Design & Construction

While we wait for the much awaited WF-1000XM5 launch rumored to be out soon, Sony has dropped us a new model in its affordable range of earbuds. The WF-C700N sits comfortably in between the most wallet-friendly option of the WF-C500 and the mid-range Linkbuds S. So is the WF-C700N worth the extra dollars over the WF-C500 or should you go for the Linkbuds S instead? Well, there is only one way to find out. Ever since the Linkbuds S. Sony's lineup of earbuds have all improved in their size and fit and this new model is no different; sharing a similar design as the WF-C500. The earbuds nestled snugly into the ear and feels lightweight for long-term wear. Although the rounded shape looks conventional, it is proven to give users a secure fit while ensuring ease of use. The front side does protrude out of its half-sphere design to house a rather visible microphone grille similar to the Linkbuds S. The earbuds sit just right in your ears like most earbuds on the market today. It does feels much more similar to the WF-C500 or any of the Jabra Elite lineup of earbuds as it is still quite hard to forget that you have earbuds in. Both earbuds bear the Sony logo debossed on the side of the earbuds appealing to those who are after a subtle look. All the controls for music playback and calls are controlled via both buttons on the face of the earbuds themselves. Since they still use trusty physical old school buttons, button presses are tactile and responsive. And of course, the best thing is that you have the ability to customise the controls. Now for the controls, a single press on the right earbud will play/pause your music, a double press will skip forward and a triple press will skip backward; holding it down will launch your choice of smart assistant of Alexa, Siri or Google. Moving to the left earbud, a single press will cycle through Active Noise Cancellation or Ambient Sound. This time, Speak-to-Chat and Quick Attention are dropped as a cost-saving measure since they are premium features reserved for Sony higher-tier earbuds. There is also no auto-pause feature, so your music will not pause if you remove one earbud from your ear. To enable Bluetooth pairing, you can long press the button at the back of the case while the earbuds are still in and complete the process before removing the earbuds from the case. Moving on to the case, it is pill-shaped and rounded to fit right into my palm, it is definitely one of the smallest true wireless cases when compared to the competition and it will fit in tight jeans pockets perfectly. A USB Type-C port can be found at the back of the case. The hinges holding the cover and body of the case is strong and is likely to survive a couple of accidental drops. The earbuds do magnetically click into place when they are docked into the case. Like all true wireless earbuds, they do dock in very easily and will not fall out when the case is flipped since there are magnets inside to keep them secure. In the box, there are extra sizes of silicone ear tips to ensure a tight seal and secure fit. Even though the WF-C700N isn't a sports earbud, it boasts a decent IPX4 water resistance for those quick workouts or rainy days, giving users the ultimate peace of mind. The earbuds also do a great job at resisting fingerprints smudges with a matte finish.

