Sony has marked 10 years of its 1000X headphone line with a pricier special edition called WH-1000X The ColleXion, a premium over-ear wireless model that leans hard on design and tuning – and accepts a smaller battery as the trade-off. The company is pitching it as a more refined take on the WH-1000XM6, with upgraded materials, new processing hardware, and the same noise-cancelling pedigree buyers expect from the series.
A 10-year anniversary model with a heavier premium feel
The ColleXion stands out with metal accents and a wider faux-leather headband that Sony says took two years to develop. The cups are also claimed to be more ergonomic, which is a polite way of saying this is the version for people who want their headphones to look as expensive as they sound.
Sony keeps the core audio stack, then adds V3
Inside, Sony uses 30-mm drivers with a one-way carbon composite dome, plus DSEE Ultimate AI upscaling and three 360 Reality Audio Upmix modes. The company also says it worked with mastering engineers from Battery Studios, Sterling Sound, and Coast Mastering on the tuning, which is a familiar high-end audio move: borrow credibility from the people who spend their lives trying to make music sound right the first time.
The headphone also carries over the 12-microphone array and QN3 noise-cancelling processor from the WH-1000XM6, but adds a new integrated V3 processor that Sony says improves both noise cancellation and sound processing. That puts the ColleXion in the same broad fight as Bose and Sennheiser’s premium ANC sets, where the hardware arms race is increasingly about smarter processing rather than just louder spec sheets.
Battery life takes the hit
Here’s the catch: with active noise cancellation on, WH-1000X The ColleXion lasts up to 24 hours. Turn ANC off and Sony says you can get up to 32 hours. That is shorter than the WH-1000XM6, which is rated for 30 hours with ANC and 40 hours without it.
- ANC on: up to 24 hours
- ANC off: up to 32 hours
- Colors: black and platinum
- Price: $649.99 or €629
Price, colours, and the obvious question
The new model comes in black and platinum, and its price lands at $649.99 or €629. That is firmly in luxury territory for wireless headphones, especially when the regular flagship still gives you more endurance for less obvious novelty.
The real question is whether buyers want the anniversary badge and the more premium finish badly enough to accept less battery life. Sony clearly thinks some of them do – and given how well the 1000X line has sold over the years, it is probably not wrong.