Sony - WH-CH710N Wireless Noise-Cancelling Over-the-Ear Headphones - Gray

I’ve been using my sony WH-CH710N’s now for about a week and overall I am happy with the performance but that said, there are a few things to point out that may or may not affect your decision to purchase your own pair. The one thought that constantly came to mind while I was testing these headphones was “I guess some corners had to be cut for the price range.” That’s not always a good thing, but these headphones are in an interesting position of not being the better, flagship sony XM3’s but also not being cheap 50 dollar or less headphones. It’s a tight line that I think, to be fair, Sony has walked well for the most part. So what are these corners cut and do they matter to you? FIRST THOUGHTS: Right out of the box, and probably the biggest complaint found on most reviews, is that there is no carrying bag/case/etc. This is one of those little things that can really upset some people or not bug you at all. Personally I didn’t think it would bother me that much but after handling the headphones and seeing how loose the swivel on the earcups are, I do wish there was some kind of protection bag, but luckily that’s a pretty easy and cheap fix if it does bother you. If you’re going to be taking these headphones with you when you travel, or in your bag to work or backpack to school you will want to get some kind of carrying and protection bag because they will pick up dirt and dust and can easily get pinched and maybe break if you leave them loosely floating around in a bag. So along those lines, the build is another one of those corners that feels cut. They are not cheap feeling by any means, but they are plastic and like I said, the swivel of the ear cups is pretty loose, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does make them feel a little fragile. AUDIO QUALITY: Now that said, the main thing you want from your headphones is good, clean audio. I have not personally used the Sony XM3 headphones, but they are commonly referred to as the high end Sony noise cancelling headphones and set the bar in many ways. Without actually listening to XM3’s, I can see why some reviewers have complained about the 710N’s not being as good but remember, the price is also much less. What I can say is that the 710N’s are not bad by any means. They have a pretty clean and relatively full sound. The lows are definitely lacking if you’re into pushing bass and sacrificing overall sound, but otherwise the mix is pretty solid. The lows are present, the highs are still crisp but the mids suffer the most with a slight emptiness feeling in those mid ranges. Not enough to complain about, but it is slightly noticeable. Along with that, the overall volume is not great. I wish there was just a little more power in the volume even if I’m not going to push it “all the way to 11”. In some situations I found myself pushing the volume up to almost full and still not hitting that “too loud” point. Obviously listening at high volumes for long periods of time is not healthy for your ears but sometimes that one song comes on and you go to turn it up a bit and in those moments you may notice it doesn’t give you as much volume as you wish. One other thing to note is there is not currently support for the Sony app that their other headphones use and is unclear if that support is coming soon or will not be available at any time. Personally I use my phone's EQ control to adjust the sound but I would like to have the option to use sony’s app and I feel that is an oversight that doesn’t seem smart to not include at launch. FEATURES: Now what about those extra features; noise cancelling, ambient noise, and assistant control? Well, for that I have to unfortunately go with the aforementioned phrase, “some corners had to be cut.” These are not the XM3’s, we know that. These don’t cost as much as the XM3’s, we know that too. But they should still be good for the 200 dollar price tag. I’m not sure I can say they match that price in my opinion but that doesn’t mean they’re not good either. The noise canceling is decent, it’s not amazing, but it does some canceling. I was using the headphones while vacuuming and it removed most of the noise from the motor and when music is also playing you pretty much can’t hear the vacuum at all. I assume for things like airplane engines, trains, or even road noise it would be a similar situation where it isn’t canceled noise as much as reduced noise. Personally that’s fine, I didn’t buy them for the noise canceling but I know a lot of people do and those people will probably be disappointed and want to save a little more to get the better headphones. But for the average person, the 710N’s will be good enough. The same can be said about the ambient noise feature. I was actually a little more unhappy with this feature than the noise cancelling. I was hoping it would allow me to have a conversation with someone in front of me (for example if I was in public and needed to hear someone on the sidewalk next to me or traffic etc and be able to safely hear my surroundings) and unfortunately I didn’t feel they were able to do that well enough to trust it to keep me fully aware of my surroundings. If there is no music playing, sure I can hear pretty well and the system works decently, but as soon as I played any audio, even at a low volume, I struggled to hear my wife talking right in front of me and she said she was talking “pretty loud”. Essentially, in the end I realized the only way to really hear around me is to pull one cup slightly off my ear. But hey, the comfort level is very good for me. I have a pretty small head and am still able to wear the headphones comfortably for long periods of time without any pressure or pain in my ears. That’s saying something because my ears almost always get sore with most headphones and I had no issues with these. I have an android phone (samsung S9) and found the NFC to work perfect every time, as well as a really strong bluetooth connection even standing in a different room, and the voice assistant feature worked fine the few times I tested it. There’s an included headphone “aux” cable that allows you to connect directly to a headphone jack which is really a nice feature that most new headphones don’t bother with. The best part about this is if your battery dies, you can still use the headphones (without noise cancelling or ambient etc) with a connected device and in a pinch, may be a very useful feature. BATTERY LIFE: I wanted to touch quickly on battery life. After a few days of decently heavy use, the battery still says “full battery”. That’s awesome and says a lot about the overall battery life. Sony says about 35 hours of playback and I would have to say that’s probably pretty accurate. Obviously volume and use of noise cancelling or not will affect those times as well. The time to fully charge when I first opened them did seem pretty long and showed there definitely is not any fast charging going on but Sony claims you can get 1 hour of listening with a quick 10 min charge. Something I wasn’t able to test because I still have not been able to drain the battery completely, which I see as a positive note. FINAL THOUGHTS: So what's the overall review for me? I like them. I’m not unhappy with my purchase but that’s also knowing the shortcomings before purchasing. I wasn’t expecting amazing noise cancelling and I wasn’t expecting high quality audio playback. I wanted a decent pair of wireless headphones that were not in-ear style that I could take with me when I travel and could block out some noise and provide clean audio in a comfortable way for long periods of time. And with the 710N’s I got exactly that. I am happy with my choice and have always enjoyed Sony equipment. If you want to get the best of the best I would say go for the XM3’s but if you want some lower cost, get the job done headphones that you can trust to deliver your music with long battery life and some bonus features then get these 710Ns. You won’t be disappointed. TL;DR I like these headphones overall. They are not as good as high end, more expensive models like the XM3 but they are as good or better than other headphones in their price range. Noise cancelling is more like noise reducing and ambient mode is just ok but the NFC feature, the bluetooth connection strength, and the voice assistant all work great and add some features for those that want them. And for the old school users you can still hardwire your cans to your phone (if your phone has the headphone jack) and can then be used with a dead battery (without NC or Ambient mode obviously). The quality is decent and in line with other headphones in the price range. If you are looking for the best of the best, save some money and buy a better pair (I’d suggest Sony’s XM3) but if you are not an audiophile or just want a decent pair of cans then these will work perfect for you. PROS: - Good clean sound - Bluetooth connection is very strong and works great (with samsung s9+) - NFC creates quick easy connection - Voice assistant available - Battery level check with one tap of power button - Extremely long battery life - Decent noise reduction - Long term wear comfort - Option to use headphone aux cable to hardwire connect - Mostly plastic build but still strong sturdy feel CONS: - No high quality audio support - No app support currently (possibly added in update) - NC is just ok. Not full cancelling - Ambient mode doesn’t allow as much noise in as I would prefer - Max volume is lacking - No Carrying bag - Button layout is slightly difficult to use and navigate - Slight learning curve to remember what buttons do what with which push combination (ie push play button 3 times to skip back, 2 times to skip forward 1 time to pause etc etc)

