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So these are the Sony WF-C700N’s, they are Sony’s newest entry level ANC earbuds… And right now, I think Sony is on a major winning streak cause I was pleasantly surprised with the Sony WH-CH720N and WH-CH520 headphones… and im pleasantly surprised by the WF-C700N as well. So if you’re looking for a pair of quality and budget friendly ANC earbuds, lets see what the WF-C700N are all about.
Regarding pricing, the WF-C700N retail for $120. Not bad at all if you ask me… but given that these are Sony earbuds, I do expect them to go on sale from time to time. Especially on shopping holidays. Nonetheless, if you want to pick these earbuds up, they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the case. The WF-C700N has a cylindrical case similar to the WF-C500 case… but its is a little smaller. Its a little thinner and its a little shorter. But this case design is very different from the type of case that you’ll see on either the Linkbuds S or WF-1000XM4 earbuds… and this case is way different from your staples like either the AirPods, AirPods 3 or AirPods Pro case, and also the Galaxy Buds, Jabra elite 7 Pros, or Sennehsier CX Plus case. But at least this case is way smaller than your Beats Studio Buds Case. But overall, this case is decently small so its not super noticeable when its in your pocket. The lid has a very satisfying snap to it whenever you open of close it. And the case it self has some very strong magnets in it. So taking your earbuds out and putting them back in is super easy. Overall, I like this case.
And when it comes to battery life, its not bad. Now these earbuds have an advertised combined battery life of 15 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 7 and a half hours and the case can supply one additional charge. However, this advertised combined battery life of 15 hours is with the Active Noise Cancelation on these earbuds turned on.
If you were to use these earbuds with their active noise cancellation turned off, they can go for as long as 10 hours. So theoretically, these earbuds can have a combined battery life of 20 hours. But nonetheless, these earbuds are a great option for someone that works retail or in trucking cause the battery life in these earbuds have really good stamina to them.
But when it comes to charging this case, it charges via a USB C port, as it should. But there is no wireless charging here. Now personally im not surprised that these entry level ANC earbuds don’t have wireless charging… but there some earbuds out there in this price range that do have wireless charging. Like for example, the Galaxy Buds 2.
But with case out of the way, lets talk about fit. Now the WF-C700N are a pair of standard fitting in ear earbuds. As in, they go into your ear canal a decent amount, similar to the WF-C500, Linkbuds S, Galaxy Buds 2, or Jabra Elite 7 Pro’s fit… but they don’t go in as deep as the Sennheiser CX Plus. And, these aren’t shallow fitting in ear earbuds like lets say the Beats Studio Buds, AirPods Pro, or Galaxy Buds Pro 2. But overall, these earbuds fit very well and they never wiggle out during normal activities like walking around. But I wouldn’t recommend them for working out cause of the lack of ear fins. Nonetheless, these earbuds offer great lock down, and I can’t help but notice that these earbuds are a little more comfortable than all of Sony’s other earbuds. First off, these earbuds feel super light weight, but it also feels like the sculpt of these earbuds sits more naturally in the bowl of my ear than these other earbuds. And finally, I do want to point out that this earbuds come included with silicon ear tips, so itchy ear tips aren’t a problem. Unlike with the foam ear tips that you’ll find on the WF-1000XM4’s. Personally, I can’t wear these earbuds for linger than 10 minutes before I have to remove them cause this foam just gets super itchy.
Now when it comes to connectivity, each earbuds establishes 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 from our earbuds now a days.
Now for right now, as of late April and early May, these earbuds can only be connected to one device at a time. However, sony is promising that through a firmware update that is due out in summer of 2023, these earbuds will be able to be connected to 2 devices at the same time. Now sony already has a few other earbuds that can do this… but nonetheless, once the WF-C700N get this feature, they will be really good for any power user than might want to use their earbuds with two devices at the same time. And they don’t have to be in the same eco system.
