The Sony WH-CH710N Wireless are over-ear headphones with active noise cancelling (ANC). They have a comfortable fit, and their nearly 30-hour continuous battery life is ideal for long days on the go. Their bass-heavy sound profile adds extra thump and punch to your favorite songs. Unfortunately, their ANC doesn't block out much background noise, and they don't have any sound customization features. That said, these straightforward over-ears have a fairly versatile overall performance.
The Sony WH-CH710N are decent for neutral sound. They have a very accurate mid-range that helps make voices and lead instruments clear and present in the mix. However, their bass-heavy sound profile isn't ideal for all listeners. They also have an inconsistent audio delivery in the mid and treble ranges, depending on their fit, seal, and positioning on your head. Unlike many other Sony headphones, they aren't compatible with the Sony | Headphones Connect app, so you can't customize their sound profile.
The Sony WH-CH710N are reasonable for commute and travel. They're comfortable enough to wear for long periods without a lot of fatigue, and their long continuous battery life can get you through long international flights. Unfortunately, their bulky design isn't very portable. They also don't block out a lot of background noise, especially in the bass range, so you can still hear bus and plane engines while wearing these headphones.
The Sony WH-CH710N are alright for sports and fitness. Unfortunately, they aren't intended for use while working out. These bulky over-ears aren't very portable, and they aren't stable enough to be worn while exercising. That said, they're very comfortable headphones.
The Sony WH-CH710N are okay for office use. These comfortable over-ears have a long continuous battery life that can get you through multiple work days without recharging. They don't leak a lot of noise, so you can enjoy your favorite tunes without bothering your coworkers. Unfortunately, they don't isolate you from a lot of noise, so you may still hear your coworkers' voices while wearing these headphones.
The Sony WH-CH710N are Bluetooth-only headphones that you can't use wirelessly with PlayStation or Xbox consoles. They're compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs, but their latency is likely too high to be suitable for wireless gaming.
The Sony WH-CH710N are satisfactory for wired gaming. You can plug these headphones into the controller of your Xbox or PlayStation to receive audio; however, you can't use the microphone to communicate with your teammates. Their comfortable fit is ideal for long gaming sessions, and their bass-heavy sound profile adds an extra punch to action-packed scenes.
The Sony WH-CH710N are okay for phone calls. Their integrated microphone makes your voice sound clear but also a bit thin and unnatural. The microphone also struggles to separate your voice from background noise in noisier settings, like a train station. Also, they don't isolate a lot of background noise, which may be distracting during your phone calls.
The Sony WH-CH710N come in four different colors: Black, Gray, White, and Blue. We tested the Black model, but we expect the other models to perform similarly. You can see the label for the model we tested here. If you come across a variant that isn't mentioned, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
The Sony WH-CH710N are fairly straightforward wireless over-ears without a lot of features. Their bass-heavy sound profile adds extra thump and punch to the mix. Unfortunately, their ANC feature doesn't do much to isolate against background noise. They don't have any customization features and aren't compatible with the Sony | Headphones Connect app.
If you're looking for other headphones, check out our recommendations for the best headphones under $200, the best noise cancelling headphones, and the best wireless Bluetooth headphones.
The Sony WH-XB910N Wireless are better over-ears than the Sony WH-CH710N Wireless. The XB910N are more comfortable, feel better built, and have significantly better battery performance. Their continuous battery life lasts longer, they have a companion app with a graphic EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking, and they support multi-device pairing. The CH710N have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer, and support NFC pairing.
The Sennheiser HD 450BT Wireless are slightly more versatile headphones than the Sony WH-CH710N Wireless. The Sennheiser are more stable, and they have better noise isolation performance. Their default sound profile is a bit more balanced than the bass-heavy Sony, which some users may prefer, and they also have a graphic EQ and presets in their companion app, which the Sony lack. Unlike the Sony, the Sennheiser can be paired with up to two devices at the same time. However, the Sony are a more comfortable pair of headphones.
The Sony WH-CH700N Wireless and the Sony WH-CH710N Wireless are very similar headphones, and depending on your listening habits, you may prefer one over the other. The WH-CH700N have longer continuous battery life and more customization features thanks to the graphic EQ and presets in their companion app. They have a V-shaped default sound profile, but some listeners may prefer the WH-CH710N's bass-heavy sound. The WH-CH710N also leak less sound.
The Sony WH-H910N/h.ear on 3 Wireless are better, more versatile headphones than the Sony WH-CH710N Wireless. The WH-H910N are better-built, have a more neutral default sound profile, and feature a more effective ANC system. They also have a longer continuous battery life, and they're more customizable thanks to the graphic EQ and presets in their companion app.
