Sony - WH-CH700N Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-the-Ear Headphones - Black

The Sony WH-CH700N is an exceptional entry to the already established line of quality Sony headphones that provides both an excellent listening experience as well as being an affordable wireless and wired option. At its price point, it offers competitive sound quality, noise cancelling, voice control as well as hands free calling. It also supports several codecs for wireless operation including SBC, AAC, APTX and APTX HD. Furthermore, the WH-CH700N is extremely compact and lightweight, making them a perfect choice for traveling and prolonged use. Completing the feature rich packaging, the WH-CH700N also includes a micro USB cable for charging as well as a 3.5mm cable for wired operation. Opening the box for the first time, I was surprised to see how small and compact they were. Stored with the cups facing flat down, the left and right sides are able to partially swivel (roughly a little more than 90 degrees). Initially, I thought this might be bothersome but it is actually quite helpful as it allows you to position them accordingly to maximize comfort. Connectively, the cups can be slightly adjusted upwards or inwards towards your ears. As someone who listens to music on a regular basis, these are extremely comfortable and I was able to easily listen for a few hours without any discomfort. In addition, they fit relatively secure and did not fall off nor was I able work them loose. This was impressive as it is quite rare to find something comfortable yet snug so they will not fall off. As for the construction, the external portion of the headphone cups are plastic, though it felt solid and sturdy, but it did not feel cheap. Additionally, the black model has a slight granite appearance on the outside of the cups that enhances the aesthetic. The internal leather cups were soft and durable and provided quite a bit of cushion, including the top inside of the headphones. The adjustable band on both the left and right side was seemingly sturdy and with some force, I still could not bend the frame. At the top of the headband, however, there was some slight weakness, but overall the construction was solid. As for the operation controls, you will note familiar territory. On the bottom left cup resides the power button, the micro USB port for charging, the headphone jack, and lastly the noise cancellation button. Connectively, on the bottom right hand side, you will find the pause/play and track buttons as well as volume control for Bluetooth only (wired mode requires you to control volume on the specific device you use). Paring the headphones was quite simple and both my Xperia Z3+ and my Xperia Z4 tablet connected without any issue. As somewhat of a music enthusiast, I listen to a wide variety of music genres including Classical, World, Metal, Rock, Rap, Jazz, Latin, R&B, Trance, so naturally I was quite excited to test the WH-CH700N and see how it performs across multiple genres. All my files that I played are lossless FLAC files that I have made from my personal collection. They all have been aggressively analyzed with various audio software and spectrograms to verify that they are indeed in proper quality. Lastly, all sound altering settings were turned off and I tested both wired and wireless connections using my Xperia Z3+ as well as connecting it directly to my computer's SoundBlaster XZr. For software playback, I used MusicBee 2.4 using WASAPI mode for output. Overall, the WH-CH700N handed every genre relatively even, aside from perhaps some slight muddy places in some of my metal tracks. However, the longer I used them the sound seemingly improve; connectively, my ears adjusted to the sound as well. In addition, on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman", I thought the headphones were consistent in reproducing a nice warm vocal clarity as well as instrument separation. As for more bass oriented genres such as Trance and some Rap, the bass was quite punchy and definitely rumbled more than I was expecting. On Eminem's "Stan", I was quite pleased with the bass reproduction. I do want to stress though to keep your bass expectations reasonable as this is not going to shatter windows, but nonetheless you should at least be able to feel it depending on the song. During more dynamic Hi-Res tracks (96 KHz/24 Bit), such as Sonny Rollin's "St. Thomas" or Schumann's "String Quartet In A Minor, Op 41" the middle and high sounds were clear and pronounced. I could easily make out each instrument of the quartet. The results were quite intimate. While testing in wired mode, I did notice that the headphones were able to work either with the headphones on or off. When they are on, the sound is amplified as noise cancelling headphones of what I assume is the