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We've recently released our Test Bench 1.6 update for Headphones! Read the Latency R&D Article to learn more.

Sony MDR-ZX770BN Wireless Headphones Review

Tested using Methodology v1.3.1
Reviewed Mar 16, 2016 at 12:00 am
Latest change: Test bench update Nov 21, 2019 at 11:23 am
Sony MDR-ZX770BN Wireless Picture
6.7
Mixed Usage
7.2
Neutral Sound
6.9
Commute/Travel
6.9
Sports/Fitness
6.6
Office
5.2
Wireless Gaming
6.9
Wired Gaming
6.0
Phone Call

The Sony MDRZX770BN Bluetooth and Noise Canceling headset are stylish, great-sounding headphones. They're comfortable and have an efficient control scheme and button layout. Unfortunately, they feel a little flimsy and poorly isolate the listener, so ambient noise may distract you from your listening experience.

Our Verdict

6.7 Mixed Usage

The Sony MDR-ZX770BN are mediocre everyday headphones. Their lightweight comfortable and have a wireless design. However, they poorly isolate and plasticky build quality. This makes them not versatile enough for some use cases and environments.

Pros
  • Lightweight, comfortable design.
  • Efficient controls and ergonomic button layout.
  • Great audio reproduction.
Cons
  • Flimsy joints and build quality.
  • Poor noise isolation.
  • Bass and treble delivery varies significantly across users. Sensitive to glasses.
7.2 Neutral Sound

Decent for neutral listening. They're comfortable for long listening sessions and have a decently well-balanced sound but they won't be the ideal choice for more neutral listeners.

6.9 Commute/Travel

Decent for commuting. They're comfortable and have a good control scheme, but their noise isolation is a little weak for loud environments.

6.9 Sports/Fitness

Average for sports. The Sony ZX770BN have a lightweight and comfortable wireless design, and an efficient control scheme. However, they are too unstable and bulky for strenuous exercise.

6.6 Office

Decent for office. They leak a lot and have poor ambient noise isolation. You will be able to hear the chatter of a busy office.

6.9 Wired Gaming
  • 6.7 Mixed Usage
  • 7.2 Neutral Sound
  • 6.9 Commute/Travel
  • 6.9 Sports/Fitness
  • 6.6 Office
  • 5.2 Wireless Gaming
  • 6.9 Wired Gaming
  • 6.0 Phone Call
  1. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
  2. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
  3. Updated Apr 18, 2019: We've updated the THD values and score after retest
  4. Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
  5. Updated Sep 28, 2017: The microphone has been tested with our new methodology, as explained here
  6. Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
  7. Updated Mar 01, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
  8. Updated Mar 16, 2016: Review published.
  9. Updated Mar 14, 2016: Our testers have started testing this product.

Test Results

Design
Design
Style
Type Over-ear
Enclosure Closed-Back
Wireless Yes
Transducer Dynamic

The Sony MDR-ZX770BN are well-designed headphones that look quite stylish. The two-tone gray and dark gray color scheme and the silver accents on the frame and ear cups are visually appealing. The back of the earcups have a matte, sandstone finish with subtle metallic Sony branding that works with the overall aesthetic.

7.0
Design
Comfort
Weight 0.53 lbs
Clamping Force
0.89 lbs

The Sony ZX770BN headphones are quite comfortable when on the head. The lightweight, softly padded ear cups and headband do not exert too much pressure on the head. The ear cups successfully encompass the ears and swivel, providing a little more comfort regardless of exact placement on the head. The only issues are the lack of padding on the headband and the flimsiness of the swiveling ear cups, which causes some instability when on the head.

7.3
Design
Controls
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use Good
Feedback Decent
Call/Music Control Yes
Volume Control Yes
Microphone Control No
Channel Mixing
N/A
Noise Cancelling Control Yes
Talk-Through
No
Additional Buttons No

Button layout and functionality is simple and efficient. The well-designed buttons are located on the bottom of the ear cups. These headphones provide volume, call-music and skip controls, as well as the power and noise cancelling enabling buttons layed out across the two ear cups. They take a little time to get used to but once you are accustomed they are efficient and the tactile feedback is great.

6.7
Design
Breathability
Avg.Temp.Difference 5.2 °C
6.0
Design
Portability
L 7.48"
W 7.48"
H 1.77"
Volume 99.2 in³
Transmitter Required N/A

The Sony MDRZX770BN have large earcups that lay flat to take less space making these headphones somewhat portable. Unfortunately, they don't fold into a more compact format and will occupy a decent amount of space in a backpack. They won't comfortably fit in a handbag and are far too big to fit in a pocket, even larger jacket pockets.

0
Design
Case
Type No case
L N/A
W N/A
H N/A
Volume N/A
6.5
Design
Build Quality

Build quality is decent but feels flimsy. The metal frame of the Sony MDR-ZX770BN is sturdy and flexible enough to handle a decent amount of stress. The plastic used for the build is not the most high-end but is sufficiently dense to not crack after a few drops. Unfortunately, the swivel hinge is loose, flimsy and susceptible to breaking.

