adaptive Sound Control on).
These headphones have a lot more features that you can nerd out on in their companion app. The audio quality is second to none, with the fully customizable EQ giving you plenty of options to get the sound how you like it. I really like being able to see what codec you’re listening to in the app’s main menu. That way, there’s no guessing if you’re getting the best audio quality or not. They will give you 30 hours of battery life with ANC on and 40 hours of juice with ANC off. There’s an AUX (3.5mm) jack for wired listening, which is a nice touch for audiophiles who still rock iPod Classics (or is that just me?).
What do you think so far?
The XM6s were not just the best headphones of 2025, but are still the best ones of 2026 and likely to be the best ones for years to come. For $398, you’ll be securing the best for a record low price we likely won’t see again for a while.
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