u/EastWestNMan

I've had the Sony earbuds since the XM3's and I'm actually quite impressed with how Sony has actually improved with each generation. Having had the XM6 for about two weeks now, I can say that it's better in almost every way, though a couple of items are more about preference:

• Sound quality: seems like Sony made a conscious decision to focus more on clarity over lots of bass or "boominess" which might be a turn-off to people who like a fuller sound, but that's not to say the sound isn't rich. I think the mid to mid-high ranges are especially where there's some additional crispness. I think these punch above the Airpods Pros in terms of sound quality, with both ANC off and on.
• ANC & Isolation: this is one place where I think there's a tradeoff in that the passive sound isolation is worse than the XM5's. I've tried a couple of different eartips and I can't quite dial these in to get the passive noise cancellation to be as good as the prior generation. This being said, ANC is superior all around. I've now used these on NYC streets, subway, on an airplane, and in a loud grocery store. I'd say the ANC is on par with the Airpods Pro. There's also less "pressure" from the ANC on these which makes them overall more comfortable. I wish Sony would have variable ANC in the app settings like Bose does with their products.
• Transparency mode: better than the XM5s by a long shot but not as good as the Airpods Pro. This is the feature I use the least so it doesn't bother me a whole lot. Also, the speak to chat feature is decent but I wish it could distinguish between actual speech vs. a cough or something.
• Reception: seems to be slightly better than the XM5s. Not that I had a whole lot of issues with those either, but drop-outs are minimal with my Pixel 10 XL even in crowded RF environments like Manhattan intersections and subway stations.
• Phone calls: FINALLY!! Sony has got this right. The XM5s were basically unusable in this regard but the XM6s are solid so far. Callers have been reporting hearing me clearly. The only thing I wish was improved was having more sidetone (hearing my own voice when I'm speaking) but it's a pretty minor complaint.
• Battery life: I recently paired these with the Lufthansa IFE when I was flying and used them uninterrupted for about 5.5 hours with ANC on, after the low battery warning came on. I don't think I started at 100% charge though.

Bottom line is I'd say it's worth upgrading from any of the prior generations for the phone call improvement alone. If you don't care about call quality, then the other improvements are nice to haves.