Thanks to the fast charge function, you can use the headphones for 1 hour after 10 minutes of charging.
Quickly establish a Bluetooth connection via NFC by shortly holding the charging case to your smartphone.
With the Sony Headphones Connect app, you can personalize the sound reproduction via an equalizer.
According to our expert, the noise-canceling headphones are of basic quality, which means ambient noise is only partially suppressed.
Description
With the Sony WH-CH700N headphones, you can wirelessly listen to music. Use Bluetooth to wirelessly connect the headphones to your phone or tablet. That way you won't be bothered by cables hanging along your body, and you'll have complete freedom of movement. With a fully charged battery, you can play music for up to 35 hours. Thanks to the quick charge function, you can enjoy your favorite songs for 1 hour after 10 minutes of charging. The active noise canceling lightly muffles ambient sound.
Sound according to the expert
The Sony WH-CH700N are headphones whose factory settings slightly emphasize the bass sound. The frequency range that makes the instruments and vocals audible is balanced. This means that the medium-high tones can't be heard more or less emphatically. Do you like a different kind of sound? Use the built-in equalizer. This allows you to adjust the low, medium and high tones yourself, so that the headphones deliver the sound you are looking for.
With the Sony WH-CH700N headphones, you can wirelessly listen to music. Use Bluetooth to wirelessly connect the headphones to your phone or tablet. That way you won't be bothered by cables hanging along your body, and you'll have complete freedom of movement. With a fully charged battery, you can play music for up to 35 hours. Thanks to the quick charge function, you can enjoy your favorite songs for 1 hour after 10 minutes of charging. The active noise canceling lightly muffles ambient sound.
Sound according to the expert
The Sony WH-CH700N are headphones whose factory settings slightly emphasize the bass sound. The frequency range that makes the instruments and vocals audible is balanced. This means that the medium-high tones can't be heard more or less emphatically. Do you like a different kind of sound? Use the built-in equalizer. This allows you to adjust the low, medium and high tones yourself, so that the headphones deliver the sound you are looking for.
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Excellent sound and not to spend too much money? this is it!
Excellent sound, especially for this price range
Easy to use
Sony's app for these Headphones works very well
Not fully collapsible
The sound you get from these headphones is very good, especially for an entry level headphone. Don't expect these headphones to sound as good as other Sony models that are $150 more expensive like WH-1000XM. I also tested this one. But the wh-ch700n comes pretty close. So there is nothing to complain about the sound and especially with the equalizer app from sony you can adjust your own sound very precisely the way you want it. The headphones are more than capable of even cranking up the bass to maximum volume without any crackling sounds.
The build quality is fine. The headband is adjustable and reinforced with aluminum. For the rest, most parts are made of plastic, which does not feel bad or cheap.
Then the Active Noise Canceling. The ANC works as it should: it suppresses and muffles bass and noise. It is also clearly noticeable when the ANC is on, but I myself do not suffer from that feeling that your ears are closed due to a difference in pressure. By the way, don't expect this ANC to be as good as the expensive WH-100MX series (this one has one of the or perhaps the best ANC on the market). Higher tones are not filtered out by the ANC. So it is still clearly noticeable when someone is talking to you, even if ANC is on. All in all, this feature works as it should.
The Bluetooth function also works great. Never experienced any hiccups, even when my phone was in another room with a wall between the headphones and the phone itself. Keep in mind that on YouTube (not Netflix somehow) there is some delay when you watch a movie. Incidentally, this is minimal, almost not noticeable. Only when you start paying attention to the mouth of the talking person. Only then is it noticeable that the sound is not 100% synchronized with the image, but this makes sense because the headphones are connected via Bluetooth.
The headset itself is easy to use: clear buttons, connects quickly to the phone. Nothing to note.
And finally the place of these headphones among other competitors such as the JBL E65BT NC, which by the way is 2 tens more expensive. I doubted a lot between the Sony and the JBL headphones. After trying them both, I'm glad I went for the Sony wh ch700n. This one has a much better sound than the JBL, which sounds much muffled and flatter. The Sony headphones sound much deeper/richer and each instrument layer is clearly distinguishable from each other.