The Sony WH-XB900N Wireless are better headphones for most uses than the Sony WH-CH710N Wireless. The WH-XB900N are better-built, more comfortable, have a longer continuous battery life, and block out more background noise. However, as part of Sony's Extra Bass series, they have a much more bass-heavy sound profile than the WH-CH710N. You can customize their sound using the graphic EQ and presets in the companion app, which the WH-CH710N lack. That said, the WH-CH710N leak less sound.
The Beats Solo Pro Wireless are better than the Sony WH-CH710N for most uses. The Beats are sturdier and have a more neutral sound profile, which some may prefer. Their ANC feature is also much better at blocking out ambient sound. However, the Sony have a much more comfortable fit. They support NFC pairing and can be used wirelessly or with a wired connection.
If you're looking for more versatile headphones that you can still use for watching TV, then the Sony WH-CH710N Wireless are better than the Avantree HT5009 Wireless. The Sony headphones are more comfortable, better built, and have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer. They also have ANC to help block out some background noise. However, if you only want to watch TV shows, the Avantree headphones have lower latency and better battery life.
The Sony WH-CH710N have good controls. There are four buttons, and they each have a dot or indentation that makes it easy to know which one you're pressing. The buttons aren't very clicky, unfortunately, but you hear voice prompts for some commands
On the left ear cup is the power button. It offers the following controls:
On the right ear cup, there is an ANC/ambient mode button, which lets you cycle between 'Ambient Sound Mode' on, active noise cancelling on, and both modes off. 'Ambient Sound Mode' is intended to allow you to hear your surroundings while listening to audio. There's also '+' and '-' buttons that allow you to adjust the volume. Between the volume buttons is a multi-function button that offers the following controls:
The Sony WH-CH710N Wireless 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 have a decent build quality. They're mostly made of plastic that feels fairly durable. The headband is made of plastic and metal, and the ear cup and headband padding is covered in a faux-leather material. While they should be able to handle a couple of drops without any damage, they don't feel extremely sturdy, and the ear cup hinges seem like a particularly weak point. If you're looking for better-built Sony headphones, consider the Sony WH-XB910N Wireless.
The Sony WH-CH710N are decently stable headphones. They should easily stay in place during casual listening sessions, but aren't intended for sports use and may fall off your head if you use them for workouts. On the plus side, their wired design means you don't need to worry about a cable snagging on something and yanking the headphones off your head.
The Sony WH-CH710N have a slightly bass-heavy sound profile. Overall, it's 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. However, a dip in the low and mid-treble ranges hurts the comprehensibility of instruments and lead vocals and makes sibilants like cymbals seem dull. Unfortunately, there aren't any sound customization options for these headphones.
These headphones have a good bass accuracy. It's slightly overemphasized across the range, which adds extra thump, punch, and boom to the mix. However, some listeners may find it to be somewhat muddy.
These headphones have excellent 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 somewhat inconsistent mid delivery, so this performance represents the average response and your experience may vary.
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 and makes sibilants like cymbals sound dull and lispy. However, they have inconsistent treble delivery. This performance represents the average response and 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 to mixes. The peak in the low-treble makes instruments harsh and painful. The large dip in the low and mid-treble can make instruments and lead vocals sound less detailed and articulated while some sibilant sounds, cymbals, seem dull. However, a peak in the mid-treble makes some sibilant sounds piercing.
These headphones have an amazing imaging performance. Weighted group delay falls mostly below the audibility threshold, ensuring a tight bass and transparent treble. There are some peaks in the bass-range, but they shouldn't be audible for most with real-life content. Also, the L/R drivers of our 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 unit, and yours may perform differently.
They have a disappointing passive soundstage performance. 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 that of most open-back headphones.
The Sony WH-CH710N have a reasonable weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion present in the treble range at both normal and high volumes, but it shouldn't be too noticeable 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 feature, it struggles to block out bass-range noises like rumbling bus and plane engines. However, they isolate you from a fair amount of sounds like ambient chatter or humming A/C units.
The microphone has a decent noise handling performance. It can separate your voice from moderate background sound, although noise seems to cut in and out, which can be a bit distracting. If you use them to take a call somewhere loud like a subway station, your voice can get completely drowned out.
The Sony WH-CH710N have a great battery performance. They last for just under 30 hours of continuous use on a single charge, which is less than the advertised 35 hours, but should still mean you don't need to charge them every day. However, battery performance can vary with real-life usage, so your experience may vary. They also have standby mode to conserve battery when they aren't in use and can even be used passively if the battery dies. Unfortunately, they take a long time to recharge.
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.
The Sony WH-CH710N are compatible with PCs using their 1/8" TRS audio cable. However, you can only receive audio.
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.
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.