Is the Sony WF-1000XM6 worth the upgrade from the Powerbeats Pro 2?

Verdict

Clear upgrade

Going from the Powerbeats Pro 2 to the Sony WF-1000XM6 buys you 10.0 points of HearWiki score - a clear step up that reviewers agree on rather than a marketing refresh. The gains are concentrated in noise cancelling (7.5 to 9.0), sound (8.0 to 9.0) and calls (7.0 to 8.0). On paper: battery life 10 h to 12 h, codecs SBC, AAC to SBC, AAC, LDAC, LC3 and multipoint pairing. Worth checking: battery life (anc on) goes 10 h to 8 h and battery incl. case goes 45 h to 24 h. One caution: this steps down a line tier (Powerbeats Pro 2 to WF-1000XM6), and base models usually trade away tier features - check the codec and ANC rows above before trusting the score gap alone. That costs $48 more, or about $5 per point of score - reasonable value for the jump. If your current pair is worn out or the gains line up with how you listen, this one is worth the money.