Sony WH-1000XM6 vs Sony WH-CH520

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WH-1000XM6 compared with WH-CH520

	SonyWH-1000XM6	SonyWH-CH520
Overview
Released
Released	May 2025	March 2023
Sound
Type
Type	Over-ear	On-ear
Noise cancelling
Noise cancelling	Yes	No
Transparency mode
Transparency mode	Yes	No
Spatial audio with head tracking
Spatial audio with head tracking	Yes	–
Driver size
Driver size	30 mm	30 mm
Back
Back	–	Closed
Bluetooth codecs
Bluetooth codecs	SBC, AAC, LDAC and LC3	SBC and AAC
Lossless over USB-C
Lossless over USB-C	No	No
Chip
Chip	QN3	–
Drivers
Drivers	30 mm driver unit with a high-rigidity carbon fibre composite dome and neodymium magnet; 4 Hz to 40,000 Hz (wired, switched on); sensitivity 103 dB/mW switched on, 102 dB/mW switched off; impedance 48 Ω switched on, 16 Ω switched off (1 kHz)	Bluetooth response 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz at 44.1 kHz sampling
Chip
Chip	HD Noise Canceling Processor QN3 (Sony says seven times faster than the WH-1000XM5's) and Integrated Processor V2	–
Noise cancelling detail
Noise cancelling detail	Twelve microphones for noise cancelling; Adaptive NC Optimizer tunes noise cancelling to the fit, surroundings and air pressure; Ambient Sound Mode with Auto Ambient Sound; Quick Attention Mode; Speak-to-Chat; Adaptive Sound Control	–
Audio features
Audio features	LDAC up to 990 kbps (Hi-Res Audio Wireless); Hi-Res Audio over the headphone cable; DSEE Extreme upscaling; 10-band EQ and Game EQ; 360 Reality Audio; 360 Upmix for Cinema; spatial sound with head tracking; BGM effect; LE Audio with a low-latency mode and Auracast broadcast audio	DSEE upscaling and customisable equaliser in Sony | Sound Connect (formerly Headphones Connect)
Battery
Listening time (maker's claim)
Listening time (maker's claim)	Up to 30 hours	Up to 50 hours
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 40 hours with noise cancelling off (AAC, SBC or LC3); with LDAC, 26 hours with noise cancelling on or 36 hours off; talk time up to 24 hours (28 hours with noise cancelling off); up to 28 hours on the headphone cable with noise cancelling on (38 hours off); can be used while charging	Up to 40 hours of calls and 200 hours on standby; no passive operation or wired playback
Fast charging
Fast charging	3 minutes gives about 3 hours of playback with a USB PD adaptor (9 V/2.3 A or more), or about 1 hour with a 5 V/1.5 A adaptor; full charge in about 3.5 hours	3 minutes gives up to 1.5 hours; full charge approximately 3 hours
Design
Weight
Weight	254 g	147 g (better)
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	5.2
Two devices at once
Two devices at once	Yes	Yes
Headphone cable
Headphone cable	Yes	No
Controls
Controls	Touch sensor control panel (double-tap to play, pause or answer calls; swipe forwards or backwards to skip; swipe up or down for volume; hold for the voice assistant; cover with your hand for Quick Attention Mode); power and NC/AMB buttons on the left unit (double-press NC/AMB to mute the microphones during calls, once enabled in the app); nod or shake your head to answer or reject calls; proximity sensor pauses music when the headphones are taken off and switches them off after 15 minutes	Physical buttons for playback, calls, volume and track selection; press the play/call button to use the connected phone's Siri or Google voice assistant
Microphones
Microphones	Twelve microphones for noise cancelling; six-microphone AI-based beamforming for calls; MEMS, omnidirectional	Built-in call microphone with noise suppression processing
Fit and ear tips
Fit and ear tips	Closed, over-ear; wider soft-fit headband in synthetic leather; stretchable earpads; folds flat and folds up to fit the supplied carrying case, which has a magnetic closure	Adjustable padded headband, soft earpads and swivelling earcups
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	No water resistance rating; Sony says the headphones are not waterproof	No water resistance rating published
Works with
Works with	Sony | Sound Connect app for iOS and Android; multipoint connection to two devices; LE Audio and Auracast with compatible devices; the headphone cable also works with the headphones switched off, without noise cancelling	Two-device multipoint, Fast Pair and Swift Pair; approximately 10 m range, profiles A2DP, AVRCP, HFP and HSP; USB-C is charging-only (SoundGuys)
Colours
Colours	Black, Platinum Silver, Midnight Blue, Sand Pink, Sandstone (Sony US; colours vary by region)	Black, Blue, White, Beige; Pink and Yellow added in March 2025; One Piece Black and One Piece White limited editions on the current UK page
In the box
In the box	Headphones, USB-C cable (USB-A to USB-C), headphone cable (about 1.2 m, gold-plated L-shaped stereo mini plug), carrying case, documents	Headphones and USB charging cable; no carrying case listed