Sony WF-1000XM6 wireless earbuds leak — AirPods Pro 3's most serious noise cancelling rivals?

Sony’s next pair of flagship wireless earbuds may have just shown their hand, and if this leak is legit, Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 could finally have a proper scrap on their hands.

A Thai retailer appears to have accidentally published a product page for the unannounced Sony WF-1000XM6 before quickly yanking it offline. The listing, first flagged on Reddit and spotted by The Walkman Blog, didn’t exactly spill everything, but it did give us what looks like the clearest peek yet at Sony’s next noise-cancelling heavy hitters.

We can’t verify the leak, so take it with a pinch of salt. Still, it looks convincing enough to get audio nerds and commuter obsessives quietly excited.

The biggest talking point is the design. The leaked images suggest Sony has tweaked the shape slightly, with a more oval-looking body that appears marginally larger than the WF-1000XM5. It’s not a radical departure, but Sony tends to favour refinement over reinvention, and the XM5 already nailed comfort and fit for most ears.

Two colours appear in the leak: black and silver. The sandy pink option from the XM5 seems absent for now, although Sony, like most audio producers, has form for dropping extra finishes later down the line.

The images also hint at three external microphones for noise cancellation, matching the setup seen in the current generation. If Sony has improved processing rather than hardware count, that could still mean a meaningful step forward in real-world noise blocking, historically one of Sony’s biggest flexes.

Price and release whispers

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The pulled retailer page translated to roughly £278, which would place the XM6 slightly above the XM5’s £259 launch price. That broadly lines up with a separate leak from early January suggesting a $329 / €299 price tag, potentially hinting at a small bump in the US but a slight drop across parts of Europe.

That same rumour also suggested pre-orders could open 12 February, which, if true, means Sony might be gearing up for an announcement very soon.

Sony’s WF-1000XM range has long been one of the top-tier earbuds around, thanks in part to the cracking noise cancelling. The XM5 remain some of the best-sounding and most effective noise-cancelling earbuds you can buy.

Here at Shortlist, we’ve got a proper soft spot for the AirPods Pro line. The AirPods Pro 3 were a real step up, especially when it comes to ecosystem integration, everyday usability and most importantly, ANC. They’re the sort of buds you stick in and forget about, which is exactly what most people want.

But if anyone consistently pushes Apple on pure audio performance and noise cancellation grunt, it’s Sony. The XM series has built its reputation on drowning out the world, whether you’re stuck on the Tube, wedged into a middle seat or trying to focus in a chaotic office.

If this leak turns out to be the real deal, the WF-1000XM6 could be shaping up as Apple’s most serious ANC rival yet, and a proper treat for anyone who takes their commute soundtrack seriously.

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