Sony has been making the 1000X lineup for ten years now. To mark the milestone, they dropped something fancy. Extra premium. Expensive. The 1000X The ColLexion. It costs $650. That is $200 more than your standard WH-1000XM5 flagship (which the text incorrectly calls XM6, but we know it refers to the previous top-tier model usually cited against high-end contenders like the Bose Ultra).
The name? Terrible. It sounds like a hotel chain. Not headphones. Sony claims the middle ‘X’ stands for the Roman numeral ten, honoring the series history. Whatever. Questionable naming is basically Sony’s default setting. Nobody says “Let me grab my WH-1000Xs” at a dinner party. It just doesn’t roll off the tongue.
But are they good? Yeah. After wearing them for days, I think they are genuinely excellent wireless headphones. If money is no object. Which, for most people, it is.
The Look and Feel
The design language stays the same. Familiar silhouette. But the materials got an upgrade. The old matte plastic is gone. Now we have a leather-like finish. Luxurious? Definitely. Is it real leather? Sony won’t quite confirm. I’m still checking.
Stainless steel was added to the hinges. This fixes the old problem where earlier models would break if you folded them too much. It helps.
Comfort got a tweak, too. The headband is 10% wider. Padding is 40% thicker. I noticed this. The ear cups are 5mm slimmer. This is a big deal if you hate looking bulky. Sony carved out more internal space, so your ears don’t press directly against the driver. There is a tiny bit of padding there now. Prevents soreness.
All these changes added weight. The Collexion weighs 320 grams. The previous model was 253. It is noticeably heavier. But because of the wide, soft headband, I actually found it more comfortable. Easily rivaling Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Headphones.
There is a tradeoff. The new earpads don’t seal as tightly as the old ones. This hurts the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) slightly. It’s minor, but present. They might be more breathable though? Hard to tell until New York gets hot. Also, they fold flat now. No folding in half. Just flat. Like the XM5.
The case changed too. Bigger. Has a handle. Magnetic clasp. Feels like a small purse. Not bad. At least it doesn’t look like a bra. Goodbye, AirPods Max controversy.
Battery and ANC
Here is where things get weird.
The battery life went down.
24 hours for the Collexion. Down from 30 hours on the older model.
Quick charge is slower, too. 5 minutes gets you 1.5 hours. The older one gave you 3 hours in 3 minutes.
Sony says this is because of the new 30mm unidirectional carbondrivers. These drivers use more energy. They claim these new drivers give “enhance delicate high frequency expression” and a “wide sound stage.” Okay. Fine.
ANC is still top-tier. It matches Apple and Bose. The loose seal drops the performance just a tick, but you probably won’t notice unless you are an audio engineer measuring decibels.
Calling and Sound
The voice quality is solid. Same as before. Twelve microphones. The QN3 chip filters out noise aggressively. I stood on noisy New York streets. People said my voice was clear. Natural. No static. No warble.
As for sound quality? This is where the money went.
Sony swapped the chip to the new V3. It adds Bluetooth 6.0. (The older model had 5.3). More power means better DSEE Ultimate AI enhancement. It also unlocks spatial upmixing modes for movies, music, and gaming.
I listened to a lot of songs. Spoon, The Police, Bjork, Drake, Pixies. The full eclectic mix. Compared to the old flagship, the sound is cleaner. More refined treble. More depth. The soundstage feels wider. Is it 15% better? Maybe.
Sony always tunes well. Balanced instruments. Natural warmth. You can listen for hours without your head exploding. It still sounds accurate for wireless cans doing all that digital processing under the hood.
The App and Connectivity
The Sony Connect App is still… a lot. Unwieldy. You get preset EQs, a 10-band custom EQ, and modes for everything. Background music mode. 360 upmix. I liked the music upmix. It really opens up the stage.
You have to fiddle with settings if you want quality. To use LDAC on Android, you have to toggle stability vs quality. iPhones are stuck on AAC. DSEE Ultimate is a toggle in some modes, not others. Annoying? A bit.
They sound slightly better wired. I used an iFi Go Link Max. Everything crisper.
But here is the miss: no USB-C audio. Really? Other premium headphones have it. Sony doesn’t. Why? We don’t know.
Verdict
Compared to the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 S8? Those are $800 swanky things. I liked them. But the Collexion is more comfortable and matches their sound while winning on noise canceling and calls.
What about the AirPods Max 2? The Apples are heavier by 66 grams. The Sonys might sound a touch better. But if you are deep in Apple’s ecosystem, the Max features are hard to beat. And Apple finally gave up on the lightning port. Wait. They still don’t give you a 3.5mm aux cord for planes. You have to buy it. For $35. Classic.
So. Are the 1000X The Collectiom worth it?
They are the best I tested this year. True. Luxury vibe. Elevated sound. But they are $650. The jump from the previous flagship feels steep for 15% better audio and less battery.
Most people should just buy the standard flagships. This is for people who want the best and have extra cash burning a hole in their pocket.
Which leaves us wondering if the extra price is about performance or just branding.
