Sony WF-C700N Review – The Best Mid-Range Earbuds?

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You know when you use a product and it just makes sense? Well, that’s exactly how my week with the Sony WF-C700N earbuds has felt.

Mid-range earbuds have been getting better and better in recent years. Companies like Huawei, Nothing, JLab and more have been putting out impressively high-quality earbuds for around the $100/£100 mark.

And then there’s Sony. Known primarily for their WH-1000XM5 headphones and corresponding earbuds which are both relatively high-budget bits of kit.

But look a bit further and you’ll find the Sony WF-C700N earbuds. And I think, for the money you pay, these earbuds tick all the right boxes if you’re willing to trade off slightly in the sound quality department.

Design and fit

I’m starting this review off by covering the design for a reason: I love it.

The material the earbuds are made from is a rough textured plastic that feels satisfyingly tactile to hold and very different from the smooth material often used in earbuds like AirPods 4.

The colours also offer something different with nicely muted Lavender and Sage Green (my review unit) alongside Black and White.

But most of all, I love how the Sony WF-C700N fit in your ear. The in-ear stem is angled so that the casing of the earbuds sticks out just the right amount from your head. The casing itself is a rounded design which slots perfectly into the main curve of the ear cartilage.

It’s a secure, comfortable fit that barely protrudes from your ear meaning you aren’t walking around with huge balls of plastic protruding from your head, which is the case for larger earbuds like the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8.

I forgot they were in my ears whenever I was wearing them.

Sound quality

For a pair of mid-range, reasonably priced earbuds, there’s a lot going on here in terms of audio profile.

Much of the work is done by a 5mm driver which is small in comparison to more expensive headphones. But it does a good job at delivering a deep enough bass that is rarely distorted, thanks in part to the high-compliance diaphragm. 

The mid-range is particularly good which means listening to things like podcasts is a great experience. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any range, these earbuds handle complex music well. Intentionally distant noises sound distant whereas prominent instruments take center stage and sound crisp and bold.

It isn’t perfect. There are times when you lose certain elements in particularly muddy tracks, the bass sometimes struggling to sound coherent. Particularly high frequencies do sometimes sound tinny but this was very rare and only noticeable if you pay close attention. You can compare this sound profile to Apple’s with our full AirPods buying guide.

As I said, these earbuds sound great in the mid-range, where most people are going to be listening to things. Nothing is too overpowering and they feel dialled in correctly straight out of the box.

Handily though, you can adjust the EQ to your heart’s content in Sony’s Sound Connect app. The app itself is incredibly user-friendly with sliders for more expert fine-tuning as well as simple sound profile presets like ‘Mellow’ or ‘Excited’ which you can switch between.

All-in-all, these headphones sound like they cost about $90. And that isn’t meant as a bad thing.

Everything is smooth, the bass is solid and the range is more than enough for most users. It isn’t a premium, studio-quality sound but that’s not what you’re after at this price range. You want great sound for everyday use. And that’s exactly what the Sony WF-C700N earbuds offer.

Noise Cancelling and Ambient Sound

There are two main modes with the Sony WF-C700N’s; noise cancelling and ambient sound.

You’ll end up spending most of your time using noise cancelling and Sony has done a good-if-not-perfect job of it. When you’re at home, you won’t hear a thing outside of your ears but in public, the noise cancelling is less effective. On the train for example you can still hear most of the louder noises like creaks, squeaks and announcements.

It isn’t a full lock-out from the outside world but in environments like an office, it’ll work just fine.

A surprise for me was the inclusion of Ambient Sound mode (which is like Apple’s Transparency Mode). Maybe I’m just out of touch but to get a form of transparency mode in earbuds for less than $100 seems like a steal.

These ambient noise modes are hit or miss. Some headphones do it well, like AirPods Pro 2 and some less well, like, well like the Sony WH-1000XM5. The good news is that the WH-C700N do it.

When activated, the Ambient Sound mode lets in noises from the outside world through the use of external microphones. Sounds like cars and people talking get blended with whatever you are listening to. It sounds a bit odd and certain things get boosted over others like louder, sharper noises.

When I activated it on a train, I could hear the noises from the machinery at a louder level than I would have without wearing my headphones. In a quiet room with people talking to me though, it was far more effective, focusing on voices and boosting them just enough to hear them.

The app also lets you activate Adaptive Sound Control which automatically switches between noise cancelling and ambient sound modes depending on your surroundings and/or body position. I found this to work pretty terribly. In the gym for example, whenever I bent down it would switch to allow ambient noise in. And it struggled to accurately detect when someone was talking directly to me.

But as I say, what really matters about these modes is that they just work and Sony’s Ambient Sound certainly does.

If you read our Beats Solo Buds review, you’ll know that they cost the same amount as the Sony WF-C700N but have no full noise cancelling mode or transparency mode.

Trust me, there’s a lot going for these earbuds!

Usability and case

I’m not going to stop saying positive things about the WF-C700N earbuds. You know why? Because they have actual tactile buttons!

It’s a matter of personal preference but headphones and earbuds with actual real buttons are far superior to those with touch controls. For the uninitiated, touch controls are non-mechanical buttons that respond to your fingertips, like a touchscreen.

Touch controls are fiddly, unreliable and generally make doing things like skipping a song or adjusting volume much less precise. The WF-C700N have HUGE buttons, one on each earbud that click when you press them.

It makes using them so easy. One press on the left earbud turns the Ambient Sound mode on, a double press on the right and you skip ahead five seconds. All earbuds should have mechanical buttons, fight me in the comments if you disagree.

As for the case, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. It’s oblong in shape; long and fat rather than tall and thin. Thankfully, it fits into a trouser pocket with ease and has a USB-C charging port. Pairing the WF-C700N earbuds is done through the button on the rear of the case.

Battery

Sony says the WF-C700N have up to 15 hours of battery life. That breaks down into 7.5 hours from the earbuds and 7.5 hours extra from the case.

In my experience, this has been pretty accurate. I’ve been plugging the case in to charge the earbuds about once every three days.

The app tells you how much charge you have left in each individual earbud as well as the case. A small light on the front of the case also changes colour to let you know when you need to charge up.

Forgetting to charge your earbuds is one of the most annoying things about using them and Sony does all it can to avoid this from happening.

Price

Sony currently sells these earbuds for $99/£89 on their website which is already a great deal.

But you can find them for $10 less at Walmart through this link, or for £10 less on Amazon through this link.

At these prices, I can’t think of another pair of earbuds that come out on top. Sure, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds might sound a bit richer and more dynamic, but they cost $180. If you really care about sound quality that much then by all means pay the premium.

But, if you are happy with a pair of earbuds that sound great in most situations, and come with effective noise-cancelling, it is hard not to recommend the Sony WF-C700N.

Conclusion

I think it’s clear from my review and my time with these earbuds that I like them a lot.

They don’t have the most interesting audio profile, they don’t sound like studio-quality earbuds and the transparency mode is a bit wonky. But I’m not reviewing a $200 pair of ‘Pro’ earbuds with the latest and greatest hardware.

If you don’t want to pay above $100/£100 and aren’t after the absolute tip-top in audio quality, then the Sony WF-700CN earbuds are so worth buying.

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