If you’ve been following the channel for
a while you know I absolutely love the Sony
1000XM2 cause of their ANC performance.
But I know dropping $350 on a pair of headphones
is a lot for some people.
So lets check out Sony’s newest and cheapest
ANC headphones the WH-CH700N and lets see
how the ANC on these guys stacks up with the
ANC on the 1000XM2.
Ok, from here on out I’m going to be referring
to these headphones as the 700N’s.
These headphones come in either black, silver
or blue color ways and they currently retail
for $199.99.
And like I mentioned earlier, the 1000XM2’s
usually retail for $350.
If you want to pick either of these headphones
up I’ll have links in the description below,
and if you use the links it really helps out
the channel.
I suggest you check them out cause Sony headphones
routinely go on sale so you might get lucky.
First lets go over what comes in the box cause
I was genuinely surprised that these headphones
didn’t come included with at least a carrying
pouch.
Regardless, I still recommend you invest in
a hardshell carrying case if you plan on traveling
a lot with these headphones.
These headphones do come included with a 3.5
millimeter audio cable and a short micro USB
cable for charging and thats it.
These headphones also have a lot in common
with the Sony XB950N1… particularly when
it comes to the plastic body panels.
The plastic on the 700N’s is more textured
whereas the 1000XM2’s plastic is completely
smooth.
The 700N’s also have a stainless steel headband
and synthetic leather on the ear cups which
is pretty standard issue for sony.
But they are very light weight coming in at
just 234 grams.
Where as the 1000XM2’s weigh in at 277 grams.
When it comes to fit compered to the 1000XM2’s,
the 700N’s giveth and they taketh.
First up the 700N’s fit very snug, but keep
in mind I have a big head… but the 700N’s
have the most clamping force out of sony’s
headphone line up, but they’re not uncomfortable.
Since the ear cups pivot and swivel a good
deal they are able to conform to most head
types.
The only bummer is that they don’t fold
up.
The padding on the 700N’s also isn’t as
soft as the padding found on the 1000XM2’s
but again they still manage to be comfortable.
But what I do like about the 700N’s is their
ear cup design… they’re much roomier than
the ear cups on the 1000XM2’s but they manage
to stay very low profile.
They also do a slightly better job of preventing
over heating.
These are boarder line Big Head Approved…
but if you want a loser fit with a $200 budget
then you’ll be better off with the Audio-Technica
ANC700BT, link for that review up above.
If we look at the left ear cup you’re going
to see your noise cancellation button to toggle
ANC on or off, theres an easily accessible
3.5 millimeter audio jack for passive listening,
theres your micro USB cable for charging,
and the power button.
It is important to keep in mind that these
headphones do not have an ambient sound setting
like the 1000XM2’s and like I’ve said
in the past, I would have very much preferred
if these headphones used a USB-C port instead.
I thought Sony would have had jumped on USB-C
by now.
The right ear cup houses the control buttons
which are very similar to the control buttons
found on the XB950N1’s.
Theres a volume rocker so you can adjust the
volume and theres a switch so you can quickly
skip or go back a track.
And if you press it in you can play or pause
your music.
And I really like these controls cause you
can quickly and easily skim through your music.
Even faster than the touch controls used on
the Sony 1000XM2 which I’m not hating on
cause they’re very accurate, but not as
fast as the physical rocker.
Its also important to keep in mind that both
the 700N’s and 1000XM2’s will support
Google assistant in the near future like the
Bose QC35 series II.
That feature hasn’t been released yet, but
just know its coming.
But in the mean time you can summon your voice
assistant by pressing and holding the rocker
down.
Just like the 1000XM2’s the 700N’s is
using bluetooth 4.1 and they have a range
of about 40 feet with direct line of sight.
The connection on these headphones is very
stable and there weren’t many issues if
there was a wall or two between the headphones
and my phone.
These headphones are also pretty good for
watching video cause their latency isn’t
that bad.
But, these headphones can only be connected
to one device at a time some if you’re a
power user it might be a set back, its one
of the things I hate most about the 1000XM2.
But the 700N’s have an extraordinary long
battery life.
Sony advertises a battery life of 35 hours,
and with ANC and bluetooth turned on and with
the volume set at 50% these headphones averaged
37 hours of play back time.
And with the ANC turned off these guys managed
to hit 45 hours playback time.
And even though their battery life is impressive…
their quick charging isn’t.
If you plug them in for 10 minutes they'll
only get you an hour of playback time which
is laughable compared to other headphones
out there.
When it comes to the active noise cancelation
on the 700N’s obviously its not going to
be as good as the ANC on the 1000XM2.
The ANC on the 700N manages to block out a
good amount of road noise for when you’re
on the bus, but when it comes to blocking
out chatter the 700N’s don’t really do
much.
But like the 1000XM2 the 700N’s don’t
have any noticeable cabin pressure.
And like I mentioned earlier, the 700N’s
don’t have the ambient sound feature which
allows you to pump in some of the surrounding
sounds, and they also don’t have quick attention
which is by far my favorite feature found
on the 1000XM2.
When it comes to sound quality, the 700N’s
have a surprising amount of bass.
And through Sony’s headphone app you can
go in adjust the EQ on these headphones.
So if you want you can crank up the bass to
a 10 or you can bring the mids outs and put
an emphasis on the vocalists.
But definitely these headphones do not share
the same clarity and wide sound stage found
on the 1000XM2.
No matter how much I played around with the
EQ on the 700N there just wasn’t enough
instrument separation… so everything just
sounds close together.
And these headphones don’t really sound
that different with ANC turned on or off.
But if you’re going to be listening to music
out in public just know these headphones do
have a considerable amount of sound leakage.
Through Sony’s app you can also toggle ANC
on or off but you can’t adjust how strong
you want it.
You can also play around with the surround
setting on these headphones, but since all
that feature does is distort the music I typically
keep that feature turned off.
So for $200 the ANC on the Sony WH-CH700N
is really only worth using for your bus ride
commute to school or work or in an already
quite office.
If you’re walking around in the city or
in a much noiseier environment like an airport
the ANC on the 700N’s isn’t going to do
much.
I just cant stress how good the ANC on the
1000XM2 is.
But in general they are a pretty good buy
cause they have good build quality for $200
headphones and they fit very well, just as
long as you don’t have a big head.
They have a very long battery life which makes
them great for everyday carry, their low latency
make them good for watching videos but they
don’t sound amazing… just good enough.
