Sony - WH-CH500 Wireless On-Ear Headphones - Black

Sony is introducing some new headphones to their WH series, namely the CH700N, CH500, & CH400. The CH500 (as well as its lower-priced brother, the CH400) are wireless only, while the “bigger brother” (the true “big brother” would be the WH-CH1000XM2, released late last year) offers a wired option. The primary difference between the CH400 & CH500 are the magnets, headbands design, and color choices (with the CH500, you can have it in any color you want, as long as its black…although Sony is supposed to (eventually) release them in grey & blue). Best of all, these operate using Bluetooth 4.2, so they are very energy-efficient. UNBOXING, AND INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: The outer box is typical “Sony”, with an inner corrugated cardboard bod providing the true protection. The headphones are rotated 90 degrees (flat), so as to allow the box to be as thin as possible. Inside, you will find a microUSB cable, for charging…and that’s about it. The instructions for pairing the headphones are printed on the inside of the box’s bottom flap. SETUP: There are two ways to connect the headphones: the standard Bluetooth connection method, or via NFC. I won’t describe the standard method, as everyone should be familiar enough with that. as for NFC (if your device has NFC, which most cell phones currently offer), you pair by tapping the headphone’s left cup to the device’s NFC contact point…it couldn’t be any simpler. COMFORT & EASE OF OPERATION: Controls are fairly well placed, with all controls having been placed on the right side. Additionally, controls are extremely simple. Thje power button (long-press) is also the play/pause button (short-press), while the volume up/down buttons (short-press) are also the forward/back buttons (long-pres). The earpads are a soft memory foam, covered in a soft vinyl-like material (great for comfortable extended listening), and are very comfortable for short-to-medium periods of listening. The headband is solid plastic, without any padding along the top, which gives them a somewhat “cheaper” feel/appearance. However, the headband is tight against the head, which is great for those wanting to wear the headphones while jogging, as it’s highly unlikely they’ll fly off your head. Unfortunately, between the tightness of the headband, and the lack of any headband padding, wearing these headphones for a long period of time can be “problematic”, to say the least, for those with larger heads…for kids & teenagers, on the other hand, these headphones could easily be worn comfortably for several hours. The cups rotate 90 degrees to the rear, and fold inward, compact enough to store almost anywhere. SOUND QUALITY: I tested the WH-CH500s listening to a variety of music styles, from pop, rock & country, to classical, jazz &new age. Overall, these produce a very good sound, something one would expect from slightly more expensive headphones. For a pair of $80 headphones, I guess I could say, where they cut costs in the headband department, they spent extra in the sound quality department. The 1.18” drivers are quite capable. THE GOOD: for their price-point, these are extremely good-sounding headphones. THE BAD: There’s no noise-cancelation…although, for $80, one can’t really expect this. THE UGLY: the tightness of the headband, combined with the lack of headband padding, means that adults could find it difficult to wear these for extended periods of time. FINAL VERDICT: Overall sound is very good. I wouldn’t recommend using these to listen to CDs from your home stereo system, but, if your intent is listening to music on mobile devices, that’s what these are for…and they’re great at it. While the headband has no padding, and could be “tight” for adults, kids, teenagers, and those with slightly smaller heads, will be able to wear these for extended periods of time, while most adults will only be able to wear them for short-to-medium periods. While the WH-CH500s lack noise cancelation, this is not a “detraction”, as the price these sell for wouldn’t normally include such. For adults, I would consider these to be “ok”, as most adults will probably prefer a better-sounding, higher-quality headset with active noise cancelation. But, for kids, teenagers, and even some younger-adults, these will be perfect, as the sound quality is quite good, and they are fairly inexpensive. If you have a teenager in need of a new Bluetooth stereo headset, I would HIGHLY recommend the Sony WH-CH500 be on your (extremely) short list….better yet, just skip the others, and get them these. Disclaimer: This product was provided free, or at reduced cost, for the purpose of reviewing the product. Nevertheless, the above review, be it positive, negative, or anywhere in-between, is a 100% honest review, and the price paid played absolutely no part in my review.

