Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3: can Sony's newest earbuds beat Apple's best? Our full verdict is in

Both Sony’s flagship noise-cancelling earbuds and Apple's top-tier wireless buds are no strangers to our best earbuds roundup thanks to their sound quality, ANC, call quality and the continual addition of novel perks nobody else seems to be able to muster.

That said, if you own an Apple iPhone and want a great set of noise-cancelling wireless earbuds, the easy and obvious answer is to buy Apple’s AirPods Pro 3. Alongside the basics and the useful extras — including personalized spatial audio with head-tracking, heart rate monitoring and hearing health features — Apple built the AirPods Pro 3 to be the perfect companion to its phones (and any other Apple devices you may own).

And yet, as good as the AirPods Pro 3 are, they’re far from your only option. With the launch of Sony’s WF-1000XM6 (the latest version of one of the most universally praised sets of wireless earbuds) you owe it to yourself to hit pause before you hit buy. Sony may no longer be the default choice for top-tier noise cancellation, but with a decades-long history of creating fabulous-sounding headphones and earbuds, you should never count them out.

Here’s how the two products compare in some of the most important categories. Spoiler: Sony doesn’t walk away with a win, but where the WF-1000XM6 come out on top may matter more than where they trail the AirPods Pro 3.

Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3: price & availability

The Apple AirPods Pro 3 became globally available on September 19, 2025, for $249 / £219 / AU$429 — the same price Apple attached to the previous two versions, except in Australia, where the price went up by AU$30 over the AirPods Pro 2. As with all other AirPods earbuds, the Pro 3 only come in white.

For its part, Sony launched the WF-1000XM6 globally on February 12, 2026 in Sony’s now-standard flagship colors: black and a greige-looking tone called ‘silver’. Depending on where you live, Sony’s XM6 pricing has either gone up from the previous model, e.g., in the US it increased from $299 to $329, whereas in the UK, it decreased (slightly) from £259 to £250. In Australia, the XM6’s AU$480 is also up from the XM5’s AU$399 launch price.

Despite the fluctuations in Sony’s pricing, the company’s flagship earbuds have always been more expensive than Apple’s. In the past, Sony justified the premium through superior features and quality. The question is, can it still make the same claims in 2026? Let’s check them out.

Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3: specs

Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3: features

When Apple launched the first-gen AirPods Pro in 2019, they offered a fairly spartan set of software options, but boasted impressive physical features like wireless charging and IPX4 water resistance. And neither of those perks were available on Sony’s WF-1000XM3, which had arrived just two months earlier.

Less than a year later, Apple added spatial audio with head-tracking, further distancing itself from Sony’s offering. On the other hand, the XM3 had their own companion app, with customizable EQ, controls, and the ability to turn on Sony’s excellent DSEE HX audio quality upscaler. You could also count on longer battery life from the XM3.

In 2026, things have changed radically. While Sony still offers better EQ and control customization, Apple has nearly leveled the playing field on battery life, while the AirPods Pro 3 have far outstripped the new WF-1000XM6 on the combo of hardware/software integrations. They’re the only wireless earbuds that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids, they can track your heart rate and add this data to Apple’s iPhone fitness apps, and they ship with IP57 protection from dust and water on both the buds and the charging case. The earbuds and case can each be tracked separately in Apple’s Find My application, and the case includes a small speaker to help you find it as you get close.

The WF-1000XM6, on the other hand, have only made marginal improvements on their feature set. The earbuds are rated IPX4 (though the case gets no protection rating), wireless charging has been standard since the XM4, and the new model continues Sony’s handy speak-to-chat function. Background Music Effect is the most notable addition (giving you three modes that alter how “distant” your music sounds). Google Gemini hands-free compatibility is a nice extra for Android owners, but it doesn’t work with Siri.

Even in one of Sony’s traditional areas of strength — noise cancelling — the AirPods Pro 3 are just as good, and (as we said in our in depth Sony WF-1000XM6 review), perhaps even better than Sony’s current state of the art.

There’s only one major area where the XM6 hold an edge over the AirPods Pro 3: Bluetooth audio — but it comes with a major caveat.

With Sony’s LDAC codec, you can get much better audio quality through compatible devices than you can via SBC and AAC. With Bluetooth Multipoint, the XM6 can maintain simultaneous connections to two devices. And with LC3/Auracast support, the XM6 can find and connect to any available Bluetooth Auracast broadcasts. The caveat? None of these features are directly supported by Apple products. And, sadly, Sony’s architecture prevents iPhone users from using the Auracast feature — something JBL and Sennheiser were able to work around for their Auracast-capable earbuds.

Even with the XM6’s more advanced Bluetooth features, when it comes to Apple devices, the AirPods Pro 3 dominate this category.

• Features winner: Apple AirPods Pro 3

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Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3: sound quality

Sound quality rightfully remains one of the top considerations when buying wireless earbuds. It’s also the one area where Sony’s performance has consistently topped competitors. When comparing the WF-1000XM6 to the AirPods Pro 3, it’s clear that this is still the case.