AINC (Artificial Intelligence Noise Cancelling) feature. However, by holding down the noise cancelling button, the headphones chimed to notify it was off, but after a few seconds it would seemingly reactivate itself automatically as the music increased drastically in volume. I could not get it to stay off. This occurred on my computer as well as my phone, and it affected both wired and wireless modes. Nonetheless, it is not an issue or a complaint, as most will undoubtedly leave the AINC on, but merely an observation that one should be aware of. As for wireless operation, the sound results were excellent. For my wireless test, I left the codec to APTX to maximize the wireless transmission (despite it not being technically/mathematically full lossless) and left all sound enhancing features off. During wireless playback, I was pleasantly surprised about the volume level; at roughly half volume on my Xperia Z3+ everything was loud and clear. This is a huge plus as typically on some Bluetooth devices you usually end of having to max out the outgoing volume; definitely not the case here as I was thoroughly impressed. Musically, everything sounded clear and punchy as it had with wired mode; highs were reproduced quite well. For my personal listening experience, I usually always prefer a wired connection. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the ability to use the headphones as either wired or wireless. It is definitely a great advantage to have as you can switch back and forth depending on your needs. Overall, as far as sound goes, I am confident that almost everyone will be pleased with the results. Once again to reiterate, as a bit of caution since sound quality, generally speaking, is quite subjective from person to person, I strongly recommend to keep your expectations within reason. No complaints here. For a noise cancelling test, I wanted to see if I could detect a difference depending on the environment. While listening indoors, the WH-CH700N did a fairly decent job of isolating out the noise from several TVs as well as conversations without even turning the noise cancelling on. Moving outside, while the wind was quite breezy, I still could not fully distinguish between toggling manual noise cancelling on or off. During a hands free call outside, my conversation was clear and I could hear the other person without any issue nor could they hear the wind. As part of a worst case scenario, while in the passenger seat of our car with the window rolled down, I again tried to see I could discern any differences between the noise cancelling but to no avail. I still heard the wind whipping around me on both settings, but it never distracted me from the music. Overall, I do not have any complaints as I thought it did a decent job, despite still hearing the wind from the car test. For most environments, they are more than adequate. Lastly, I would like to mention some features of the Sony Headphones connect application as there are several features worth noting. First and foremost, the application allows you monitor the Bluetooth battery which I found quite helpful. It also shows next to the battery symbol which current codec you are currently using. Furthermore, you can also change the codec setting by preferring quality (APTX) or prioritize the connection (SBC). Strangely, for some reason, Sony's LDAC codec is not supported on these headphones. In addition to codecs, you can change the sound altering features that I mentioned earlier such as the equalizer or the Virtualphones technology (VPT) for different effects. However, both the equalizer and VPT effects can only be used as long as the prioritize connection is selected (SBC). Lastly, the equalizer has 11 different presets including the familiar treble and bass booster or vocal and custom settings. The VPT has 4 different ones including arena, club, outdoor stage, or concert hall. You can also toggle the DSSE setting on or off, which is supposed to dynamically restore missing sound that is erased with lossy encoded music. In conclusion, the WH-CH700N noise canceling headphones provided an excellent listening experience, enhanced by both its ability to be used either wired or wireless. While I am disappointed in Sony's decision not to include their LDAC codec, the WH-CH700N nonetheless still supports a wide range of codec choices for wireless operation. Furthermore, other features such as noise cancelling and hands free calling, in combination with its sleek and sturdy construction, solidifies its value and overall performance. At a relative reasonable price point, the sound quality was excellent and they were extremely comfortable. Given Sony's audio reputation over the decades, I have no doubt that most will be pleased with the WH-CH700N. It is definitely worth a listen. Highly Recommended.

