According to our standardized battery test, the Sony WF-C700N lasts 7 hours and 13 minutes with ANC on. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.

During testing, we had to compete with the occasional gust of wind but it didn’t seem to affect the clarity of our conversations. Conversely, tell someone that they're about to listen to a pair of budget earbuds and they'll be staggered at the quality of the sound Sony's award-winners fire into their ears. So small in fact, that they make the more expensive WF-1000XM4 look like a couple of boulders by comparison and they also appear smaller than their cheaper siblings, the WF-C500. Do not use solvents such as thinner, benzene, or alcohol, as they may damage the finish on the surface of the headset or cause other damages.The Sony WF-C700N are the manufacturer’s cheapest pair of noise-cancelling true wireless earbuds and a step-up from the WF-C500, which received a pretty positive review from me earlier this year. Compared to our headphone preference curve, the Sony WF-C700N doesn’t do a terrible job, but many listeners will find the weak bass reproduction disappointing. Both offer Sony's Digital Sound Enhancement Engine, which upscales low-res digital files to a higher quality, but the C700N's ANC is a significant point of differentiation between the two. As always when testing earbuds or headphones, the Sony WF-C700N became my musical companions for two weeks – after a thorough 48-hour run-in period. Sony’s budget wireless earbuds are a good value with inevitable compromises The WF-C700N earbuds fit great, sound decent, and offer plenty of software tricks.

Here, we walk you through all of the similarities between these models and, more importantly, their differences, to help you decide between them. The thing that’s always impressed me most about this series is comfort and stability; Sony has consistently nailed the in-ear fit so well that I’ve never been concerned about these buds coming loose or falling out. Through Sony’s Headphones Connect app you can customise either left or right button to control volume, playback (including summoning your voice assistant of choice) or switch between ANC and Ambient Sound Mode. A bone conduction sensor helps them recognize when you are speaking and the mics subsequently filter out everything else, including other voices. The way around this is to set up a variety of profiles and settings for different locations and scenarios but not everyone is going to want to pre-plan and micromanage their true wireless experience to that degree.hours on a charge, putting them square in between the LinkBuds S (six hours) and 1000XM4s (eight hours). You’ll need to keep an eye on how much is left in the case via the Sony Headphones Connect app, just so you don’t get caught out. There’s a fantastic sense of power and drive on display that grabs your attention and hooks you into the song.

The WF-1000XM5 earphones are clearly the premium option of the group with top-notch ANC and audio performance. And thanks to the new material (which Sony says "holds on to the inner cup of your ear") they stay put for hours on end.The WF-C700N offer a jump in quality compared to the WF-C500 and a taste of the performance of the WF-1000XM4 in a cheaper package. But the Headphones Connect app offers plenty of EQ control; you can select from Sony’s presets or make your own adjustments if the out-of-box sound profile isn’t what you were hoping for.

Likewise, the transparency mode is serviceable — far from the worst I’ve heard and adequate for short conversations but not as natural as what you’ll get from the LinkBuds S or 1000XM4s. When using the Sony | Headphones Connect app, it will let you know when there is a new update to download.Sony frequently updates its companion app though, so it wouldn't shock me if the other two models eventually get this feature. The WF-C700N (left) offer a clear jump in sound quality over their cheaper siblings, the WF-C500 (right). Thankfully, whichever settings or modes you have engaged, you’ll be free of the white noise that affected my experience with the WF-C500 – there were no such distractions during my time with the WF-C700N. I didn’t feel the need to change anything, but there’s also a slider for layering on some extra bass that might come in handy for certain music genres.