Sony WH-1000XM6 Close Look and... WF-1000XM6?! 🤔
It’s confirmed! The WH-1000XM6 has a folding mechanism that lets it fold inwards, as we can see from these new pictures reported by thewalkmanblog. I’m going to share my thoughts on what we’re seeing, some fresh info about its release date and pricing, and also some hints about the WF-1000XM6 earbuds.
Form Factor
These appear to be the actual product pictures, and apart from showing us how they fold, we can also see this part in between the headband and the earcup that appears to be made of metal, and not a piece of plastic. It might be more durable as a result, although I can’t say how the other parts on both sides of the mechanism will fare, since it’s not clear if they are made of metal or plastic.
The Casing
When folded flat, the earcups are now at an angle instead of being straight, and the earcups can be folded inward to fit into a case that seems to be smaller than the XM5’s case, and have a similar layout to the XM4’s case if we take note of the location of the cable compartment. The big difference here with the case is of course, the magnetic clip that secures the lid when it’s closed instead of zips.
Design
Back to the earcups, it’s a more seamless design now, and the mic ports have grills over them. I just don’t think it’s got anything to do with water resistance. I think it’s just an aesthetic decision to make it look more clean. The touchpad’s area is also a little smaller, and there seems to be some change to the controls.
On the left earcup you have the power button which usually doubles as the Bluetooth pairing button, the ambient control button, 3.5mm port, and what seems to be a plus and minus sign. I can’t think of any other use for plus and minus except for volume. So I think they’re actually sitting on top of touch sensors for volume controls on the left earcup, instead of swiping up and down on the right earcup like on the previous models. As for music controls and speaking to chat, those are most likely going to stay on the right earcup.
Launch Date
As for the release date, it’s pretty much confirmed to be on May 15th, because we now have a teaser from Sony’s Australian site that an announcement will be made on May 16th 2am Australian eastern time. This corresponds to May 15th 12pm Eastern time in the US.
Pricing
As for pricing, I previously reported that it will be 470 Euros in Spain, but now we have prices for more countries. 450 Euros for France and Germany, 399 pounds for the UK, and according to French website Dealabs, 450 dollars for the US. Yes, the XM6 headphones are going to be more expensive in general, with some variations depending on your location. No pricing for Singapore yet, sadly.
We’ve also got a hint about the existence of the WF-1000XM6 earbuds! According to James and MrWalkman, reported by thewalkmanblog, they’ve unpacked the code of the Sony Sound Connect App, and found this line that mentions the WF-1000XM6 and the product code YY2985. Maybe the XM6 earbuds will follow soon after the XM6 headphones.
