Though traditionally one of many largest manufacturers of all time within the private audio house, Sony acquired into the true wi-fi recreation a bit later than the competitors. Even when it did enter the phase, it tried establishing itself as a big-budget choose earlier than steadily taking over extra inexpensive worth segments. The brand new Sony WF-C700N true wi-fi headset is its newest entrant within the far more aggressive mid-range phase of wi-fi earphones, priced at Rs. 8,990 in India.
Not like the arguably extra flamboyant competitors within the under-Rs. 10,000 class for true wi-fi earphones, the Sony WF-C700N takes a extra easy strategy to parts akin to design and specs. That mentioned, you continue to get the sort of options we have now come to anticipate at this worth, together with lively noise cancellation and app assist. It is a no-nonsense pair of true wi-fi earphones that guarantees to ship on the details, however is it ok to beat the headliner manufacturers which have dominated the mid-range true wi-fi house of late? Discover out on this overview.
The Sony WF-C700N has superb passive noise isolation, due to a safe match
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Sony WF-C700N design and options
In a product phase the place flourish and attention-grabbing aesthetics are the norm, Sony has chosen to stay to its tried and examined design language with the Sony WF-C700N. It is a compact and light-weight pair of true wi-fi earphones, and is unmistakably Sony in its styling, with outstanding logos printed onto the highest of the earpieces reasonably than on the outer-facing facet. Not like the a lot bigger Sony WF-1000XM4 earphones, the WF-C700N is much more easy in the way in which it appears and matches.
This features a flat inside floor which helps in attaining a safe and really environment friendly degree of noise isolation, giant microphone grilles on the surface, and bodily buttons on every earpiece for controls — one thing that’s pretty unusual on true wi-fi earphones even in additional inexpensive segments. It is not one thing I am complaining about as a result of the sort of management system is much more correct, and quite a bit much less prone to unintended triggers.
You should purchase the Sony WF-C700N in any of 4 colors — white, black, inexperienced, and lavender. Whereas renders of the inexperienced and lavender variants look attention-grabbing sufficient, I fairly just like the understated, discreet look of the black variant despatched to me for overview. I’ve at all times maintained that true wi-fi earphones aren’t meant to be equipment or appeal to an excessive amount of consideration; becoming comfortably and dealing successfully are extra necessary, and the black color variant traces up with that idea.
The controls are customisable, however not utterly; you’ll be able to select a management ‘set’ for every earpiece, with mounted controls throughout the set itself. The management units embrace Ambient Sound Management (switching between ANC and transparency modes), Playback Management (playback and invoking the default voice assistant in your smartphone), and Quantity Management.
Clearly, this implies which you could select as much as two of the three units, or alternatively deactivate controls on one or each earpieces fully. One of these system is less complicated to get used to, however the lack of flexibility can get a bit annoying since you will have to make use of your smartphone to cowl for the perform set(s) you keep away from. The controls themselves are trouble free due to using a bodily button, though urgent too firmly may have an effect on the safety of the match when worn.
The bodily controls for the WF-C700N might be customised by way of the Sony Headphones Join app
The Sony WF-C700N earphones are IPX4 rated for water resistance; that is solely actually sufficient to deal with mild splashes of water or sweat, and positively not really helpful to be used throughout even mild rain. The gross sales bundle features a brief charging cable and a complete of three pairs of silicone ear ideas of various sizes.
The charging case of the Sony WF-C700N is small and reasonably pocket-friendly due to its conveniently slim and pill-like form. The again of the case has the USB Kind-C port and pairing button, whereas the entrance has the indicator mild. Nevertheless, this compact form signifies that the case presents just one further cost to the earpieces.
Sony WF-C700N app and specs
A part of the explanation for the Sony WF-C700N being comparatively compact and light-weight are the bodily smaller 5mm drivers within the earphones. It is necessary to say that driver measurement has nothing to do with sound high quality, and the WF-C700N largely retains up with equally priced competitors by way of the sonic capabilities of the drivers.
The earphones have a frequency response vary of 20-20,000Hz, and use Bluetooth 5.2 for connectivity with assist for the SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs. There is not any assist for superior Bluetooth codecs, however this additionally makes the Sony WF-C700N platform agnostic, and is subsequently simply as effectively suited to iOS, as Android.
Normal Bluetooth connectivity signifies that the Sony WF-C700N is simple to arrange and get going with nearly any supported system, however the full expertise depends on having the Sony Headphones Join app (obtainable for iOS and Android). The app works with varied suitable Sony headsets, and units up for the particular headset in use as soon as you’ve got accomplished the pairing course of and linked the headset.
The Sony Headphones Join app is on the market for each iOS and Android
The app has a visible show of the battery ranges of every earpiece and the charging case, adaptive sound management for automated sound mode switching, customisable transparency mode ranges, absolutely customisable equaliser settings, and the power to pick management units. You can too set a timer to robotically energy off the earphones when not in use, and replace the firmware as wanted.
