WH-1000XM6

I have the Sony XM6, I am happy with it, I had a couple of Boses in the past. I think I would have bought the HDB 630 instead of the Sony if I was about to buy a new one today, but since i travel a lot I really need good ANC for long flights. I also have a Sundara which is alright. I think I am still looking for that pair of headsets that become my end game so I focus more on the music and less in the endless rabbit hole this hobby is :D

Sony XM5/XM6 have good mic but the hinge weakness worries me. Bose CQ45/Bose QC Ultra are very comfy but their mic while okay for WFH it does not work for open plan office as they pick up chatter very easily. I ended up getting an AKG N9 which also comes with a Usb dongle

Well, good to know that I am not missing out on anything. I bought the XM6 for Christmas as I had a bunch of air time upcoming and I did not want the 1 gen Max. The high quality carrying case that comes with the XM6 is in my opinion still one of the highlights next to the small QoL updates compared to the XM3s.

APM had better sounding bass than my XM6, otherwise XM6 sounded better (not wildly), I ended up returning the APMs, personally.

Sounds is extremely subjective. Different brains, ear shapes, etc all makes a difference :) To me they sounded noticeably better but not THAAT significant.

5 improved the ANC and call quality though. 6 seem to be a little more durable than 5,so let's hope the next iteration will be the big Sony's comeback.

For comfort and good ANC go for QC 2023. For best ANC and call quality go for XM6