Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION Headphones Review: A $650 Upgrade or an Expensive Fashion Statement?

Not long ago, I wrote a news brief announcing the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION limited-edition headphones after attending a product briefing with Sony’s engineers. What stood out was not simply the promise of another premium wireless headphone, but the company’s determination to establish a new luxury standard for the 1000X series.

THE COLLEXION was designed to bring together everything Sony had learned during the first decade of the 1000X lineup and package it in something more distinctive, refined, and boutique. That was an ambitious goal, because Sony’s 1000X headphones have earned a permanent place on our best-of lists largely through excellent noise cancellation, strong sound quality, useful features, and outstanding battery life—not because anyone confused them with luxury goods.

Some of the earlier models looked better to my eye, but the series has generally favored practical polymer construction over visual drama. A few models have also raised durability concerns along the way, with designs that felt more plastic than premium.

Sony already knew how to build an excellent noise-cancelling headphone. The real question was whether it could finally build one that looked and felt every bit as expensive as the technology inside it.

There was just one problem: based on what I had seen up to that point, I didn’t think they looked all that good.

I had reviewed the press materials, and the Sony engineer I spoke with wore a pair of THE COLLEXION headphones during our briefing. In white, they looked a bit like the love child of the Sonos Ace or, dare I say it, the Apple AirPods Max and Sony’s own WH-1000XM5. They were clean and understated, but also rather nondescript for a flagship model and perhaps a little underwhelming for something positioned as a luxury product.

That could become a serious problem for Sony. The engineer had already acknowledged that the less expensive WH-1000XM6 offered slightly better active noise cancellation, which has historically been one of the biggest reasons consumers buy Sony’s 1000X headphones. If THE COLLEXION could not win on performance, it needed to make a convincing case through its materials, craftsmanship, comfort, and design.

I thanked Sony for the opportunity to audition the new model and quietly hoped my first impression was wrong. Otherwise, the review I was about to write was going to be considerably less comfortable than the headphones.

Related Reviews:

Sony Finally Looks the Part

Once I had THE COLLEXION in hand, most of those concerns disappeared. The headphones look and feel considerably more luxurious than my initial viewing had suggested.

The headband features a brushed stainless steel outer band with a memory foam underside covered in leather. The adjustment arms use a distinctive tuning fork design, with one arm concealed inside the headband and another extending along the outside.

Sony has paid close attention to the finishing here. The underside of the outer arm is polished to a mirror finish, while its face is bead blasted to match the brushed surface of the headband. The Sony name appears near the top of the matte section, although the light has to strike it at the right angle before the branding becomes visible.

The lower section of the fork, which connects the headband to the ear cups, is also made from polished steel. Its chrome like appearance adds some visual drama without turning THE COLLEXION into something gaudy. In person, the combination of brushed metal, polished steel, leather, and restrained branding feels far more convincing than it did in Sony’s press images.

The ear cups and pads use the same leather found on the underside of the headband, while the buttons, USB port, and 3.5mm connection repeat the brushed metal finish used elsewhere. That consistency gives the design a more cohesive and deliberate appearance.

The buttons are not simply painted to resemble metal. They are made from brushed aluminum, as are the surrounds around both ports. Beyond looking better, those metal surrounds should provide additional reinforcement and improve durability over time.

Perhaps the most noticeable physical change is the shape of the ear cups. They are slightly smaller on the outside than those on the WH-1000XM6, but the pads have a larger internal opening and greater depth. That makes THE COLLEXION more comfortable for those of us whose ears were not designed with compact Japanese industrial design in mind.

Placed side by side, THE COLLEXION’s ear cups are approximately 3mm thinner and slightly narrower than those of the XM6, while their overall height remains nearly identical. The changes are subtle, but the additional space inside the pads makes a meaningful difference during longer listening sessions.

The only missed opportunity is the pad attachment system. Sony continues to use plastic tabs rather than magnetic mounts. Magnetic pads would have made replacement easier, elevated the overall experience, and helped distinguish THE COLLEXION further from the XM platform beneath it.

The case is another clear step up from previous Sony models, with a carry handle integrated into the body and magnetic closures that feel more appropriate for a premium product.

