Sony just released luxury headphones to rival the Apple AirPods Max
by https://www.creativebloq.com/author/beren-neale · Creative Bloq
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Sony just unveiled its new luxury Bluetooth headphone, the oddly named 1000X The Collexion. But after sitting through a press briefing, I'm happy to report that its name is the only ridiculous thing about it.
1000X The Collexion will cost $650 and apparently cherry picks all the best bits of a decade of the 1000X series, hopefully making it a shoo-in to my list of the best Bluetooth headphones, once I've reviewed it.
Specs
Price: $599/£499
Release: 19 May 2026
Weight: 320g
Driver & housing: 30mm dynamic driver; closed back
Material: Steel earcups, polyamide structure, velour/Memory Foam padding
Battery life: 24 hours (with ANC); 32 hours (ANC off)
Charge time: 3.5 hours
No frequency response graph has been released, so we don't yet know if The Collexion will include the 1000X line's most famous feature – its massive, muddy bass. But the more tangible things such as materials and design look very promising.
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But with the 2025, $450 Sony WH-1000XM6 still a best-seller, and still boasting industry-leading ANC, where exactly does The Collexion fit in the market?
Altogether a better class of headphone
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I think Sony is squarely going for Apple AirPods Max customers with the Collexion. And why wouldn't it?! Apart from a USB-C port, the Max is unchanged in six years, yet has remained popular all that time.
And although there's already a developed market of high-end Bluetooth headphones, such as the Dali IO-12, the massive names in commercial Bluetooth headphones – namely Bose, Sony and Sennheiser – have all refrained from competing. Until now.
What's special about the 1000X Collexion?
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As with the AirPods Max, the Collexion ditches plastic and uses high-durability materials. The plastic fork hinges seen on all previous 1000X models are replaced by a single-piece yoke made of polished metal. The physical buttons, USB-C port trim, and audio-jack surround are all metal. In fact, we were told that the headphone is made from two materials – metal and faux leather. That's pretty impressive.
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Compared to the XM6, the Collexion's ear pads and headband have been widened and thickened, while also being reduced in depth by 5mm, so they won't stick out from your head so much. And yet Sony has altered the internal architecture to enlarge the internal ear cavity volume, too. As an owner of the XM6, this is all very good news to this big-eared freak.
The thick ear cushions are also completely removable and replaceable by hand, which hints at an attempt to prolong the headphone's lifespan. I think this is great, especially if you're going to shell out $650. Of course, the Collexion's life span will ultimately be dictated by the permanent, unchangeable lithium battery, but still, it's something.
Inside, we get a new "unidirectional carbon fibre driver and upgraded circuitry embedded with thicker copper foil layers", which sounds awesome. On the outside, there's a 12-microphone array, exactly like the XM6, so expect the same industry-leading ANC.
All of which makes the (las time, I promise) 1000X The Collexion a very interesting entry in the luxury headphone market.