Sony 1000X The Collexion review: A decade in the making

Active Noise Canceling (ANC) headphones have gotten steadily more and more expensive as the years have gone on, but their build quality has been… hit or miss, to say the least. With the entry of higher-end options from Focal, Bowers & Wilkins, and Apple, it was only a matter of time before the bigger companies like Sony would take a stab at the high-end market. Enter the Sony 1000X The Collexion. Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the WH-1000X headphones, these aim to take the best parts of previous models and build on them for a new product.

What’s it like to use the Sony 1000X The Collexion?

Using the Sony 1000X, The Collexion is a fairly straightforward experience with very few rough edges, but there are also a few key things to watch out for.

Design

The Sony 1000X The Collexion may look a lot like the previous halo noise cancelers from Sony, but they’re redesigned in a few key ways. For example, instead of using plastic and metal in the band, the band itself is mainly metal. On the outside, the headphones have a leather covering on each of the earcups that feels oddly reminiscent of the Sony WH-1000XM2’s rough coating. On the backs and bottom of the left earcup are buttons that lie almost completely flush with the chassis to control upmixing, ANC, and power / Bluetooth pairing.

Gone from the WH-1000XM6 is the folding hinge, replaced by a stainless steel swivel joint. This means that for storage, these headphones can only lie flat in the carrying case, or in your bag. Said carrying case is a bit odd-looking, as it takes advantage of the fact the headphones can’t fold up to add a substantial handle feature. Inside the case are recesses to store cables and the headphones, while the main feature on the outside of the case is a magnetic flap.

As it is with most other ANC headphones, the Sony 1000X The Collexion does not bear an ingress protection rating — to try not to take into any rainstorms, pools, or exceptionally sweaty environments. Though the lack of a rating mainly just means that Sony didn’t pay for the testing, it’s likely that these won’t die due to ambient moisture or a bit of sweat.

Getting a good fit with the headphones is pretty easy due to the friction rod design, and the increased ear cup volume and extra padding over the previous WH-1000X models definitely pay dividends in comfort. The feedback mic is much closer to the driver this time around, so you shouldn’t ever have to worry about it touching your ear. Also, despite the fact that the headphones have more cup volume, they’re slightly narrower.

Features

As the Sony 1000X The Collexion is the new top-of-the-line model from Sony, it’s not much of a surprise that the headphones come with similarly top-of-the-line features. For example, the improved V3 chip enables features like DSEE Ultimate, which uses AI to upscale content with lower bit depth in addition to upscaling in the frequency domain like DSEE Extreme did.

I’m a particular fan of the setting that prevents the battery from charging the whole way to preserve the cell’s longevity

Additionally, the headphones come with a dedicated content upmixing button to swap between different listening modes. Each of these modes is meant to use the Sony 1000X The Collexion’s processing ability to help content that isn’t mixed for spatial audio to sound a bit more like you’re in that setting. For example, the movie, game, and music modes are meant to make your content sound more like it was mixed for those purposes. You can also toggle a background music option that makes your songs seem like they’re being played off in the distance somewhere, which is similar to something implemented by the Sony LinkBuds Fit.

Of course, there’s also the slew of features shared by the other high-end ANC headphones in Sony’s stable. You can use the Sound Connect app to find your headphones if you’ve misplaced them, control connection, manage ambient sound modes, and tweak your sound quality both with Bluetooth settings and a 10-band EQ. I’m a particular fan of the setting that prevents the battery from charging the whole way to preserve the cell’s longevity — and I suggest that you use it if you have headphones that support a similar feature.

How does the Sony 1000X The Collexion connect?

The Sony 1000X The Collexion connects to devices over Bluetooth 6.0, via SBC, AAC, LDAC, and LC3. The headphones support Multipoint, allowing for up to two stored connections — though you can manage more via the app. For those of you who are tired of hearing us knock products without Auracast support, you won’t hear us do it here — because the headphones come with the functionality on day 1. This means that not only do the headphones offer a high-bitrate Bluetooth connection, but the product can also make use of the best accessibility feature in a long time. Though the WH-1000XM6 could also do this after a firmware update, it’s always good to see a product come with it straight out of the box.

As far as wired options go, you can use the included 3.5mm TRS cable. Beyond that, you’re outta luck if you want to use USB-C to listen. It’s perplexing and frustrating to have such an expensive set of headphones be unable to use its internal DSP to give you another wired option, especially since the AirPods Max 2, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen.), and a litany of other headphones have started to offer this.