Disclaimer: I love Sony audio gear. From my first Walkman in the 80's, to my stereo components in the 90's, to a ton of different pieces in the 21st century, I have never been let down by Sony. My favorite headphones of all time are the latest WH-1000XM2 (and I have owned some pretty expensive audiophile gear with price tags 2-3 times the price of those headphones). They are the top of the heap when it comes to noise cancelling, tight sound, and comfort. I use them predominantly at work because my environment there is ridiculously distracting but even if I don't have music on, it gives me an oasis of quiet. I wanted another pair of NC headphones for traveling but didn't want to worry about banging them around in my carry on or buy a second pair of the M2s even though they are a reasonable price as well. I haven't yet had the chance to wear the 700Ns on a plane so I can't speak to the noise cancelling ability of these cans in that environment (sorry next business trip isn't for another month). I can speak to how they do in a relatively noisy public space and home. I can also speak to their audio quality. Let's start with the audio because it is the easiest. These things rock! The sound quality is superb across the spectrum with nice highs (that don't get shrill or sibilant), good mids for vocals, and a tight bass end with some serious oomph. The great thing is that if you download the Sony Headphones Connect app (and I highly recommend you do so), you can tweak the settings/equalizer to your liking but I thought they were great out of the box. Running it through my test playlist that I have used since I was buying $1000+ headphones, show the Sony 700Ns to be a solid piece of audio hardware. Now to noise cancelling. The noise cancelling on the 700Ns is very good but not the top of the line level that you get with the Sony 1000XM2. I don't think it is that they couldn't be as good but there are two things holding it back: the ear cushions and the available NC settings. The ear cushions are great, as is the headband (I have no cushion of hair on the top of my head so I am always appreciative of a nice headband) but the material in the earpads is not as dense as that in the 1000XM2 and so it misses out on some of the passive noise cancelling there. The settings for the Active Noise Cancelling are On, Artificial Intelligence Noise Cancellation (AINC), and off. Switching between on and off is a simple 2 second press of the ANC button. To start up the AINC you have to hold down the button for a few more seconds. The AINC is supposed to take care of selecting the right amount of NC for the setting it detects with its microphones. The higher end Sonys have a similar setting but there are also a TON of other options in the app that really let you dial in the perfect amount of noise cancelling (to the point that you can wear them with no music on and have a VERY quiet environment), you can not do that with these. In both the On and AINC, it seems to be pulling voices a little too much, which is fine and good if you want to be able to still hear people ask you something or to just be aware of what's going on around you. If your GOAL is to shut people out (as it is mine), the 700Ns don't do it. They will actually pick out voices and amplify them to ensure you hear them. My wife thinks that this is the way they all should work, but I respectfully disagree. I did sit outside of a rather busy outlet mall next to a major interstate to see how they would handle the drone of the cars going by. Here the 700Ns did a very good job of blocking the drone of engines and tires so I'm sure these would do well with the sounds on an airplane or train but again, when people walked by my bench these headphones picked them up a little too much. As for the quality of the headphones for calls, they sound great and my wife said that I sounded clearer than I do when I'm just holding the handset to my face. It is also really easy to invoke Siri (or Google Assistant) with just a long press of the play button on the headphones. I don't really like using Siri so I will not be using that feature much but it works well if you do want that feature. I will make one caveat to this whole review. A lot of what holds these headphones back is firmware/software. There is a strong possibility that Sony could update one or both to give more options through the app or through the controls on the headphones themselves. Speaking of which, the controls are all really easy to use without looking and make a lot of sense (unlike some of the touch controls on some other headphones). If Sony does upgrade the software/firmware, these could easily be 5-star headphones but as it stands right now, I would have to give them 4. If you are looking for that extra star and the solitude that the Sony 1000XM2s provide, I would recommend you drop the extra cash and pick up a pair of those, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for a pair of noise cancelling headphones with straightforward controls, great sound, and very good noise cancelling, feel free to get these because they are great and will save you a not insignificant amount of money. Plus the 700Ns come in some sweet colors; I love the blue on these. Like I said at the start of this review, Sony has never let me down in the audio department, and while these may not be 5-star NC headphones, they are still what I would expect for their price point. Actually they are better than what I would expect but it is hard standing in the shadow of the 1000XM2s!