6.5
Design
Stability

The Sony MDR-ZX770BN are moderately stable. However, they're not sports headphones, and they will slip off your ears if used while running or doing high-intensity exercises in the gym. On the upside, they have a wireless design and won't be yanked off your head because the audio cable got hooked on something.

Design
Headshots 1
Design
Headshots 2
Design
Top
Design
In The Box

  • Sony MDR-ZX770BN Headphones
  • Audio cable
  • USB cable
  • Manual
  • Carrying pouch

Sound
Sound
Sound Profile
Bass Amount
1.4 dB
Treble Amount
1.45 dB
5.5
Sound
Frequency Response Consistency
Avg. Std. Deviation
1.24 dB

The frequency response consistency of the ZX770BN is sub-par. There is shows quite a bit of deviation in bass delivery across our human subject, especially with the one who wears glasses. This shows that the bass of the Sony is sensitive to fit and seal and could cause as much as 7dB of drop in bass at 100Hz, which is quite noticeable. The treble delivery however, is more consistent.

Sound
Raw Frequency Response
8.8
Sound
Bass Accuracy
Std. Err.
1.67 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
13.94 Hz
Low-Bass
1.98 dB
Mid-Bass
1.47 dB
High-Bass
1.48 dB
7.4
Sound
Mid Accuracy
Std. Err.
3.48 dB
Low-Mid
-0.79 dB
Mid-Mid
-4.52 dB
High-Mid
-2.57 dB
8.1
Sound
Treble Accuracy
Std. Err.
3.35 dB
Low-Treble
0.07 dB
Mid-Treble
0.3 dB
High-Treble
1.31 dB
7.0
Sound
Peaks/Dips
Peaks
1.94 dB
Dips
1.57 dB
8.6
Sound
Imaging
Weighted Group Delay
0.33
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.6
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.81
Weighted Phase Mismatch
2.76
5.5
Sound
Soundstage
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
5.93 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
8.53 dB
PRTF Distance
12.71 dB
Openness
3.4
Acoustic Space Excitation
4.8
7.7
Sound
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.145
WHD @ 100
0.216
Isolation
6.5
Isolation
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-16.2 dB
Noise Cancelling Yes
Bass
-7.33 dB
Mid
-16.29 dB
Treble
-25.87 dB

Sub-par isolation. The passive isolation provided by the earcups is decent, but not good enough to make up for the poor active isolation. The active noise cancellation works very narrowly in the bass range, being most effective only around 40Hz. In the mid-range they don't do much at around 200Hz, but reach a decent -20dB at 600Hz. In the treble range, these headphones seem to perform slightly worse with ANC On compared to when the ANC is set to Off.

6.2
Isolation
Leakage
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
44.06 dB

Average performance. The Sony ZX770BN headphones leak a lot across a broad spectrum (900Hz-6KHz). If you listen at very loud volumes, you will be hearable from a couple of feet away.

Microphone
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
In-line
No
Boom
No
Detachable Boom
N/A
Mic Yes
5.1
Microphone
Recording Quality
Recorded Speech
LFE
204.52 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
3.61 dB
HFE
1,156.94 Hz
Weighted THD
5.374
Gain
37.7 dB
6.2
Microphone
Noise Handling
Speech + Pink Noise
Speech + Subway Noise
SpNR
14.85 dB
Active Features
7.2
Active Features
Battery
Battery Type
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
11.8 hrs
Additional Charges
0
Total Battery Life
11.8 hrs
Charge Time
1.96 hrs
Power Saving Feature
Yes
Audio While Charging
No
Passive Playback
No
Charging Port micro-USB

The Sony MDRZX770BN have a decent battery life that delivers about half a day of continuous playback. They charge a lot faster than the MDRZX550BN but cannot stream audio and continue charging at the same time. On the upside, they turn off automatically when no Bluetooth connection has been established which saves a bit of power.

0
Active Features
App Support
App Name N/A
iOS N/A
Android N/A
macOS N/A
Windows N/A
Equalizer
N/A
ANC Control
N/A
Mic Control N/A
Room effects
N/A
Playback Control
N/A
Button Mapping N/A
Surround Sound N/A

No compatible app.

Connectivity
7.4
Connectivity
Bluetooth
Bluetooth Version
3.0
Multi-Device Pairing
No
NFC Pairing
Yes
Line of Sight Range
100 ft
Default Latency
174 ms
aptX Latency
154 ms
aptX(LL) Latency
N/A
0
Connectivity
Non-Bluetooth Wireless
Non-BT Line of Sight Range
N/A
Non-BT Latency
N/A
9.5
Connectivity
Wired
Analog Audio
Yes
USB Audio
No
Detachable Yes
Length 4.07 ft
Connection 1/8" TRS
Wired Latency
0 ms
Connectivity
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC / PS4 Analog
Audio Only
PC / PS4 Wired USB
No
PC / PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
Connectivity
Xbox One Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio Only
Xbox One Wired USB
No
Xbox One Wireless
No
0
Connectivity
Base/Dock
Type
N/A
USB Input
N/A
Line In
N/A
Line Out
N/A
Optical Input
N/A
RCA Input
N/A
Dock Charging
N/A
Power Supply
N/A