Even when restricted to the iPhone’s lower-res AAC Bluetooth codec, the XM6 offer a level of detail, clarity, and frequency response that the third-gen AirPods Pro still can’t match. For me, the biggest difference is how each product handles bass reproduction. The AirPods Pro are no slouch when it comes to low end, and yet the XM6 possess a resonant timbre that is both more lifelike and palpable. Tracks that derive their nuance and musical interest from their bass lines (Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy or almost any symphonic work by Hans Zimmer, plus scads of hip-hop and rap) benefit far more from the XM6 than from the AirPods Pro 3.

The same can be said for the XM6’s soundstage, which is wider and more precise. The AirPods Pro 3 have spatial audio features that work with almost any source on Apple devices — and this can be fun and engaging — but I still prefer listening to two-channel stereo on the WF-1000XM6 over spatial audio on the AirPods. And all of this is before you take matters into your own hands by using Sony’s EQ adjustments (something the AirPods Pro 3 still lack).

Android owners are the biggest beneficiaries of the XM6’s LDAC codec and its hi-res capabilities, but iPhone owners aren’t without options. Several third-party devices now exist that add LDAC (and often Qualcomm’s aptX family of codecs) to any USB-C-equipped iPhone.

• Sound quality winner: Sony WF-1000XM6

Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3: design

It’s hard to think of two models in the space that are more different design-wise than the XM6 and the AirPods Pro 3. One uses a stem, the other is stemless. One is dressed exclusively in glossy white plastic, while the other comes in a stone-like matte finish with two color choices. One uses traditional silicone eartips, while the other ships with memory foam.

These are, for better or worse, subjective differences. Some folks are bound to prefer the look of the XM6, while others will gravitate toward Apple’s iconic design cues.

Where we can draw some real distinctions is in how Sony and Apple’s design choices affect usability and comfort. Apple’s charging case, for instance, is smaller, thinner, and rounded on all corners. It makes for a more pocketable package, especially when wearing jeans. At the same time, Apple’s decision to make both the buds and case IP57 resistant to water and dust makes the AirPods Pro 3 better able to withstand a variety of uses — even sand won’t bother them.

The AirPods’ squeeze-to-click controls are another strength: you can use them even with gloved hands, whereas Sony’s touch controls are, well, touch-sensitive, so at the very least, your gloves will need to be touch-compatible.

Does this leave Sony out in the cold? Not entirely. The XM6’s larger profile makes them easier to grab and harder to fumble, and this includes getting them seated securely in your ear. Their foam eartips may provide better comfort for some (versus Apple’s traditional silicone tips), and if you can get a good seal, foam is often better for passive noise isolation.

That said, our reviewer did experience fit issues with the Sony WF-1000XM6 that she didn't have with Apple's AirPods Pro 3, and these fit issues absolutely contributed to her less-than-perfect experience with the XM6’s ANC. And the Sony buy can also be outdone by Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2) if perhaps your interest extends to those too…

• Design winner: Apple AirPods Pro 3

Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3: value

Apple has done such a good job of optimizing the AirPods Pro 3 for its own ecosystem that there’s a whole level of value that goes beyond price, features, and performance. It’s the whole “it just works” mantra, which is why these AirPods Pro are still my default choice whenever I need to quickly connect to my iPhone or Mac.

Add in the price (still just $249) and the new features that Apple has introduced over the years, plus the AirPods Pro 3’s ongoing status as a top ANC choice and the absolute best pick for transparency, and the value equation doesn’t just lean in their favour — it topples over.

With their higher asking price, Sony’s WF-1000XM6 must demonstrate value through higher performance. In the case of sound quality, that’s a very easy argument to make. And they’re very competitive on ANC, transparency, and call quality too. If these are your top benchmarks, the XM6 absolutely deliver, but an unflinching look at the big picture makes it hard to deny that the AirPods offer better value.

• Value winner: Apple AirPods Pro 3

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Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3: verdict

My starting point for this comparison is the belief that almost no Android owners will seriously consider the AirPods Pro 3. Yes, they will work with Android handsets (and Windows machines too), but since so many of their best features won’t work without at least an iPhone, you’d be losing out on far too much to make it make sense.

If an Android user were to compare the WF-1000XM6 and AirPods Pro 3, it wouldn’t even be close — the XM6 would easily win.

On the other hand, iPhone owners can and should think about other products, with the exception of heavily locked-in earbuds like the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 or Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro (which have just been superseded by the Buds 4 Pro, but anyway), each of which is designed for their respective ecosystems.

And seen from that perspective, it’s hard to come to the conclusion that — for most people — the AirPods Pro 3 beat the WF-1000XM6.

Except…

If you’re the rare iPhone owner for whom sound quality trumps all (or almost all) other considerations, then the XM6 are by far the best choice. You’ll still get a great set of features, excellent build quality, and very good battery life and comfort. If their price is giving you pause, check out our in-depth look at the WF-1000XM6 versus their predecessors, the WF-1000XM5. With deep discounts, the XM5 might actually be the best choice of all…

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