Sony WH-CH720N
Best affordable noise-cancelling over-ears
Pros
- Lightweight, comfortable design
- Affordable price
- Solid noise-cancelling
- Fun, punchy audio
- Long battery life
Cons
- Average call quality
- No carry case
There are always caveats with budget noise-cancelling headphones. They’re not as powerful as expensive models, but as long as you are aware of it, the WH-CH720N are one of the best value noise-cancelling headphones you can buy.
We would describe the noise cancellation as solid for the price. It focuses on reducing low-frequency sounds and clearing away ambient noise, and while we wouldn’t say that these headphones clear every loud bang or big vehicles, we did find that they made daily commutes less intense and disruptive. They’re effective against large groups of people, though when faced with individuals, we did notice that they made people’s voices more noticeable.
The noise-cancelling is better than the similarly priced Soundcore Space One and Earfun Wave Pro, though the Monoprice BT-600ANC (available in the US) edges it out for ANC.
The sound has a smooth quality to it with an emphasis on bass. Bass is delivered with punch, the midrange is clear and detailed, and the upper frequencies sound bright and clear. The Final UX300 offer a more insightful performance (with its noise-cancelling off, however), but they aren’t as affordable or boast as many convenient features.
Sony claims 35 hours of battery life, our tests showed they could go as far as 40 with noise-cancelling on, which is more than the Soundcore Space One. As well as the hybrid active noise-cancellation, there’s a transparency mode, Bluetooth multipoint, customisation through the Sony Headphones app support and voice assistants in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
The headphones’ frame and earcups are made from recycled plastic, and we found there were no noticeable creaks or groans when we bent the frame. The use of plastic also keeps the headphones lightweight at 192g, and moreover we didn’t experience periods of discomfort thanks to the padding on the headband and earcups.
There’s a growing number of affordable ANC headphones but the Sony puts in the best overall performance.
Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sony WH-CH720N
