Author: Today I will spend Sony WH-CH710N review ($ 200) - These are new on-ear headphones from a popular brand. As much as I would not like the Sony WH-CH710N wireless noise canceling headphones to be a more affordable alternative to the flagship Sony WH-1000XM3, but the new product still falls short. The Bluetooth headset has decent sound, an NFC chip and new adaptive noise canceling technology, but overall noise canceling performance, material and workmanship are poor.
Advantages and Disadvantages of WH-CH710N
- Active noise canceling (ANC)
- Comfortable soft pads
- High quality Bluetooth connection with AAC Wire use
- Transparent noise isolation
- Battery life
- Relatively low cost
- NFC Chip
- Plastic assembly
- No travel case
- Takes a long time to charge
- Lean equipment
Completeness and characteristics
Set
- Headphones Sony WH-CH710N
- Charging cable
- 3.5mm cable
Characteristics
| Parameter | A type |
|---|---|
| Design | Overhead |
| Microphone | Built into the case |
| Connection | mini-Jack (3.5 mm), Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Length of cable | 1.2 m |
| Radius of action | 10 m |
| Impedance | 72 ohm |
| frequency range | 7 - 20,000 Hz |
| Sensitivity | 94 dBA |
| Speaker diameter | 30 mm |
| Volume control | there is |
| Active noise cancellation | there is |
| NFC chip | there is |
| Codec support | AAC |
| Charging input | USB Type-C |
| Working hours | 35 h |
| Waiting time | 200 h |
| Weight | 223 g |
| The cost | 200 $ (14500 rub) |
WH-CH710N At a Glance
Judging by the characteristics, the Sony WH-CH710N wireless headphones turned out to be decent: this is a more affordable version of the Sony WH-1000XM3, which is offered at half the price.
The disadvantage is that the WH-CH710N Bluetooth headphones use a plastic construction - this is necessary for a lower cost. Also in the new product it is impossible to completely disable support for Hi-Res Audio, and although the noise cancellation is not bad, it is still far from the flagship 1000XM3.
There are not many headphones that offer active noise cancellation (ANC) at this price, but after reviewing the Sony WH-CH710N, I was surprised that Sony made the noise reduction so low-quality (at least when compared with the same 1000XM3). This very moment may not allow the headset to compete with analogs and, moreover, premium models.
Who should buy the Sony WH-CH710N?
- People who want Sony ANC but don't want to spend a lot of money. The novelty cannot compete with the Sony WH-1000XM3, but the headset is still of high quality;
- Those for whom battery life is important and who do not want to charge their headphones every night;
- People who need noise cancellation for work or outdoors.
Video review
Price and release date
Sony WH-CH710N was released along with wireless headphones Sony WF-XB700 Extra Bass in April 2020 - The timing for the release of the noise canceling gadget is excellent, since everyone works from home.
In terms of value, the Sony WH-CH710N Bluetooth is in the mid-range. They can be bought for $ 200 (14,500 rubles). And this is the most affordable price for noise canceling headphones on the market, especially from a well-known company like Sony.
Read also: TOP wireless headphones of this year!
Many people were disappointed that this is not a Sony WH-1000XM4. Unfortunately, Sony has not yet provided any information on version 4 of the popular line.However, according to the latest news, the model will be released in September 2020 at a price of $ 350 (more on link).
Sony WH-CH710N design
The company presented several color options for its new product:
- Blue
- White
- Black (Black)
The first thing I noticed when reviewing the WH-CH710N when I took them out of the box is how light they are. They do not pull at 218 grams, such a gadget will not even be felt. The reason is that the headphones are made entirely of plastic and are far from premium. So far, this is the first and most obvious drawback of the headset, which was necessary to reduce the price of the WH-CH710N.
There are a lot of squeaks in the design, and although the earmolds rotate 90 degrees, they cannot lie flat due to the lack of loops. So, if you try to put the headphones in your bag, then you will hardly succeed, the gadget will take up all the space. In addition, plastic tends to amplify sounds. Therefore, if you accidentally hit something or scratch the headband, you will immediately hear it.
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In terms of design, the Sony WH-CH710N are good, but nothing special here - ordinary stylish headphones made in minimalism. They have a rounded appearance and a really comfortable fit. The earbuds are made from plush memory foam cushions - the device is comfortable to wear even for more than 4 hours in a row. The padding is also on the headband, so it doesn't squeeze at the top of the head like many others oversized headphones.
Unlike the Sony WH-1000XM3, the WH-CH710N lacks touch-sensitive sensors - instead, you get nice old-school buttons. Clicks on them are well felt, so the question "Did I really increase the volume?" you will not be 100%.
Design
All controls are located on the right earpiece and are quite ergonomic. There are three buttons, where the middle one is multifunctional: it pauses / plays music, accepts and rejects phone calls, and to call the voice assistant, you just need to hold it. However, you won't be able to activate voice control simply by saying “Hey Siri” or “OK Google” - neither Siri nor Google Assistant is built into the Sony WH-CH710N wireless headphones.
There are volume buttons on either side, and there is also a fourth button that allows you to toggle between Active Noise Cancellation or ambient sound isolation. It uses built-in microphones so you can hear what is happening around you. This feature can be extremely useful when you need to hear any announcements on the plane or subway.
Things are much easier on the WH-CH710N left earbud. It houses a 3.5mm Audio Jack, a connect button, and a USB Type-C port that is used for charging.
The earbuds don't come with a hard case - which makes them less attractive for frequent travel (and doesn't even have a charging box). Inside the box, you'll only find a short USB-C cable and a wired auxiliary cable.
You can find detailed instructions for using the Sony WH-CH710N on the Sony support site!
WH-CH710N connection
How to connect Sony WH-CH710N headphones? It's that simple!