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Sound Quality

Energetic, lively and bass-focused is how I would describe the sound of the WF-C700N. Let's start off with the bass response. In short, it is deep and boomy. It never managed to distort at loud volume but does bleeds into the mids when it is at a low volume level. The bass levels match up against the Sennheiser CX Plus SE and the Marshall Motif ANC. The highs sound somewhat bright and detailed. The mids do sound extremely crisp with good clarity. The soundstage is non-existent and definitely nowhere as wide compared to the more expensive models of the Linkbuds S or the WF-1000XM4 but still on par with the Jabra Elite 4 and the Beats Studio Buds. The instrument separation is decent with some left and right channels separation being heard clearly. If you are not so much of an EDM or Hip-Hop fan, I am glad to report that the WF-C700N works perfectly with all other genres ranging from Pop to Jazz after you fiddle with the customisable sound settings in the Sony Headphones Connect App available for download from the App & Play Store. In the app, you are first greeted with the earbuds and case battery status with the codecs in use as well as DSEE. Moving downwards, we have a few tabs here, starting with the Status tab. First, Adaptive Sound Control allows for the toggling of different noise-canceling modes like Walking, Staying, Running, and Transport. Each has different levels of noise-canceling and ambient sound mode. Of course, users can toggle between ANC, ambient sound, voice passthrough, or just turn it off completely. This feature has improved to be faster and more responsive than before to also track your frequently visited locations and kick in the right amount of ambient sound control when you are there so you don't have to physically switch each time. You may register your locations either from learned ones or from the map itself. However, if you are concerned over giving away your location data to Sony, you may turn off this option as well. There is also the option to enable/disable the notification tone when a mode switches too. Personally, I hardly use this feature but having tried it couple of times, I am confident to say that its accuracy is fantastic. You will then see the current song playing and adjust the volume slider or skip songs in this setting too. One of the newer features here is the option to measure your volume levels for hearing safety. Working with World Health Organisation, the app shows us a range of sound decibels of frequent daily sounds for us to benchmark our volume levels for hearing protection. This feature will keep track of your volume levels for 7 days to understand if you are listening too loud for your own good. Honestly, quite a handy feature that is very relevant in today's world. Moving onto the Sound tab, we will see the main feature here, Ambient Sound Control. Based on my testing and usage, the Sony WF-C700N fares quite well in its ANC abilities for its price point. The earbuds does better at cancelling out lower frequencies like an AC unit hum or train commuting noises when there was no music playing while being able to cancel out more higher frequencies noises such as construction and flight noises with music playing above 50% volume levels. Now, you may also switch to Ambient Sound Mode where you can utilise the microphones to take in surrounding noises for safety as well as focus on voice which keeps the ambient noise low and takes in more of human voices instead as well as turn off all settings for passive noise isolation. Just like before, there is a slider to toggle between level 1 to 20 of ambient sound intake. Comparing the Ambient Sound Mode with the AirPods Pro, I would give the edge to Apple's Transparency Mode as it is simply the most natural-sounding transparency that seems to know what to filter out and take in. There is also the essential sound equaliser with presets ranging from Bright, Excited, Mellow, Bass Boost, Treble Boost, Speech Etc. You can also choose to customise your own to make the headphones great for all genres of music ranging from soothing jazz to bass-heavy EDM tracks. 360 Reality Audio being Sony’s object-based spatial audio technology adds to that immersive experience. However, this feature is currently only available to users of 360 By Deezer, nugs.net, Artist Connection and TIDAL. There is no support for mainstream music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, or Youtube Premium as of yet. You will need to do a photographic scan of both of your ears and the app will find the most optimised sound field for your listening. Lastly, there is the option to switch priorities between sound quality or stable connection if the Bluetooth signal is unstable and the addition of DSEE to enhance the quality of the music output. Dolby Atmos support is also available with the compatible Sony WLA-NS7 wireless transmitter when connected to a BRAVIA XR TV. Call quality is pretty average as the caller on the other end feedback that the microphones do pick up some surrounding noises with the need for me to speak up especially when outdoors with wind and city noises. Moving to the System tab, you can change the headphones controls to be enabled/disabled and customised to cycle between the 3 options of Ambient Sound Control, Volume Control, Playback Control or have no function assigned to either earbuds. Ambient Sound Control Operation can cycle between the 3 options of ANC, Ambient Sound and Passive Noise Isolation or use just 2 options of ANC and Ambient Sound only as I have set here. The headphones can also be toggled to automatically power off after a certain period of time from 15 minutes to 3 hours. There are other more settings like the language of voice guidance and automatic download of software updates with the option to reset all the settings to original if you mess up any. In other portions of the app, there is an achievement-like dashboard to show your listening hours, locations and actions, listening volumes and earn badges. Not the most useful feature here, but some extra data is better than none I guess. Lastly, the information tab shows all your notifications for software updates and couple of user-friendly tips. In other settings, you can backup or restore your settings when you sign in with your Sony account and turn off the headphones from the app itself.

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Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds supports the basic SBC and AAC codecs together with Bluetooth Version 5.2. With ANC, the battery life peaks at 7.5 hours per use and additional 7.5 hours from the case giving you up to a total of 15 hours of playtime. Without ANC, the earbuds battery can be stretched to 10 hours per use. The package also comes with a USB Type-C cable for charging. It takes about 3 hours to charge both the case and the earbuds from a dead battery. If you are in a rush, the earbuds feature quick charge where a 10 minute charge will give you up to 1 hour of playback. There is however a lack of Qi wireless charging on the WF-C700N. The headphones' connectivity to the app is perfect as I never experienced it being unable to detect my in-ear headphones. The WF-C700N also support Google’s Fast Pair feature that enable effortless Bluetooth pairing with your Android devices. You can easily locate where you left your headphones by ringing them, check their last known location on your smartphone or receive a notification when your headphones battery is running low so you know when to charge them. These features are further enhanced with Swift Pair on a Windows laptop, desktop PC or tablet as pop-up pairing guidance will appear on compatible devices when pairing mode is selected. Fortunately, this time Sony is including Bluetooth Multi-point connection that allows you to connect more than one device to the earbuds at any one time especially if you have both a laptop and a phone in use at the same time and you want to be able to take calls on one and listen to music on the other. If you are planning to watch videos or movies with these, I am glad to report that they do not suffer from much visible latency. Should you also wish to only use one earbud at one time, either earbud is available to do so.

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PROS​​

• Environmentally-friendly Design

• Ergonomic Fit

• Low Profile

• Adaptive Sound Control

• Ambient Sound Control

• In-App Equalizer

• Strong Noise-Cancelling

• Quick Charging

• Quick Pairing

• IPX4 Water Resistance

• Bluetooth 5.2

• Multi-point Bluetooth

• A Range of Colours

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CONS​​​​

• No Quick Attention

• No Speak-To-Chat

• No LDAC/AptX Codec Support

• No Qi Wireless Charging

The Bottom Line

In all, the WF-C700N is a well-priced everyday ANC earbuds that is essential to the no-frills individual. The top features why it is a great choice in a saturated market of true wireless earbuds has got to be its strong noise-cancelling, energetic sound as well as overall app and user experience. It is indeed a seamless and hassle-free experience that Sony has always nailed. The WF-C700N is definitely the way to go if you need a complete package with an attractive price tag to match. 4 colours of Black, White, Sage Green and Lavender are available to suit users of different personalities and styles.