How long does the Sony 1000X The Collexion’s battery last?

In a strange circumstance, the Sony 1000X The Collexion’s battery seems to be a bit different than that of the WH-1000XM6’s. Advertised as lasting a mere 24 hours, this battery life seems okay at first, until you realize that this means you’ll be charging your headphones more often. This can be an issue for some, as shorter battery life can also mean a shorter operational lifespan as charge cycles pile up. For those of you looking to protect your investment, you’re going to want to pay special care to taking care of the Sony 1000X The Collexion by enabling the battery care feature, and not getting too concerned when the cell doesn’t charge all the way when you top up — it’s intentional.

In our testing, the headphones were able to last 26 hours and 15 minutes in our standardized protocol. This is slightly longer than advertised with ANC on, but I find that estimates from headphone manufacturers generally undershoot their estimations a bit, and the same is true here.

Sony claims that The Collexion headphones can achieve 1.5 hours of playback with a 5 minute charge, which is on the low end of what we typically see from quick-charging products. However, that’s well beyond enough to top up before your commute in an emergency.

How well do the Sony 1000X The Collexion cancel noise?

The Sony 1000X The Collexion has the same exact mic array as the WH-1000XM6, right down to the dedicated chip used to process noise data into destructive interference. On paper, this means that the ANC effect should rival that of the company’s former flagship-level ANC headphones, but given the fact that the Sony 1000X The Collexion is so different — that may not be the case due to the fact that the headphones will fit to your head differently.

Users of the Sony 1000X The Collexion will find that it cancels outside noise quite well. Though it “only” is able to attenuate about 86% of outside noise by perceived loudness on average, that’s only just behind the top of the pack. To the Sony 1000X, The Collexion’s credit, it does a particularly good job at doing away with junk noise in the mids and upper bass, which is where most of the more annoying sounds you’ll encounter live.

However, we did run into an issue with our first unit in the lab, where the noise canceling didn’t work at all. For whatever reason, the headphones would report that the ANC was on, when it wasn’t actually canceling much of anything. I’m unsure what the cause of this was, and Sony was quick to get us another unit, but if you do run into this: contact support right away.

How good is the Sony 1000X’s Collexion Transparency mode?

The Sony 1000X The Collexion, like other Sony headphones, does a fairly good job at providing a transparency mode that you’ll want to use. Though the illusion of the headphone disappearing from your head isn’t exactly convincing, the headphones do a solid job of approximating what you’d hear without them on.

How do the Sony 1000X The Collexion sound?

The Sony 1000X The Collexion sounds decent enough, though it’s heavily dependent upon fit and seal — but what else is new for over-ears. That said, the extra money these cost is mainly going to the build materials and guts under the hood.

Reviewer’s notes

Editor’s note: this review uses a hover-enabled glossary to describe sound quality based on a consensus vocabulary. You can read about it here.

Can you use the Sony 1000X The Collexion for phone calls?

Headphones have become a quintessential part of the smartphone experience over the years, and that means needing a microphone. The Sony 1000X The Collexion uses the same mic array that the WH-1000XM6 does, backed by the new V3 chip. While all the specs in the world may impress nerds, how does the mic actually sound in real life? We recorded a bunch of samples in controlled conditions for you to compare with those of other products.

Sony 1000X The Collexion microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Should you buy the Sony 1000X The Collexion?

It’s tougher to contextualize products that aim for a “luxury” audience in a way that’s fair, because what that crowd wants may not be performance against cost. The Sony 1000X The Collexion, for example, is definitely one of these products, given its comparatively anemic battery life and lack of home-run upgrades. But if you’re looking to blow a lot of cash on ANC headphones that fit a certain style or level of build quality, the Sony 1000X The Collexion makes a lot more sense.

That being said, I’m a little surprised that this is the final product of Sony’s effort to capture the well-moneyed crowd. Though it’s got great build quality and very appealing aesthetics, the Sony 1000X The Collexion is missing features like USB-C listening, magnetic pad attachment, and more advanced equalization options that other models offer. I get the feeling that this is closer to what the WH-1000XM6 should have been.

Given that the Sony 1000X The Collexion is definitely aimed squarely at those looking for more than just performance in their headphones, it’s more apt to compare these to premium models like the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 S2, Apple AirPods Max 2, and Focal Bathys. In that light, the Sony WH-1000XX offers a comparable level of build and ANC performance to the rest of the pack — but with its standout advantage being the app instead of a singular performance metric.

Sony 1000X The Collexion price history