- Hold the power button for a few seconds after turning it on. The gadget will go into pairing mode and you can find the device in the Bluetooth settings.
- Via NFC. If you have an Android smartphone, you need to bring it near the NFC (left earbud). A pop-up window will appear on the phone to connect.
The WH-CH710N headphones support Bluetooth 5.0 and only have the AAC Bluetooth codec - which is odd considering the LDAC is developed by Sony. Why was it abandoned? Ask something easier. No need to rely on perfect sound quality, at least without wires.
Luckily, you can always plug a 3.5mm audio cable into the input on the bottom of the left earcup (included).
When reviewing the WH-CH710N, the range of the connection was about 10 meters, even the interior walls were not an obstacle.There were no problems when watching YouTube, the sound was synchronized, which is really important if you spend a lot of time watching videos.
Most people will use the power button to connect a Bluetooth headset, but remember that the Sony WH-CH710N headphones support NFC. Great feature! Especially for the latest flagships on Android. Not to mention that the gadget uses Bluetooth 5.0 with support for SBC and AAC codecs, but, as mentioned above, without LDAC or aptX.
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Sony WH-CH710N battery life
The battery life of the Sony WH-CH710N is about 35 hours on a single charge with noise canceling on and up to 200 hours in standby mode. When reviewing the WH-CH710N, I listened to them for three days in a row for 8 hours a day and did not even hear the low battery warning. Battery life is likely to deteriorate over time, but I guarantee that the Bluetooth headset will last for several days, maybe even a week on a single charge.
According to Sony, the model has a fast charge: 10 minutes of Fast Fuel will give you an hour of listening to music.
The weird thing is that the specs on the packaging say it takes about 7 hours to charge 100% ... that's overkill, of course. At the end of the review of the Sony WH-CH710N, I just left them charging overnight - this is the most optimal solution, since finding seven hours a day is problematic.
Sony WH-CH710N Noise Canceling: How Effective?
The WH-CH710N (ANC) noise cancellation is just right for its price. Combined with earbuds, active noise cancellation is quite effective at suppressing ambient sounds, including frequencies of 300 Hz and below. I constantly ride the subway and have not yet noticed that there are problems with the isolation of low noises (the rumble of cars), which are often found in most devices. So for me personally, the noise reduction here is excellent!
Microphone Sony WH-CH710N
The microphone is fine for phone calls, but nothing more. The frequency response is quite stable, but due to the insufficiently effective Bluetooth connection, the voice seems to be compressed.
How does the Sony WH-CH710N sound?
The Sony WH-CH710N headphones sound very good, the music was balanced, but the sound is not perfect. As you can see from the frequency response graph, these headphones only slightly emphasize the low frequencies, so the Sony WH-XB900N would be more suitable for bass, since they have a much stronger low frequency range.
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In addition, there was a feeling that the middle was missing. For example, when testing some songs, the vocals on the chorus were not as loud as I'm used to. And the climax of the song was simply "removed" because of this. I’m probably used to the more driving sound of other headphones, but on many of my favorite tracks, the vocals were not powerful enough.
Overall, the WH-CH710N wireless headphones sound too flat, but luckily this can be fixed with an equalizer. You can download the Sound Tuning App from the Sony Headphones Connect support page.
Sony WH-CH710N review summary: is it worth buying?
The gadget has all the basic features that have made the Sony WH-1000XM3 so successful. The Sony WH-CH710N offers active noise cancellation (ANC) and normal sound quality, while still looking pretty professional. Unfortunately, when reviewing the WH-CH710N, it became clear that they clearly lack the noise reduction power, and the build quality leaves much to be desired.
However, they are about half the price of Sony flagships. And while I didn't really like the sound when testing music, the headset is no worse than many other non-HD headphones. The long battery life is the main advantage of the new model, which will allow you to go for several days without charging.
Of course, the WH-CH710N does not meet the high standards of the WH-1000XM3, but the low price, adaptive suppression technology and long runtime make it a worthy representative of the popular brand. Headphones will appeal to those who do not want to spend $ 350 and are looking for the most budget quality headset.
Who is the competitor?
You can find better headphones for less price - for example, JBL Tune 750BTNCwhich I highly recommend.
It all depends on what concessions you are willing to make in terms of quality.The WH-1000XM3 has dropped significantly in price, but is still almost $ 80 more expensive than the $ 200 WH-CH710N. The previous model in the Sony WH-CH700N lineup dropped to $ 129 and has similar specs. But the latest Sony model has new features and technologies that are worth overpaying for!
The WH-CH710N would rather go on sale in Russia, it is interesting to see what the developers wrote there. But the design is cool))
Mediocre headphones, with mediocre sound, the build quality is also not so hot (crunchy), compared to 1000, the noise cancellation is poor. There are no problems with the connection, but with their proprietary application for setting up the headphones it is generally a problem, it simply does not see them (the headphones) that I just didn’t. I tried it on three iPhones, and nothing (yes, it sees it on android), I would never have thought that such a tech company like Sonya would not give a damn about its customers, it’s just darkness. I bought it for 129 euros (Tallinn) and I think it’s expensive for them, in general I do not recommend buying.
In terms of the fact that Sony blundered, that's for sure. But the sound of the WH-CH710N seems to me nothing, and the application of norms worked with the iPhone 8. When did you buy it? Do you still have problems?
Yes, there was still no connection, there was one attempt when suddenly my headphones were suddenly highlighted in the application, but the headphones and this moment were practically discharged and the connection process did not take place))))
This was the best result.
ahahaha we still have to try)) I believe in ch710n, after all, one of the first attempts by sony to make normal cheap (relatively) headphones. but for the ideal you have to wait for wh-1000xm4