XM4 vs XM5 vs XM6: Which Sony to Buy (Honest Take)

Affiliate disclosure: some links here are Amazon UK affiliate links. If you buy through one I get a few pence, you pay the same, and it doesn’t change what I say about anything.

Right, xm4 vs xm5 vs xm6: if you want the short version, most people should buy the [Sony WH-1000XM4](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM4&tag=mojblo-21) and spend the difference on something else. I’ve had mine for years. They’ve been on planes, trains, in airports I’d rather forget, in bed, on my desk, and they’re still the pair I reach for. I record audio daily and I’m fussy to the point of being annoying about it, and I still haven’t upgraded. That’s the whole review in one paragraph, but stick around because there’s a proper case for the XM6 too, and a very clear case for not touching the XM5.

One thing up front, because I’m not going to pretend otherwise: the XM4 is the pair I actually own and live with. The XM5 and XM6 I’ve handled and listened to, but I haven’t lived with either of them for months, so I’m not going to sit here telling you I know exactly how the XM6 pads hold up after two years of being shoved in a rucksack. Nobody does yet. Where I’m talking from the spec sheet and general consensus rather than my own ears over time, I’ll say so.

Quick answer

• Best overall for most people: [Sony WH-1000XM4](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM4&tag=mojblo-21). Warm, bass-forward, folds flat, and now sells for a fraction of the XM6. The sound still holds up.
• Best if you want the newest and best, money no object: [Sony WH-1000XM6](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM6&tag=mojblo-21). Folding hinge is back, the noise cancelling is the best Sony’s done, calls are properly good now.
• Best for nobody in particular: [Sony WH-1000XM5](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM5&tag=mojblo-21). It’s a good headphone stuck in a bad spot in the lineup. Only buy it if it’s genuinely cheap.

Sony WH-1000XM4: the one I own and refuse to replace

My ear is rich, warm, deep, bass-forward. I want music to feel like it’s sitting on my chest a bit. The XM4 does that without turning everything into mush, which is the trick most bass-heavy headphones get wrong.

What’s kept me on them for this long isn’t the spec list, it’s the detail retrieval at low volume. I listen quietly a lot, late at night, and the XM4 still pulls out the little stuff: the breath before a vocal line, the room on a snare, the bass guitar sitting under a wall of synth. Loads of headphones only come alive when you crank them. These don’t need it. And the 360 stuff, when a track’s actually mixed for it, genuinely throws sound round to the back of your head rather than just making everything sound like it’s in a cave.

Then there’s the boring bit that actually matters: they’ve lasted. The pads haven’t flaked or gone crusty. The hinges are still tight. The case is one of the best cases anyone’s ever shipped with a headphone, hard shell, flat, with a little pouch inside for the cable and the aeroplane adapter. They fold properly, which the XM5 inexplicably decided wasn’t important.

Honest flaws, because they exist. The noise cancelling is a generation behind now, and on a plane or against a droning aircon unit you’ll notice the XM6 is doing more. The call mics are mediocre, genuinely, people on the other end can tell you’re on headset mics. Touch controls still get confused by rain and by me putting my hood up. And they charge over micro USB, which in 2026 is just taking the piss.

Price: usually somewhere around £180 to £250 depending on who’s discounting, and they go lower in sales. Check [Sony WH-1000XM4 on Amazon UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM4&tag=mojblo-21).

Sony WH-1000XM6: buy this if you’ve got the money and you fly a lot

The XM6 is what the XM5 should have been. Folding hinge back where it belongs, a redesigned case with a magnetic clasp that’s a bit gimmicky but works, a new processor, and a lot more mics doing the noise cancelling maths. The ANC is the real upgrade here. On the ones I’ve had on my head, the low-frequency rumble just disappears in a way my XM4 can’t quite manage, and the call quality is the first time a Sony flagship hasn’t embarrassed you on a work call.

Soundwise it’s cleaner and more controlled than my XM4 out of the box, and if you’re the sort of person who likes a tidy neutral presentation you’ll prefer it immediately. I’m not that person. Stock, it’s a touch politer in the low end than I want, though ten minutes in the EQ in the Sony app sorts that out, and the app is one of the better ones out there.

