Sony WH-CH710N Wireless Headphones Review

The Sony WH-CH710N are simple wireless over-ears. They have a straightforward design with Sony's logo modestly placed on the left side of the ear cup. They're not particularly flashy, but you can purchase them in different colorways: 'Black', 'White', 'Gray', and 'Blue'.

These over-ears have a comfortable fit. They're lightweight and don't fit too tightly on the head. The headband and ear cups are well-padded too. However, the ear cups are a bit shallow, and your ears can touch the drivers, which is annoying.

These over-ears have a good control scheme. There are four physical buttons, each with a dot or indentation, making it easy to know which one you're pressing. Unfortunately, the buttons aren't very clicky, but you hear voice prompts for some commands.

On the left ear cup:

• Power button
  • Single press: Turns on and off the headphones.
  • Press and hold: Enters Bluetooth pairing mode.

On the right ear cup:

• ANC/AMB button
  • Single press: Cycles between ANC on and transparency mode. You can add ANC off or adjust this mode to your preference via the app.
• Volume controls
  • Single press the '+' button: Raises the volume.
  • Single press the '-' button: Lowers the volume.
• Multi-function button
  • Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends calls.
  • Double press: Skips to the next track.
  • Triple press: Skips to the previous track.
  • Press and hold: Launches voice assistant. Also rejects calls.

These cans have sub-par breathability, like most over-ear headphones. They can warm your ears if worn for long periods, even if you use them at your desk. If you're using them while on the go, they can also trap in sweat.

Like most over-ears, these over-ears have a bulky design. Luckily, the ear cups swivel down to allow the headphones to lay flat so they can fit easier into your bag. However, they don't fold up to shrink their footprint.

These headphones have a decent build quality. They're mostly made of plastic with a metal headband, while the padding is made of faux leather. While they can handle a couple of drops without significant damage, they don't feel extremely sturdy, and the ear cup hinges seem particularly weak. If you're looking for better-built Sony headphones, consider the Sony WH-XB910N Wireless.

These headphones are decently stable. They easily stay in place during casual listening sessions at your desk but aren't intended for use during tough workouts since they can fall off your head with large head movements. On the plus side, their wired design means you don't need to worry about a cable snagging on something and yanking them off your head.

• Sony WHCH710N headphones
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• 1/8" TRS audio cable
• Manuals

These cans have a bass-heavy sound profile. They pack in extra thump and punch in the bass range, making them well-suited for genres like EDM and hip-hop but still versatile enough for most genres. However, a dip in the low and mid-treble ranges hurts the detail of instruments and lead vocals and makes sibilants like cymbals dull. Unfortunately, there aren't any sound customization options for these headphones.

These headphones have alright frequency response consistency. Their audio delivery varies based on the headphones' fit, seal, and positioning on your head. You may also notice a drop in bass delivery if you wear glasses or have thick hair, as these features can break the ear cup's seal on your head. As a result, you'll want to adjust the headphones each time you use them to get a more consistent sound.

These headphones have good bass accuracy. It's slightly overemphasized across the range, which adds extra thump, punch, and boom to the mix. However, it's also somewhat muddy and cluttered.

The mid accuracy of these cans is excellent. The overemphasized low-mid can slightly clutter vocals and lead instruments. However, the rest of the range is flat and balanced, so lead instruments and vocals are mostly clear and present.

These headphones have poor treble accuracy. The dip in the low and mid-treble ranges hurts the detail and articulation of instruments and lead vocals, making sibilants like cymbals lispy. In a song like Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, the high-pitched voice of Roger Taylor is veiled and dull compared to the simultaneous but deeper voice of Brian May during the operatic interlude, which is much more full-bodied. Remember that their treble delivery varies depending on the headphones' positioning and seal. As a result, it's important to take the time to ensure a good fit each time you use them to get a more consistent sound.

The Sony WH-CH710N have passable peaks and dips performance. Most peaks and dips are minor, except in the treble range. The slight peaks in the low and high-bass ranges add a touch of thump and boominess to mixes. However, the peak in the low treble makes instruments harsh and painful. The large, deep dip in the low and mid-treble makes instruments and lead vocals sound veiled, while some sibilant sounds and cymbals are dull. However, a peak in the mid-treble makes some sibilant sounds piercing.

These headphones have excellent imaging performance. Sony produces many headphones with good quality control and ergonomics, which helps ensure consistent driver matching. Imaging varies between units, though. Our unit's L/R drivers are well-matched in group delay, excluding a small peak in the left driver in the low-bass, which indicates a slightly loose bass in this range. The rest of the response falls beneath the audibility threshold, resulting in mostly transparent imaging. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in amplitude, frequency, and phase response, which helps ensure the accurate placement of objects like voices in the stereo image. While there are some small peaks in the phase response, they aren't audible with real-life content.

They have a disappointing passive soundstage performance. Although they're over-ear headphones, sound is perceived to come from inside your head rather than from speakers set in the room around you. Also, while the soundstage seems fairly large, it's not as open or spacious as most open-back headphones.

The Sony WH-CH710N have a reasonable weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion in the treble range at both normal and high volumes, but it's difficult to hear with real-life content, resulting in fairly clean and pure audio reproduction.

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 system, they struggle to block out bass-range noises like rumbling buses and plane engines. However, they better isolate you from sounds like ambient chatter or humming A/C units. Their successors, the Sony WH-CH720N Wireless, offer a better overall noise isolation performance.

These headphones have a good leakage performance. They don't leak a lot of sound, and the leakage isn't very loud, so even if you're listening to audio at high volumes, your music won't bother people sitting near you at the office.

The integrated microphone has decent recording quality. Your voice is clear but also sounds muffled and unnatural. Your voice is still easy to understand, though.

The microphone has a mediocre noise handling performance. It has trouble separating speech from background sound, and noise cuts in and out, which can be distracting. If you use them to take a call somewhere loud, like a subway station, your voice can get completely drowned out.

These over-ears have a great battery performance. They last for just under 30 hours of continuous use on a single charge, which is less than the 35 hours the manufacturer advertises, but it means you don't need to charge them daily. However, keep in mind that battery performance varies with real-life usage. They also have standby mode to conserve battery when they aren't in use, and you can even use them passively if the battery dies. Unfortunately, they take a long time to recharge.

Unlike the Sony WH-CH700N Wireless, these cans don't support the Sony | Headphones Connect 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 use your headphones with your computer and phone simultaneously. They have high latency on PC, iOS, and Android, so they aren't ideal for watching videos or movies. However, some apps compensate for latency differently.

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

These headphones are compatible with PCs using their 1/8" TRS audio cable. However, you can only receive audio and can't use their mic. Luckily, you can use them wirelessly with full compatibility via Bluetooth-enabled PCs.

These headphones are compatible with PlayStation consoles via analog connection if you plug the 1/8" TRS audio cable into a controller. However, you can only receive audio and can't passthrough mic audio.

You can plug these headphones into your Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S controller using their 1/8" TRS cable, but you can only receive audio. Unfortunately, they don't have mic support with this connection.