But when it comes to overall performance, the 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. And when it comes to audio codecs, these earbuds have support for SBC and AAC. Unfortunately these earbuds don’t have LDAC cause LDAC is a feature that sony reserves for their more premium products.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. Now the WF-C700N’s sound like your typical sony earbuds and headphones. The WF-C700N’shave a decent amount of bass to them, and vocals are very prominent on these earbuds. However, instrumentals can get lost at time and these earbuds do sound a little narrow when compared to other earbuds out there. Nonetheless, the WF-C700N sound good enough to get the job done, but I would mainly recommend these earbuds to someone that like a more bass heavy EQ to them. Now, with their stock EQ, these earbuds already have a decent amount of bass to them… but if you want to you can always go into their app and you can adjust their EQ to your liking, so if you want more bass, you can do that, and they don’t start to sound super muddy… or if you think that the bass on these earbuds is a little over whelming, or if you want a brighter sound signature, you can also do that.
Now when it comes to controlling your media, these earbuds are using physical buttons, just like with the WF-C500. They don’t have touch pads like with the Linkbuds S or WF-1000XM4’s. Now obviously you can control your media, but through Sony’s app you can also customize what these buttons do. Personally I have one earbud control my media and I use the other earbud to control my active noise cancellation settings.
But I do have to point out that these earbuds don’t have proximity sensors, so they aren’t going to automatically play or pause your music when you take them out of your ears like with some other earbuds. And personally, I do feel that not having proximity sensors on your earbuds is rather inconvenient.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these. Now since these are Sony’s entry level ANC earbuds, you defenetily shouldn’t expect them to block out as much noise as either the Linkbuds S or WF-1000XM4’s.
Now when it comes to overall ranking, the AirPods Pro 2 are currently my number ANC earbuds, closely followed by the Bose QC Earbuds 2, right below them are the Momentum 3’s, below them are the WF-1000XM4’s, below them are the Linkbuds S, below them are the Jabra Elite 85T’s, Below them are the Jabra Elite 7 Pro’s, below them are the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, and below them are the Pixel Buds Pro.
Now below the Pixel Buds Pro are the Sony WF-C700N, below them are the jabra elite 4’s, below them are the beats studio buds, below them are the Galaxy Buds 2, and below them are the Sennheiser CX plus. So just as you’d expect, Sony’s entry level ANC earbuds don’t block out as much noise as their more premium ANC earbuds… but I do think its important that they block out more noise than both the Galaxy Buds 2 and Beats Studio Buds.
But I do want to taper expectations here. The ANC on the WF-C700N isn’t going to block out a ton of noise… bu the ANC on these earbuds can be useful on your bus ride home or if you’re in a chatty cafeteria.
But personally, I only use the ANC on my earbuds when I have to, what’s more important to me is the quality of their Ambient mode. Now these earbuds have a decent sounding ambient mode and you can adjust it to you liking. But personally, I would like to hear more of an emphasis on people’s voices like with the ambient mode found on the linkbuds s or XM4’s… but also, the microphone array on these earbuds those like to pick up a significant amount of wind noise when walking out doors.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now while in a quite room, the microphone on the WF-C700N is usable, but I do sound a little robotic and my voice isn’t super focused.
Where as with lets say the AirPods 3, this microphone has better clarity to it and it does a better job of focusing on my voice.
But where the AirPods 3 really shine is when it comes to blocking out noise pollution. Cause right now this microphone is doing a good job of reducing this road noise while still keeping my voice very clear.
Where as with the WF-C700N, this microphone is also trying to block out this road noise… but its just not blocking out as much noise as the AirPods 3 and my voice doesn’t sound as clear.
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, its the same thing. They are trying to block out this chatter, but you can still hear a good amount of it in the background and my voice doesn’t sound super clear.
But again, here are the AirPods 3 which are blocking out more chatter and my voice sounds better. So overall, the microphone on the WF-C700N is decent enough to take phone calls with while in a quiet room. But if you plan on taking phone calls in a noise environment, then you’ll might want to go with something else.
But with all of that being said, the WF-C700N are a great pair of entry level ANC earbuds from Sony. First off, I think these are one of Sony’s best fitting ear buds cause their new sleeker sculpt sits much more comfortably in the bowl of my ear, they don’t go in super deep into your ear canal like with some of Sony’s older earbuds, and they come with silicon ear tips, so they don’t get itchy like with Sony’s foam ear tips. They also have a decently small case and they also have a decent battery life, even if you use them with their Active Noise Cancellation turned on. They also sound good enough to get the job done, but I would recommend them to someone who like a warmer sound signature.