INTRODUCTION: The Sony WH-CH700N/L are amazingly light weight & comfortable noise canceling headphones. I chose the blue model because I prefer bold colors & they look fantastic (see attached photos). I trusted Sony would deliver very good sound for the money. As a point of reference, I own a variety of premium wireless headphones & primarily listen to Master & Dynamic - MH40 Over-the-Ear Headphones, which weigh 0.7937 pounds, but feel much heavier. They cost 2X the cost of these Sony headphones. These Sony WH-CH700N/L weigh only 0.53 pounds but feel much lighter. COMFORT: Comfort reigns supreme, due to the pillowy soft ear cushions, the gentle, deeply padded head support & the light weight build. BASS: Sony has mastered the art of boosting bass with minimum distortion & these headphones are a perfect example: "Clear Bass +10" produces dynamic deep bass at a 10dB gain without distortion, even at a high volume SPL's. Great bass punch with no audible distortion! THE APPS: The Sony Connect App is very useful for selecting "Clear Bass +10" bass boost, choosing DSP for one of several venues & offers a graphic equalizer for customizing your sound. I prefer "Clear Bass +10" "ON" + tweak the high frequencies with EQ & leave the DSP venues "OFF". The Sony Connect App works in conjunction with the Sony Music Center App. Both Apps add critical features to optimize & custom tailor the sound, and each App has a 1-click transfer to lead you directly to the other App. Without the Sony Connect App & the Sony Music Center App the headphones earned 4 Stars; after a little listening & tweaking both Apps to optimize the audio, these headphones earned a resounding 5 Stars! NOISE CANCELATION: Noise Cancelation is the only feature that works well, but I would prefer user adjustable levels, rather than the headphones analyzing the noise source & canceling it at levels it determines are appropriate. This is strictly personal preference - I am not taking away a star because the system cancels noise & is very effective; I simply prefer to be in control. BATTERY LIFE: Impressive! Up to 35 hours of playback & 200 Hrs of standby time. Every 10-minutes of charging yields 1 hour of music playback. FOLD AWAY DESIGN: The headphones swivel for easy & fast storage. Great when you are deboarding a plane & you are in a rush to reach your connecting flight. DSEE: The Sony exclusive Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) restores the high frequencies to the rich detail before compression. Toggle via the aforementioned App. The improvement is stunning! BLUETOOTH OR HARD WIRE: The Bluetooth connection with Sony DSEE sounds awesome; you also have the option of directly connecting to a music source via the included 3.5mm cable. MICRO USB: These headphones include a USB to Micro USB cable for charging. Micro USB is great because it is used by most every manufacturer. It means if you forget the cable on a trip, you can pick up a cable anywhere. CONTROLS: The controls on the WH-CH700N/L are super intuitive, so you do not need to remove them from your head to skip a song or pick up a phone call. VOICE COMMANDS: One touch & you are speaking to your phone's assistant & can make calls clearly & easily. RECOMMENDATION FOR IMPROVEMENTS: 1- These are such great travel headphones, a travel case should be included. They swivel to a small package; they need a small but tough zipper case. I am in the market to buy one now, but it should have been included. 2- Add Noise Reduction Option Settings to the Sony Connect App for greater flexibility. CONCLUSION: ULTRA LIGHT = EAR DELIGHT!! I listen to the Sony WH-CH700N/L for more hours than any other headphones I own & forget I am wearing them. They earn 5 Stars & my Highest Recommendation!!

