Sony 1000X The Collexion takes on the AirPods Max 2 with an even higher $649 price
The Rolls-Royce of wireless noise-canceling headphones
📣 Sony announces a special 10th anniversary set of wireless headphones, the Sony 1000X The Collexion
🎧 Luxurious design wrapped in vegan leather, metal buttons, and a new metal exoskeleton
🗜️ 5mm thinner and wider earcups with a 10% wider headband sporting a 40% thicker cushion
🔊 Features new unidirectional carbon fiber drivers for higher frequencies, better separation, and a wider soundstage
🥇 1st headphones to feature DSEE Ultimate Edge AI sound upscaling
🎮 Two new spatial sound modes for games and music with 360 Reality Audio Upmix
🧑🤝🧑 Same noise-canceling and voice call quality as the Sony WH-1000XM6
🪫 Shorter 24-hour battery life than the 30-hour Sony WH-1000XM6
💰 Available this month for $649 from Sony, Best Buy, and Amazon
📦 New Sandstone color for the Sony WH-1000XM6 is also available now for $449
Sony is celebrating a decade of its 1000X headphone series with the introduction of its most premium Sony 1000X The Collexion wireless noise-canceling headphones.
The $649 Sony 1000X The Collexion are the brand’s most expensive headphones ever, even surpassing the flagship $459 Sony WH-1000XM6. For that premium price, Sony promises these offer a luxurious design and sound quality on par with the $529 Apple AirPods Max 2.
The Sony 1000X The Collexion’s build quality certainly seems luxurious, wrapped entirely in a soft vegan leather with all-metal buttons and mic covers. Sony has also introduced a new metal exoskeleton that adds a secondary earcup hinge, allowing the headphones to clamp directly onto your ears.
All of those premium materials add up to a higher 320g weight than the 253g Sony WH-1000XM6, but still lighter than the 386g AirPods Max 2. However, Sony claims you won’t feel that, as the earcups are now wider and 5mm thinner, helping distribute the headphones’ weight more naturally. The headband is also 10% wider with a 40% thicker cushion to help alleviate pressure on top of your head.
Luxurious design aside, the Sony 1000X The Collexion also promises enhanced sound quality with a new pair of unidirectional carbon fiber drivers. This material is stronger than traditional carbon fiber, so it can reproduce more delicate, high-frequency sounds, provide clearer separation between instruments, and create a wider soundstage.
The Collexion is Sony’s first pair of headphones to ever feature DSEE Ultimate, which uses Edge-AI to upscale compressed music files, restoring detail and texture. There are also two new 360 Reality Audio Upmix spatial sound modes for music and gaming. Previously, 360 Upmix only offered a Cinema listening mode that converted stereo sound to surround sound for movies.
Sony told us the 1000X The Collexion will offer the same level of noise-cancellation as the WH-1000XM6, as it utilizes the same QN3 processor and 12-mic setup. Unfortunately, the Sony 1000X The Collexion has also inherited some of the Sony WH-1000XM6’s faults, including a lack of USB-C and wired Hi-Res audio support. Battery life is also slightly worse at 24 hours compared to the WH-1000XM6’s 30 hours, and quick charging for five minutes only gives you back 1.5 hours of play.
The Sony 1000X The Collexion is available now for $649 from Sony, Best Buy, and Amazon.
Sony has also introduced a new Sandstone color for the Sony WH-1000XM6. The pastel beige color joins the three original launch colors and the recently introduced Sand Pink Sony WH-1000XM6. The Sandstone Sony WH-1000XM6 is also available now for $459.
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam