Get Them Here
So if you’re looking into getting a pair of Sony earbuds there’s definitely a lot to take into consideration cause they have very different cases, they all fit very differently and they have different feature sets. But today we’re going to break down Sony’s current wireless earbud line up which consists of the Sony WF-XB700, the Sony WF-SP800N and the Sony WF-1000XM4’s.
Regarding pricing the WF-XB700’s are the most affordable earbuds here retailing for $130. However personally I would only consider picking these earbuds up if they’re on sale for $70 or less. Then there are the WF-SP800N’s which have a retail price of $200 but these earbuds do like to got on sale for $100 or so from time to time. And finally there’s the big daddy the Sony WF-1000XM4’s which have a retail price of $280. But knowing sony I do expect these to go on sale from time to time as well. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below and if you want to learn more about any of these earbuds please watch their full reviews cause we’re only going over the main differences here.
Now first lets talk about these cases cause case size is very important when you’re trying to choose a pair of truly wireless earbuds. Now the SP800N’s have the largest case here. It has the largest foot print here and it is fairly thick. So this case is very noticeable when its in your pocket. Now the XB700’s case does have a slightly smaller foot print than the SP800N’s case. However since the XB700’s case has a triangular side profile technically this case is thicker than the SP800N’s case. So overall this case is also very noticeable when its in your pocket. But then there’s the Sony WF-1000XM4’s case which is definitely an improvement from its predecessor and it isn’t super noticeable when its in your pocket which is great. However this case is a little larger than your AirPods Pro case and Galaxy Buds Pro case. But nonetheless you can definitely daily carry the Sony WF-1000XM4’s without them taking up all of the space in your pocket like these other two cases.
Now when it comes to battery life the XB700’s have a combined battery life of 18 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 9 straight hours and the case can supply one full charge. Overall battery life on the XB700’s get the job done but I do gotta say that their battery life is a little below average and given their case size I wish the case itself could supply at least two additional charges.
But then there are the SP800N’s and WF-1000XM4’s which both have active noise cancelation and with their active noise cancelation turned on the SP800N’s have a combined battery life of 18 hours and the WF-1000XM4’s have a combined battery life of 24 hours. But with their active noise cancelation turned off the SP800N’s have a combined battery life 26 hours and the WF-1000XM4’s have a combined battery life of 36 hours. So with the WF-1000XM4’s you are getting a much longer battery life in a much smaller package.
But besides a longer battery life, the WF-1000XM4’s are also the only earbuds here that have wireless charging. Now personally I don’t really care about wireless charging on my earbuds but I do want to point out either for the people who have a phone that supports power sharing or if you’ve already invested in multiple wireless charging mats.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves. Regarding fit all of these earbuds fit very differently from one another. Now the XB700’s fit like your standard pair of in ear ear buds as in they go into your ear canal a decent amount like lets say either the Galaxy Buds Plus or Sennheiser CX’s. Overall the XB700’s should fit most people just fine. But then there are the SP800N’s which also fit like a standard pair of in ear earbuds but they also have optional ear fins. So if you’re looking for something with a very secure fit then you’ll might want to go with these. But then there are the WF-1000XM4’s which I feel their fit isn’t going to be for everyone. Now the WF-1000XM4’s are also a pair of in ear ear buds, but unlike these other two earbuds which are using silicon ear tips… the XM4’s only come included with foam ear tips. Now these foam ear tips do a great job of conforming to the shape of your ear canals offering better lock down and passively blocking out more noise than these silicon ear tips. However personally for me these earbuds do get very itchy very quickly and even the smallest ear tips that come included with these earbuds are pretty big. So overall I think both the XB700’s and SP800N’s are going to fit most people just fine… where as the XM4’s will might not be for everybody.
Now when it comes to connectivity the earbuds on both the SP800N’s and WF-1000XM4’s each establish a connection with your phone so if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use either one it doesn’t matter. And this is the connection set up that we expect to see on our earbuds nowadays.
Where as with the XB700’s… sony claims that each earbud establishes a connection with your phone, but my earbuds behave like they're using a hero and side kick. As in one earbud in this case the left ear bud the hero earbud actually establishes a connection with your phone and then relays that connection to the other earbud. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time you gotta use the correct earbud, in this case the left earbud.
But more importantly when it comes to performance all of these earbuds have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device but when it comes to audio codecs both the XB700 and SP800N only have support for SBC and AAC which is fine where as the WF-1000XM4’s have support for SBC, AAC, and Sony’s own LDAC.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. For starters the XB700’s are the only earbuds here that don’t connect to Sony’s headphones app. Meaning that you’re stuck with the bass heavy EQ on these earbuds. Now the XB700’s are a part of Sony’s extra bass lineup meaning that these earbuds have more of an emphasis on bass than most other earbuds out there. And yeah these earbuds definitely have a lot of bass to them. However the bass on these earbuds can sometimes get a little muddy and in order to prevent these earbud from sounding super shallow its clear that sony did put an emphasis on the mids and highs so that you can still the vocals over all of their bass. However sometimes the vocals can sound a little tinny and the rest of the instrumentals do end up getting jumbled up. So really with these earbuds all you end up hearing is bass and vocals. Now if you’re a bass head these earbuds can get the job done… but if you're looking for a more neutral sound signature or better instrument separation then you’ll want to look else where.