Sony understands that a luxury item should not arrive in the equivalent of a plain brown wrapper. The company has done a good job of turning what could have been a basic transport and storage container into an integral part of the overall package. It feels more substantial and thoughtfully designed than the cases supplied with the Apple AirPods Max and Sonos Ace.

The case is also slightly smaller than those included with previous 1000X models, which is a welcome improvement. Travelers are often forced to choose between protecting an expensive pair of headphones and reclaiming valuable space in a carry on bag.

THE COLLEXION largely eliminates that dilemma. The case is compact and well designed enough that bringing it along feels like the obvious choice rather than an inconvenience.

Sony Prioritizes Sound Over ANC

Sony has battled Bose for active noise cancellation supremacy for years, but THE COLLEXION takes a distinctly different approach.

Sony is unusually candid about that distinction. If you want the company’s best ANC performance, buy the WH-1000XM6. THE COLLEXION is aimed instead at becoming the best sounding wireless headphone in its price class.

Reaching that goal required far more than dressing up an existing 1000X model in leather and polished steel. Sony reworked nearly every part of the internal design, including thicker copper traces and lower internal impedance to improve signal integrity.

The new driver diaphragm uses linearly aligned carbon fibers to reduce weight and improve speed, while Sony’s V3 processor appears in a headphone for the first time. That additional processing power allows for the most advanced digital signal processing Sony has yet offered in one of its headphones.

THE COLLEXION may share its family name with the rest of the 1000X series, but internally it represents a much more ambitious rethink of what a Sony wireless headphone can be.

The 30mm drivers have a nominal impedance of 48 ohms and a stated frequency response of 4 Hz to 40 kHz when used with a wired connection. That range narrows to 20 Hz to 20 kHz over Bluetooth.

I listened both wired and wirelessly using LDAC and LC3. The wired connection produced noticeably more sub bass, suggesting that low frequency extension is limited somewhat by the codec being used during wireless playback.

One important detail is that THE COLLEXION must remain powered on even when connected by cable. As a result, the source device is not driving the 48 ohm transducer directly in the way it would with a conventional passive headphone. The internal amplification and signal processing remain part of the chain.

Bluetooth 6.0 is supported, along with SBC, AAC, LDAC, and LC3. That provides broad compatibility with current source devices and some protection against the next wave of wireless audio changes. Multipoint connectivity is also included, making it easy to remain connected to a phone and a laptop or digital audio player at the same time.

Noise cancellation may not be the primary focus, but Sony has hardly ignored it. THE COLLEXION uses a 12 microphone system combined with both the new V3 processor and Sony’s QN3 noise cancelling processor. It draws heavily from the company’s previous 1000X models, even if Sony is no longer claiming that ANC is the main reason to buy it.

The Battery Life Claim Holds Up

With wired and wireless operation, active noise cancellation, and several DSP effects available, battery life can vary considerably depending on how THE COLLEXION is configured.

With every feature enabled and the volume higher than it probably needed to be, I still managed more than 22 hours of playback. With a more realistic combination of listening levels and features, battery life exceeded 32 hours, which closely supports Sony’s claim.

Quick charging is also included, as it should be at this price. A five minute charge provides roughly 90 minutes of playback, while a full recharge from 20 percent to 100 percent took approximately two hours according to the Sony app.

Battery life is not the headline feature here, but THE COLLEXION lasts long enough that most users will spend far more time listening than looking for a charging cable.

Putting Sony’s V3 Processor and AI to Work

The new V3 processor was mentioned in the hardware section, but its benefits become much more obvious once you open the Sony app and explore the settings.

DSEE Extreme is one of the clearest examples. For those unfamiliar with it, DSEE stands for Digital Sound Enhancement Engine. In its original form, it was essentially Sony’s implementation of upsampling. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Extreme version adds artificial intelligence to the process. Yes, AI is the buzzword of the moment, and no, the headphones are not listening to your conversations or tracking your movements.

What the processor is doing is analyzing the music and determining how best to create the additional samples required during upsampling. The extra processing power allows Sony to use more sophisticated algorithms, reduce artifacts, and improve clarity with compressed or lower resolution recordings.

