Leaks Just Spoiled Sony’s New WF-1000XM6 Wireless Earbuds

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the wireless earbuds version of Sony’s WH-1000XM6 headphones, I have some good (albeit tantalizing) news: leaks seem to have spoiled some major upcoming changes.

First, let’s start with the new look; the WF-1000XM6, which are Sony’s wireless earbud equivalent to its unanimously praised WH-1000XM6 headphones, appear to have been leaked in a premature retail listing on a site called Power Buy, spotted by a Reddit user.

See WF-1000XM5 Earbuds at Best Buy

In that listing (removed as of this writing, but reshared by X user Zuby_Tech), images show off a much different appearance compared to the WF-1000XM5. The biggest change is the shape, with leaks suggesting that the WF-1000XM6 will have a slimmer, less bulbous design. That sleeker look may apply to not just the wireless earbuds, but the charging case as well, which looks more rectangular, like a squashed Zippo lighter, compared to the previously rounder, mushroom-like case. The plastic also looks matte as opposed to the shinier stuff used in the WF-1000XM5, and pictures show the wireless earbuds in two different colors: a grayish white and black.

Sony WF-1000XM6 Leaked:https://t.co/8S2t37EavP pic.twitter.com/udDv93U3HX

— @Zuby_Tech (@Zuby_Tech) February 2, 2026

There are some hints about new functionality. As noted by TheWalkmanBlog, there might be one more microphone on each earbud this time around, for a grand total of four per bud. More mics would equate to improvements like better clarity on calls but also could mean better active noise cancellation (ANC), since microphones are used for features like adaptive ANC—a type of noise cancellation that shifts based on the loudness of your environment.

Outside of the design, the next biggest thing we can glean from these leaks is the price. According to the leaked listing, the WF-1000XM6 are being listed for 11,990 Thai Baht, which would equate to about $380. I wouldn’t assume the pricing will be 1:1 across countries, though—previous leaks have suggested that the WF-1000XM6 will arrive in the U.S. for around $320, which seems more likely to me.

There are no real hard specs in the leaked listing, but there have been some rumblings about incoming improvements leading up to this leak. One of the biggest would be the inclusion of Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) Ultimate, which is an upscaling tech that uses AI to enhance audio.

According to FCC filings also spotted by TheWalkmanBlog, the WF-1000XM6 might be the first of Sony’s personal audio products to include the technology. This one has me pretty intrigued, since it reduces the dependency on the mishmash of hi-res codecs like LDAC, AAC, and AptX. It could also reduce the need for streaming bigger, data-intensive, lossless files, which could be great if you’re streaming music on the go and don’t want to worry about buffering.

There’s no official word on when we can expect the Sony WF-1000XM6, but if these retail leaks are any indication, their release may be imminent.

See WF-1000XM5 Earbuds at Best Buy