Sony WH-CH710N Wireless Headphones Review

The Sony WH-CH710N are simple, straightforward wireless over-ears. They're available in black, white, gray, or blue, and overall their design isn't particularly flashy.

The Sony WH-CH710N are comfortable. They're lightweight, and they aren't too tight on the head. The headband and ear cups are well-padded. However, the ear cups are a bit shallow, so your ears may occasionally touch the drivers, which is annoying.

The Sony WH-CH710N have good controls. There are four buttons, and it's easy to know which button you're pressing thanks to the indentations. The multi-function button controls play/pause, the voice assistant, and lets you skip tracks forward or backward. There's also a power and pairing button, an ANC button, and volume controls.

They aren't very portable. Like most over-ears, they have a bulky design. Fortunately, the ear cups swivel down to allow the headphones to lay flat so they can fit easier into your bag.

These headphones don't come with a case or a pouch.

These headphones have a decent build quality. They're mostly made of plastic which feels fairly durable. There are faux-leather ear cups, and the headband is made of plastic and metal with faux-leather padding. While they should be able to handle a couple of drops without any damage, they don't feel as sturdy as some of the higher-end models we've tested, and the ear cup hinges seem like a particularly weak point.

The Sony WH-CH710N are decently stable headphones. They should stay in place during casual listening sessions, but they aren't intended to be used while working out. With higher-intensity movements, they may fall off your head.

• Sony WH-CH710N headphones
• USB-C charging cable
• 1/8" TRS cable
• Manuals

The Sony WH-CH710N have a slightly bass-heavy sound profile. Overall, their sound profile is neutral enough to be suitable for most music genres, but the extra thump and punch in the bass range is ideal for genres like EDM and hip-hop. Unfortunately, there aren't any sound customization options for these headphones.

These headphones have a fair frequency response consistency. They have an inconsistent mid and treble delivery, so they may sound different depending on their fit, seal, and positioning.

These headphones have a good bass accuracy. It's slightly overemphasized across the range, which adds an extra thump and punch to the mix. However, some listeners may find it to be a little too boomy.

These headphones have impressive mid accuracy. The overemphasized low-mids can slightly clutter vocals and lead instruments. However, the rest of the range is quite flat and balanced, so lead instruments and vocals are mostly clear and present. That said, they have a somewhat inconsistent mid delivery, so this performance represents the average response and your experience may vary.

These headphones have poor treble accuracy. Mid-treble is very underemphasized, which makes sibilants like cymbals sound dull and lispy and may be noticeable for some listeners. However, they have an inconsistent treble delivery, so this performance represents the average response. Your experience may vary.

The Sony WH-CH710N have passable peaks and dips performance. There are slight peaks in the low and high-bass ranges, which add a touch of thump and boominess. The peak in the low-treble makes instruments harsh and painful. The large dip in the mid-treble makes some sibilants dull and lispy, while the peak in the mid-treble makes others piercing and painful.

These headphones have amazing imaging performance. Weighted group delay falls mostly below the audibility threshold, ensuring a tight bass and transparent treble. Also, the L/R drivers of our test unit are well-matched in phase, frequency, and amplitude response, so objects like voices and instruments are accurately placed and localized in the stereo field. Note that these results are only valid for our test unit, and yours may perform differently.

Their soundstage is disappointing. Overall, it's fairly large, but it isn't as open or spacious as open-back headphones. Sound seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than all around you.

These headphones don't have any virtual soundstage features.

The Sony WH-CH710N have a reasonable weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's a spike in the treble range, but it likely won't be noticeable to most people.

These are the settings we used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid using these settings.

The Sony WH-CH710N have a sub-par noise isolation performance. Though they have an ANC feature, it isn't really effective in blocking out background noises. These headphones struggle to block out bass-heavy sounds like bus or plane engines. While they perform a bit better with higher-frequency sounds like voices or AC units, you can still hear some of these sounds.

These headphones have good leakage performance. They don't leak a lot of noise, and the leakage isn't very loud, so it shouldn't bother the people around you in an average office setting.

The Sony WH-CH710N have an integrated microphone.

The integrated microphone has a decent recording quality. Your voice is clear, but it also sounds a bit muffled and unnatural.

The microphone has a mediocre noise handling performance. It struggles to fully separate speech from background noise, even in moderately noisy environments, so it's best used in more quiet settings.

The Sony WH-CH710N have a great battery performance. The manufacturer advertises a continuous playtime of 35 hours with the ANC On, and while we only tested continuous battery life of over 29 hours, it still ensures that you don't have to recharge these headphones daily. They can also be used for passive audio playback, and there's even a standby mode that automatically turns them off when they aren't being used to help conserve battery.

Unlike the Sony WH-CH700N Wireless, the Sony WH-CH710N don't have a dedicated companion app.

The Sony WH-CH710N have good Bluetooth connectivity. They support NFC pairing, but you can only connect them to one device at a time, which may be inconvenient if you like to use your headphones with your computer and your phone. They have high latency on PC, iOS, and Android, so they aren't ideal for watching videos or movies. However, apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary.

These headphones only connect wirelessly via Bluetooth.

These headphones come with a 1/8" TRS cable that doesn't have an in-line microphone. There's also a USB-C charging cable.

You can plug these headphones into your PS4 controller or PC using their 1/8" TRS cable, but they only transmit audio, so you can't use the microphone. They're also compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs, but their latency is likely too high for gaming.

You can plug these headphones into your Xbox One controller using their 1/8" TRS cable, but they're audio-only compatible, so you can't use the microphone.

The Sony WH-CH710N don't have a base or a dock.