A single leaked filing suggests these headphones are only the beginning.
Sony’s WH-1000X lineup has followed a steady pricing path for years, but the latest leak breaks that pattern.
A new model called The ColleXion is reportedly set at €629 (~US$728), placing it above both the WH-1000XM6 and Apple’s AirPods Max 2. Its name, pricing, and positioning all point to something outside Sony’s usual release cycle.
However, there is still no confirmed spec sheet, which makes the pricing and branding choices more important to read closely.
Here is what the leak suggests about where Sony is heading next.
Forty Percent Above Its Own Best
The ColleXion lands well above Sony’s own flagship line on price. At roughly $728, it sits about $279 higher than the $449 WH-1000XM6, putting it at around a 40% premium over the headphones Sony has spent three generations establishing as its best.
That premium lands differently when you consider what the XM6 already offers.
It covers most flagship expectations with Sony’s QN3 noise-canceling processor, a 30mm carbon fiber composite driver, 30-hour battery life, and LDAC support. So whatever sits above it needs a reason that goes beyond a longer materials list.
The comparison with Apple still matters, though in a narrower way. Against the AirPods Max 2 at $670 Sony’s leaked price is only modestly higher.
All these comparisons suggest Sony is testing a new ceiling for its consumer headphones rather than simply extending the usual XM pricing ladder.
Apple introduced the AirPods Max 2 in five colors, while Sony is reportedly limiting the ColleXion to black. This narrower presentation makes the product feel more selective and more deliberate from the start.
However, while a restrained rollout can support a higher price, it only works if the product gives buyers a convincing reason to see it as something meaningfully above the XM6.
A Name Without a Spec Sheet
The paperwork arrived a year before the product. Sony filed “1000X THE COLLEXION” as a trademark in Japan and Canada in late June 2025 and secured the Japanese registration by January 2026.
Its name itself signals intent. This is not a WH-1000XM7. It’s a new tier, positioned above the existing lineup for “collectors and audiophiles” with “more expensive finishing materials and a unique design.”
Sony’s wording also suggests a deliberate break from the plastic-bodied XM line it has refined for mass appeal. For instance, the move could be part of a broader push in premium audio toward lifestyle branding rather than a system built purely around technical specifications and generation numbers.
For its estimated price, however, the ColleXion would sit between the consumer flagship ceiling Apple currently occupies and the audiophile boutique tier associated with brands like Focal and Bang & Olufsen.
Nobody knows yet what is inside, though. Sources are split on whether the ColleXion introduces new acoustic hardware or repackages the XM6 platform in more expensive materials.
But if it ships with the same QN3 chip and 30mm driver as the XM6, the €180 (~US$209) premium would rest largely on design and materials.
Seven Product Classes, One Name
The ColleXion trademark reaches well beyond a single pair of headphones. Sony’s filing covers earphones, portable audio players, radios, loudspeakers, amplifiers, television receivers, and telecommunication machines and apparatus.
Portable audio players are the clearest signal because the category points directly to Walkman territory. Sony would not protect the name across portable players unless it saw room to extend ColleXion beyond one headphone launch.
This scope makes ColleXion feel less like a one-off label and more like a tier Sony wants to preserve across categories.
Sony has tried a similar structure before with ULT, a sub-brand that stretched across speakers and headphones under one unifying idea. In that case, the message was bass. ColleXion points somewhere else. The pitch is premium positioning and status.
If the headphones find an audience at €629 (~US$728), the larger significance may be what comes next. Sony would be doing more than launching an expensive pair of headphones.
It would be establishing a luxury tier that could spread across its wider audio lineup. The headphones would simply be the entry point.
Let’s hope we can change the rechargeable battery . I bought bowers and Wilkins instead of Sony xm6. For that reason.
The X in ColleXion likely represents ‘10’ for the 10 year anniversary of the 1000X model. Sony has a long history of celebrating product milestones. Maybe the most bonkers was their 10 anniversary silver Walkman, a collaboration with Tiffany & Co.