Sony The Collexion

Pros

• Redesigned for improved comfort
• Reinforced with stainless steel
• Upgraded drivers for a more expansive sound stage and refined sound than XM6
• More powerful V3 chip, Bluetooth 6.0
• Excellent noise-canceling, voice-calling performance
• Nice case with built-in handle
• New DSEE Ultimate digital processing along with upmix audio modes for music, cinema and gaming

Cons

• Very pricey
• No USB-C audio
• Spatial audio with head-tracking only works with Android devices
• Less battery life than XM6

Sony's 1000X line of headphones is 10 years old, and to commemorate the occasion, Sony has a swanky new extra premium 1000X model that costs $650 -- $200 more than its former flagship WH-1000XM6. It's called 1000X The Collexion, a head-scratcher of a name that reminds me of a luxury hotel brand, not a mobile audio product. But according to Sony, the X in the middle is a reference to the Roman numeral for 10, while the full name honors the series as a whole.

Questionable model naming is par for the course for Sony. After all, WH-1000XM6 doesn't exactly roll off the tongue like AirPods Max 2. Nonetheless, The Collexion is a clear upgrade over the XM6 in many -- but not all -- ways. Are they worth the extra $200? That's debatable, but after testing for a few days before their launch, I came away thinking they're a great set of wireless cans that are easy to recommend if you can afford their exceptionally high price. 

Read more: Best Headphones of 2026

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The Collexion design upgrades from XM6 

While The Collexion certainly shares the same design language as earlier 1000X headphones, there are a few key upgrades. For starters, instead of the matte plastic finish of the XM6, it's got a leather-like finish that's more luxurious (I'm still checking whether it's real or faux leather). Plus, Sony has incorporated stainless steel into the design, which increases the headphones' durability and reduces the risk of hinge failure, as some people experienced with earlier 1000X models. 

The headband is also 10% wider with 40% thicker padding at the top. The earcups are 5mm slimmer, which I thought was a big deal because I prefer the look of more streamlined over-ear headphones that don't jut out of your head so much. While the earcups are slimmer, Sony has carved out more space inside them, providing more room for your ears. That's important for those with larger ears that can end up pressing against the drivers inside the cups. That still might happen, but there's a bit of padding on top of the drivers to help prevent pain or irritation points.

Watch this: Sony The Collexion Review: Bad Name, High Price, Fantastic Headphones

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The result of the changes, particularly the addition of stainless steel, is that the headphones are heavier. The Collexion weighs 320 grams (11.3 ounces) compared to the XM6's 253 grams (8.9 ounces). But thanks to the wider headband and the thicker padding, I found The Collexion slightly more comfortable. They're easily among the most comfortable headphones out there, which includes Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen).

The earpads, which Sony says are replaceable, are a little different from the XM6's. You don't quite get as tight a passive seal with The Collexion earpads, which slightly reduces the effectiveness of the active noise canceling. I'm still trying to figure out if they're any more breathable than the XM6's (I'll update my thoughts as temps rise in New York), but most over-ear headphones tend to steam up your ears if you're using them in warmer environments. That doesn't stop people from wearing them at the gym, though.

The Collexion also has two other design differences from the XM6. Instead of folding up and folding flat, they only fold flat. In that regard, they're like the XM5, which has a single, not a dual-hinge design.

The headphones also have a totally new case. It's a little bigger than the XM6's case, but it has a built-in handle that I liked, along with a magnetic clasp that's similar to the one found on the XM6's case. It has a bit of a purse-like vibe, but it's not nearly as controversial a design as the AirPods Max's case, which has been mocked for looking like a bra.

Dip in battery, very slight reduction in ANC performance

Interestingly, The Collexion's battery life isn't as good as the XM6's, which I wasn't expecting. The Collexion is rated for up to 24 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels, while the XM6 is rated for up to 30 hours. A 5-minute charge gets you 1.5 hours of battery life, while a 3-minute charge with the XM6 gets you 3 hours of play time. Sony told me the reduction in battery life is due to the headphones' new 30mm unidirectional carbon drivers requiring more energy to drive them. The XM6 are equipped with carbon drivers, but not unidirectional carbon drivers that, according to Sony, help "enhance delicate high frequency expression and a wide sound stage."

While the noise canceling is technically the same as the XM6's, as I said earlier, it's a touch less effective because of the change in the earpads' seal. It's still really impressive and among the best out there, rivaling Bose's and Apple's.

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Top-notch voice-calling performance

The voice-calling performance is also excellent and the same as the XM6's. Like the XM6, the headphones are equipped with a 12-microphone system and QN3 chip, and the noise reduction during calls is really good. Callers said they couldn't hear any background noise when I was talking to them from the noisy streets of New York, and they thought my voice sounded relatively clear and natural with only a bit of warbling.

As part of my video review for The Collexion, I recorded my voice to test how effective the noise reduction is and how clear my voice sounds (there's "AI" noise reduction that separates your voice from ambient noise). It's about midway through the video, so check that out.

