Sony has been in the audio industry for years; you can’t be looking to invest in a good pair of headphones or earbuds without having something from Sony in your line-up. Well, Sony has just recently released another player to the entry-level earbud game and it doesn’t do too badly.
When I’m on the lookout for a new set of sound-making things, there’s a checklist that each device needs to go through before I decide if I want it or not, number one is, of course, comfort. It doesn’t matter if it’s the best speaker setup, made by magical little audiophile elves and tucked so neatly into the headset; if I can’t even wear it for 5 minutes, it’s useless. Once I’m happy that it’s comfortable I then move on to the audio quality and then to features.
Considering the review hasn’t stopped there, that means that the buds passed the comfort test. They aren’t perfect, I don’t think it’s possible to create an in-ear bud that you could wear forever, but I can keep these in my ears for a couple of hours without any issues. The bud is just the right size to feel like it’s not hanging out of my ear and the tip is not too deep causing it to feel like a doctor’s examination. Sony have also given the bud a slight texture which might not seem like much, but I feel like it helps with the comfort, almost like suede, almost.
Now let’s talk audio quality. I generally tend to listen to bass-heavy music, and I feel like the Sony WF-C700N delivered the kind of bass I enjoy from an earbud, however, I feel like it only starts to shine above 50% of the volume level. While the audio quality is perfectly acceptable below this the music sounds a little… boring, this could just be a personal thing though, I do have a bad habit of trying to deafen myself. Vocals might sound a little muddy to some because of the bass favouring on the buds, but you are able to play with the EQ to fix this if it bothers you.
When you’ve got the volume above 50% though, the ambient noise pickup is just passable. I do have to focus on hearing what someone is saying to me with the music that loud. In an office environment, where people would be bothering me every 5 minutes, I could see myself keeping the volume to a realistic level, and I’d still manage to have conversations with my colleagues at the same time without an issue. Remember, I’m no audio professional, I’m just a layman, like you, enjoying the music I like to enjoy, and from one layman to another, I really enjoyed my music on these buds.
The features side of this set of buds is where things start to fall slightly short, but it’s understandable. This is the entry-level set from Sony, so there will be things you can get on other buds, but you’ll be paying more, for sure. Let’s start with what’s missing. There’s no wireless charging on the case, for those with Filophobia, sorry. There’s no proximity sensor on the bud, so it doesn’t know if it’s in my ear or not; it’ll happily keep playing the recipe from a Nigella YouTube video even if I’ve dropped a bud in the pot.
The active noise cancelling; While it’s on the box, I feel like the active noise cancelling is more “turning off the ambient noise microphones” than actually doing any active noise cancelling. If you want to drown out the world around you, you’re going to have to turn up the volume. Speaking of the ambient noise, I think it works pretty well. The microphones on each bud do capture the world around you, but there’s a strong white noise that comes through which can only be ‘disabled’ by playing a bit of music.
The buds do connect to the Sony Headphones app, which allows you to use the Adaptive Sound Control feature. This feature uses GPS to track where you are and slowly starts to learn how you use the buds in those locations. At home, where you’re chatting with your partner? The ambient sound will automatically turn on. At the coffee shop ordering your favourite brown drink? Ambient sound on. At the office, trying to look busy while playing games and ignoring your colleagues? Ambient sound off. You get the picture.
While I haven’t had the buds long enough to truly see how well this automatic on-and-off-ing works, it did pick up that I was in the car while rolling around in my office chair once, so it’s not 100% perfect. The buds have a nice big button on each one to control them, so you’ll never accidentally swipe the wrong way, but I did find that I always pressed the button when putting the buds into my ears. Each button can only handle one of the following three functions, which you can customise in the app; ambient sound control, playback control and volume control.
The battery life is not too bad either, I managed to get around 7 hours of usage out of one charge before I had to pop them back in the case. The case only has enough charge to give you one more go with the buds, though. So if you’re someone who keeps forgetting to put their things on charge, you might find you’ve run out of battery for your buds once in a while. Personally, I feel like 14 combined hours of music time is pretty good.
Speaking of the case, I don’t love it. It’s pill-shaped, and for some reason, it feels a little cheap. It’s solid, and the lid has a decent snap to it. The magnets that hold the buds in place are strong, and it’s not terribly big, but it just feels meh. I’d tuck it into my pocket and forget about it, but the pill shape feels more designed to be thrown in a backpack. Charging the case takes between one and two hours, so you can pop it on charge while you get ready if you forgot to do it last night.
The microphone works well for phone calls as well. It does sound a little like I have a bit of cotton wool in my throat, but at least it doesn’t sound like I’m talking to you from the inside of a tuna can. I’m pro cotton wool.
At the end of it all, the Sony WF-C700N buds aren’t going to be breaking any technological frontiers, but they are a simple set of earbuds that do what a simple set of earbuds should do, well. The audio playback sits right up my alley, hitting all the bassy notes well, even if the vocals aren’t great. The battery life on the buds themselves is good, but the case does fall a bit short compared to others in the market, and the noise cancelling is essentially non-existent. If you’re looking for something fancy, you may have to look at other options, but if you’re looking for a good pair of earbuds to listen to your music or watch your videos on your phone with a simple set of controls, the Sony WF-C700N could be the bud for you.