Overall, these headphones have more than met my expectations. I was looking for headphones that were comfortable, reproduced a good range of audio (classical, country, R&B, movie audio and talk), had good noise cancelling features and where not going to cost more than $250. Comfort - the heaphones are comfortable to wear, even for those of us who wear glasses. The headphones feel snug but are not overly tight. After some use they do feel warm and I would attribute that to the padding not being made of leather. In have begun looking for leather replacement pads. Sound - the sound is great! Treble, bass and miss come through clearly. The headphones come with a great app that allows you to adjust the EQ and offers several virtual surround sound settings too. You can adjust the output to your desired listening and musical genre. Noise Cancelling - this was one of the main features I was looking for. I am not disappointed. They are not as good as Bose but these were purchased new for’$99 so this makes them an amazing value. The noise cancelling feature (NC) has three modes that are automatically chosen. When you turn on the headphones they analyze the ambient noise and choose the best setting. To adjust it later hold the NC button down and it will give a few quick beeps and then turn down the audio for 3 seconds and analyze then adjust. I took the headphones into a loud server room, adjusted the NC and was surprised at how well it worked! I could hear my music and it drowned out the loud fans and AC noise! I was really pleased. Cost - well as I already mentioned, these were picked up on sale for $99. I find that hard to beat. Pros - amazing battery life, can be used wired if the battery dies, excellent sound while on calls, great price (if on sale), great sound, comfy and the noise cancelling feature works well, easy setup via NFC My Cons - no case. I really wish they came with a case, lack of leather ear pads, a lot of plastic - hoping they will hold up. They do feel solid though

Sony made a few great improvements over last year’s XB950N1 BT headphones, the biggest being the weight & battery life. Package comes with headphones, 3.5mm male/male audio cable, microUSB charging cable, and instructional guide. NO wall charger. PROS: ----------- * The sound is incredible, period. When using the Sony “Headphones” app, you can really make any song sound its best with the bass boost capabilities and pre-set equalizers. OR if you’re like me, you have 2 CUSTOM equalizer settings you can change if you don’t like the pre-sets. If you don’t use the Headphones app to make additional settings, you’re missing out on some upgraded audio. * The WEIGHT of these headphones is music to my ears. Last year’s model, though sounded good, weighed way too much. A turn of the head or a lean back, and they would tend to fall off or shift. Not this year’s model. These have smaller ear cups and a lighter weighted casing/circuitry. * Comfortable beyond expectations. Last year’s model got uncomfortable due to thickness of ear foam material causing the cups to get sweaty (it would get hot inside cup area). * Updates to the “Headphones” app has made for a better listening experience as I stated before regarding the EQ, bass boost, and 2 Custom settings. * Battery life is crazy good. I have listened to these headphones for about 20 hours on medium volume and battery icon on the Headphones app still shows about one-half depleted. These will be great for work as they’ll last about a whole week before having to charge. * Buttons are generally in good spots so as to not accidentally press one and change settings while listening. * When paired up with Samsung Note 8, BT range is quite exceptional. Line of site range was over 50’ while generally one wall in my house would not cause any degradation until around 40’. CONS: ----------- * No carrying case/pouch. It comes with a USB charging cable and a 3.5mm male/male cable, but nowhere to put these items if traveling. Last year’s model had a pouch which was useful. * Due to lack of ear foam (or design?), you can hear more noise/music from the outsider perspective. If you’re in an open workplace, yes, your co-workers will be able to hear what you’re listening to if levels are at medium+. * Quality of music sound does degrade when using the wire instead of BT. Headphones app can only be used with BT connection so no improvement to audio can be made. With a 35-hour battery, hopefully that won’t happen often. OTHER OBSERVATIONS: ----------- * In the slider adjustment area, headphones sport a nice piece of chrome trim to give it a classy look * Phone operation works fine with given mic. User on other end was unable to identify that I had a BT device connected. * 2 different phones were used in a situation where I called someone driving (and paired with) a Nissan Rogue and the other person could hear their own echo when they spoke (in their car speakers). When their phone was unpaired from the vehicle, the echo on the phone disappeared. There may be a deeper cause for this scenario to occur but won’t be investigated further here. * NFC pairing was smooth and seamless using 2 different android devices. * When using WinAmp (audio player no longer in Play Store), the play/pause button will not play or pause songs, but the REW/FF lever does work. Last year’s model had no problem with pause/play. I’m not sure why it’s not working. However; when I hold down the pause/play, the Google assistant IS activated. So the button works physically, but not with Winamp. CONCLUSION: ===================== Comfortable headphones. Great sound, especially when using Headphones app. Light weight. Long battery life. There are plenty of good things about these headphones to warrant the retail $200 price point. However, for that price, a carrying case would be a great add to this product if not just to carry the cables, but to protect them during transit. Great job, Sony!

