The WH-1000XM6 is Sony’s latest ANC headphone (launched at $449) but the 1000XM5 is the previous generation and it is still widely considered the benchmark for over-ear active noise cancellation. Right now, Amazon has it at $248, down from its regular $399 which is the lowest price the XM5 has ever reached and roughly half what the new model costs.
See at Amazon
Eight microphones, two processors, and ANC that two years of competitors still struggle to match
The WH-1000XM5 uses two dedicated noise cancellation processors controlling eight microphones to analyze and cancel environmental sound, which produces the kind of consistent, deep noise cancellation that made this headphone the reference point for the category when it launched and kept it there through multiple competitor releases. The Auto NC Optimizer adjusts the cancellation settings automatically based on atmospheric pressure and wearing state, which handles the transition between indoor environments, outdoor wind, and pressurized aircraft cabins without requiring manual mode switching. Speak-to-Chat detects when you start speaking and pauses playback automatically, which handles the brief conversations that earphone wearers constantly interrupt music to have.
