00:04The Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds are out now, but how do they compare to their biggest competitors?
00:12We have tested them directly against the Bose Ultra earbuds second gen, the AirPods Pro 3
00:18and the Technics AZ100 which are our three big recommendations. And so here's what you need to know.
00:28As is usually the case with Sony versus Bose, the Sony XM6 earbuds win when it comes to having
00:34a lot of nice quality of life features like the 10-band EQ and easy tool to personalize the sound,
00:41the quick attention feature where you cover the left earbud to pass in outside sound for a moment
00:45and the really cool background music mode that tunes the sound to feel more ambient rather than
00:52right in your ears. The Sony earbuds also offer a few hours longer battery life and while the Bose
00:57buds do just fine for battery, the extra hour or two per charge from the Sony buds is really useful,
01:03no question. The Sony earbuds are also smaller, as is their case, which some people will prefer
01:09even though the Bose case is still reasonably slim even though it's bulky overall. However,
01:14despite the Sony buds being smaller, we've found that making them fit securely requires more effort
01:20than you might think. Whereas the Bose buds feel absolutely rock solid in your ear. They take
01:25advantage of being larger to stabilize themselves in your ear with a subtle extra fin and it works
01:31great. The big win that the Bose has is the active noise cancellation though. It's as good as it gets
01:37on earbuds right now and does an amazing job of enclosing you in silence and the Sony XM6 just aren't
01:44as
01:44effective as this. When it comes to sound quality, the difference here is very much about what kind of
01:49sound you enjoy. The Bose have a more exciting and energetic sound. The Sony presents something
01:54closer to neutral and a little more audiophile out of the box. Overall, we prefer the more reliable fit
02:01and top tier noise cancellation of the Bose, but there are very good reasons why you might pick the Sony.
02:11Obviously, most AirPods features work with Apple devices only, so I'm going to assume you're an Apple
02:16user for the sake of this comparison. The AirPods Pro 3 have superior noise cancellation over the Sony by
02:23a clear margin. The AirPods are at the same level as Bose and the XM6 are a tier below that.
02:29The Sony
02:30earbuds sound again is a little more neutral and natural than the AirPods, which lean a little poppier.
02:36The AirPods Pro 3 have Dolby Atmos spatial audio that is best in class and is really convincing and
02:43effective. The Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial audio in its earbuds really lacks support these days,
02:49so feels quite vestigial in comparison. Both buds have a ton of great features. On AirPods,
02:55you've got options like the hearing aid mode, live translation, auto switching between all your Apple
02:59devices and heart rate sensors and workout tracking. On the Sony, you've got tools like the background music
03:06ambient mode, the quick attention feature and an extremely adjustable transparency mode. Both are
03:12small and light earbuds, but the AirPods have a very secure in-ear fit thanks to their hybrid foam and
03:18silicone ear tips, while the Sony need a bit more fiddling in our experience. If you're an Apple-only user,
03:24we would definitely lean towards getting the AirPods Pro 3, but if you have a mix of products,
03:29the Sony could be very tempting. Both the Technics AZ-100 and the Sony XM6 have quite hi-fi focused
03:39sound, aiming for faithful reproductions of your music. And both are really successful in this area,
03:46but the Technics have a slight extra edge bringing out the true 3D texture within songs. The Technics
03:53promise up to 10 hours of battery life from the buds compared to 8 hours max from the Sony, so
03:58they have a
03:58little extra advantage there as well. Technics is also the only company to offer triple-point Bluetooth
04:04connectivity to switch instantly between three devices from any manufacturer. However, the Sony
04:10buds do have a lot of advantages when it comes to their own smart features that make life a little
04:15easier,
04:16mainly the ones I've already mentioned, like the background music feature, the broad customization
04:20options and the easy quick attention mode. The Technics do have better quality in calls though,
04:26and have the side tone feature, which pumps your own voice into your ears so your conversation feels
04:32more natural and you don't accidentally shout too much. The Technics fit slightly better too,
04:38as has been a theme with all these earbuds. Ultimately, we would pick the Technics, which we still rate as
04:44the number one earbuds overall right now, but some of the smart features might tempt you to go Sony,
04:50and that would be very understandable. Okay, so that's a rundown of the key differences of the Sony
04:58XM6 earbuds versus the biggest competition. If you want to ask any questions about any of these earbuds,
05:04or if you want to make your own recommendations, please drop them in the comments.
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