Two years after the release of the C700N, Sony is updating its affordable headphones with the C710N. On paper, these new earbuds promise big improvements in noise reduction, battery life, and connectivity. And all without changing the price. Is the promise kept? Find out in this full review.
In 2024, we were quite impressed by the WF-1000XM5 (more commonly known as the XM5), Sony's latest high-end TWS earbuds. While there are still some tweaks to be made, the experience they offer is exceptional. Of course, some will prefer the stability of Bose's QC Ultra or the unique signature of Bowers & Wilkins' Pi8. But the XM5s have clearly entered our top 3.
Read also – Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro review: they look like AirPods Pro, but they have a little something extra
Only, the XM5s aren't cheap either. Their recommended retail price, excluding promotions, is still 320 euros. This is why Sony is also developing less premium earphones: the C range. In 2023, the brand launched the WF-C700N, balanced and high-quality earphones sold for 120 euros. Two years later, Sony replaced them with the WF-C710N and promised significant improvements. Has the promise been kept? This is what we will discover thanks to this comprehensive review.
Price and availability date
The recommended retail price of the Sony WF-C710N is 120 euros. This is exactly the same price as the C700N launched in 2023. For comparison, all Sony LinkBuds were launched at 199 euros: original LinkBuds, LinkBuds S, LinkBuds Open or LinkBuds Fit, same price. The C710N are therefore very cheap. Note, however, that the C700Ns are now priced below 100 euros, or even 80 euros when they are on sale.
The WF-C710Ns' main competitors are Samsung's Galaxy Buds FE, Jabra's Elite 4, LG's Tone Free, Apple's AirPods 4, Marshall's Motif II ANC, JBL's Live Pro 2, Sennheiser's CX True Wireless, Xiaomi's Redmi Buds 5 Pro, Google's Nothing (Ear), Pixel Buds A, etc. There are many models between 100 and 150 euros.
The C710N are available from March 25, 2025 on the shelves of all good ice cream shops. Sony offers several colors for this product: white, black, pink, and "Glass Blue." The latter is a very nice transparent blue color and very different from the others.
In the box, you will find the earphones, their case, a USB-C to USB-A cable for charging, two additional pairs of eartips (small and large), and some reading material. The eartips offered by Sony are made of silicone. They are quite high-quality, and the passive isolation they offer is already good.
Design and control
Let's start this review with the design of the earphones, which reminds us of the XM5. You can see in the photos opposite the superb Glass Blue version of the C710N. The plastic of the shell is blue and transparent, revealing all the elements inside. Note that the charging case matches the design of the earphones: it is also transparent here. Younger people will see it as a response to Nothing. The less young might see it as a tribute to the “skeleton” version of the Dualshock of the first PlayStation…
The earphones consist of a round part (with the electronics and the battery) where the new touch surface is located, replacing the physical button of the C700N. This touch surface allows you to control the earphones: answer a call, start a playlist and skip to another song, activate noise cancellation, control the volume... the interactions are numerous, but their customization is quite limited.
The earphones seem quite bulky, but they sit well on the ear. A slight rotation allows the shell to be wedged against the auricle of the ear. There is no silicone reinforcement to ensure support. However, the C710N stays in place, even if you run. The weight of the earphones remains reasonable: around 5 grams. And they are protected against rain (IPx4 certification).
You also have in this round part a microphone hidden behind a small grille which will be used for calls and noise reduction. A second microphone, for noise reduction here too, is located in the conical part of the earphone. This part of the earphone ends with a system which securely attaches the tips. No risk of losing them.
The charging case also echoes the design of the earphones: its shell is blue and transparent to reveal the technical elements. The magnetic lid is fairly firm, but not so firm that it is impossible to open with one hand. The bottom of the case is flat so it can be easily placed on a table. There is a USB-C port on the back for charging and a button to activate Bluetooth pairing. On the front, a notification LED informs you of the battery status and the earphones' charge.
Audio quality
Now let's talk about the most important topic of this test: the sound experience. The C710N offers more or less the same audio qualities as the C700N. And it's not surprising: they benefit from the same 5 mm diameter transducer. We therefore find quality sound for all types of content, typical of Sony headphones. The mids are generous. The voices are well reproduced. The bass is present. The treble is still lacking detail.
The default profile still lacks roundness and depth. But the equalizer offered in the smartphone application can considerably improve the depth of the sound. This equalizer has five frequency bands, from 400 Hz to 16 kHz, and offers several preconfigured profiles for beginners. These profiles are fully customizable: a feature that is not very common.