The WH-CH710N noise cancelling headphones are a bit of a mixed bag for me. The design of these headphones is understated to say the least, with its fairly plain looking, matte black lightweight plastic construction, and moderately padded earpads/headband. It comes with a short USB-C charging cable, 3.5mm AUX cable for wired connections but no protective case, which is a shame because these cans can’t be folded up compactly for travel or storage. Each side of the headband extends up to 1.5” and the core is made of a flexible stainless steel over plastic which feels solid and durable. The earcups swivel about 120° to the sides and can be laid flat around your neck; they tilt about 30° to rest on the sides of your head too, so they’ll conform to most head shapes and sizes. Power and charging features, as well as an NFC touch area for one-touch pairing, are located on the left earcup while playback controls and the noise cancelling toggle are on the right. Both earcups have a pin hole mic for picking up ambient sound around you in order to provide directional stereo noise cancelling which is pretty neat. Fit wise, I found the grip of the band to be a tad tight, making the ear cushions press somewhat hard against the skin and causing some heat build up from the leatherette material. That, coupled with the nearly non-existent padding on the underside of the headband left me fatigued from having them on after only a few hours and had me wishing that they were just a little more comfortable for longer listening sessions, because while they may not have a premium look at this price point, the sound quality is actually very good. The sound produced from these is crisp and clear, delivered faithfully from the 30mm drivers housed in each earpiece. There is surprising depth and satisfying bass in the low ranges with bright trebles and rich, full mid-tones. The sound stage is open and wide while being placed far enough away that it doesn’t feel boxed in nor like you’re listening from afar. You can adjust the volume up and down using the controls right on the headphones and initiate play/pause and track skipping via the multi-function button between the volume keys. To turn on Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), just press the toggle button on the right earcup to give yourself a more intimate listening experience. Noise Cancelling mode boosts sound levels and reduces external noises around you picked up by the dual microphones. It works best to mute sounds that are close to you but wasn’t always precise or perfect. It seems to focus mostly on mid to low range frequencies like road noise or a constant fan humming in the background, and it didn’t do that great with higher frequencies, like the sound of keyboard typing and chattering voices in the background. With NC active and no music playing, you will hear a bit of white noise, like a soft wooshing or light wind. You can also use the NC toggle button to activate Ambient Noise mode which allows the sound around you to play through the headphones while listening to your music. This mode uses the mics to pass through the sound to your ears rather than block them, providing you with greater awareness of your surroundings. The headphones are capable of answering calls hands-free and activating a digital voice assistant, like Alexa or Siri, by long pressing the playback control button. Your voice is then picked up by the mics built-into the headphones, so you don’t have to pull out your phone. The battery, which can last up to 35 hours on Bluetooth with ANC enabled or up to 40 hours without, takes around 7 hours to fully charge. However, 10 minutes of charging gives you about an hour’s worth of play time due to the unit’s quick charging capability. Pairing over Bluetooth and NFC to my mobile phone was straightforward and easy, and I was able to connect and stream music from my phone without a problem. You do have the option to connect the unit to your device via the included cable to a headphone jack (and still use ANC provided there’s still some battery life), though you’ll lose the use of the on-board volume and playback controls. Listening without NC activated with the cable does not consume battery, so you can still use these if they are not charged. Overall, I did enjoy the sound quality and listening experience from these headphones. They are lightweight, durable, and easy to use. The noise cancellation performance was adequate, with some exception, though the bland design leaves a bit to be desired. The chief area I would say that could be improved is the comfort if you plan on wearing it for longer periods of time. However, the earpads are replaceable, if they wear out, or if you get tired of the ones included out-of-the-box, you can swap them for more cushy ones, if you can find the right size.

