Over the past couple of years, Sony has steadily climbed the popularity charts in India when it comes to headphones. Now, you see a sizeable number of people sporting Sony headphones on a flight, even as the actual number of people preferring to own a good headphone has been on the ascendancy. Sony has made good inroads in the noise cancelling space too with its MDR series, which got a good upgrade recently.
However, Bluetooth noise cancelling headphones have traditionally been expensive, and hence had a limited acceptance. Sony is trying to change that with the new WH-CH700N, an affordable noise cancelling headphone aimed at those on the move.
Sony WH-CH700N price in India: Rs 12,990
The Sony WH-CH700N looks like other headphones from the company with a trademark over the ear design, a cushy headband and prominent chrome brand logo. The ear cups are soft, but not memory foam. Over long hours of listening you will not experience any discomfort with these ear cups. Since I was testing in the Delhi winters, I am unsure if you will feel hot inside the cups after a while.
There are controls under both the left and right cups. The left one has the power/pairing button and another button that can be adjusted to on/off noise cancelling or to call up Google Assistant. I preferred the noise cancelling option to be on the headphone, as going to the headphone app on the phone all the time to do this would be a pain. I am not someone who uses Google Assistant or Siri that much. On the right, you have the volume as well as play/pause and skip song toggle. You will need to use this to receive or cut a call also.
The audio quality is wide based and with the equaliser on the app, you can get to be where you want it precisely. Sony’s high bass might be a huge selling point, but not something I love much. So I could move to something that was a bit more sharper on the ear. The overall experience was really good, and even with a playlist meant just for audiophiles I loved the sound reproduction.
For me, a bit use of noise cancelling headphones is to have them on without any music so that I can sleep on a long flight or just focus on work. With the Sony WH-CH700N, the noise cancelling is affecting, but very subtle when you compare with when it is not on. Actually, the ear cups themselves keep a lot of the noise out and you can live without the noise cancelling switched on.
But then there is no harm in doing so, as the Sony WH-CH700N comes with one of the best battery lives I have encountered on any headphone. It can offer up to 35 hours of playback, given you are playing it as a reasonable volume. Even if it drains out, you can use a cable to connect to a source and enjoy the music. This is a great plus point for the headphone as you can leave the charger at home for a two-day trip.
The audio quality on calls is good and Sony claims these are in HD, when the headphone itself is not Hi-Fi enabled for audio.
The Sony WH-CH700N comes across a good option for those who were looking for a mid-range noise cancelling headphone. Given the overall audio performance and superb battery life, this could end up being a new success for Sony.
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