---SETUP--- The setup of the Sony WHCH700 was simple. Upon turning the headphones on, it automatically entered bluetooth pairing mode. My phone found it immediately and I was able to listen to music in under 2 minutes. If you ever have to pair a second device, just hold on the power button for 5-7 seconds and it will enter into bluetooth power mode again. ---FEATURES--- This headphones set is loaded with features. Amongst my favorite is the noise canceling button. You can turn this on or off and what it does is it “listens” to the ambient sound around you and mutes it improving your listening experience. It sounds like you put mute on the world and you hear nothing but the audio coming from your headset. Convenient if you plan on listening to audio on an airplane, a mall, or any other audio-busy location. If you download the Sony Headphones Connect app, you can also customize several equalizer settings such as treble boost, bass boost, and others. I left mine on vocal, as I listen to podcasts more often and they do sound more pleasant than with my other headphones. ---PERFORMANCE--- The performance of this headphones set is excellent. It’s sound is something to rival and the equalizer and extra settings in the app really make it go the extra mile. It has a 35 hour lasting battery, that’s almost an entire work-week of continuous sound. Phones calls sound clear (and noise cancellation makes it easier to hear the calls) and the person on the other end of the call could hear me clearly as well. If you’re running low on battery but want to use your headset, a 10 minute charge gives you 1 hour of use. ---EXPECTATIONS--- The product meets my expectations in all aspects except for one. First, the positives: The headset is light, comfortable, and adjustable. I can wear these over a cap and they can still reach my ears, which they cover completely without pressing against my ear. As a person who wears glasses, I didn’t find them uncomfortable with the glasses on. However, these are Sony brand wireless headphones. They do include a non-wireless option, which is to connect them with the included auxiliary cable (2 rings visible). I hooked them up to my Xbox One controller to test the Dolby Atmos and they sound like a charm. However, I connected them via auxiliary cable to try out the sound on a PS4, a Sony product, and I couldn’t get them to produce a sound. I tried connecting them via bluetooth for audio, and though the PS4 recognized the bluetooth headset by the name of the model, it wouldn’t actually give me any audio either. I deduct 1 star for this reason. ---VALUE--- The price for the headphones in terms of value is comfortable and worth it as it rivals its main competitor by 100 dollars under. ---APPROVAL--- I highly recommend this product for people who want to use this headset strictly for listening on their phone, tablet, or other mobile device for long periods of time. I wouldn’t recommend them if you plan to use them for gaming consoles.

Pros Active sound cancelling Over the ear design allows for longer listening Built in EQ options with familiar descriptions such as bright, excited,etc Options to simulate a concert hall or stadium as well as others Unique and easy to use track control slider button Wired and wireless connection options Cons No carrying case Could use some metal in the design Although you hear a lot of buzz and marketing from certain other brands for high quality noise cancelling headphones you don’t often hear anything about Sony. This doesn’t mean Sony doesn’t offer any competing product of their own. The Sony WH-CN700N headphones are a mid-level set in a series of such headphones and they offer several compelling advantages over other offerings, including a cheaper price. The first thing you notice with the WH-CN700N headphones is the large box. These headphones aren’t designed with mobility in use. They don’t fold down or offer a carrying case. You get the feeling Sony intends for them to primary stay in one location. For most that is probably just fine since over the ear headphones aren’t in any way discrete or portable anyway. With the headphones you will find a standard stereo headphone adapter for when you need them hardwired as well as a micro usb charging cable. The overall design is primarily plastic with metal accents and a bit of metal where the size adjustment is located. Although they don’t necessarily look expensive they do feel solid and like they would hold up to normal use just fine. The pads for the earpieces are made of a soft touch material that feels like a faux leather. They aren’t the softest you can get but do just fine even with extended use. The top portion