published 19 May 2026

Sony’s flagship noise-cancelling headphones have long been hard to beat, offering the ultimate over-ear noise cancelling performance against some incredibly stiff competition. And they’ve also occupied a rare position in the audio sphere — mainstream enough to dominate airport lounges and commuter trains, yet serious enough to tempt audiophiles who would normally avoid wireless cans altogether.

With the all-new, long-rumoured 1000X THE COLLEXION headphones, Sony wants to make sure those most discerning of listeners are fully catered for.

While it’d be easy to think of THE COLLEXION as a ‘WH-1000XM6 Pro’ upgrade to last year’s world beating over-ears, that’d be slightly missing the point. This is not simply another yearly upgrade focused on cancelling more engine rumble or squeezing in another AI feature (even if it’s also attempting to do both). Instead, THE COLLEXION feels like Sony asking what happens when its most-loved headphone line is given the spared-no-expense treatment — something designed to be worn and admired as much as getting down to the nitty-gritty of making your tunes sound great.

Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION: In short…

Luxury stainless steel and matte faux leather design feels genuinely premium
Comfort-focused fit reduces pressure during long listening sessions
Refined audio tuning prioritises clarity and immersive sound quality
AI upscaling and spatial modes personalise music, movies and gaming
Advanced microphones improve calls, adaptive noise cancelling and daily usability
Available from May 2026 in Platinum (white) and Black shades
Priced at £550

1. The Design Feels As Premium As The Price Tag

Sony says the design philosophy behind its 1000X THE COLLEXION headphones (right, from here on in, to save our fingers, we’re just going to call ‘em the ‘COLLEXION’) is “Resonate” — the idea that you should hear, feel and experience premium sound and texture at the same time. Marketing language aside, there is a noticeable shift in approach here.

Every visible surface uses just two materials: hand-polished stainless steel and a newly developed faux leather finish. That faux leather alone reportedly took two years to develop, and it shows in the details. Rather than the glossy synthetic textures that can make premium headphones feel oddly plastic, Sony has opted for a matte finish that looks restrained and feels high-end to the touch — important, as you’ll be swiping and tapping the cups regularly to control playback.

Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION headphones review

The result is cleaner and more architectural than previous over-ear models. In black, the headphones look understated and expensive. In ‘Platinum’ white, they feel closer to luxury fashion tech than your usual over-ears. But they’re not flashy, either — these aren’t the diamond-encrusted nonsense that often tempts the higher-end of the tech market. It’s classic Sony minimalism.

That extends to the accompanying carry case too, which manages to do something even Apple’s equally-luxurious AirPods Pro Max couldn’t — being stylish and functional. Like the Apple competition, Sony’s case opts for a carry handle style. But, with the headphone cups rotating flat rather than folding inwards, the case wraps around the headband to create that carry handle. Fastening closed with a magnetic snap, the entirety of the headphone is enclosed and protected. Apple, take note.

Sony has also made the earcups slimmer than the WH-1000XM6, reducing the depth to 40.1mm from 45.4mm. That sounds minor on paper, but visually it creates a more refined silhouette on the head, giving the illusion of a softer, slightly curvier can.

2. Comfort Has Been Given Real Attention

Premium headphones live or die by comfort. Nobody cares how advanced the internals are if they’re clamping to your noggin’ like a vice.

The COLLEXION however is supremely comfortable. Designed with long listening sessions in mind, using a wider headband, and with softer earpads to reduce side pressure, you can wear them for hours without any fatigue. The internal earcup space is also notably generous, meaning the pads sit around the ear rather than pressing directly onto it. As a glasses wearer, that clamping force was just right in all the right places too — tight enough to keep them from slipping, but not so squeezed as to push my specs’ arms into my skull.

Even the internal battery layout has been reconsidered. Sony split the battery into two separate components to improve weight distribution and maximise acoustic space inside the cups. Again, it is the sort of engineering decision that users may never consciously notice, but they will feel the benefits over several hours of wear.

