TWS true wireless earphones - $100 to $150
FIVE STARS - Coming in at just over 100 dollars, the Sony WF-C710N is a rock solid pair of wireless earphones that competes with the best in this price class.
Bluetooth 5.3 with AAC codec
IPX5 waterproof rating (splash proof)
8,5 - 12 hours playtime on a single charge (ANC on/ off)
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 2 times
Has: ANC, Transparency, app support, multipoint connection
Doesn't have: wireless charging, spatial audio
Comes with 3 sets of ear tips, USB-C cable, English manual
$100 to $130 - Buy on Amazon US or your Amazon country
In and underneath this Sony WF-C710N review, you will find comparisons of the Sony WF-C710n vs Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro, JBL Tune Beam 2, Earfun Air Pro 4, and Redmi Buds 6 Pro.
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Design, comfort and battery life
As one of the only earphone brands, Sony still ignores the trend of designing wireless earbuds with stems. Happily, the Sony WF-C710N isn't too big to wear.
The Sony WF-C710N is noticeably smaller than Sony's flagship earphone WF-1000XM5, which has many users complaining about its uncomfortable, large size.
This new midrange model sits between the Sony WF-C510 and Linkbuds-lineup, and has drip-shaped earbuds. The earpieces are round on the top side, and get slimmer near the bottom. They lightly follow the shape on your inner ear, granting them a secure fit.
Even though you can feel them sitting in a bit, these are comfortable to wear for multiple hours in a row.
Even though the earpieces are bigger than the Sony Linkbuds S, I found their shape to be more comfortable for my average-sized ears. This time around, I didn't feel the need to relieve the pressure on my ears every now and then.
That said, you can hear them move in your ears a bit - and also give a clear ‘thud’ when you walk with them.
It's easy to put the earbuds in the right way. A little knob on top of the left earbud helps you separate the left earbud from the right, and helps putting in the earbuds the right way. The earbuds also have a L and R indication on the inside.
The earbuds have a great battery life, boasting 8,5 hours playtime with Active Noise Cancelling on - and up to 12 hours with the function turned off.
When needed, a 10 minute recharge in the case gets these earbuds another 4 hours of playtime with ANC on - brilliant.
Its waterproofing should have been higher; it's only IPX4 splashproof, compared to IPX5 rain and sweat resistance of many comparably priced competitors.
The charging case is the worst part of the design. In black, the case already looks heavily used after two hours of using them - not even taking them into my jeans pocket. The case looks and feels cheap, and it can only recharge the earbuds fully twice before needing new power via USB-C.
The case also doesn't support wireless charging.
It does give a warning on your phone when your case battery is low, however. That's convenient.
The Sony WF-C710N look and feel doesn't live up to its price compared to many competitors, but its comfort and battery life are outstanding.
Controls, connectivity and app support
The Sony WF-C710N bathes you in app features, but it could be better in the basics.
The entire flat sides of the C710N are touch panels. They respond wonderfully to your input.
The Sony WF-C710N control scheme takes getting used to. The right side gives you the track controls, with pause on one press, skip on two, and return on three. It then gives you the option to activate the voice assistant by long-pressing.
The left side, however, only has Ambient mode switching on one press. The other amounts of presses are deactivated by default, and can be setup to play a random Spotify or Amazon Music song. Really - how often will you use that?
Meanwhile, changing the volume is done by pressing the earbuds four times. That's a little much.
Happily, the Bluetooth connection is rock-solid and keeps a stable signal up to 10 meters away from your device.
The Sony WF-C710N also supports dual-device multipoint connection, meaning you can connect two devices at the same time. Switching between devices works flawlessly, when you enter a phone call or when you pause one device, and press play on the other.
Setting up multipoint is a breeze: enter the dual-device settings in the app on your first device, press ‘Connect to new device’ and the earbuds can immediately be found and added from the Bluetooth list on the second device.
Music doesn't automatically pause when you take an earbud out - yet. This should work according to the app, but probably needs a firmware update.
