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So if you have been subscribed to my channel you know I absolutely love and highly recommend Sony’s over ear headphones specifically the XB900N and the 1000XM3’s. But when it comes to their earbuds I do feel sony is lacking in that department. But today we’ve got the new Sony WF-SP800N, and even though these earbuds do have a lot of room for improvement… I do think these are a good step in the right direction for sony and these are a really good pair of earbuds for working out.
Now the WF-SP800N retail for $200… but they can be found on sale for $170. And for comparison sake, the WF-1000XM3’s retail for $230 but they can be found on sale for $178. Now ultimately the WF-1000XM3’s do out perform the SP800N’s tech spec wise, but the SP800N are more focused towards working out. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first off like I just mentioned, the SP800N’s are more focused towards working out where as the WF-1000XM3’s are supposed to be your premium everyday carry truly wireless earbuds. And the most noticeable difference between these two earbuds is going to be their fit. The SP800N’s fit a little differently than the WF-1000XM3’s but more importantly these earbuds have optional ear fins where as the WF-1000XM3’s don’t. Now personally I do prefer how the SP800N’s fit over the WF-1000XM3’s specifically cause these earbuds don’t go in super deep into your ear canal like the WF-1000XM3’s do. The SP800N’s fit like your standard in ear ear buds like the galaxy buds plus, Jabra elite 75T’s or sennheiser momentum 2’s. Now like I just mentioned the SP800N’s also come included with optional ear fins that really do help with keeping these earbuds in place which could come really handy if you plan on working out with these earbuds. Or you can do what I do and just not use the ear fins on these earbuds if you just plan on using these earbuds as everyday carry earbuds. But for comparison sake, the SP800N’s only come included with silicon ear tips where as the WF-1000XM3’s also come include with a second set of triple comfort ear tips. Now personally I do find that the triple comfort ear tips on the WF-1000XM3 do get very itchy very quickly so I don’t use them… but ultimately I do think the SP800N’s fit much better than the WF-1000XM3’s cause they don’t go as deep into your ear canal, and they also have those optional ear fins if you want them.
So over all im very happy to see that Sony has been improving the fit on their earbuds, cause even the new WF-XB700’s fit better than the WF-1000XM3’s cause the WF-XB700’s also fit like a standard pair of in ear ear buds. But somewhere where sony is definitely still struggling is when it comes to their carrying case. Now the SP800N’s carrying case is definitely decent cause it has good build quality, the lid opens and closes very easily and this case has strong magnets in it that make putting your earbuds away super easy. But this carrying case is still large and I would argue that the 10000XM3’s case is still better. Now even though at first glance the SP800N’s case looks smaller than the WF-1000XM3’s… its actually not cause it is noticeably thicker. So if you were to look at the WF-SP800N through the lens of everyday carry earbuds like with Pixel Buds, AirPods, AirPods Pro, Jabra Elite 75T’s or Galaxy Buds Plus… the the SP800N’s are a major no go cause this case is just way too big and you really notice it when its in your pocket. But if you were to strictly look at the SP800N’s as workout earbuds like they’re intended to then I say this case is perfectly fine. And this case is way smaller than the Powerbeats Pro’s case which is just gigantic. So if you were to stash this case into your gym bag size doesn’t really matter.
Now when it comes to tech specs, this carrying case charges via a USB C port which is great if you’re an android user… but keep in mind, even though this case is rather large it doesn’t have wireless charging. Now personally I don’t care about wireless charging but I do find it interesting that this case doesn’t have wireless charging where as both the Pixel Buds and Galaxy Buds Plus do have wireless charing even though they’re significantly smaller.
Now when it comes to battery life, these earbuds have an advertised combined battery life of 18 hours. The ear buds themselves can go for 9 straight hours and the case can supply an additional full charge. But that advertised battery life of 18 hours is for when you have active noise cancelation turned on. And personally I only use the active noise cancelation on any of my earbuds when I have to.
So if you only use the ANC on these earbuds when you have to these ear buds actually have a combined advertised battery life 26 hours with their ANC turned off. The earbuds themselves can go for 13 hours and the case can supply an additional charge. So if you were to compare these earbuds to the Galaxy Buds Plus, Jabra’s or Pixel Buds they can keep up, but its not as impressive cause of the size of their case.
But for comparison sake, the WF-1000XM3’s have a combined battery life of 24 hours with ANC turned on and with ANC turned off these earbuds have a combined battery life of 32. Which isn’t bad at all but its not all that impressive cause of the size of their case.
Now when it come to the bluetooth connectivity on these earbuds the SP800N’s are identical to the WF-1000XM3’s. Both of these earbuds each establish a connection with your phone so if you want to use just one earbud you can use either one it doesn’t matter. And these earbuds have zero latency across the board when you try to watch movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device. So over all I don’t have any complaints about the connectivity on these earbuds.