There is no official IP rating here, which may disappoint gym users or anyone regularly caught in the customary surprise UK downpour. But these are clearly intended as luxury listening headphones first, and all-day comfort seems to have been prioritised above ruggedness.

3. The Sound Is The Real Star

Sony’s flagship headphones have always balanced sound quality against noise cancelling. With COLLEXION, the balance appears to tilt slightly more toward the audio side. The aim here is to get closer to an artist’s intention in the studio, trimming back some of the bass-heavy moments of the WH-1000XM6, and promoting clarity over sheer noise-cancelling grunt.

The redeveloped driver unit uses a unidirectional carbon layered core composite material in the diaphragm dome section (intended to deliver natural tones from the most delicate high-frequency moments), alongside Sony’s HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN3 and an entirely new integrated V3 processor.

That V3 processor delivers some of the COLLEXION’s smartest audio tricks. Support for Hi-Res Wireless audio and LDAC is onboard, but the headline addition may actually be DSEE Ultimate. Available in Sony headphones for the first time in this form, the AI-powered upscaling system attempts to restore detail lost in compressed music files.

Sony claims it can effectively upscale 44kHz audio to 96kHz and increase 16-bit audio to 24-bit equivalents, very useful when using streaming services over a mobile connection. Whether listeners hear every technical improvement will vary, but the intention is clear: these are headphones built for people who genuinely care about music quality, not simply background listening.

Equally interesting is how much Sony has borrowed from its dedicated Walkman audio division. COLLEXION includes technologies such as a low-phase-noise crystal oscillator, advanced solder containing gold and optimised circuitry components — details normally associated with specialist hi-fi gear rather than wireless travel headphones.

The proof, as ever, is in the listening, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time with the COLLEXION headphones. Note: from our experience, you’re going to get the most from the headphones with a Hi-Res playback source, as you’d expect. But the COLLEXION is pretty agnostic when it comes to genre.

With the glacial ‘Computer Love’ of electro pioneers Kraftwerk, the COLLEXION shows off its precision and clarity — tight bass tones, snappy drum clicks and crystal clear high-end synths.

For something a little more earthy, Love’s ‘You Set The Scene’ from the masterful Forever Changes album is a great work out for the COLLEXION’s claimed wide soundstage and instrumental separation. The headphones do a great job, bringing a warmth and immediacy to the presentation, and ably pulling out the individual orchestral qualities of strings, horns and guitars as the three all battle in the song’s final third.

At the other end of the spectrum, Nine Inch Nail’s brutal ‘March Of The Pigs’ hits like a hammer blow. Guitars have bite and power, while the complex industrial underpinnings of the song feel thick and full, without Trent Reznor’s raspy vocal being lost.

There’s a feeling that the most demanding of audiophiles will be looking for a little more dynamism in the mid-range, but that’s nitpicking, and when paired with the rest of the feature set offered here, the COLLEXION is a great package.

4. The Features Feel More Personal And Flexible

Wireless headphones increasingly succeed or fail based on how adaptable they are to everyday life, but Sony’s had a handle on that right from the start with its 1000X series. Each successive model has brought new smarts to the table — and the COLLEXION might be the smartest of them all.

The V3 processor introduces several new upmix modes, including dedicated 360-degree settings for music, movies and gaming. These modes attempt to create a more immersive spatial presentation depending on what you are listening to.

I usually avoid additional processing modes on audio devices — they tend to move the music too far away from the original intention of a mix. But I had a lot of fun with Sony’s music upmix mode. It gives an almost ‘live’ quality to a recording, widening the soundstage and putting you closer to the centre of a performance. It’s lively and an interesting way to get a new perspective on tracks you’re well versed in, if not necessarily the most faithful reproduction. The gaming mode was enjoyable and explosive too, adding a level of immersive bombast to proceedings — but I was disappointed by relatively high latency when gaming over Bluetooth, meaning some audio cues felt just a beat behind the action.