When it comes to sound, the Sony clearly wins. But what the JBl does better is the ANC: it also filters out more higher tones and is therefore better when it comes to filtering out voices, for example.
So if you think sound is more important than ANC, I would 100% definitely go for the Sony. The ANC is still doing its job well. But do you think it is really important that you hear people less (say you work in the office, for example) with the ANC function on and you don't mind that you have a flatter but still reasonable sound, then I would go for the JBL or spend a little more money yourself and go for a WH100XM3. The ANC is really ridiculously good on these more expensive headphones from Sony. Anyway, the Sony WH-CH700N is a great choice if you like good sound, especially at this price. The fact that these headphones are not *fully* foldable is not a disaster. For 5-10 euros you have a cheap hardshell in which these headphones fit well and are protected. All in all, a Tank of headphones and definitely recommended!!
T. oord
3 February 2019
Automatically translated from Dutch
9,2/10
Nice headphones for a very good price
Good sound with nice bass
Many options like Google Assistant
Leather cushion for pleasant wearing comfort
Noise Canceling could be better
Introduction
In this review I will take a close look at the Sony WH-CN700N. These headphones struck me because of the many functions it has and the great wearing comfort. I have been a fan of Sony for quite some time and before this I had a 3.5 mm jack headphones in combination with my iPhone 6s. Unfortunately, my mobile is getting worse and I switched to the iPhone XR. Unfortunately, it no longer has a 3.5 mm jack, something that I still find ridiculous in 2019 because that is normal on every phone. So I was forced to opt for a bluetooth headset, because I still wanted to stick with the iPhone. My requirements were affordable, pleasant wearing comfort and over-ear. I don't like on-ear headphones, because I suffer from the phenomenon of sweaty ears, even after walking for a while. You would say that your ears will sweat more with over-ear headphones, but in practice that is not so bad for me. I also preferred to stay with Sony, because I think their headphone line is just good and Sony is a nice brand. Read on for my findings on these headphones.
In the box:
You will find the following parts in the box:
• Sony WH-CH700N headphones
• micro USB cable
• 120cm 3.5mm jack
• Owner's Manuals + Quick Start Guide
First use
When opening the box, I immediately noticed that I was dealing with a finely finished product. The headphones are neatly packaged and feel sturdy. The over-ear cushions are from Skaileer and feel solid and good. I was able to control it quite easily with my phone's Bluetooth. You have to press the button on the button for 4 seconds, the light will flash and you can pair it via your mobile.
The instruction manual refers to an App with which you can operate your headphones. This App can be downloaded for free in the Appstore or in the Google Play Store. The app is called “Headphones Connect”. When opening the app, you will almost immediately receive a message to connect your device. After that, he comes right away with a software update.
What is unfortunate is that the battery was not sufficiently charged for this and so he had to fetch via USB first. According to the manual, it needs to be charged for 7 hours with an empty battery. For me it was 4 hours after the first charge.
Once the new software is installed, you can see very nicely in the app what the battery status of your headphones is and whether they are still connected with bluetooth. But you can do more with the app. For example, you can turn Noise Canceling on or off, it has an Equalizer, the focus on sound quality can be adjusted and it works with Google Assistant. For this you have to download the Google Assistant App. With the Equalizer you can even choose multiple pre-installed profiles or create one yourself. Do you want more bass, or more treble, it's all adjustable.
In addition, there is an app called “Music Center” in which you can create playlists, link to Spotify and see basic settings of the headphones. It is not very extensive and also not a requirement to install this second app.
Furthermore, it says on the box that these headphones have a number of functions
HD Voice
The Sony WH-CH700N supports HD Voice. This feature requires that the phone you are calling also supports HD Voice. Most providers in the Netherlands already support HD Voice and if you have a fairly recent mobile phone, you can use this technology.
HD Voice is a compression technique that improves the sound quality of telephone conversations and makes the voices sound more natural. The "tinny" effect disappears. Ambient noise is also better filtered out with HD Voice. This is because HD voice uses a wider frequency range and therefore higher and lower tones come through better.