The C710N does not bring any evolution in terms of audio codecs. They still only support SBC and AAC included in the protocol. Xperia owners, which are compatible with LDAC, Sony's HD codec, will certainly feel frustrated by this decision. On the other hand, Sony brings DSEE to the C710N. This codec allows for improved rendering of content in standard quality. That's something. Likewise, the C710Ns are compatible with 360 Reality Audio. But streaming services compatible with this format are so rare that the feature becomes almost useless.
The C710Ns obviously support active noise cancellation, like the previous headphones. But Sony has clearly made an effort with this feature here. The addition of a second microphone provides better control over noise cancellation. Sony does not communicate on the improvement of this active reduction, particularly on the sound intensity that the C710Ns are capable of canceling. But the difference is clear, even if they still have some difficulty with high-pitched or loud noises.
Sony has also added a protective grille for the microphone located on the back of each earpiece. This grille helps reduce wind noise, especially during a phone conversation. These conversations are also of good quality, even if the ANC sometimes prevents your caller from hearing everything you say. There is also no conversation detection.
The latency of the C710N is in the good average, no more, no less. It is a few tenths of a second. This is enough to notice a lag in games, especially those that require responsiveness. On the other hand, it remains sufficiently controlled for music, films and series.
Interactivity and application
The C710N are compatible with the Bluetooth 5.3 protocol. They therefore benefit from a fairly stable connection with smartphones and are rather energy-efficient, even if you have the option of prioritizing audio quality over stability. The maximum connection distance is approximately 20 meters when there are no obstacles.
Compared to the C700N, the C710N gains considerably in interactivity. It is even in this area that we note the greatest progress between the two models. The C710N notably gains multipoint connection. You can connect the C710N to two devices at the same time: switching from one source to another is done via the Sony application, if the switch does not happen automatically.
The C710N also gains a sensor that lets them know if they are being worn. So, if you remove one of the earphones, the music stops. And it resumes when both earphones are worn. The C710N also features an automatic standby mode that turns them off when they are not worn for a certain period of time. Both of these features can be disabled in the settings, although this is not recommended.
The C710N also features adaptive noise reduction: it changes depending on your location and your "state": sitting, walking, in transport, etc. Adaptive ANC is an interesting feature, but here it is limited to two possible positions: active reduction or transparency. There is no intermediate position. This lacks the granularity that you can find in XM5s, for example.
Like all Sony headphones, the C710N come with a smartphone app called "Sound Connect." Compatible with Android and iOS, it's quite elegant and very comprehensive. It allows you to control the earbuds' functions (detection of the port, standby, ANC control, audio profile, DSEE, etc.), as well as the audio source if you have connected the C710N to two devices simultaneously. With it, you can customize the touch controls, connect your earbuds to Spotify or Amazon, or even update their firmware.
Autonomy and charging
Let's finish this test by studying the battery. And even the batteries, since each earbud includes one, without forgetting that of the charging case. The capacity of each of them is not announced by Sony. The Japanese brand, like Apple for example, prefers to communicate on the number of hours of listening. Here are the figures announced by Sony:
- 8.5 hours with ANC on a single charge
- 12 hours without ANC on a single charge
- 30 hours with ANC including the charging case
- 40 hours without ANC including the charging case
Our measurements show similar figures. The earphones lose a little less than 10% of battery in one hour of listening without ANC and a little less than 15% when ANC is activated. We estimate the battery life between approximately 7 hours and 8 hours with ANC. The energy loss is obviously not uniform between the "master" earphone and the "slave" earphone, as always.
Once the earphones have used up their energy, they have to recharge. Sony promises faster charging than the C700N. According to the brand, the C710N recovers an hour of battery life after 5 minutes in their charging case. That's half as much as their predecessors. Our measurements confirm this promise: the earbuds acquire between 10% and 15% battery in 5 minutes. And it takes an hour to fully recharge them. Note that these figures lack precision, as the application does not allow for a precise display of the battery level. Here are our intermediate "measurements":
- 40% in 15 minutes
- 60% in 30 minutes
- 80% in 45 minutes
- 100% in 60 minutes
The charging case, meanwhile, goes from 0% to 100% in about an hour and a half, although this will depend a lot on the charger you use. We ran our charging cycles with a 60-watt adapter and the cable provided in the box.
So, should we buy?
Faced with fierce competition, Sony has demonstrated its ability to respond with high-quality products at a price that doesn't go through the roof. The C710Ns benefit from numerous qualities, both technical and ergonomic. The switch to a touchscreen is an excellent idea. The battery life is very good. And the design of the Glass Blue version is really great. We were admittedly a little frustrated to only benefit from standard audio codecs and adaptive noise reduction that lacked granularity. But at this price, it's hard to really blame Sony. The C710Ns are therefore perfectly recommendable for a budget under 150 euros.
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