These over-the-ear headphones are very lightweight and comfortable to wear. They seemed to be designed to be operated while wearing them because they speak to you as you press the buttons, e.g. Power On/Off, Bluetooth Pairing/Connected/Disconnected, Noise Cancelling, Ambient Sound, etc. Press the power button briefly and it tells you the power level, hold the button a few seconds to turn on/off, and hold it for seven seconds to go into Bluetooth pairing mode. If you have Near Field Communications on your device, my cell phone has this capability, the Bluetooth connects and disconnects when held near the device. In the box are the headphones, and two cables: a headphone cable, and USB-A to USB-C cable. The USB cable is less that 8 inches, not sure why so short, it is difficult to plug into my charging transformer or computer. A 5-volt charging transformer is not included and it is not clear the desired wattage. It did take 7 hours to charge initially. It is listed as having a 35-hour playback time on a charge. The sound quality is very good, I play my music at very high fidelity and these headphones are handling the music exceedingly well. One thing that I wish Sony included is a case for the headphones. There are third-party cases available online. These headphones seem to provide many of the features of Sony’s higher end headphones at a more modest price point. I would certainly recommend them for everyday use. I tested the tree modes; Ambient, Noise Cancelling, and Off. We live on a busy street with much traffic, cars and heavy trucks, which was a perfect setting for the test. Noise Cancelling mode did a great job compensating for the exterior noise, the traffic is loud, and I could barely hear it. As expected in Ambient mode the microphones passed through the street sounds with the music, good if I were walking around and needed to also hear what is going on in the environment and listen to the music. Ambient off turns off the microphones so there is no pass-through sound, so it will depend on the outside volume and your music volume as to how much outside sound you hear. Ambient off also means that Noise Cancelling is off, so if you do not like the compensation that noise cancelling provides, this is your mode. I need to also disclose that I did receive these headphones at a discount in exchange for my honest review. I am pleased with the quality that these headphones provide at a very reasonable price.

