Sony’s new budget wireless earbuds have flagship XM4 features

Sony makes some of the best wireless earbuds on the market, but what do you do if you can’t afford the flagship WF-1000XM4 buds? Well, the firm’s new budget-friendly earphones might be the answer to your prayers. 

The WF-C700N (yes, Sony still has terrible product names) look set to be one of the best budget pairs of wireless earbuds. They only cost £99/€119, but still get various flagship-level features such as active noise cancelling (ANC). 

Sony’s well-known ANC is described as ‘best-in-class’ on the new buds and includes Adaptive Sound Control. This clever technology adjusts the noise cancelling for you based on what you’re doing and can even be customised to places you frequent such as your office or favourite coffee haunt. 

Furthermore, Ambient Sound Mode ensures you can hear what’s going on around you while still wearing the earbuds. Sony also includes its DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) tech to enhance the sound of compressed audio – although, it’s not the Extreme version found on the XM4 buds. 

The WF-C700N pack 5mm drivers into an ‘ultra-light and compact’ design which comes in four colours: black, white, lavender and sage green. A surface-contact ergonomic shape aims to hold the earbud in place with minimal strain on the ear canal while keeping the protrusion to a minimum for less vibration pickup. 

Sony

Meanwhile, the pill-shaped charging case comes in a matching colour. You don’t get wireless charging at this price and the CF-700N are only rated for 15 hours of battery life, so this is where some rivals are better. 

There are still plenty of things to tempt you though, including Multipoint connection, 360 Reality Audio, IPX4 water resistance, voice assistant support, wind noise reduction structure and customisation via the Sony Headphone Connect app. 

As with recent products, Sony is trying to lessen the impact on the environment and so all the packaging is plastic-free. It would be nice to see all new models use recycled materials, though, like the LinkBuds S. 

The Sony WF-C700N will go on sale in April priced at £99/€119. They will have to compete with the likes of the Google Pixel Buds A-Series, Nothing Ear (1) and Jabra Elite 4. 

The firm has also announced a new Midnight Blue colourway for the flagship over-ear WH-1000XM5 headphones. These will also go on sale in April, priced at £349/ €399.

Sony