There is also a surprisingly intriguing “background music” mode (returning from the WH-1000XM6) designed to make songs feel as though they are playing slightly away from you, like music drifting through a café rather than directly into your ears. It sounds gimmicky initially, but it could prove genuinely useful for people who dislike the intense isolation that noise-cancelling headphones can create.

A customisable physical button on the headset lets users quickly switch between modes without diving into menus or apps, which is exactly the kind of practical touch premium products should include.

Sony also includes a 10-band EQ for users who want more detailed control over tuning. Casual listeners can leave everything alone, while enthusiasts can fine-tune the presentation to suit different genres.

It all adds up to a product that feels less rigidly one-size-fits-all than many rivals, and makes the accompanying Sound Connect app less of an optional add-on and more an essential tweak station.

5. They Still Deliver Serious Everyday Practicality

Even with the more luxurious positioning, Sony has not abandoned the practical strengths that made its over-ear line successful in the first place.

COLLEXION uses 12 onboard microphones for adaptive noise-cancelling optimisation, allowing the headphones to constantly adjust to changing environments. Sony is not pushing noise cancelling as aggressively as before — the messaging here is more about sound refinement — but the capability is still substantial. Aggressive pre-release secrecy around the headphones mean I’ve not been able to test them against the rigours of public transport yet, but I was able to mimic the hum of a flight quite effectively, thanks to the whirring of my gaming PC’s fan in my hotbox of a flat. While not quite a match for the total isolation of the WH-1000XM6 cans, the noise cancelling here is still better than the majority of Sony’s competitors.

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Sony also has the advantage of its smart adaptive noise cancelling features. Let the Sound Connect app access your location, and the headphones will adapt their noise-blocking features according to the situation. Walking down the road, you can set them to let in a little more exterior sound so as to better hear an oncoming Uber Eats bike, and then seamlessly switch to zen-like full noise cancellation once you reach the office.

Call quality has also received serious attention. Six beamforming microphones help isolate the speaker’s voice while reducing wind interference, and Bluetooth LE Audio support enables Super Wide Band speech transmission for clearer calls. The audio mode selecting button can also be configured to act as a physical mic mute switch, something that feels particularly relevant in the hybrid-working era where headphones double as office equipment as often as entertainment devices.

I’d say, however, that the decision to leave a USB-C cable out of the package feels a little bit stingy, though. Yes, e-waste needs to be taken into consideration. But grab these at an airport shop before boarding your flight, and you’re going to have a long, noisy journey ahead of you unless you come prepared with a charging cable. Battery life shouldn’t be much of a concern though — 24 hours with ANC switched on will see you around the world, even if it’s a few hours short of the battery life managed by the WH-1000XM6. And there is a 3.5mm jack cable in the box.

Final Verdict

Sony’s 1000X THE COLLEXION headphones admirably merge luxury looks, audiophile ambition and daily practicality into one sumptuous package. It’s a complex balancing act, but COLLEXION feels like Sony recognising that premium headphones are no longer just tech accessories, but fashion objects, productivity tools and personal audio systems all at once.

That versatility comes with a hefty price tag, but for listeners who want one pair of headphones capable of handling all three roles with a little more elegance than usual, they’ll be confidently covered.

The toss up between the older WH-1000XM6 and the COLLEXION model will be a difficult one to make — if cream-of-the-crop noise cancelling is your primary concern, the former will probably still win out. But for a taste of the high life, 1000X THE COLLEXION is among the best headphones Sony’s ever made.

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Gerald Lynch is the Editor-in-Chief of Shortlist, keeping careful watch over the site's editorial output and social channels. He's happiest in the front row of a gig for a band you've never heard of, watching 35mm cinema re-runs of classic sci-fi flicks, or propping up a bar with an old fashioned in one hand and a Game Boy in the other.