is a single piece where the padded rest and main support integrated. Some support the padded portion that touches your head away from your head for improved comfort, but this single piece design still feels very comfortable. The right earpiece houses the power button, input jack, noise cancellation control button, and charge port while the left houses the volume rocker and play control slider. A nice touch is the right earpiece also includes an NFC pair option making Bluetooth pairing very easy for smartphones that support NFC. Just tap your phone to the spot and then choose yes on your phone when the pairing option comes up. Once paired with your phone you are prompted to install supporting apps. The main one, simply enough, is called Head-phones. In the app you can control surround mode, equalizer, noise cancelling, sound quality mode, and DSEE. The acronym DSEE stands for Digital Sound Enhancement Engine. DSEE is supposed to help improve the quality of songs that lose elements due to compression of digital music. If you often listen to low quality streams or heavily compressed music this feature will be more useful than if you have uncompressed or lossless compression. The equalizer has a nice touch in that the presets have names more familiar to audiophiles such as bright, excited, mellow, relaxed, etc. For most, the presets do a nice job of changing the overall feel of the source music to suit your tastes. If you prefer a more manual method, you can adjust the individual levels directly via manual or the 2 custom preset options. Overall, sound quality is very good. Many people would likely find leaving EQ flat works great as the sound reproduction of the drivers is very balanced, particularly for this price point. It’s hard to pick out any range severely lacking. The bass can hit hard or be very smooth as the song intends. For those who love bass, there is a bass boost option with can produce an almost nauseating amount of bass. Thankfully, with a flat EQ the bass is appropriate to the song without overpowering. Overall, the drivers seem capable of keeping up with your EQ adjustments to give you the exact sound you want. The big question beyond sound quality is if the noise cancelling works. The answer is it depends. If you are looking to block out all sounds it won’t do that. They will not cancel out the sound of loud machinery completely. The machinery produces mid and high-level noises that won’t be cancelled out. The instructions also recommend against use in dusty or dirty environments. Voices and other higher pitched sounds filter through about the same as any other over the ear headphones. Where the noise cancelling comes in is with lower, droning type noises. It’s not to say it won’t muffle the talking at all but what it will do is make the sounds of that fridge or vending machine humming along disappear from your workday. The effect feels very subtle. An easy way to hear it working is to turn it off and on without any music on. You will notice this feeling as if you are entering a vacuum as those low sounds just gradually fade away to silence. What is also nice is that, unlike some, the noise cancelling doesn’t seem to produce a hissing sound or degrade the overall music quality. Normally, controls aren’t something that you talk about as a standout feature on headphones. However; the design of these is unique enough and well thought out as to deserve some recognition. The volume control is a run of the mill volume rocker and the power and mode buttons are single press. What is unique and arguably the best designed control is the track control slider. It’s not a button entirely but a slider/button combination. The button protrudes slightly from the headphones to make locating easy. A press of the button controls the play/pause function but what is just a small but very nice touch is sliding the button forward or backwards will advance to the next track or go back to the prior. This feature makes regularly track control buttons just feel awkward by comparison. It is very sensitive as well but thankfully Sony recognized this and made sure the button/slider doesn’t protrude out too much to cause accidental changes. It might sound like a trivial thing but after use you might find yourself wondering why this isn’t on more headphones. If you are in the market for some good quality over the ear headphones and won’t want to break the bank on some of the ultra-high end ones, the Sony WH-CH700N might just be for you. If your budget and desire allows, they also come in even higher end versions in the 1000 series but the 700 series hits a sweet spot that should serve the majority of people perfectly.