The results vary depending on the track, but DSEE Extreme can produce a meaningful improvement with some material. Sony’s claim that it restores lost detail is a little generous, since information removed during compression cannot simply be recovered. What it can do is make a more intelligent estimate of what is missing and rebuild the signal in a cleaner and more convincing way.

In addition to improving upsampling, the extra processing power gives Sony considerably more flexibility with sound tuning.

The app includes six preset EQ profiles, along with a 10 band equalizer that allows listeners to shape the sound to their liking. Two custom profiles can be saved for later use, making it easy to create separate settings for different genres, sources, or listening environments.

Sony also includes five distinct Listening Modes. Standard and Background provide two channel presentations, while Music, Cinema, and Game use spatial processing to create a more immersive three dimensional soundstage. Each mode emphasizes a different range of frequencies and spatial cues based on what listeners are likely to expect from that type of content.

The adaptive listening controls are even more useful. THE COLLEXION can automatically change settings based on your location or activity. Arrive at the gym, for example, and the headphones can switch to a saved Custom 2 profile with more bass to help keep the workout moving.

Sit down in the office, and they can automatically engage Background mode once they recognize that you are stationary and working. It is the kind of automation that could easily feel like a gimmick, but once configured properly, it removes the need to keep opening the app every time your surroundings change.

The app is well organized, with quick access to the features most listeners will use regularly. A single comprehensive menu also provides direct access to every available setting.

There is a lot to explore, and the number of options can feel slightly overwhelming at first. Most of them are intuitive and genuinely useful, however, so it is worth spending some time learning how the app works and configuring THE COLLEXION to suit your habits.

The touch controls on the ear cups are also better than most. They respond to taps and swipes with minimal delay, allowing users to play or pause music, skip tracks, and adjust the volume with simple gestures.

That means routine commands can be handled directly from the headphones rather than forcing you to reach for your phone and rummage through the app every few minutes.

Listening

Sony’s representatives made it clear that THE COLLEXION would sound different from a typical 1000X model, and that departure is obvious from the first listen. The presentation is warmer, fuller, and occasionally a little dark.

Bass is mildly elevated, with most of the emphasis concentrated in the sub bass before the response moves closer to neutral around 150 Hz. That character is present with both wired and wireless connections, although the wired connection delivers greater depth and extension at the bottom.

Bass has good weight, impact, and fullness without becoming excessive in the way it can with some competitors, including the AirPods Max. It adds authority without overwhelming the rest of the mix.

The mid bass is also tighter than it is on the WH-1000XM6, and the transition into the lower midrange is cleaner. That improves clarity and prevents bass notes from bleeding into vocals and instruments.

I hope this part of the tuning carries forward into future generations of the 1000X series. It is a meaningful improvement and one of the clearest signs that Sony was aiming for more than a dressed up XM6.

The midrange is where THE COLLEXION takes its biggest step forward over previous 1000X models. Timbre is more convincing, instruments sound more natural, and there is noticeably more energy through the middle of the frequency range.

These headphones are equally comfortable with growling guitars and snarling vocals or jazz recordings built around trombone and saxophone. Strings have life and texture, while piano sounds realistic across most of its range, even if the upper registers could use slightly more energy.

That softer presentation appears intentional. Sony keeps the upper midrange and lower treble firmly under control, and THE COLLEXION consistently favors smoothness over aggression. Even recordings with obvious sibilance struggle to become unpleasant through these headphones.

There is a slight dip around 1 kHz that helps create a broader sense of space, although it can occasionally make lower vocals sound a little more distant than they should.

Treble is smooth and laid back, with almost no tendency toward fatigue. That makes THE COLLEXION an excellent choice for long listening sessions, although the tradeoff is a modest reduction in air and sparkle at the top.

I generally prefer a little more brightness, but Sony has done a good job of preserving enough detail and energy to prevent the presentation from feeling closed in. The information is still there, although listeners may occasionally have to work a little harder to hear it.

The soundstage is moderately sized, but better proportioned than that of any previous 1000X model. Both width and depth are more expansive than they are on the WH-1000XM6, at least to my ears.

Imaging is also quite good. Sounds moving across the stage are easy to follow, and individual effects can be placed with convincing precision.