But now let talk about listening to music with these earbuds… first off I gotta say that the stock EQ on these earbuds is very bass heavy. The stock EQ on these earbuds puts any pair of Powerbeats to shame. And personally I do not like how these earbuds sound with their stock EQ cause the bass on these earbuds is very over powering. But im not surprised that these earbuds have a very bass heavy stock EQ cause these earbuds are technically a pair of workout earbuds. So sony probably jacked up the bass on these earbuds for when youre working out. But thankfully these earbuds do have a fully customizable EQ so you can go in and fix them. And personally I reduced the extra bass on these earbuds and increased the mids and highs and now they sound like the 1000XM3’s stock EQ. And over all, performance wise the SP800N’s sound identical to the 1000XM3’s which is a really good thing. They get decently loud, they have decent instrument separation, the highs on these earbuds stay very well put together and never get tinny and these earbuds also have a very good amount of bass to them if you want it. I can confidently say that these earbuds sound better than the AirPods Pro, Powerbeats Pro, Galaxy Buds, Pixel Buds, and Jabra Elite 75T’s… but these definitely don’t come close to my personal favorites the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s. But since the SP800N’s have a fully customizable EQ these earbuds are definitely people pleasers. If you like a lot of bass you can do that, or if you like a neutral EQ you can also do that.
Now just like the WF-1000XM3’s the SP800N’s also have touch pads on each of their earbuds. And through Sony’s app you can pick what each earbud does. Now personally I think having one earbud controlling your music playback and having another earbud controlling your Ambient sound settings is the best set up… but this set up does mean that you gotta control your volume from your phone. But over all I really do like the touchpads on these earbuds cause they’re very accurate and easy to use. But they also do a very good job of rejecting accidental inputs when you’re just adjusting these earbuds.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancellation on these earbuds. Like I mentioned earlier only I like to use the ANC on any of my earbuds when I have to. But over all I do feel that the WF-1000XM3’s are still blocking out a noticeably more noise than the SP800N’s. Specially they do a much better job of blocking out lower frequency sounds than the SP800N’s. Now just to taper expositions here these earbuds aren’t going to block out nearly as much noise a pair of over ear headphones… But the ANC on the WF-1000XM3 is mostly useful for like when you’re on a bus to block out road noise.
And when it comes to ranking, I still feel that both the AirPods Pro and Sennheiser Momentum 2’s block out noticeably more noise than the WF-1000XM3’s… and even though the ANC on the SP800N’s does do something I don’t think it really matters if you’re playing music through these earbuds.
But more importantly, the SP800N’s have an ambient mode. And just like with all of Sony’s other products, the Ambient mode on these earbuds is really good. First off the ambient mode on these earbuds sounds very natural, and this ambient mode also does a really good job of rejecting wind noise when walking out doors. And you can also adjust how much ambient noise these earbuds let in through their app. So again I don’t have any complaints about the ambient mode on these earbuds.
The only major difference about the ambient mode on both of these earbuds to keep in mind is that the ambient mode on the WF-1000XM3 actively block out sudden spikes in loud noise just like the 1000XM3’s headphones… where as the SP800N’s let in everything.
But finally here’s the microphone test and over all I think the microphone on the SP800N’s sounds good enough to get the job done for a quick phone call. But these earbuds aren’t really doing much to isolate my voice from that AC unit.
Where as the microphone on the WF-1000XM3 does a much better job of isolating my voice from that AC unit. Cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear that AC unit. But if we switch back over to the WF-1000XM3’s not as much.
But over all, if you were to strictly look at the Sony WF-SP800N as a pair of workout earbuds as they’re intended to. I think these earbuds are great and I think these are better workout earbuds than the Powerbeats Pro mainly cause the SP800N’s have an ambient mode which I feel is crucial for people who like to workout in public. Cause for some reason apple just refuses to add their transparency mode to their Powerbeats pro. But also the SP800N’s have a very secure fit thanks to their ear fins and a combined battery life of 26 hours is not bad at all if you only use the ANC on these earbuds when you have to. Now if you are considering getting these earbuds as everyday carry earbuds… even though yes they are decent and they sound great, personally for me they wouldn’t be first choice cause of their large case. And that also applies to the WF-1000XM3’s. And over all the WF-1000XM3’s do out perform the SP800N’s when it comes to their microphone quality which is crucial for everyday earbuds and they also slightly out perform them when it comes to battery life and ANC performance. But personally I am happy to see that Sony is working on the fit of their earbuds… but for the future WF-1000XM4’s we’ve gotta see some major changes when it comes to their case.