How to Spot Fake Sony WH-1000XM6 Headphones

It took 3 attempts but my fake Sony WH-1000XM6 finally arrived  My previous 2 orders were cancelled, so I was not hopeful a third order would even go through. But thankfully it shipped. I bought one so you would not have to. Unlike my WF-1000XM5 fake comparison/review, I do not own a real WH-1000XM6, so I  can only compare with photos. At the end of the guide, I will teardown the headset to reveal what actually goes into a fake.

Aliexpress listing of fake WH-1000XM6

I paid around $61 CAD (37 Euros/43 USD) for my fakes, this is with shipping from Aliexpress, with a transit time of around 2 weeks.

Appearance 

The fake uses a square retail box, similar to the WH-1000XM5 fakes, it might even be the same box, with a different photo on the front and rear. The box was covered in clear plastic wrap, which the real model will not have. I think the photo is meant to look like a sleeve on account of the shadow line on the right side. The photos on the box are of the actual fake and not press photos of the real model.

 

 

Here are comparison photos of the real retail box. There will be regional differences on the back when it comes to certification agencies, but the front should be identical. There should be no plastic film on the real box.

Source: Ebay Listing

Source: Reddit

It is possible that future WH-1000XM6 fakes could adopt a newer box design copying the original blended material look of the real headset. The updated WH-1000XM5 fakes have a design similar to the real model, and the WF-1000XM5 fakes use a similar design to the real one, using plastic instead of paper.

Sliding the paper sleeve off, we have a black paper box with nothing on the outside. Well at least it is paper, so recyclable. The real model uses 2 paper halves, both white, with the top piece sliding off the bottom one. Tale a look at this video from Sony to see the real design.

Opening the black box, we can see a black carrying case inside.

The fake case has a zipper around 3 sides and is made from some kind of polyurethane. There is a logo on the front and a strap near the top. The case is light and feels flimsy.

Here is a photo of the original WH-1000XM6 carrying case from Best Buy.

Source: Best Buy

Opening the case up we can see the headset inside, covered by a plastic bag, with the USB-C and 3.5mm cables beside the headset. The 3.5mm cable leads are silver coloured, rather than gold, and the USB-C cable has smaller ends and a thinner diameter cable.

Removing the plastic bag, we can see the folded fake, which sits neatly inside the case. Taking out the headset we can unfold it and lay it flat on the table. The earcups can rotate 180°.

Now turning to the headset. At first glance the fake seems to look like the real deal, but there are enough differences which can help spot if you are looking at a fake or genuine headset.

 

The first difference is the lack of holes for the ANC microphones on the sides of the earcups. This is even visible in the marketplace listing as well. There is a hole at the top of the earcup near the hinge, but there is no mesh covering the hole.

All of the controls on the fake are on the left earcup. The power button design looks very close to the real model. To the left of the power button is the 3.5mm port, then the indicator LED and finally the USB-C port. The real model has the USB-C port on the right earcup. Even though on the wrong side, the USB-C port on the fake attempts to copy the design of the real model. The port is placed up a bit too high in the indent. 

Here is a photo of the real model, showing the controls and USB-C port.

To the right of the power buttons are 3 controls. volume down, NC button, and volume up. If you want to know if the NC button does anything, the short answer, kind of, more on that later on. The volume buttons do control the volume in Windows and Android.

The fake WH-1000XM6 is also missing the tactile dot on the left earcup.

Here are some close ups of the hinge and Sony logo on the fake.

The injection parting line on the fake is visible on the plastic hinge. There is something similar on the real model, but it only follows the seam on the side, and not on the front.

The the plastic hinge on the fake has a difference appearance than the frame, making it appear like metal. Deceptive, but clever.

Something I noticed after I took the photo is the wire that connects from right to left is visible inside the hinge when the earcups are folded in. This would be something to look out for when checking if any headset is fake or real.

The logo on the fakes is gold, but it is too dark and the quality is poor.

WH-1000XM6: real (L), fake (R)

The right earcup on the fake has no controls or touch sensor, this is why the left side has the volume up and down buttons.  

The headband design is very close to the original, except it seems to be back to front on my uni. Not sure if all fakes have this problem, or just mine. The stitching is visible on the fake, while the real model does not have this issue.

The reason I say it the headband is back to front is because the when looking at the genuine headset from the left side, the top of the headband has a piece extending to the back. On the fake, this top headband piece extends to the front. One can just flip the fakes around to get the correct headband orientation, with the controls moving from the left to the right side. I tried taking a photo of the headset on the cover but the photo is glossy and there were too many reflections. I scanned the front of the box, while the quality is not that good, it does show the incorrect headband orientation. 

WH-1000XM6: real (L), fake (R)

A noticeable error on the fakes is that both side marks are just embossed into the plastic. The real model has white (L) and red (R) side marks. Here is the left side as an example with the real side mark for comparison. So if the WH-1000XM6 headset you are looking at is lacking the red and white side marks, then it is a fake.

