Sony WH-1000XM6: Design Leak Will Make Fans Very Happy
The Sony WH-1000XM6, the manufacturer's next high-end Bluetooth headset has leaked. It appeared prematurely for pre-order on Amazon Spain on May 3. The listing has since been removed, and did not include a photo of the product. But, for once, Amazon's long-winded, keyword-packed titles came in handy. We learned plenty of technical details, a rather bizarre price, and, above all, a long-awaited design change.
The Walkman Blog is responsible for preserving the contents of this leaked product page. In a screenshot of the Sony WH-1000XM6 product page, taken before it was removed, the price is obvious. It's strangely low. Current rumors more or less agree on a price of around 470 euros for Sony's next noise-cancelling headset. This may be a mistake, or it may be the price excluding VAT, as Amazon France likes to display.
Sony WH-1000XM6: The best noise reduction and transparency mode?
The Walkman Blog also mentioned several elements of the Sony WH-1000XM6 datasheet that are not visible in the screenshot above.
The 30 mm transducers would remain, as on the previous model, the Sony WH-1000XM5 (review). But a new QN3 chip would be used, no doubt to manage the additional microphones, whose number has risen from eight to twelve on the WH-1000XM6. These additional microphones should help manage ambient noise.
According to Sony's marketing materials visible on the Amazon product page, the WH-1000XM6 headset is supposed to offer "the best noise reduction and transparency mode." We're talking about these functions, which attenuate or amplify external noise in order to more or less isolate oneself from one's sound environment.
Battery life is announced at over 30 hours, but without specifying whether this measurement was obtained with or without active noise reduction (which consumes more energy).
Strangely, no Bluetooth codec is mentioned. We can expect the classic SBC, AAC and LDAC triptych, as on the previous model. Support for the Bluetooth LE Audio standard would have been interesting, but it's nowhere to be found. This would enable us to take advantage of Auracast technology, which promises a host of opportunities in terms of accessibility and music sharing, with the same stream being broadcast to several devices at the same time.
A return to the folding format
This is what should be of most interest to many fans. The Sony WH-1000XM6 will be foldable! Sony had abandoned this design element with the Sony WH-1000XM5. Yes, headphones that don't fold have an elegant, monolithic look. But they're also frankly less practical to carry around.
There's no doubt that this return to a foldable design will delight many. The headband would also be wider and the ear pads softer, for greater comfort. Bear in mind that these are purely marketing phrases. The headset will be accompanied by a new storage case with magnetic closure.
The only downside to the current design is the absence of any mention of IP certification for water and dust resistance.
What do you think of the Sony WH-1000XM6 according to these leaked elements? Is the return to a foldable format a good thing, in your opinion?
Source: TheWalkmanblog