The flaw is the price. At full RRP it’s a lot of money for a headphone whose main job over the XM4 is being better at ignoring aeroplanes. If you fly monthly, commute on the Underground, or work in an open-plan office full of loud talkers, that’s worth it and I’d tell you to just buy it. If you mostly listen at home, you’re paying a big premium for a problem you don’t have.

Price: flagship money, think around £350 to £400 unless there’s a sale on. Check [Sony WH-1000XM6 on Amazon UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM6&tag=mojblo-21).

Sony WH-1000XM5: the awkward middle child

I want to be fair to the XM5, because it’s not a bad headphone. It sounds good. The ANC was a clear step up from the XM4 when it landed, and the call mics got much better.

But look. Sony took the folding hinge out, which means a bigger, more awkward case that eats your bag. The headband design is lovely to wear and I’ve heard enough reports of people being nervous about the thinner hinge area to not love it. And now it sits in the lineup with the XM4 underneath it at half the price and the XM6 above it doing everything better, including folding again. Sony themselves basically admitted the non-folding thing was a mistake by reversing it.

So the XM5 only makes sense at a price. If you find it heavily discounted, under the XM4 or close to it, grab it, you’re getting better ANC and better calls. At anything near its old RRP, don’t bother. Buy the XM4 and pocket the difference, or save up for the XM6.

Price: varies wildly, which is sort of the point. Check [Sony WH-1000XM5 on Amazon UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM5&tag=mojblo-21).

XM4 vs XM5 vs XM6 comparison table

Prices move constantly on these, especially around sales, so treat those as ballpark rather than gospel.

Verdict

If you’re buying today and you’re not made of money, buy the [Sony WH-1000XM4](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM4&tag=mojblo-21). I’ve had years out of mine, they go everywhere with me, and the only reason to upgrade is if noise cancelling specifically is the thing ruining your listening. That’s not a nostalgia pick, it’s that the XM4 at its current price is one of the best value propositions in audio and Sony’s newer models haven’t changed the sound enough to justify double.

If you’re on a plane every other week, or your commute is a screaming tunnel, get the [Sony WH-1000XM6](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM6&tag=mojblo-21) and don’t feel bad about it. That’s the one upgrade that actually earns the money.

And if you’re staring at the [Sony WH-1000XM5](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Sony+WH-1000XM5&tag=mojblo-21) because it’s the sensible middle option, it isn’t. It’s the one that doesn’t fold, costs more than the XM4, and does less than the XM6. Cheap or nothing.

Also, and I say this as someone with a drawer problem: none of these are the right tool for judging a mix or for gaming comms. Different jobs, different kit.

FAQ

Is the XM6 actually worth upgrading to from the XM4? For most people, no. The sound difference is a matter of taste rather than a clear win, and the XM4 still holds its own. The upgrade you’d actually feel is the noise cancelling and the call mics. If neither of those is currently annoying you, keep your money.

Do the XM4 still sound good in 2026? Yes, genuinely. They’re warm and bass-forward with really good detail at low volumes, which is where I do most of my listening. The things that have aged are the ANC, the call mics and the micro USB port, not the sound.

Why does everyone complain that the XM5 doesn’t fold? Because it makes the case much bigger and more awkward, and the whole appeal of these is chucking them in a bag. Sony brought the folding hinge back for the XM6, which tells you everything about how that decision landed.

Which Sony has the best noise cancelling? The XM6, clearly. More mics, newer processing, and it handles low rumble like engines and aircon better than the other two. The XM5 is second, the XM4 third, though “third” here still means pretty good.

Are the XM4 good for gaming? They’re fine for game audio over Bluetooth, but the mic is weak and wireless adds latency you’ll notice in anything twitchy. For gaming and Discord I use a wired headset with a boom mic instead, because the boom sits by your mouth and ignores keyboard clatter.

Should I wait for the XM7? If you need headphones now, no. The pattern with Sony is roughly a couple of years between flagships, and waiting just means sitting on the headphones you already don’t like. The upside of waiting is that each new launch knocks the price off the older models, which is exactly why the XM4 is such good value right now.

Related reading: [the honest monitoring headphone I use to judge music](/beyerdynamic-dt-770-m-review/), [three headphones, three jobs: how I actually split my listening](/three-headphones-three-jobs/), [the RODE NTH-100M for gaming and Discord](/rode-nth-100m-review/), and [how I went from the WiiM Mini to the WiiM Amp](/wiim-mini-vs-wiim-amp/).