Sony may be building a premium headphone tier above the WH-1000XM6
- Sony is reportedly working on premium over-ear headphones called The ColleXion, priced at €629 (~$639 US).
- It appears to be a limited-edition or collector-focused release, expected to launch globally on May 19.
- No specs have leaked yet, and it’s unclear whether the hardware is new or borrowed from the WH-1000XM6.
A leaked filing from Dealabs points to a new pair of Sony over-ear wireless headphones called The ColleXion, reportedly priced at €629 (~$639 US) and slated for a May 19 global launch. If accurate, that would place them well above the WH-1000XM6 at $459 and even higher than the AirPods Max 2.
It’s not the WH-1000XM7
The leak comes from Dealabs leaker billbil-kun, who reports that The ColleXion will launch in a single black colorway. Sony trademarked “1000X THE COLLEXION” in Japan and Canada back in mid-2025, but until now, there were no concrete details beyond the filing itself.
Despite the 1000X branding in the trademark, billbil-kun says The ColleXion won’t be a direct successor to the WH-1000XM6. Instead, it appears to be a standalone product — potentially a limited-edition or collector-focused release, which the name itself suggests. The €629 price tag represents a roughly 40% premium over the XM6 in Europe, which tracks more with a luxury positioning play than a standard generational upgrade.
No specs yet, but the trademark covers more than headphones
The new Sony headphones could have more non-plastic materials like the AirPods Max 2.
No spec sheet has surfaced yet. It’s still unclear whether The ColleXion introduces new acoustic hardware or repackages the XM6 platform with higher-end materials and design. If it does ship with the same QN3 chip and 30mm driver as the XM6, the roughly $180 premium would rest largely on build and aesthetics.
The trademark filing itself covers a broad range of product categories beyond headphones — earphones, portable audio players, loudspeakers, amplifiers, and more. That could signal Sony intends ColleXion as a broader premium sub-brand rather than a one-off launch. Sony has tried something similar before with ULT, a sub-brand that stretched across speakers and headphones under a single identity built around bass. ColleXion appears aimed at a different pitch: premium positioning and exclusivity.
What this means
Sony’s consumer headphone lineup has followed a pretty predictable pricing structure for years. A product priced this far above the XM6 — and above Apple’s latest — would be a clear departure. Whether that premium is justified by new internals or rests mostly on materials and exclusivity is the key question, and one we won’t be able to answer until Sony shows its hand.
We’ll update this post as more details emerge ahead of the reported May 19 launch.