10 minutes fast charge
With this function, Sony claims that after 10 minutes of charging you can listen to music again for 60 minutes. Ideal if you're on an airplane and want to grab some power from your laptop or use the USB connection in the plane for this.
Listening to music for up to 35 hours
This is very nice and in practice means that if you use your headphones every day and have to cycle to work for an hour every day (back and forth), they should last more than 3 weeks. Practice should show whether it really is that long. You can save battery via the app by even turning off a number of functions such as Noise Cancellation.
NFC
These headphones also have Near Field Communication. This means that you can exchange data very quickly that is also encrypted and less susceptible to interference than Bluetooth. So if you have an Android device, you can easily set up a bluetooth connection by using NFC. You switch on NFC on your phone and hold the phone briefly (less than 10 cm) against the headphones. It is also possible with an iPhone, only there the NFC functionalities are still limited. The headphones will connect, but you still have to manually set up the bluetooth connection.
3.5mm jack
With this phone you still have the option to connect it analog via the 3.5mm jack cable. This is useful if you work with a laptop that does not have bluetooth or if you have an older phone with a 3.5mm jack. The advantage of connecting it analog is that you do not suffer from lip sync.
I have noticed that while watching YouTube videos or movies on Netflix, the sound is not completely in sync with the text. I've also found that if I turn off other bluetooth devices it gets better, but not nearly as good as analog.
Google Assistant
A nice addition, because you can ask all kinds of questions with the Google assistant and get the feedback in your headphones. But notifications are also read out for you, such as incoming messages via WhapsApp, Twitter or other apps. What is also nice is that you can ask to play the next song or to pause etc. A disadvantage of this is that it can be annoying, because you hear a sound every time you get an incoming message etc. Fortunately, you turn this off
If you use this at home and you also have a Google Home at home, it is confusing. Because as soon as you start talking to the headphones, the Google Home gets confused. He will then answer and not understand what you mean. You can easily solve this by muting the Google Home you have at home.
Sound quality
These headphones use a 40mm dynamic driver and provide a pleasant and beautifully full sound. The basses are nicely present, but certainly not overpowering. This will sometimes take the upper hand with some headphones, so that the sound has too much bass.
However, the sound immediately sounds much better if you assign an Equalizer profile or do some tuning yourself. Especially the basses come in handy then. The headphones can be quite loud if you operate them with your mobile. At high volume, the sound is sometimes slightly distorted. The impedance (resistance of the headphones) is 48 Ohms, which is very nice, especially for this money.
If you really want studio-quality headphones, you have to make sure that they have more than 60 Ohms of impedance.
Noise Canceling
These headphones use Noise Cancelling. What exactly is that?
There are two types of noise cancellation, namely passive and active. With passive noise cancellation, your ear canal is closed and ambient noise is reduced. It sits on many closed-back over-ear headphones.
Active noise cCncelling is used by adding anti-noise. Good insulation stops higher frequencies. This is achieved, among other things, by the microphone that converts these outside sounds into a signal. Then it enters a noise canceling circuit where the anti-noise is created. This is then passed on to the loudspeaker without distortion. The combination of the ambient noise and anti-noise ensures that monotonous ambient noise is muffled.
The Sony WH-CH700N uses active noise canceling. Yet I have the idea that not everything is filtered out, despite the fact that the NC is active. I live in Amsterdam where there is a lot of ambient noise and when I put on the headphones I hear a lot less, but it is not completely silent and you can still hear cars driving by. The NC can therefore be better and will do a better job on the more expensive versions of Sony.
I said it earlier in this review, but you can easily turn off Noise Canceling via the Headphones Connect app. This not only saves you battery life, but it is also safer if you are in a busy traffic situation to hear ambient noise.
Conclusion
I must say that for this money (99+ euros) you get a very good pair of headphones. What struck me most was the good sound quality that I am used to from Sony. The many extra options are also nice and you can set quite a lot with these headphones.
I am less satisfied with the NC, because you still hear a lot of ambient noise when you have the headphones on. On the one hand, full NC is also not good in traffic, but in other areas such as the airplane or on a ship, a better NC can come in handy to really not hear any ambient noise.
