I replaced my AirPods with Sony's budget earbuds – there's only one thing I'll miss

I’ve been reviewing earbuds for over a year, and I’ve started to think about the price of earbuds in terms of airfare. For example, I could buy a flight across the country with the money I spend on a pair of Sony’s WF-1000XM5 earbuds. Yes, those buds have some immersive audio, but would I rather spend that money on a vacation? When it comes to $300 earbuds, the answer is usually yes. 

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Sony seems to be catching onto this ideology. When I heard about an exciting new earbud coming from the audio giant, I was half expecting a WF-1000XM6 release. Instead, Sony launched its WF-C710N, a budget noise-canceling earbud that’s $180 less than the luxury model’s $300 price tag. These are the successors to the WF-C700N, and they upgrade several features that the previous generation lacked. 

I tried out the earbuds to see if they were a worthy addition to my budget earbuds lineup. Here’s how they measured up.  

In my ears, the WF-C710N are chunky, but hold their place. I wore them at the gym on the elliptical, the bench, and on the weight machines, and they (mostly) stayed in without a problem. Their form factor doesn’t allow them to completely dissolve into my ears, so I wouldn’t say they’re great for long-haul workouts, but for less movement-heavy use (such as at the office) they work quite well. 

If you do take them to the office, they could last the entire week thanks to their 30-hour battery life (60 minutes of battery off a five-minute charge). Not bad if you only have short sprints of time to charge them throughout the day. 

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The sound on these is simply unbelievable for the price. If you only care about getting the best audio quality for the lowest cost, these are hands-down the best option. The app has a custom EQ feature to tune the music just how you like it, but even without it, you’ll experience bright, clear, and robust sound quality that sounds like they’re coming from a pair that’s much more expensive than $120.

Sony also improved on the WF-C700N with responsive touch controls, better in-app EQ adjustments, and smoother in-ear detection. You can also turn on the voice pass through mode in the app to automatically start and stop music when it detects talking. All these new features make the earbuds convenient for everyday use in the office, in the library, during commutes, and at the gym. 

Unfortunately, the noise-canceling is negligible with these earbuds in. Sony’s strategy here is to rely on powerful sound to drown out external noise, not active noise cancellation. It works: while listening to some classical music and reading a book in my room, the earbuds’ powerful sound distracted me from the arrival of a relative who had come through the door and was talking to my parents in a neighboring room. 

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Most people won’t have a problem with this strength of noise cancellation that won’t fully tune them out of their environment, but if you’re looking for earbuds with active noise cancellation, I’d recommend the Bose QuietComfort Ultra or AirPods Pro 2. 

As far as their physical appearance goes, they come in White, Black, Pink, and Glass Blue, and have a stemless build. From the feel of it, the pill-shaped case is lightweight and plasticky. The earbuds have a matte finish that make them less tactile compared to glossy earbuds; this slightly impacts their stability but isn’t a dealbreaker. 

ZDNET’s buying advice

I’d recommend the Sony WF-C710N earbuds to audiophiles on a budget who want clean and robust audio under $150. Knowing that Sony audio normally gets a 20% discount during sales events like Amazon’s Prime Day or Black Friday, there’s a chance you could purchase these earbuds for less than $100 within the next year — that’s a steal for such high-quality sound. 

Bring these earbuds to the office for crystal-clear music (and 30 hours of use), or to the gym to keep you locked into your workout. While they deliver powerful sound that eliminates some external noise, I wouldn’t recommend them as a superior noise-canceling pick.