I wanted these Bluetooth enabled headphones to use with our home theater setup. I have hearing problems and using a headphone while watching a movie for me is pretty much a must. I already have a set of Sony noise cancelling MDRZX110NC on the ear headphones, these are the cheapest NC headphones Sony makes and they are wired so I’ll be comparing the two. I was really surprised how light these were considering they are wireless, and have a 20hr rated listening time. These are almost exactly the same as the wired set I have. The headband seems a lot stiffer and the adjustment sliders are a lot further up on the band than they are with the wired pair. The wired pair feel more comfortable to me as the headband isn’t quite as tight and more flexible. The ear pads are almost identical between the two so there’s not much difference between them for padding comfort. They both have 30mm Neodymium Drivers so there isn’t much difference between them speaker wise either. Both headsets fold up for travel and storage, the wired set let the headphone pieces rotate and turn upward where the wireless set only rotate for flat storage so the wired set are a lot more compact for travel. The sound quality between them is almost identical, for me there’s not much difference, but the wireless set won’t go as loud as the wired pair but I don’t need max volume with the wireless pair anyway. The lows are pretty good, plenty of bass and highs are crisp, I can at least hear everything going on during a movie with either pair. The noise cancelling on the wired pair works pretty good, but being these are the low end of their line the noise cancelling isn’t as strong as their high end models, but it is noticeable when comparing the two. Now the main reason why I wanted the wireless is pretty obvious, not having to worry about the cord is a huge help. I have a Bluetooth transmitter hooked up to our HD projector and already use it to connect to our Bose Bluetooth speaker. The transmitter I have works with two devices simultaneously and I can listen with the headset while everyone else can hear through the speaker. Or I can watch silently in the evening without disturbing anyone. The headset connected to the transmitter easily the first try, and there’s almost no sound lag “if any”. The range on these is outstanding, the transmitter I have is a high powered one rated for 60m and I have no problem leaving the room and going to the other side of our house with no signal loss. I’ve also paired these with my Samsung S8+ and made a couple calls, the sound is nice and clear and everyone I called said they could hear me perfectly. This helps a lot for me as I don’t have to be wearing my hearing aids “also Bluetooth enabled” to make or receive calls. Plus I can answer calls using the power button by just giving it a quick tap to answer and another tap to end the call . The main disadvantage I found with this headset is you cannot use them while they are charging. Not sure why Sony did this, as it would be nice to be able to charge while wearing just in case you forget to charge them or have been using the for a long time. I haven’t worn them for the rated 20 hours, “don’t plan to”, but have to make sure I keep them charged up for use. I have plenty of long USB cables that would work fine while to charge and use at the same time, so I’m pretty disappointed not being able to do that. In all these are a decent set of Bluetooth headphones, not great, but good enough if you are like me and have hearing problems and want a solution to help hear movies, videos, or to make phone calls and not shell out a ton of money for a high end set. There are a lot of under $100 headphones out there and I'd do a lot of comparing to see which ones meet my needs.

One good thing that I like about any headphones from Sony is their long battery life and this these WH-CH500 headphones are no different. I upgraded from LG HBS-F110 to these and the difference in battery life is literally as day and night. LG ones barely lasted 3 hours but these Sony headphones have been up and running since day 1. I haven't even charged them once. Took them out of the box and been using it for almost 2 weeks now. My iPhone is still showing full battery sign for them which is incredible. I only use them for about an hour everyday though. Sony claims they will hold charge for up to 20 hours and I am pretty confident that they will, at least for me. Setup was a breeze. They connected immediately with my phone and never had any problem reconnecting them any time. That is one issue I faced most of the time with LG headphones. Control buttons are also nicely placed and you do not have to struggle to search for them while wearing these headphones. I got used to them after 15 minutes of use. Now on to the sound quality. I am not an audiophile, not even close but I can guarantee you that these headphones will not disappoint you. I mostly use them while working out in the gym and they sound incredible. The sound quality is comparable with other expensive headphones from Sony. These are not noise-cancelling headphone but honestly, you can hardly hear anything from outside when the volume is about half way. Another good thing about using them while working out is they don't fall off while running which was my biggest issue with the LG headphones. They just didn't stay in the ear. They are very lightweight, which was a huge plus for me while working out. I've made call through them only once and it was flawless. No hearing issue on either side of the call (me and other person). Sony has made storing of these headphone very easy. The ear-cups can rotate and line up with the headband, which makes them flat and much easier to store. Inclusion of a storage case would have been nice but for $80 price tag, it's too much to ask for. To sum-up my review, I would definitely recommend these headphones to everyone, specially because of their low price. I mean it's very hard to find a decent pair of headphone from a reputed brand under $100.

