Sony WF-C710N Review – Still A Solid Mid-Range Earbuds

Unboxing

Meet the Sony WF-C710N, the successor of the modest WF-C700N earbuds – for this new generation, Sony has introduced a new color with new material that comes along with it: the transparent Glass Blue. As expected, the packaging is now constructed using paper, both inside and out. You’re also given a QR code upon opening the box to download its companion app, Sound Connect.

The items you get includes two additional sizes for the eartips, a rather short charging cable, documentation, a sticker pack, along with the earbuds themselves ready to go as soon as you lift open the case. To be honest, the cable is perhaps too short to be of any practical use – you’re better off using your own, like your phone’s charging cable, to handle case charging.

Walkaround

It’s worth keeping in mind that this Glass Blue variant of the WF-C710N is the only color option among four available to offer transparent chassis; the other three colors (Pink, White, Black) will feature the usual opaque shell if the aesthetics of exposed electronics is not quite your cup of tea (it is definitely my cup of tea, though).

There are some functional changes made on the earbuds themselves when compared to the predecessor, the WF-C700N. First of all, the battery life is now improved, presumably thanks to bigger battery cell (as the size is now slightly bigger); and secondly, gone is the tactile button controls – and in its place is the capacitive touch sensor on the flat spot.

As for the case, it also got bigger in size, though the general layout remains identical. There’s a USB-C port behind for charging, along with a Bluetooth pair button next to it; you can also see some of the internal construction and components, like the 475mAh battery tucked in the bottom the case, with visible cables leading to the charging pins.

Since we already have the WF-C700N on hand, we took this opportunity to do a size comparison between the two models. In terms of the case dimensions, the WF-C710N’s case are slightly shorter in length, but is a fair bit taller and less rounded, so it will be slightly bulkier to put inside pockets.

Specifications

Sony WF-C710N

Full specifications available in product specification page.

Form Factor	In-ear, hybrid silicone rubber eartips
Drivers	5mm dynamic driver
Frequency Response	20Hz – 20,000Hz
Microphones	2 microphones (1 per side)
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.3 SBC, AAC codec Bluetooth Multipoint support
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)	Yes Adjustable transparency mode Quick Attention mode
Companion App	Sound Connect
Battery	Earbuds (Battery capacity unspecified) Up to 8.5 hours (ANC on) / 12 hours (ANC off) playback Charging Case (475mAh) Up to additional 21.5 hours (ANC on) / 28 hours (ANC off) playback
Dimensions & Weight	Earbuds Dimensions unspecified / 5.2g (per unit) Charging Case Dimensions unspecified / 38g
Colors	Glass Blue (as tested), Pink, White, Black
Ingress Protection	IPX4

User Experience

Since the time we tested the WF-C700N, Sony has since updated its companion app with new name and updated interface. The Sound Connect app quite the capable app in terms of the controls it offers, although this might be a bit intimidating for new users with the amount of options laid out at once. Still, those who like to fiddle with switches will be pleased to see a large amount of controls, including the new wear detection that automatically pauses playback when the earbud is taken out of the ear.

That said, one flaw remains: Quick Access is still largely rudimentary, with double tap and triple tap (for the left earbud by default) only able to be mapped to Spotify Tap function. If you don’t use Spotify in particular, then this function is of no use. Most of the controls are fixed in place, all you can do is to switch the presets between both sides of the earbuds.

One neat feature the new Sound Connect app offers is the ‘Find Your Equalizer’ function. This is primarily designed for novice users to adjust their sound profile to their liking through a series of sound tests, without needing to tweak the 5-band equalizer offered by the app (and it does require a fair bit of expertise to understand how EQ works). Side note – if you’re a basshead kind of person, the earbuds offer a dedicated slider under ‘Clear Bass’ so you can simply adjust that for more or less bass.

The audio signature of the WF-C710N can be described as slightly bass-focused, but generally pretty balanced; most users should find it perfectly adequate for most kinds of music, although a good bit of tuning via the 5-band EQ (6-band if you count the Clear Bass) can make it even better sounding than stock. Its soundstage are fine, not particular wide but not too confined either.

In terms of microphone quality, I would say it is serviceable in general – in ideal conditions, it does cut off a lot of low-end in the audio sample below making it sound rather flat, but sound gets picked up reasonably well; in noisier conditions however, the voice pickup can struggle against the earbuds’ aggressive background noise suppression (which oddly took a few seconds to kick in). In any case, here are the examples:

The Good

The Sony WF-C710N, like its predecessor, got the basics on point: as far as sound quality and ANC is concerned, it’s still a solid performer, especially for the price bracket it’s targeting. In other aspects, the new earbuds improves upon the preceding model, especially in the battery department – real-life testing shows the earbuds themselves capable of running well over 7 hours on a full charge with ANC on, and the case is capable of providing another 20 hours on top of that. That’s a big improvement over the WF-C700N’s charging case offering another 7.5 hours of playback time.

In terms of feature set, the earbuds gain two new features over the older model: wear detection (via a proximity sensor) and Bluetooth Multipoint support. Both features might not necessarily be deal-breakers for most users, but having both of them is a nice addition for sure. Moreover, the silicon eartips provide good fit in general, and I’m able to comfortably wear it pretty much as long as the batteries allow in one go. Aesthetics-wise, the Glass Blue color does offer something visually distinct compared to most offerings on the market – a bit Nothing-esque, if you ask me.

The Bad

Of course, despite the big upgrades, the WF-C710N still have some room for improvement. While the battery saw big improvement in endurance, the charging process for the case takes a long time to complete since it lacks fast charging. As a matter of fact, the trade-off of having a bigger battery means the case has grew in size, which means it’ll be more difficult to fit in small pockets.

Personally, I’m more towards the tactile buttons of the WF-C700N, but I can see the argument that there’s less likelihood of wear by using touch controls. Either way, customization for the button mappings are still very limited, and I’d like to see if a firmware update can change this – some people may prefer to disable single-tap to avoid accidental inputs, for example. Also, the earbuds still lack any form of low-latency mode, so competitive gaming is pretty much unfeasible with the amount of delay they get.

Verdict

While the launch price of the Sony WF-C710N was RM499, we’ve seen first-party discounts down to RM399 at this time, which gives this pair of earbuds even better value than it was at launch. All in all, if you’re primarily a music listener who’s often on the move, this is going to serve you pretty well, as long as you don’t mind the minor downsides.

Special thanks to Sony Malaysia for providing the WF-C710N earbuds for this review.