I like this headset. It has good sound and blocks sound well. What I don’t like is they don’t fold up when I’m not using them…other than that they are great! I used them on my trip to Mexico and they stayed charged for the plane ride. I was able to block out the other passengers and enjoy the ride.

It's been good overall other than the quality of the material. It's not even been a month for me and got cracks already around the corner of the headband(both the side). I really do support this headphone especially for the Noise cancellation option which is amazing. Pros: * Long battery life * Comfortable *Sound quality *USB-C cons: Poor plastic material.

Everything about this headset is made of better looking material than the black ones... depending on your color preference of course, but if unsure, go with grey....

Sony's WH-CH710N noise cancelling headphones offer good noise cancelling and "bassy" sound. They are a bit smaller than you'd imagine them being from the pictures but they are comfortable and have great battery life. They come equipped with a USB Type-C port and a NFC so you can pair them easily with your devices. There is also a 3.5mm jack so you can be plug in your headphones directly to your device. The buttons on the sides of the headphones take some time to get used to as they are designed more to be hidden instead of "used", I think touch controls would've made for better interface interactions. The volume on these headphones isn't what I would call loud, but the noise cancelling offsets most of the noise that would normally distract you. In fact someone was able to sneak up and surprise me while I was listening to music which normally doesn't happen to me! There is also a pass through noise mode that uses the microphones on the headphones to let you hear what's going on around you which is a very nice safety feature. Speaking of the microphones I placed a few phone calls with this headset and got no complaints about the microphone quality. The Sony WH-CH710N's do not currently work with Sony's mobile headphone app so you cannot adjust the equalizer or other headphone related settings, but maybe that functionality will get added in the future. Overall I'm satisfied with the CH710N's as they're comfortable and I don't have to worry much about battery life or other sounds getting in the way of my listening experience.

I bought these for home use, since COVID-19 has forced so many people to work from home. These headphones are fine for indoor use or quite outdoors settings. If you're a daily commuter in a big city, it won't block out the outside noise completely. Pros: * Long battery life - I can use these for 3+ days before I have to charge it. I use them about 4+ hours a day and my wife uses them around the house while cooking or relaxing. * Comfortable - I use this working from home, since COVID-19 has closed many offices. I wear them 4+ hrs a day and they don't bother me. Ears get a little sweaty after wearing them for a long time. *Sound quality - clear, crisp sound. Just what you expect from Sony. Not overly loud but plenty loud for your average user. *Microphone - I have not had a single person say they had issues hearing me in a phone conversation using these. *USB-C - love the fact they switched to USB-C. For Samsung and newer iPhone users. Cons: *Cheap plastic material. I think the type of plastic they used was too brittle and not flexible enough for durability (see picture) for putting on and taking off. In less than 2 months of use, both sides of the headphones have cracked. While it doesn't affect the ability to adjust the size of the headphones, but you would expect more for headphones with a sticker price of $200 or $250. Maybe it is because of my big head, that I have to stretch the headphones a little more than the average person, but none the less, it shouldn't happen with headphones at this price point. For the average user, these headphones are more than plenty. Ideal for music, watching videos, or phone calls in a indoor setting. I am sure they would work fine mowing the lawn too. Just won't block out the lawn mower completely. However, if you're looking for high end noise canceling, these are definately not for you. You will probably need to look at a higher price point. The reason I gave these only 3 stars, is simply the quality of the materials used didn't fit the high sticker price. Otherwise for my use, I dont have any complaints about the headphones when actually using them. For $88, I kept them but if I would have returned them if I had paid the full sticker price.