Affordable Active Noise Cancellation For WFH, Webinars, Binge Watching – Sony CH710N Review

Active Noise Cancelling Headphones are quite a thing, it’s not a gimmick it actually works and a lot of tech goes behind it, therefore ANC headphones are pricey. With the kind of year 2020 has been, we are all used to changes now… well coming to headphone space, the Sony CH710N changes the high price tag attached to ANC headphones and brings this cool feature to the reach of many. First off, the 710N’s are cheaper than its predecessor, although you get smaller 30mm drivers, SQ though is on the same level, more on that later. 

Unboxing 

Box of the 710N is sleek and slim, typical Sony Product Packaging which is a good thing. The price on the box is INR 14,990, but the 710N’s were launched at INR 9,999. While Sony has given the 710Ns Active Noise Cancellation feature at this price point, it also means the company had to cut costs here and there. No case is included in the box, what you get inside is the 710N unit along with 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable and a short USB-C charging cable. The headphones came with a 70% charge right out of the box, after listening to them for 10mins we connected them to a spare phone and played music on 80% volume till the battery died. Well, we were trying to run-in the drivers in the 710ns but the battery would not die. The Headphones switched off after 27 hours. 

Build Quality 

The moment I unboxed the 710n and picked them up, they felt light, at 223gms they are indeed very light. But at the same time, the plastic quality could have been better, the foam on the ear cups feel a bit meh! as well. Having said that the on/off button on the left can and the control and ANC buttons on the right are soft and feel durable enough. Even the 3.5mm jack and USB-C port on the 710n are well made and feel abuse friendly. If you have snapped your 3.5mm cable from your set of cans you would know what I am talking about. 

Now after using them for some time now, I feel it’s the lightweight that takes away the premium feeling from the 710Ns, but the less weight has made me use these can so much more and that’s the key point here, 710N shines as daily usage headphones. More on usage patterns later…

Sound Quality (SQ)

Sony headphones are known for being a little too bass-heavy, focused on Lower frequencies and that’s alright because it works well with a lot of new-age electronic music. The 710n though… is not Sony’s Xtra Bass headphones so if are looking for those thumping notes, that is not what you will get here. The Sound signature here is almost neutral, it’s not outright FLAT, there is a slight focus on low frequencies, but if you are more into Techno, electronica, lo-fi, you will have to turn up your equaliser on the source device. With 710N’s Sony has taken the middle ground, trying to please listeners of all genres of music. I listen to old school hip-hop, techno and electronic, and with these genres of music, the 710Ns sounded ok after tweaking the equaliser on my source devices. Listening to tunes from Eric Prydz and Boris Brejcha made me crave for more volume and that’s when I figured, the 710Ns do not get all that loud, I mean they are loud but I would have preferred slightly louder. Now I’m not going to write about listening to some music composers from the audiophile heaven and comparing these headphones with some high-end headphones no! For the price and the availability of ANC on the 710n, the sound signature is almost neutral and will appeal to a larger audience, my dad, for example, loved listening to ghazals collection on the 710Ns. There are better sounding headphones, I have a few but then you have pay much more for them. 

Noise Cancellation !! 

Noise cancellation is the main selling point of the 710Ns, the Active noise cancelling (ANC) feature is usually found at much higher price points. Sony has done a commendable job by bringing this feature at this price point. ANC feature on the 710Ns work as advertised, these are not the best but they work! Active Noise-cancelling feature works using mics listening to ambient sounds and then cancelling them out. ANC works wonders while travelling on a flight, cancelling out the continuous hum of the plane’s engines. Sony knows its ANC tech and is currently the market leader with the 1000XM3 (INR 24,999) in the high-end ANC headphones. While the 710Ns were launched during the lockdown and I could not try them out on a flight, but on a day to day usage it masks out the hum of an air conditioner, fan and TV anchors doing a shouting match. More on the usage patterns next. 

Usage Pattern

While we all under the spell of COVID19 virus, working from home and learning from home is the new normal along with binge-watching Netflix at nights. For these types of usages, the 710Ns shines. Daylong Webinars, video conferencing and video calls with the 710Ns are easy, the lightweight and the huge battery life of 35plus hours just makes it a workhorse. Are you attending classes from home over zoom and having difficulty focusing because of the ambient noises of family members doing their thing? This is where the ANC comes into action, it easily cuts out the ambient noises and helps your focus on music or any content you are listening to. I have used the 710Ns for day-long webinars and the lack of Xtra Bass really helped here. The mic quality on the 710N is on the better side, listeners reported clear speech quality. The battery life of 35plus hours also means you can use them all day and still the headphones are at 50-60% battery, then there is the 10min quick charge which offers an hour of listening time. I could never run these out of battery, one thing to be said about the battery, the 710Ns are overnight charge type device as it takes a long time to charge from 0-100, considering the huge backup time, its ok. 

Xtra Features 

Off course there are a few more features in 710Ns apart from the ANC, it comes with google assistant enabled and there is a button for it as well. Passive usage is possible using the 3.5mm cable if you are able to run out of the massive battery life. Then there is NFC built allowing for a hands-free connection, almost contact-less as the current trend is. One feature which is missing is the incompatibility with the Sony Headphones App, if you have used it this app before then you know it offers a high degree of control over your Sony ANC headphones along with the ability to tweak the sound. 

Final Thoughts 

If you are looking for Active Noise-Cancelling cans for multiple uses then the Sony WH-CH710N is worth considering, and at this price, it is a no-brainer. The 35hr+ battery life and the mostly balanced sound signature is an added bonus. The ANC here is the USP and works well, add in a headphone case from amazon and your good to go.  Meanwhile, the competition is hot with JBL Live 650BTNC coming in at similar price and feature set.