The app is not fairly as detailed with the C700N as with dearer headsets from Sony such because the WF-1000XM4, but it surely covers key capabilities and works reliably sufficient. Nevertheless, it isn’t one thing you will want to make use of too typically after the preliminary setup for the reason that function set is pretty easy and operable from the headset itself, for many issues.
Sony WF-C700N efficiency and battery life
When you can anticipate a bit extra flourish and spec-boasting from manufacturers akin to Oppo, OnePlus, and Nothing within the mid-range true wi-fi phase, the Sony WF-C700N is quite a bit much less ‘over-the-top’, and a good bit extra easy and direct in its strategy. What you get is a dependable, comfy, and constant listening expertise that’s largely consistent with what you’d anticipate from Sony by way of sound and lively noise cancellation efficiency.
For my overview, I had the Sony WF-C700N paired to an Apple iPhone 13 Professional (Assessment), utilizing the earphones to take heed to music, place and obtain calls, and watch movies. The dearth of assist for superior Bluetooth codecs was instantly evident within the sound; this headset is not tailor-made round element and precision, as is the case with the marginally dearer Nothing Ear 2.
As an alternative, what you get is a deal with the sonic signature itself, achieved by way of a fairly refined degree of tuning for the Sony WF-C700N. The main focus is on the richness of the sound, with parts throughout the frequency vary sounding intense, virtually as if completely different components of the observe are preventing one another on your consideration. Listening to Lavender (Star One Remix) by Frenchfire with lively noise cancellation on and the amount set at simply over the 50 p.c mark, I might hear virtually nothing exterior the earphones. The quick, aggressive beats of this progressive home observe sounded even higher with the amount turned up.
Though battery life on the earpieces is first rate, the Sony WF-C700N’s charging case presents only one further cost, which is disappointing
The Sony WF-C700’s flexibility in giving every little thing an opportunity to shine was spectacular — the lows would rumble as wanted, whereas the mid-range would choose up at simply the correct time. The highs felt a bit subdued compared, however not an excessive amount of. The general end result was a heat, cozy sound that was working to maintain me engaged and attentive, however with out attempting too exhausting.
The utterly customisable equaliser settings within the Sony Headphones Join app allows you to tweak the sound to your liking, and are pretty attentive to modifications as effectively. Nevertheless, I fairly favored the pure sound of the Sony WF-C700N earphones due to the dearth of fatigue it delivered, which was a key differentiator of this headset over the extra detailed sound on provide from a lot of the competitors. I used to be in a position to make use of the earphones for hours at a stretch in the course of the work day, and in addition zone into my night exercises due to the spectacular mixture of noise isolation and lively noise cancellation.
Energetic noise cancellation on the Sony WF-C700N is not distinctive; in reality, it is pretty strange by itself. There was an audible discount in ambient sound, however wind noise and delicate family noise such because the hum of a ceiling fan might nonetheless be heard. Nevertheless, mixed with the superb noise isolation and safe match, even enjoying music at average volumes was sufficient to virtually utterly shut myself off from what was occurring round me.
The transparency mode sounded a bit too intense and amplified sounds on the highest degree, however this could luckily be diminished by way of the app to a extra comfy degree. By way of quantity capabilities, the Sony WF-C700N would not get fairly as loud as you’d anticipate, however the heat and immersive nature of the sound ensures that you simply’re capable of hear what you should hear even with the amount at average ranges. Efficiency on calls was first rate as effectively, each indoors and open air.
Battery life on the Sony WF-C700N is first rate for the earpieces, with the earphones operating for round seven hours on a single cost, with ANC on and the amount at across the 50 p.c mark. Whereas that is first rate, the general battery life is not notably nice contemplating that the charging case presents just one further cost for the earpieces, for a complete battery lifetime of 14 hours per cost cycle. There isn’t a wi-fi charging, however wired charging is pretty fast and environment friendly.
Verdict
Sony is probably not as charming or consideration grabbing as competing manufacturers within the true wi-fi earphones phase, but it surely positively will get factors for consistency and reliability. The Sony WF-C700N is an easy and easy-going pair of true wi-fi earphones that delivers precisely what you’d anticipate for the worth of Rs. 8,990. The nice and cozy and comfy sound, glorious match, acceptable ANC efficiency, and handy controls make this a worthwhile pair of earphones. There’s additionally the notable benefit of with the ability to purchase these earphones each on-line and offline, due to broad availability.
The battery life on the charging case and the dearth of assist for superior Bluetooth codecs are the one notable drawbacks on this in any other case fully cheerful pair of true wi-fi earphones. If you happen to’re searching for a bit extra flourish and element within the sound, you may need to take into account the Nothing Ear 2 as a substitute, however in any other case the Sony WF-C700 is a secure wager.