Some app settings for the Sony WF-C710n
Control options feel complicated
The Sony Headphones Connect app for iPhone and Android phones isn't the easiest to use, but that's partly because it needs many screens to house all the function it gives the WF-C710N:
Check battery status of the L and R earbud and the case
Choose or setup a custom equalizer
Find your own equalizer by choosing your preferences (see sound part of this review)
Manage the connected devices
Analyse the shape of your ears
Choose between the most reliable or sound quality-focused connection
(De)activate DSEE, Sony's own ‘sound optimizing’ process
Switch the left and right earbuds controls
Setup buttons for Spotify or Amazon Music
Decide if the earphones turn off automatically
(De)activate passthrough of your own voice when you take a phone call
Change the volume of voice prompts
Optional: Track your Listening History and Activity
Optional: Track the volume output of your earphones
Optional: Gain badges for your listening activity
Run a tutorial
The Sony WF-C710N feels rather premium with so many features in the app, even though you may never need or want some options. The controls take getting used to.
Phone and video calls
The Sony WF-C710N does the job, but performs a little bit inconsistent in phone calls and video conferences.
Your voice sounds clear and natural, with enough volume.
Sudden background sounds, like a car passing or a door slam, can be heard in the background of a call.
More constant background noises, like people talking in the distance or car tire noise, can't be heard in the phone call, but they do influence the stability of your voice.
Wind noise can be heard too, even when there's not all that much of it. But: wind doesn't drown your voice too much.
The Sony app has the neat option to let you hear your own voice clearly when you're taking a phone call.
Comparably priced competitors like the Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro, but also the more affordable Earfun Air Pro 4, Realme Buds Air 6 Pro and OnePlus Buds 3 deliver clearer calls in more circumstances.
The Sony WF-C710N handles phone calls both indoors and outside well enough, but the microphones output can be a little bit restless, with audible background noise and vocal instability.
Video and games playback
Video playback is flawless on the WF-C710N, with lipsync synchronization in video apps like YouTube and Netflix, on both iPhone and Android.
The Sony doesn't have a low-latency mode for gaming, but the synchronization between in a game like Call of Duty mobile is convincing nonetheless. There's only a minimal delay in sound effects.
What's more, is that gaming is very immersive. Gunshots and explosions have proper impact. It's easy to locate action around you, and there's even more of those details than on most other affordable earbuds. Whoah.
ANC quality of the Sony WF-C710N
The ANC of the Sony WF-C710N reduces sounds in all frequencies around you well, even when you're not playing any music.
Constant background sounds like a fridge or an AC humming disappear, and middle and higher sounds are dampened very well too. Laughter, higher chatter, distant traffic and conversations are heavily reduced in volume.
Surprisingly, it's the lower sounds that are filtered less well and still come through. The darker tones of a radio playing in a background and your own keyboard typing can still be somewhat audible.
The C710N can scan your surroundings to adjust the ANC
This is different than most good ANC earphones under 100 dollars, like the Redmi Buds 6 Pro and Earfun Air Pro 4, which actually filter out the darkest tones the best of all surrounding noises - and the middle sounds often a bit less.
Still, the Sony WF-C710n ANC's is strong enough to filter distracting background sounds. It can bring rest to your head.
The ANC filters wind noise well too. You can notice it's there, but it doesn't sound annoyingly metallic, and it doesn't interfere with your music.
The same can't be said of the Ambient mode. This Transparency mode picks up quite a bit of wind when you're running, cycling, or walking. It puts through traffic sounds well in moments you need it, but the wind noise doesn't make it a comfortable option to use.
Yet, the Transparency mode puts through voices around you well. You can follow a conversation while listening to some music up to moderate volume.
There's an in-app setting that allows Sony to scan your location and surroundings to apply ANC settings accordingly; like the Transparency mode when you're running or the ANC when you're concentrating at work. That could perhaps be useful, but as it's no problem tapping the left earbud once to switch between ANC and Ambient mode and this function requires a lot of data - I doubt it's worth using this.
The Sony WF-C710N's Active Noise Cancelling feels effortless. While some competitors block lower sounds better, it brings rest to your head without any hassle. The Transparency mode also works well.
Sound quality of Sony WF-C710N
The Sony WF-C710N sounds impressive in its bass, lower tones and with its outstanding separation.
You can't miss it when push play on the Sony WF-C710N: these have a lot of bass. The mid-bass hits with thick, plump thumps that last longer than average. It hits deep, but in bass heavy songs, it can be a bit much.
The darkest bass tones of often where Sony shines, and this is no exception. The sub-bass rumbles tightly, deep and controlled in James Blake's ideal test track Limit to Your Love.