As a long time fan of over the ear headphones I've seen more and more of the in-ear headphones which I absolutely will not use in many cases. This results from having a plastic overlay coming off inside my year one Christmas that I was barely able to retrieve and made me think I was going to have to go to the emergency room. Since then I've decided to primarily use over the ear headphones. Working at a job in corporate America too it is always better that people can plainly see your headphones (and not disturb you) which is another reason I prefer over the ear headphones. I have a quality pair of wired headphones (super cheap) but had decided after starting a new job it was time to go wireless and that is when the Sony WH-CH500 was releasing so I figured, why not give them a try? I have always been a fan of Sony headphones going back to the 80's and figured that this would probably be a quality product. I was not wrong. After receiving the headphones I immediately tried them on. They are light and very, very comfortable, almost as if you are not wearing anything at all on your head. And of course being totally wireless means that there's nothing to break that illusion that you're not wearing any headphones. I then went to charging these up and came back later when they were fully charged to pair them to my iPhone 6 Plus. They paired with no problem and I could immediately begin listening to Spotify or anything else I desired. I cranked up the volume and was impressed with just how much clarity these headphones had, even in the bass area. Sure they weren't thumping but the bass was sufficient and likely may only be missed if you listen to seriously heavy bass music like old school rap. I did a little searching and found the Sony app called "Music Center" which allowed me to use some music tuning equalizer wise and that is nice but the app is most certainly optional. I have only been at my job for two weeks and not really been using these headphones a lot so I cannot speak to any sort of battery life but I believe Sony when they say they get about 20 hours of battery life on a single charge. My guess is, from experience, it's more likely about 15 or 16 hours worth of use but that still is pretty good and means I will likely only have to charge these headphones about one time each work week. These also work well using on calls and this is a major reason I wanted these as well, on my previous wired headphones I'd not hear any alert that I had an incoming call on my cell, only a visual indicator and if I wasn't looking at my phone then I'd miss the call. Now I can be listening to talk radio or a tune and I will hear an incoming call tone and have the choice to ignore it or answer it. This is a huge deal for me and one thing I love about these headphones. All in all, these are quality, lightweight, very comfortable, completely wireless over the ear headphones that will work for whatever music, audio book, etc as well as allow you to take phone calls. And most importantly, if you work in a cubicle the visual indicator of "leave me alone, I'm busy" is readily apparent with these headphones. I'd highly recommend these to anyone.

This is the first pair of wireless over-the-ear headphones. I just wanted to put that out there to put perspective on my review. I love these headphones. They're not perfect, and there are a few things to note which detracted from the rating, but nothing that shouldn't stop anyone from purchasing this when looking for an affordable, quality pair of headphones. First off, I have smaller ears. These cover a majority of my earlobe, but I found that the headphones still got the lower part of my earlobes.My lobes definitely started hurting after about a half an hour to an hour's use. With regards to sound, I was pleasantly surprised that this set has more base than its size would have led me to believe. Not surprising though, as I've heard that Sony tends to try to push the bass on most of its products. Overall, the headphones have good mids and lows, but some of the highs are a bit lost. This also is not surprising given the headset's size, as it prevents them from clipping or overloading. This set does not come with a 3 mm port meaning that, once the battery dies, it needs to be plugged in before it could be used again. I didn't think this would be important to me before I got this pair. However, given how much I love to use these headphones for almost everything, I can see the benefits now. Although, this is not an indication on battery life. So far, I've been able to use the set for hours on end without worrying about battery life yet, only charging them overnight when I'm turning in. I haven't had a change to try the NFC functionality yet since my old smartphone died and I had to replace it with a model that doesn't offer NFC anymore. The last thing that I experienced which annoyed me was it's headset functionality: I connected my headphones to my laptop to listen to music and realized that they are supposed to allow for hands-free communication, so I tried configuring my system to use them through Skype (Windows 10). I tried setting the headset up in Skype's settings only to have Skype crash and all audio go dead. I turned off the headset and audio was restored, but I was never able to get the headset to work with Skype. Another thing to note about this is that I was using the last version of Skype were it was a program, rather than an Windows Store app; not sure if this has anything to do with anything. This issue was not so much for me to seriously drop the rating of the set; just overall annoying. In closing, I do love the sound I get from this set for the price, but I would say that I'm definitely getting more for what I would have that the price would afford.