THE COLLEXION is not marketed as a gaming headphone, but its spatial presentation makes it a strong option for listeners who want one headphone capable of handling music, movies, and gaming without feeling compromised in any of those roles.

ANC: Less Aggressive, More Transparent 

Active noise cancellation is always a balancing act, and Sony is quick to point out that THE COLLEXION strikes a different balance than the WH-1000XM6. Listeners who want the absolute maximum level of noise removal will still be better served by the XM6.

THE COLLEXION instead takes a more careful approach: remove as much outside noise as possible without compromising the music. Sony succeeds surprisingly well. Switching ANC on and off in the middle of a track produces far less change in tonal balance and overall presentation than many experienced ANC users will expect.

Low, steady noises are removed with ease, as expected. Higher pitched sounds and sudden bursts are less effectively suppressed, but they are still reduced enough to become considerably less intrusive.

THE COLLEXION may trail the XM6 slightly in absolute noise cancellation, but the difference is smaller than Sony’s own messaging might suggest. Some of that gap may also come from the ear cups providing slightly less passive isolation in exchange for significantly better comfort, at least for me.

In practice, ANC performance is remarkably close to both the Bose QuietComfort Ultra and Sony WH-1000XM6. THE COLLEXION may not win the contest for complete silence, but it does a better job of preserving the sound quality that made you put the headphones on in the first place.

Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION Specifications

• Model: WH-1000XX / 1000X THE COLLEXION
• Driver: 30mm carbon fiber diaphragm
• Frequency Response: 4 Hz – 40 kHz wired; 20 Hz – 20 kHz via Bluetooth
• Nominal Impedance: 48 ohms
• Bluetooth: Version 6.0
• Codecs: SBC, AAC, LDAC, and LC3
• Processors: Sony V3 and QN3
• Microphones: 12 microphone ANC system
• Battery Life: Up to approximately 32 hours, depending on settings
• Quick Charging: 5 minutes for approximately 90 minutes of playback
• Weight: Approximately 11.29 ounces (320 grams)
• Connections: USB and 3.5mm analog
• Features: Multipoint, DSEE Extreme, 10-band EQ, Spatial Listening Modes, Adaptive controls

The Bottom Line

Sony often takes a beating for being the GM of the audio world. It produces a vast number of consumer products for the mass market, many of them aimed squarely at buyers looking for value rather than exclusivity.

THE COLLEXION is a reminder that Sony can still build a world beater when it decides to. Much like the Corvette ZR1X, it delivers much of the performance, engineering, and refinement associated with boutique competitors without requiring an Italian exotic price tag.

What makes THE COLLEXION unique is not class leading noise cancellation. Sony already sells the WH-1000XM6 for listeners who care most about removing every last trace of outside noise. Instead, this model combines the best sound Sony has produced from a 1000X headphone with improved comfort, stronger materials, better midrange timbre, tighter bass, and a level of design refinement that previous models never quite achieved.

It is not perfect. The treble may be too relaxed for listeners who prefer more sparkle and air, the ear pads still rely on plastic attachment tabs rather than magnetic mounts, and the headphones must remain powered on during wired use. ANC is excellent, but it is not the absolute best Sony offers.

At $649, THE COLLEXION (model WH-1000XX) represents a substantial leap over the WH-1000XM6. It is aimed at listeners who want Sony’s most comfortable and best sounding wireless headphone and are willing to pay more for improved materials and a more luxurious ownership experience.

For those buyers, it is a leap worth taking.

Pros:

• Sony’s best sounding 1000X headphone to date
• Warm, natural midrange with tighter, better controlled bass
• Premium materials and noticeably improved build quality
• Excellent comfort with deeper, more spacious ear pads
• Strong battery life and extensive app customization

Cons:

• Treble may be too relaxed for listeners who prefer more sparkle
• ANC falls slightly short of the WH-1000XM6
• Must be powered on for wired listening
• Ear pads still use plastic tabs rather than magnetic attachments
• $649 price is a substantial jump over the XM6

Our Ratings:

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound Quality

★★★★★★★★★★ Build Quality

★★★★★★★★★★ Comfort

★★★★★★★★★★ Usability

★★★★★★★★★★ ANC

★★★★★★★★★★ Value

Where to buy:

Related Reading: