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Intro
So these are the Sony WH-CH720N, now overall I really like them because they are super light weight and very comfortable to wear, and they do many things very well. However, the entry-level ANC headphones market is very competitive… so today we’re going to compare them to the Soundcore Space Q45’s which are an amazing value for frequent flyers cause of their ANC and battery life… but we are also going to compare them to a few other entry level options like the Sennheiser HD 450BT and Skullcandy Hesh ANC.
Price
Regarding pricing, the Soundcore Space Q45, Sennheiser HD 450BT and Sony WH-CH720N all currently have a retail price of $150… where as the Skullcandy Hesh currently has a retail price of $135. But it is safe to assume that all of these headphones will go on sale on a regular basis and they may even go on sale with deeper discounts during major shopping holidays. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these headphones up, they’ll be linked down below.
Case
Now first lets talk about the included carrying cases. Now unfortunately, the Sony’s don’t come included with any kind of a case, and I do think that this is a big deal cause with both the Sennehsier’s and Skullcandy, you get a carrying pouch. Now these pouches aren’t going to protect your headphones all that well if you stuff them into a cramped back pack, but at least it is something. Where as with the Soundcore, these do come with hardshell carrying case. And I think this is impressive, given that these are entry level headphones… and this case isn’t half bad cause it isn’t huge. So obviously, when it comes to cases the Soundcore’s are the winners, cause with all of these other headphones… if you plan on traveling with them, I do recommend that you invest in a hardshell case.
Design
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves. Now all of these headphones have a mostly plastic body to them. Now with both the Soundcore and Skullcandy, both of these headphones are fully collapsable and they can be laid down flat, where as the Sony’s they can only be laid down flat and with the Sennehsier’s, they can only be folded and their ear cups can’t be laid down flat. Now all of these headphones have really good build quality for entry level headphones… however I do have to point out that the Sennheiser’s feel the most rugged here. These things are so rugged, I feel that they don’t even need case.
Fit
However, when it comes to fit, all of these headphones fit very differently from one another. Now with both the Sennheiser and skullcandy… I wouldn’t say that these are big head approved for two reasons. First off of their clamping force is a little on the tighter side… but also, these are small headphones. Personally, I have to extend both of these headbands all the way out. So these headphones are just going to be better suited for guys with smaller heads or for women. Where as with both the Soundcore and Sony, both of these are big head approved cause they both have a neutral amount of clamping force, as in they don’t feel too tight or too lose, and their headbands extend a lot more. But overall, the Sony WH-CH720N’s are the best fitting headphones here for a few reasons. First is their weight, the WH-CH720N’s weigh in at 192 grams. Where as the Skullcandy hash weigh in at 226 grams, the Sennheiser HD 450BT weigh in at 237 grams and the Soundcore Space Q45’s weigh in at 298 grams. Now in general, both the Skullcandy and Sennheiser's are light weight and the Space Q45’s weigh an average amount for a pair of premium ANC headphones… however with the WH-CH720N’s weighing in at 192 grams… these headphones are just that much easier to forget that you even have on and you bearly even notice them when you’re walking around with them on. But then, there’s their padding, now the Sony’s have a decent amount of padding underneath their headband and this headband doesn’t create any hotspots. Where as with the Sennheiser’s, since these don’t have any padding, they can create a spot at the one hour mark. And with both the Skullcandy and Soundcore… even though these do have padding, since its so thin and so soft, at the one hour mark, they can also create a hot spot. But then there are the earpads… the earpads on both the Sennheiser and Skullcandy are very cramped… these are only going to fit people that have very small ears. Where as with both the WH-CH720N and Soundcore, these ear pads are a lot more spacious and they are going to have no problem fitting more ear types. And if you have very large ears or ears that stick out a lot… these should have you covered. However, the earpads on the Sony’s are a little more spacious than the earpads on the Soundcore. But also, the earpads on the Sony’s are more comfortable than the earpads on that Soundcore, cause these don’t get as hot as quickly. So overall fit wise, the Sony WH-CH720N’s are the clear winners here cause they are super light weight, they have a neutral amount of clamping force, they have the most spacious ear pads here that also stay cooler for longer, and their headband doesn’t create a hotspot on the top of your head cause their headband also has an adequate amount of padding.
Battery Life
But now lets talk about tech specs. Regarding battery life, this is an area where the Soundcore Space Q45’s simply dominates. The Q45’s have an advertised battery life of 50 hours with their active noise cancellation turned on. Where as the Sony’s have an advertised battery life of 35 hours, the Sennheiser’s are good for up to 30 hours and the Skullcandy’s are good for up to 22 hours. But with all of these headphones, if you were to use them with their ANC turned off, you can extend their battery life that way. But still, non of these come close to touching the Q45’s which can go for as long as 65 hours.
And when it comes to charging these headphones, they all charge via a USB C port, as they should. But the soundcore’s also have the fast charging here because if you were to plug them in for 5 minutes from a dead battery, they are going to get you 4 hours of playback time. Where as with the Sony’s a 3 minute charge is going to get you 1 hour, and with skullcandy, a 10 minute charge is going to get you 3 hours.
Bluetooth
Now when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity, the Soundcore, the Sony’s and the Sennheiser’s can all be connected to two devices at the same time which is good if you’re a power user, cause this way you can use your headphones with your phone and your computer… and they don’t have to be in the same eco system. But unfortunately, the Skullcandy’s are the only headphones here that can only be connected to one device at a time.
But when it comes to overall performance, all of these headphones 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… we’ve got a spectrum here. Now with both the WH-CH720N and Skullcandy, they both have support for SBC and AAC. Where as with the Sennheiser, they have support for SBC, AAC, APTX and APTX Low Latency. But in order for you to use APTX, you have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC.
But then there’s the Soundcore Space Q45’s which have support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC which is Sony’s own in house high res audio codec. But again, if you want to use LDAC you have to be an Android user. But also, if you do decide to use LDAC, then these headphones will only be able to be connected to one device at a time… and LDAC does take an additional toll on the battery life.
But if you want to, you can always just use a wired connection with any of these headphones cause they all still have an audio jack and they all come included with an audio cable. And I know that this sound super basic, but I do have to point it out cause some headphone manufactures have started to remove the audio jack on their headphones… and I personally I still feel that this is still a little premature, especially for frequent flyers.
Sound
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these headphones. Now I want to start with the Skullcandy Hesh, cause these are the only headphones here that don’t have an app, and you can’t customize their EQ. Now as with any other pair of Skullcandy Headphones… the Hesh ANC have a bass heavy sound signature which is a lot of fun to listen to. However these headphones sound very different when they have their active noise cancelation turned on versus when they have their ANC turned off. Now if you want to get the best sound quality out of these headphones you gotta use them with their ANC turned off. With their ANC turned off they are going to sound way more open and their bass is also going to hit a lot harder and physically rattle your head. Now over all with their ANC turned off these headphones sound good. They have strong mids with hard hitting bass that doesn’t bottom out. My only critique about the sound signature of these headphones is that their highs are a little too pronounced… so they can get a little ear piercing in certain situations. And like I just mentioned, you can’t change the EQ on these headphones. And I do think thats a shame cause I really want to lower the mids a bit on these headphones. But overall the Hesh ANC are a pair of very fun bass heavy headphones to listen to which do rattle your head a fair amount.
But next up there are the Space Q45’s, now these sound good enough to get the job done, but from a performance standpoint, these headphones do sound a little narrow, details in the instrumentals can get lost, the bass on these headphones doesn’t really your head all that much and in certain situations the bass can bottom out a little bit on these headphones. Now these headphones do have an adjustable EQ, but even if you were to raise their bass all of the way up, they’re still not going to rattle your head. And even though these headphones do have a bass up feature… this feature makes these headphones sound super shallow and a little hollow cause the low ends get so over pronounced and a little muddy. And with the bass up feature turned on, that’s when the bass on these headphones can bottom out on rare occasions.
Next up there are the Sony WH-CH720N, now again, these sound good enough to get the job done… but again these do sound a little narrow and the detail in the instrumentals can get lost. But the important thing here is that the bass on these headphones does rattle your head a little bit… and the bass on these headphones never bottoms out. And with these headphones, you can customize their EQ.
And finally there are the Sennheiser’s… now with these you can also customize their EQ to your liking… but more importantly, these have the best instrument separation here. However, the bass on these headphones is purely on the audible side, so if you’re someone that likes to feel the bass in your music, then these aint it. But overall, these have the best sound quality here cause these have the best instrument separation here and they sound the most open. I would say that the Sony’s are the second best sounding headphones here cause they perform well and you can customize their EQ to your liking. The Skullcandy Hesh are a good option for someone who likes a fun bass heavy sound signature, just keep in mind, you can’t change their EQ. And finally there are the Soundcore Space Q45’s which I feel sound good enough to get the job done… but these do have the worst overall sound quality here cause they sound narrow, and at times their bass can bottom out.
ANC
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. And plainly said, one is not like the other… The Soundcore Space Q45’s blockout an above average amount of noise for a pair of entry level headphones. These headphones are trying to block out as much noise as a pair of premium ANC headphones. But so that you can see for yourself, we’re going to jump into an ANC Test.