So another wireless headset in a sea of endless variations. Before getting into the details, you should first set the proper expectations - this is a $80 headset that is designed to compact. In that range, there are going to be similarities to with all the competition in terms of feature set - bluetooth, NFC, battery life etc. With that in mind lets review the core functions and features - Weight and fit - compact and lightweight. Speakers rotate for a better fit and carrying. I have small ears and the foam “cups” on the speakers do not cover the entire ear. While this was not an issue of me , I can see some people with larger ears and/or used to something that completely covering the ears may have pause. Keep in mind this is made to be compact but I think Sony could make the ear cover a bit larger. Sound - Average. I did not find the bass to be that rich and overall sound was just okay. Phone clarity was good and the microphone seemed to work okay. Construction - I saw some reviews that stated the headset had a cheap feel to it. I disagree. While all plastic and lightweight, the overall construction is solid. Features - Bluetooth, NFC etc blah, blah - the same as everyone else. What I did like is the feature to hold the play button to activate Google Assistant ( it works with Siri as well.) Overall, this is an average headset that is a an average value. I did have an issue with connecting it to my Surface Pro 4 to use a VOIP application, I never could get it to work. This is probably related to the software I am using but thought it worth mentioning. I doubt many will buy this type of headset for phone communication only so this should not be an issue. So the question is it worth the money? Yes, as long as you understand that there are a series of tradeoffs to make this relatively compact. They are not small enough for jogging but not large enough to provide the rich sounds of some of the more expensive headsets. This is designed to be right in between the two ends of the spectrum. As I stated in the beginning of this review, set the proper expectations. One factor to always consider with any Sony product is the long history of overall quality. If you had two headsets at the same price but one was a Sony, I would pick the Sony because of the proven track record.

These are good headphones, for the price. They are no match for expensive, audiophile gear, but they are perfect for throwing in the back seat of my car and using with my iPad on the go. The things I'm looking for in Bluetooth headphones are price, battery life, comfort, sound, and decent ergonomics. The price speaks for itself. There aren't a lot of big-name wireless headsets in the $50 range, and there are fewer I'd trust. So that, and the Sony name, caught my attention when I saw these at the store. Most wireless headphones I've looked at have a fairly short battery life. "Up to 8 hours" isn't uncommon, and many have even less battery time. The Sony headset advertises up to 20 hours, which is a much better fit with my lifestyle: I can put these on at work and use them all day without worrying about them going dead. They're also comfortable. They don't press hard on my ears, and the pads are thick and soft. I'm fine wearing these for several hours while at work. Sound... they're not perfect, but they do a decent job. They have enough acoustic isolation that I don't have to deal with conversations around me at work, when I want to focus, and I can even listen to them in loud environments without having to crank the volume up to insane levels. They have a little more midrange than my professional headphones, but I'm fine with that in a $50 headset. And the ergonomics: there are three buttons. The volume up/down buttons fall right under my thumb when I reach up to change the volume, and the pause/power/call button is close by. To be honest, I do find it a little hard to find the button when I want to quickly pause a video or some music to respond to someone: that is one thing that could be improved. One thing that definitely pleases me about the controls is that they are tactile without being *loud*, something that bugged me about the other Bluetooth headset I use. Overall, this is a good headset for the $50 price range. I use mine every day, I'd absolutely buy another one if I needed inexpensive Bluetooth headphones.

The Sony WH-CH500 Wireless Headphones are the over the ear for those that don’t really care for the earbud type. They are lightweight and look and sound good, they were reasonably priced. As for the sound which is what you look for in headphones or earbuds, in a few words they sound good. I wouldn’t describe them as overly packed with bass, but for those of us that aren’t looking for booming headphones these have a controlled, rich sound. Music listening comes through as clear sounding without distortion, podcasts and voice centric programs are pleasant. The band on the headphones provide a decent adjustment range, although my big head pushed them to the max. At first these over the ear headphones were not the most comfortable, however with some adjustment they became less noticeable. Each of the over the ear speakers rotate for easy packing (although they do not come with a case) and are fairly lightweight at about 5 ounces. I wouldn’t classify these as noise cancelling, although the ear cups do by nature prevent some ambient noise from seeping into your listening experience. All the controls are located on the right headphone, with a Power/pair/pause/answer button and a rocker style Volume Up/Down, track back/forward button. As with most headphones, earbuds or speakers a playback application with tone control/EQ function really allows you to fine tune how the playback of how your media sounds. Interestingly enough these do not seem to be compatible with Sony’s Headphones Connect or Music Center iOS apps which provide those functions. The headphones also allow you to take phone calls if you are using a mobile phone as the connected device. I briefly tested the phone call functionality and it was clear and the person on the other end of the call said I sounded clear. Considering the microphone is located on the side of right headphones it is amazing how well they work during a phone call (this was in a quiet situation, not sure how they would do with much ambient background noise). The rechargeable battery is rated for 20 hours, have not had to charge them as of yet and am almost have used them for that long. Overall these a quality over the ear headphones, that provide easy pairing and sound on par with some wired headphone and better than most earbuds. I do wish the Sony apps were able to control some of the tonal settings. Pros: - Lightweight - Clear and rich sounding - Phone call functionality - Easily connected - Long battery life Cons: - Not compatible with Sony’s own Headphone or Speaker apps - Takes time to adjust fit - Build seems flimsy, but they do not look cheap