The Collexion sound quality: Upgraded drivers, new V3 chip and optimized circuitry

Sony says it's done a few things to eke out improved sound quality, including those new 30mm unidirectional carbon drivers, an upgraded V3 chip and optimized circuitry with thicker copper foil. I should also mention that these are equipped with Bluetooth 6.0, while the XM6 uses Bluetooth 5.3. 

The increased processing power of the V3 chip allows for Sony's new DSEE Ultimate "AI sound enhancement" (you can choose to engage it or not) and three modes of spatial upmix for music, cinema and gaming. Presumably, these modes may adversely impact battery life as Bose's Immersive Audio mode does, but I still need to confirm that. 

I evaluated The Collexion in wireless mode using Spotify Lossless on an iPhone 16 Pro and a Google Pixel 9 phone (there's support for multipoint Bluetooth pairing, so I was able to pair the two phones to the headphones simultaneously). I ran through my eclectic mix of test tracks that includes Spoon's Knock Knock Knock, The Police's Spirits In the Material World, Underworld's Born Slippy Athletes of God's Don't Wanna Be Normal, Orbital's Dirty Rat, Bjork's Hollow and Hyberballad, Drake's Passionfruit, Pixies' Vault of Heaven, Florence and the Machine's Choreomania, various Foo Fighters songs, The Temper Trap's Giving Up Air and Mumford & Sons' Slip Away.

Comparing them to the XM6, I noticed an improvement in sound quality. The Collexion sounds a little cleaner, with more refined treble and a bit more depth and detail, and a slightly wider soundstage. It's not a huge difference, but I feel like the sound improved by about 15%.

Sony headphones are very well tuned and nicely balanced (all the instruments seem in the right place in the sound stage). Even with the extra bit of clarity and definition, The Collexion retains a certain warmth that makes them easy to listen to for long periods without fatigue. It also helps that they sound natural and accurate for wireless headphones that manipulate and optimize sound with advanced digital processing. 

In recent years, Sony has tried to streamline its Sony Connect app, but it's still a little unwieldy. You can tweak the sound with several preset equalizer settings, as well as create a custom setting with the 10-band EQ. At the same time, there are various listening modes, including 360 upmixes for music, cinema and gaming, plus a background music mode (you can only use the equalizer if you're in standard listening mode). I actually liked the 360 upmix mode for music and thought it widened the sound stage noticeably and opened up the music. 

On top of that, you can set the Bluetooth connection to prioritize stability or sound quality. To stream using Sony's LDAC advanced audio codec on your Android phone, I had to play around with the settings to switch from the AAC codec to LDAC (iPhones support only AAC). With some modes, you can engage DSEE Ultimate. With others, you can't.

The Collexion does come with a cable for wired listening, and they do sound a touch better in wired mode (I tested it in wired mode with the $80 Ifi Go Link Max USB-C portable DAC), as everything sounds a tad crisper. However, the one big omission is the support for USB-C audio. I'm not sure why Sony hasn't enabled that feature yet, but an increasing number of premium headphones offer it. 

I also compared The Collexion to Bowers & Wilkins PX8 S2, another high-end, swanky pair of wireless headphones that I like a lot but costs $800. I thought The Collexion was a little more comfortable to wear and matched the PX8 well in terms of sound. You're not going to go wrong with the PX8, but I'd give the overall edge to The Collexion when you factor in its noise-canceling and voice-calling performance.

As for the AirPods Max 2, it has better features for Apple users, but I would choose The Collexion over the Max 2 if price weren't a consideration. The Sonys arguably sound slightly better and weigh 66 grams less. The AirPods Max 2 does support USB-C audio, but Apple still doesn't include a cord with a 3.5mm analog audio connector, so you can plug the headphones into the headphone jack on an in-flight entertainment system (you have to purchase a USB-C to 3.5mm cable as an optional accessory for $35).

Sony The Collexion features

The Collexion matches the XM6's robust feature set, which includes Sony's pioneering Speak to Chat feature that automatically lowers the volume of whatever you're listening to and switches from noise-canceling to ambient sound mode to let sound in when you initiate a conversation with someone. Similarly, with Sony's Quick Attention feature, you can put your hand over the right ear cup to automatically lower the volume and enter ambient sound mode.

As I said earlier, you have to dig around in the companion app to enable some features -- and there are plenty of options to experiment with. For instance, one feature that has to be enabled is gesture controls that let you answer calls with a nod or reject a call by shaking your head.

Sony 1000X The Collexion final thoughts

The Collexion is the top pair of headphones I've tested this year and easily one of the top pairs of wireless headphones out there. Obviously, they're also quite expensive. But like Bowers & Wilkins with its flagship PX8 S2, Sony is catering to an audience willing to pay big bucks for headphones with a true luxury vibe and that extra bit of elevated sound quality. Most people can't afford The Collexion, and it's debatable whether they're worth $200 more than the XM6, but there's no denying they're great wireless headphones.