3 headphones you should buy instead of the Sony 1000X The Collexion

Sony built the 1000X The Collexion to celebrate 10 years of its wireless headphones, and it looks the part: a mostly metal band, leather-wrapped earcups, and a luxurious carrying case with a built-in handle. At $649.99, it’s the most expensive pair Sony has ever put out in this line. The problem is that most of that money goes into materials and style, not performance. We measured a shorter battery life than the cheaper model it’s based on, no longer required a wired USB-C audio connection, and in our testing, it didn’t sound or cancel noise better than the much less expensive Sony XM headphones.

Of course, the Collexion has a lot of features going for it: Bluetooth 6, LDAC, and Auracast out of the box. But if you’re willing to spend that kind of money on a pair of earbuds, here are three I’d buy instead — each cheaper, and each better for something you’ll see every day.

If you like the Collexion but pay less for the price, this is an easy swap – same family for $200 less. The WH-1000XM6 uses the same Sound Connect app, the same 10-band EQ, and the same crowd-pleasing tuning. Putting these two things aside, the differences in clarity and bass were small enough that most people wouldn’t be able to tell them apart in a blind test; the XM6 even goes further in our MDAQS listener panel (4.8 to the Collection’s 4.5) and pulls a touch more detail from the cymbals and strings.

Where it clearly comes down to is the things you live with. The XM6 lasted 37 hours in our standard battery test compared to the Collexion’s 24-hour average, so you’ll be reaching for the charger a lot less often. It’s lighter (254g versus 320g), it folds up for travel, and its noise cancellation, if anything, is a hair tighter. You’re giving up a leather-and-steel build and the new Bluetooth — the XM6 is 5.3, and like the Collexion uses USB-C only for charging, not listening — but you’re saving at least $200, and it’s still on sale.

This is the pair to buy if you’re looking for headphones that will last a long time – both on a charge and over the years. The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 lasts over 50 hours, so you’re looking at almost double the endurance of the Collexion. Even better, the battery is user-replaceable: open the earpad, undo the four screws, and you can throw in a new cell years down the line when the original wears out. At $399.95, it’s also the cheapest choice here.

Do the wired trick the Collexion won’t, either – you can listen via USB-C, just don’t charge. Noise cancellation is a real step up for the Sennheiser, sitting just behind the top tier, and the sound is measured to be extremely clean (some of the lowest distortion we’ve recorded on wireless headphones). It’s pretty bass-forward out of the box, and the high end is a bit subdued, but both are easy to tweak in the app’s EQ. There’s no Auracast here, though, but that could change with a future firmware update.

The Sonos Ace is a wild card choice because it’s best suited for some people (like me) who watch a lot of movies. Its standout feature is Dolby Atmos with head tracking, and a TV sound switch mode that pulls the sound straight from the Sonos sound bar to the headphones – it works if you want to keep the room quiet without losing the surround effect. For home theater in a small apartment, it’s a fun way to listen to content, and at $449 it’s $200 less than the Collexion.

If the Collexion caught your eye with its premium look and feel, the Ace gets you most of the way there for less money. It has a stainless steel frame, vegan leather earpads, and a soft finish that’s a close cousin to the Sony. Like the Sennheiser, it will also do USB-C wired audio, and its noise cancellation always meets the top flags. The default sound is too bass-heavy to the point of exhaustion, so you’ll want to pull down on the EQ app—and that app only gives you the best bass and sliders, not the fine control that the Sony offers. But if movies and immersive audio are your thing, these are a great option.