Our Verdict
The Sony MDR-ZX110NC deliver a decent sound but a mediocre mixed usage experience. They feel cheaply built and poorly isolate listeners from ambient noise. They're a low budget pair for casual listening or recording thanks to their low leakage but lack too many features to be versatile enough for all use cases.
- Decent audio reproduction.
- Minimal leakage.
- Flimsy build.
- Poor noise isolation.
- Unstable fit; easily falls off your head.
- Bass delivery varies significantly across users. Sensitive to glasses.
The Sony MDR-ZX110NC have decent sound quality for neutral listening. Instruments and vocals are not drowned out, even if they lack a bit of clarity, and the bass packs an adequate amount of punch. However, they have a poor soundstage and lack the detail that good neutral listening headphones provide.
Not ideal for commuting. The small ear cups don't efficiently prevent ambient noise from entering your audio.
Subpar for sports. They're lightweight and relatively portable but too unstable to use while jogging. They also don't have a decent control scheme, and the non-detachable cable could bothersome during strenuous exercise.
Below-average for office use. The Sony MDR-ZX110NC won't block the ambient chatter of a lively office from seeping into your audio. On the upside, they don't leak much.
Sub-par for gaming. These headphones do not have a mic or any app support. They're also limited by the range of their relatively short audio cable. On the upside, since they're wired, they have very low latency although they are not the ideal choice for gaming due to their lack of features.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
Check Price
Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Sony MDR-ZX110NC deliver a decent sound but have a lot of flaws. Their build quality is plasticky and feels cheaply made. They're not very stable and quickly fall off the head during physical activity. The active noise cancellation is weak and poorly isolate listeners from the ambient noise of loud environments. Fortunately, they don't leak much and won't disturb the people around you even at higher volumes. See our recommendations for the best noise cancelling headphones under $100, the best noise cancelling headphones under $200 and the best on-ear headphones.
Our How We Test Headphones article takes you behind the scenes in our lab. You'll learn how we choose and purchase products and dive into the details of our review philosophy, from testing and scoring to writing and editing.
You can also discover how we produce recommendations like this one so that you can find the best headphones (or earbuds!) for your needs.
Test Results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