The other lower frequencies are heavily boosted as well. The C710N puts darker electronic tones, drums, lower instruments, and the darkest male vocals on the foreground. Instruments like cello's and saxophones are textured very well.
The emphasis on the lows makes music sound full, but also a bit dark. That's further established by the fact that Sony doesn't put the higher frequencies forward.
In the lower treble, male and female singers are prominent enough to conquer a place in between the lows. Due to the strong lows, vocals are warm and grounded, and never feel light or thin.
But higher instruments aren't that well represented. Especially with the default sound setting, they miss a bit of sparkle. As soothing and comfortable the highs sound here; violins, trumpets, and higher electronic tones lack a bit of naturality and minor details like breath sputters.
While you may think this is over-asking for around 100 dollars, there are several competitors that retrieve such wonderful details in the treble better - like the Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro, Earfun Air Pro 4, Realme Buds Air 6 Pro, SoundPEATS Capsule3 Pro+, and Redmi Buds 6 Pro.
A custom equalizer that tones down the lows and increases treble spark
That said, Sony lets you ‘find your own equalizer’ by letting you choose between five sound variations. After choosing the first, it gives you five more variations closer to that preference to alter the EQ for you. It then saves that to the Custom 2 EQ slot in the app. It's great that you can take this test while listening to your own favourite song.
From there, it's easy to customize the EQ and further tweak frequencies, and the Bass Level apart from that.
By not holding back here, you can actually increase the mids, treble, and highs - and also push vocals more forward. If you'd rather have it that way, center mid-tones like guitar and piano play can also keep on flirting with the lower-mids - the EQ is well-adjustable here.
Whatever you choose, the Sony is articulated in what it displays. Cymbals, claps and snare drums are tight, lower instruments are textured, and the sound comes immersively from your left and right.
Instruments are often awarded their own place around you in higher-quality recordings, and even though positioning could be more precise, the separation between them is fantastic.
Footnote: I expect many reviewers will see it as a minus that the WF-C710n doesn't support the LDAC audio codec on Android, but that's mostly spec sheet reviewing: for regular use with your favourite streaming service, it sounds great without. Tuning is always more important than the codec. Besides; LDAC often decreases the battery life, the connection quality, the video and gaming synchronization, and the multipoint pairing option.
The Sony WF-C710N sounds a little bit darker than average, but Sony executes its very well. These sound full and soothing, yet textured and articulated at the same time.
—> These are the best sounding wireless earbuds from $25 to $100
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Sony WF-C710N alternatives
Sony WF-C710N vs Sony Linkbuds S
The Sony Linkbuds S from 2021 can still be bought today, and is sometimes discounted to the same price as the four years newer Sony WF C710N. I think the latter may be the better choice.
The earpieces of the WF-C710N are a bit bigger, but they're more comfortable to wear thanks to their more oval and fluent shape. The C710N also has 8,5 hours battery life per charge instead of the Linkbuds’ 6,5 hours. Furthermore, the newer earbuds recharge quicker and synchronize gaming sounds much better.
The Linkbuds S's ANC is a tad stronger in filtering lower noises, and its phone calls are cleaner.
In music performance, the Linkbuds S’ sounds livelier in the lower treble, with more forward and nuanced vocals; while the WF-C710N is tighter and has better left-right separation. Its the bass that gives the edge, however. The Linkbuds could be a little lacking in bass punch on higher volumes - the WF-C710N certainly is not.
$120 to $150 - See price on Amazon US or your Amazon country
Sony WF-C710N vs Redmi Buds 6 Pro
Just released, the Redmi Buds 6 Pro is a more affordable alternative to the Sony WF-C710N and shares most of its qualities.
The Sony has a more usable call performance than the Redmi Buds 6 Pro, and also boasts 1,5 hour of battery life per charge more. Its multipoint connectivity switches better between devices too.
The Redmi has a better (IPX5) waterproof rating, slightly stronger ANC, more logical controls with outstanding volume swiping, and in grey, it looks and feels more premium - while being around 50 dollars cheaper. Both deliver an immersive gaming experience - the Sony even more detailed.