ANC Test
So like you may have just seen, the Space Q45 block out the most amount of noise here. But surprisingly, the Hesh ANC weren’t too far behind. Where as with both the Sony’s and Sennheiser… they block out noticeably less noise than these other two headphones… but they still block out an adequate amount of noise for a pair of entry level ANC headphones. But the think about both the Space Q45’s and Hesh ANC… both of these headphones have a noticeable amount of cabin pressure, where as these other two headphones don’t… and with the Hesh ANC, their ANC really affects how your music sounds… and that isn’t an issue for any of these other headphones. Overall, if active noise cancelation performance is very important to you, then you do want to go with the Space Q45’s… the Hesh ANC are also a decent option… however, they do have their drawbacks. And finally there are the Sony and Sennehsier who’s ANC is going to help on your bus ride to work or if you’re in a chatty cafeteria… but I certainly wouldn’t fly with these cause they aren’t to block out much Airplane noise.
But next up there’s the ambient mode on these headphones, unfortunately, the Sennheisers don’t have an ambient mode. But The Skullcandy’s do have an ambient mode… but you can’t adjust it to your liking. Where as with both the Q45’s and Sony… both of these headphones do have an ambient mode and you can adjust them to your liking. But I do have to point out that the ambient mode on the Sony’s does sound more natural, and the ambient mode on the Sony’s doesn’t have a constant hissing in the background like with the Ambient Mode on the Q45’s.
But something that the Q45’s do have over all of these other headphones is that they have a talk mode where is you press their ANC button, they will automatically lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk to someone without having to take off your headphones like this.
Talk Mode Demo
The only drawback is, you can only have one or the other, but not both. And personally I hate when companies do this because both features are useful, and if set up properly, you could have both.
Mic test
Hesh Quiet
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now I feel that all of these headphones have a decent enough sounding microphone to take phone calls with while in a quiet room.
Senn Quiet
However, with the Hesh ANC, Sennehsier HD 450Bt and Soundcore Space Q45…
Space Q45 quiet
I feel these microphones sound a little robotic… and sometimes, I feel that the microphone on the Sennehsier HD 450Bt Peaks a little bit.
Sony Quiet
Where as with the Sony WH-CH720N, I feel this microphone sounds the most natural while in a quite room.
Sony Road Noise
However, when it comes to blocking out noise pollution… the WH-CH720N’s aren’t the best cause you can here some road noise in the background.
Space Q45 Road Noise
Where as with the Space Q45’s I feel that these are doing a better job of dealing with this road noise, although there is some interfering with my voice.
Hesh ANC Road Noise
And the HESH ANC are also trying to reduce this road noise.
Sennehsier Road Noise
Where as with the Sennehsier HD 450BT…. These are just letting in all of this road noise.
Sennheiser Chatter
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, the Sennehsier HD 450BT’s are just letting in all of this chatter
Hesh ANC Chatter
Where as the Hesh ANC are doing a decent job of blocking out this chatter.
Space Q45 chatter
The Space Q45’s are also doing a decent job of blocking out this chatter…
Sony Chatter
And the Sony’s are also trying to block out this chatter… but they just aren’t doing as good of a job. So I feel the Sony’s have the best microphone here to take phone calls with while in a quite room… but if you need to deal with noise pollution… then you’ll might want to go with the Space Q45’s.
Verdict
But with all of that being said… if you’re trying to choose between any of these entry level ANC headphones… then here is my break down. Personally, the Sony WH-CH720N’s are my top pick here mainly because they are the most comfortable headphones here. No matter how amazing your headphones sound and no matter how much noise they block out… if they don’t fit well you’re not going to want to use them. So that is why the Sony WH-CH720N are my top pick here. But from a performance standpoint, they sound good, they block out a decent amount of noise, they have a good battery life and they have a good sounding ambient mode. However, the Soundcore Space Q45’s also fit relatively well… even though they are the heaviest headphone here… for headphones in general… they still weigh an average amount. But what makes these headphones stand out is that they block out a ton of noise for entry level headphones and their battery life is insane. Plus they also come included with a hard shell case. The only problem is… they’re not the best sounding headphones out there. In third place, there are the Skullcandy Hesh ANC… these headphones also block out an impressive amount of noise and they sound really good as well. The problem is, they’re not super comfortable cause of their cramped ear pads, and their battery life is the weakest here. And these headphones are on the smaller side. And finally there are the Sennehsier HD 450BT… these are by far the least comfortable headphones here cause of their super cramped earpads… they block out the least amount of noise here and they don’t have an ambient mode. However, they do have the best sound quality here cause of impressive instrument separation.