But then there are the SP800N’s which over all are people pleasers. They have good instrument separation, their highs never get tinny and they have a good amount of bass to them. And through Sony’s app you can customize their EQ to your liking. Now with their stock EQ these earbuds are a little bass heavy and thats probably cause these earbuds are technically meant for working out. But if you’re looking for a more neutral or vocals focused EQ these earbuds can definitely deliver. And overall I say these earbuds sound and perform identical to the Sony WF-1000XM3’s. But finally this leads us to the WF-1000XM4’s. Now performance wise the WF-1000XM4’s have the same instrument separation and same sound stage as the WF-1000XM3’s. However the main difference on the XM4’s from the XM3’s and SP800N’s is that the bass on the XM4’s hits much harder and it also resonates more. Now with their stock EQ the XM4’s also have a bass heavy sound signature but just like the SP800N’s you can always customize their EQ to your liking. Overall both the XM4’s and SP800N’s are people pleasers and they perform pretty much the same… expect the bass on the XM4’s hits much harder and it resonates deeper. So if you really want a lot of bass than you’ll might want to go with the XM4’s.
Now when it comes to controlling your media the XB700’s are using physical buttons. The right earbud is used to skip through your music and to activate your voice assistant where as the left earbud is used for adjusting your volume. And personally I like that you can adjust your volume directly from the earbuds themselves. But then there are these other two earbuds which are using touch pads. Now these touch pads a strictly tapped bass and they're easy enough to use and through Sony’s app you can customize the lay out of these touch pads.
However, I do gotta point out that the XB700’s are the only earbuds here that don’t have proximity sensors. Meaning that they won’t automatically pause your media when you take them out of your ears like these other earbuds. And personally I do feel that this is a noticeable inconvenience.
And finally if you’re an android user, the XM4’s are the only earbuds here that allow you to activate your google assistant with just your voice by saying hey google. Where as with these other two earbuds you gotta press and hold on their touch pad.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on the WF-1000XM4’s and SP800N’s. Now first I do want to taper expectations here. The ANC on these earbuds isn’t going to block out as much noise as the ANC on a proper pair of over ear ANC headphones like either the Bose NC 700, Sony 1000XM4 headphones and especially the AirPods Max. However I will say the WF-1000XM4’s are getting really close to blocking out as much road noise as the 1000XM4 headphones. But when it comes to chatter they are still a little behind.
Now over all the Sony WF-1000XM4’s are my top ANC ear buds… they block out more noise than the Jabra Elite 85T’s, Sennheiser Momentum 2’s, AirPods Pro and Galaxy Buds Pro. However like I mentioned earlier their fit will might not be for everyone cause their foam ear tips can get itchy very quickly or they could be just too big from some people. But the foam ear tips on these earbuds does give them an advantage cause they passively block out more noise than the silicon ear tips found on these other earbuds.
But then there’s the active noise cancelation on the SP800N’s which just don’t block out anywhere near as much noise as the WF-1000XM4’s. They can block out some road noise but thats pretty much it. But for comparison sake the SP800N’s block out less noise than both the Galaxy Buds Pro and Beats Studio Buds which just don’t block out a ton of noise either.
But like I’ve mentioned in the past I only use the active noise cancelation on my earbuds when I have to and what’s really important to me is their quality of their ambient mode. Now both the XM4’s and SP800N’s have good sounding ambient modes. They both sound very natural and they both do a good job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors.
However the WF-1000XM4’s also have speak to chat which works like this.
Hello there, so basically when you start talking the earbuds will automatically lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can talk to someone without having to touch the earbuds themselves. Then if you stop talking for a preset determined amount of time the earbuds will go back to normal or you can tap on the touch pad like this.
Now personally im not a fan of speak to chat cause I’ve found that its very easy to accidentally activate it. So it just interrupts your music or podcast. So personally I just don’t use speak to chat. And personally I think that taking one earbud out when you’re going to talk to someone works just fine.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now in general sony does struggle when it comes to their microphones. But the SP800N’s do have the best sounding microphone here for a quick phone call while in a quiet room.
Now the microphone on the XB700 isn’t the worst but it also isn’t the best. Now this microphone doesn’t sound as clear as the microphone on the SP800N but I do think its good enough for a quick phone call as well.
But finally I do gotta say that the WF-1000XM4’s have the worst sounding microphone here. It sounds the most shallow and there’s some static in the background when im talking. Personally I wouldn’t take phone calls with these earbuds and I really hope sony fixes this microphone in a future firmware update.
But with all that being said all three of these earbuds are very different from one another. The WF-XB700’s are a very basic pair of earbuds that cover the essentials. They have a decent enough battery life that gets the job done, they have a stable bluetooth connection and they fit well. However just keep these earbuds have a very bass heavy sound signature to them which you can’t directly change cause they don’t connect to Sony’s App. Then there as the Sony WF-SP800N which have a lot of features for a pair of mid tier earbuds. They sound really good and you can adjust their EQ to your liking. They have a good sounding ambient mode. They also have a decent battery life. And they also fit very well but they also have those optional ear fins if you want a more secure fit. However just keep in mind the active noise cancellation on these earbuds really doesn’t block out all the much noise and if you are planning on using these earbuds as everyday carry earbuds… their case is pretty big. But finally there’s the Sony WF-1000XM4’s who’s case is way smaller and you also get a much longer battery life. The WF-1000XM4’s also have a lot of hard hitting bass if you’re into that and the active noise cancelation on these earbuds blocks out a ton of noise. However just keep in mind the fit of these earbuds will might not be for everybody.