Both sound spectacular. The Sony sounds more articulated, the Redmi more organic. The Sony has even better left-right separation, while the Redmi puts music more ‘around’ you and retrieves more detail from the mids and within that space. This effect can even be lifted further with the spatial audio mode, which the Sony lacks. The Sony has a more adjustable EQ and bass.
$60 to $90 - See price on Amazon or AliExpress
Sony WF-C710N vs Earfun Air Pro 4
The Earfun Air Pro 4 is Scarbir.com's go-to recommendation for wireless earbuds under $100, meaning these are slightly cheaper than the Sony's.
The Earfun Air Pro 4 offers clearer calls when you're on the move and/or when there's noise around you. It has has a more logical control scheme with easier volume controls, it has a higher IPX5 waterproof rating and it also comes with wireless charging.
The Sony has 8,5 instead of Earfun's 8 hours playtime per charge, an even more immersive gaming performance, and the Sony is more comfortable to wear than the Earfun. The earpieces may be bigger, but the ear tips are not. That's why.
When it comes to ANC, the Sony filters middle and higher sounds better; the Earfun lower noise.
The Earfun presents center mid-tones (like guitar and piano play) more natural than the Sony; the Sony places individual instruments further to your left and right. Sony's sound is more adjustable and keeps it authority better on the highest volumes, where Earfuns treble falls a bit flat.
Around $80 on Amazon US or your Amazon country
Sony WF-C710N vs Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro
The amazing Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro costs the same as the Sony WF-C710N.
The Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro comes with an abundance of features, like a display on the case that lets you change the level of ANC, fully customisable controls and a volume limiter. It also has a comparable ‘find your equalizer’ function, and the possibility to mute your music when it hears your voice. It also has a higher IPX5 waterproof rating and stronger ANC.
The Sony has a more immersive gaming performance and… half an hour more battery life per charge.
The Soundcore has more powerful treble and more air in the sound, giving music a bigger feeling. The Sony tones down treble more, giving a more soothing sound. The Soundcore has a more powerful sub-bass; the Sony can feel more natural with equalization.
$100 to $150 - See price on Amazon US or your Amazon country
Sony WF-C710n vs JBL Tune Beam 2
The recently reviewed JBL Tune Beam 2 is one of the great all-around options for wireless earbuds around 100 dollars. But the Sony WF-C710N has an edge.
The 8,5 hours playtime per charge of the Sony may be impressive; the JBL Tune Beam 2 offers a staggering 10 hours per charge with ANC on. They also have a higher IP54 waterproof rating.
Whereas these earbuds just about tie on ANC strength, the Sony has an even more immersive gaming performance, and at least lets you change the volume - which can only be done on the JBL if you're sacrificing other options. The WF-C710 also handles wind noise a bit better.
While the Sony isn't very royal with treble and highs, it delivers them clearer and more open than the JBL. It also responds better to equalization. The Sony has a wider soundstage and sounds more articulated. Both earbuds have a highly adjustable bass that can be set from almost absent to overbearingly heavy - the JBL even more so than the Sony.
$90 to $100 - See price on Amazon
Sony WF-C710N vs Samsung Galaxy Buds FE
There's another pair of affordable stemless earbuds with impeccable sound quality. How does the Sony WF C710N compare to the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE?
The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE only has multipoint connectivity for Samsung devices, and delivers just 5,5 hours on single charge with ANC on. Sony's ANC is a bit stronger too.
Some aspects are still perfectly comparable, however: the call clarity, the gaming performance and the waterproof level. And then there's the sound these both deliver.
The Samsung boosts lower mid-tones even more, and also puts vocals more forward than the Sony. The Samsung boasts an even deeper and rumblier sub-bass out of the box, but the Sony has a tighter and more adjustable bass - and rest of the equalizer. Sony's instrument separation accents mostly on your left and right, the Galaxy Buds FE's keeps details a bit more (bur closer) around you. Both sound phenomenal - the Buds FE only does it for a lower price.
$80 - See price on Amazon US or your Amazon country
Verdict: Sony WF-C710N
The Sony WF-C710N is a versatile midrange wireless earphone. While controls and waterproofing could be better, these earbuds combine comfort, long battery life, multipoint connectivity, strong ANC, and an immersive gaming performance with great sound quality. These Sony's have it all.
Five stars - Excellent
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I bought the Sony WF-C710N to test and review myself. My reviews are 100% independent and non-commercial - read about it here.
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