I always wanted to try out wireless noise cancelling headphones to see if they made that much of a difference. I knew that they cancelled constant, low frequency noises and ambient noises best, and only the highest end headphones, like the Sony 1000XM3, can muffle voices and other intermittent high frequency noises. Don't expect them to cancel all frequencies like the 1000XM3 do, but do expect that the AC, fans, engines and trains and buses, won't be heard at all. And that's exactly what they do. I bought them on sale on Black Friday for half off, and they are great for the price. The app for these is called "Headphones," which let's you customize the EQ, Sound Effects and shows the battery level, which is a nice bonus. (Although, to use the EQ and Sound Effects, you have to choose "Prioritize Stable Connection" rather than "Sound Quality"). The build quality is okay, using plastic for most of the headphones and the ear cups rotate 90 degrees for storage. The headphones aren't the most attractive design for me, as I prefer a flatter ear cup, instead of the slight protrusion where the on-ear model would end, and then extra room around the sides, but it's not ugly, either. The leather ear cups fit my ears, (noting I have small ears), perfectly and are comfortable to me. The headband, however, does not have thick enough padding, so sometimes I have to move it around my head, so it doesn't press on my head too much. I prefer sound quality to comfort, though. Also, it doesn't include a travel case, which is rather unfortunate, but it's not a deal breaker for me. The headphones use physical buttons instead of a touch pad. I haven't used a touch pad before, but the buttons on these are easy to use and locate. The left earcup has the Power, Charging, Input and NC buttons and the right earcup has the Skip Forward, Backwards and Pause and Volume buttons. I don't know what supposedly "sounds good," but to me, they sound fine. They are great for most genres, and if you want a more detailed review of sound, there are other reviews that go into more detail about it. I, personally, prefer a bright sound signature, or at times, a more neutral sound, and am not much of a bass head, though, I do enjoy the bass on these headphones, and the EQ let's me customize the sound further to my liking. I also think that the volume is loud enough, even at low levels. It could be that I prefer volume not too loud, though. It has DSEE, or Digital Sound Enhancement Engine, which is supposed to enhance sound quality lost in compressed audio files, which I don't know much about, but it's there if you're interested. It also boasts 35 hours of battery life through Bluetooth with NC on, and according to other reviews, it's accurate. I haven't charged it for more than two days with NC on, and it's still 70%. I listen to music throughout most of the day, so that's good. The only problem is that the charging cable is a bit too short, so I can't use it while listening to music on my PC while charging. In Bluetooth mode, they sound great with the app, and in wired mode, they sound equally good. However, I don't listen to wired on my phone, but my PC has Sound Blaster Cinema 3, so that could be the reason why. They support various codecs, including aptX, aptX HD, AAC and SBC. They also have NFC, so if you prefer that, you can use it instead of Bluetooth. The pairing was easy. All you do is turn on the headphones, then Bluetooth and it will connect right away with a voice prompt. Also, no registration is required for use of the app. You can connect the headphones to two Android phones, an Android and an iPhone and a music player, but not to a PC or Mac and a smartphone at the same time. For that, you have to disconnect it to either the smartphone or the computer, and reconnect to the one you want to use at the moment. There was an update recently so you can use the headphones with Google Assistant, but since I don't care for it, I don't use it. It's there if you want to use it, though. The NC has three modes, Standard, AI mode and off. The NC is turned on when you turn on the power button automatically, so to turn it off, you press the NC button three times. To turn on the AI mode, you press the NC button twice, it beeps a couple times, it analyzes the ambient sounds and the sound is lowered. After three seconds, it chooses the preferable mode and sound volume returns to normal. However, beyond that, it doesn't let you customize the level of NC you want. For the price, though, it's fine. The AI mode has three modes: Mode A is for mid-low range sounds, Mode B is for low range sounds, and Mode C is for relatively quiet wide ranging noise. I don't usually travel on public transport, so I can't tell the difference between these modes, but they are there if you want them. So, if you can't afford the $350 for the 1000XM3, then this is as good as it gets for the $200 price range. The sound, the app and the battery life, are great. The only things that aren't top-notch are the NC and the headband padding, which is decent, but it isn't going to do what higher end models do, and the headband is not as comfortable. Pros: • Good sound • Long battery life • Customizable sound through app • Decent noise cancellation • Both wired and wireless modes sound good • Loud volume, even at low levels • Supports various audio codecs, including aptX, aptX HD, AAC and SBC • Supports NFC Cons: • Headband padding is not comfortable • Cannot connect to a smartphone and a PC or Mac at the same time • Noise cancelling does not offer much control