Real WH-1000XM6 (L), fake WH-1000XM6 (R)

The earpads are pretty decent. They provide a good seal and are comfortable. There are no ruffled edges like on some other fake earpads. Comparing them to the earpads on my WH-1000X5, I would say they are very close in feel and comfort.

The the earpads are not compatible with the real WH-1000XM6 as the back has a different layout.

Real WH-1000XM6 (L), fake WH-1000XM6 (R)

The sliding mechanism is smooth, with a screw present on the inside like the real model. While the real model uses a Torx design, the fakes use a regular Phillips screw. The level of detail the fakes go to is rather surprising. I looked for a similar shot on the real WH-1000XM6 but could not find anything online. If anyone who has a WH-1000XM6 and can take a similar angle photo and send it in, it would be appreciated. 

I decided to weigh the headset, and found it came in at 249g, remarkably close to the genuine model’s 254g. The 5g difference is negligible and likely imperceptible to most users. Counterfeit products tend to user cheaper materials and are usually much lighter, so a weight close to the original is suspicious. My guess, extra weights on the inside. All will be revealed in the teardown.

The exterior surface of the earcups is quite shinny. When tapping the plastic, it feels cheap and thin. The surface is also a fingerprint magnet, much more so than my WH-1000XM5.

A major issue with the fake is the clapping force, it is very strong and quite uncomfortable. Perhaps this will improve with use, but the cheaper plastic in counterfeits tends to be more rigid, so I do not expect any improvement with extended use.

Sound 

The headset sounds acceptable, decent bass, but there is an absence of balance, almost as if the highs are missing. The fakes could be used daily, but my main concern would not be the sound but the comfort due to the high clapping force. Using EQ, I increased the mids and highs, which did improve the sound. But there is a limit to what software can do, when the hardware is the main problem. The volume on the other hand is more than adequate, I could even say it is too loud. This includes the voice guidance, which is annoyingly loud and intrusive. 

The headset only supports AAC and SBC.

Noise Cancellation 

At first I assumed there was no noise cancellation as I saw no NC mic on the driver and the absence of the ANC holes. After checking the included 1 page manual, it turns out the headset is equipped with noise cancellation. The ANC microphone is positioned above the driver, so feedback NC. The hole near the hinge has no physical microphone, even though there is a space for one on the inside. This will be visible in the teardown. 

Sony Sound Connect

No, the headset does NOT connect to the Sony app. The headset does show up as WH-1000XM6 in Windows 11 and Android.

Teardown

The earpads use 4 pins to anchor to the earcups, you need a spudger to remove them. Once removed, we can see the drivers and the feedback NC microphone.

The feedback NC microphone is visible near the driver.

The middle section is held on with 4 Phillips screws, the driver and NC microphone are attached to this section.

Removing the screws, we can see the inside of the earcups. The major reveal is the metal weights glued to the flat sides of the both earcups. The left side weight is smaller as it has the battery and the PCB. A clever and sneaky trick to increase the weight.

On the right side, there is the 40mm driver, electret microphone. and the metal weight.

Back of the fake WH-1000XM6 driver

A shot of the metal weight on in the right earcup. The cable carries the driver and NC microphone cables to the left side.

A closeup of the feedback electret NC microphone.

A close up shot of the microphone slot near the top of the earcups.

A closer look at the internal hinge connection.

For comparison, here is the genuine WH-1000XM6 internal hinge connection from iFixit's WH-1000XM6 teardown video.

Source: iFixit teardown video

On the left side, we can see the main PCB, the battery, 400mAh 3.7V, and the metal weight at the bottom.

A closeup shot of the main PCB. The wires and solder joints look a bit cheap and flimsy. When handling the PCB, I was afraid a connection would break, like it did on the fake WF-1000XM5 case PCB. Notice the date code on the PCB, 2025.11.24. This is fairly recent design from the looks of it, and not the manufacturers first version based off the name, M6_JV_V3.0.

The underside of the main PCB. I checked the entire PCB, and I cannot find any extra points where a feedforward NC microphone would even connect, even though there is space for a microphone near the top of the earcup. How strange.

 A close up of the wireless antenna on the PCB.

A close up shot of the voice pickup microphone. It is also an electret variant, and it is quite small.

A shot of the internal battery. There is a battery protection circuit, but I did not remove the tape to look at it.

Here is the headset charging, it draws about 0.87 W. There is no fast charging support.

And finally the close up of the main Bluetooth SoC.

The chips is from Bluetrum according to the logo, but I cannot find the chip anywhere on their site or anywhere else online. So if anyone is able to find some information on the chip, please leave a comment below.

Here is a summary of what to look for when checking if a listing shows a fake WH-1000XM6:

• Square box packaging covered with plastic
• Black carrying case with zipper
• Headset is wrapped in plastic inside the case
• Controls and USB-C port on the left earcup
• L and R marks are uncoloured and embossed
• Fake will NOT connect to the Sound Connect App

Hopefully this guide will be helpful so as not to get scammed. I am very surprised how relatively close the fake is to the real model, especially since previous knockoffs were very cheap and easy to spot as counterfeit.

If people want to see another model like the updated WH-1000XM5 fake tested and taken apart, you can donate using the banner below. Thanks