Sony WH-CH720N Noise Canceling Wireless Headphones Bluetooth Over The Ear Headset with Microphone and Alexa Built-in, Black New

Brian United States

A lot to love at a decent price

SECOND UPDATE - 11/9/2023 OK, so I have been living with these for a couple of months now and I feel I can say some things with more confidence. 1. Comfort is still a bit hit or miss. I will say the choice to put those microphones or whatever those things that stick out on the insides of the earcups was not great. I don't always feel them pressing on my ears but the earpads are not very thick and if you don't have them on in exactly the right way (assuming you can find a way that works for you) then the pads will flatten a bit and you'll feel them on your ears. It's not exactly painful. Just unpleasant. 2. And I feel the need to come back to the ear cushions themselves. Again, they just barely fit over my ears. And I wear glasses so this is a big issue with most headphones. I can sometimes get the cushions just right so they don't smash the tips of my ears against the arms of my glasses too much but it sometimes takes a bit of extra fiddling around with them that can be annoying when I'm not in the mood for it. Again, not too much of a knock against Sony since this is a widespread issue with headphones in general. Manufacturers just seem to think if they make the cushions soft, they will be comfortable. Nope. If it smashes your ears, it will start to hurt after a while no matter how soft it is. 3. The battery life is decent but I do find myself having to charge them more often than I expected. Prior to these, I had an inexpensive pair of Jlab headphones and although their sound quality and features were lacking, the battery life was outstanding and I was just used to not charging for days and days. I pretty much wear headphones all day every day and I generally find that these will be at 50% after a couple of days. Of course that's with noise cancelling on. But also, these are noise cancelling headphones so they were designed to be used with it on for long periods. Or should have been. I don't know what the capacity of the battery is in these but the battery packs they use in wireless headphones are not expensive items anymore. You can buy a set of $30 wireless headphones now with a huge capacity battery. So, yes. These are lower end Sony but they're still well above the price you pay for really basic wireless headphones. They shouldn't have skimped on the battery capacity. That said, though I haven't actually kept track of how many hours, it probably does meet the stated runtime. I had just hoped they were being conservative with the numbers. But also, you can't use them and charge them at the same time so if you use your headphones constantly, that can be annoying. I don't like to run lithium batteries much below 50%. I don't know that it's bad for them exactly but all of my lithium batteries have lasted me for many years using that policy so that's what I do. When I see 40-50% I charge the battery. I know they have the quick charge feature but I like to charge and forget for many hours. It would be more useful if I could plug into a power bank for 15 minutes and still use the headphones while it's charging. But nope. You plug into a charger and the headphones turn off. Everything said, I'm reasonably happy with them but I paid the $150 asking price they were selling for when I bought them. Knowing all I know now, I would not pay that price again for these. These are $70 headphones. Tops. They're not that comfortable. The battery life is easily matched (or surpassed) by the least expensive wireless headphones on Amazon. The stock sound quality is not impressive at all. (I will say they sound pretty good if you tweak the EQ). The only things I have been really happy about is once I got them paired with my PC, they always connect right away when I turn them on. That's something that is hit or miss with most bluetooth devices. And can be incredibly annoying when you have to fight to get something connected every single time. I've also been pretty satisfied with the noise cancelling. Which they're the first NC headphones I've ever owned so I have nothing to compare them to. I'm not really understanding what Sony was trying to do with these. Their top of the line ANC headphones might be some of the best ANC but are they really $400 good? Well, if they're anything like these, they are good but significantly overpriced. UPDATE - 9/25/2023 I realize my original review is a bit long and probably most people don't want to read all that so after living with these for a week or so, here are some key points that I think people will want to know. 1. Comfort is just OK for people with small or medium ears that don't stick out too far. Beyond that, the comfort might be anything from uncomfortable to painful. 2. The ANC is good enough for me. I don't fly. I don't use them on a bus or train or anything. I use them at home. They block out things like computer fans and voices in adjacent rooms. I have a fan right by my head and although I can still hear it, the ANC really tames it to a very gentle hiss. If voices or TV are in the same room with you, it will cause them to seem to recede quite a bit but you will still probably hear them (especially TV). The ANC works better on some frequencies than others. It almost eliminates some noises but (for example) the sound of water running nearby is something you will definitely hear. 3. I use these 90% with my Windows 10 PC and I have not experienced any of the disconnection issues that many have reported with them as long as I am only using them with my PC. However, when I do connect them to my Android phone, if I leave them connected for a while, things can get glitchy and if I then turn off the bluetooth on my phone, it will sometimes make weird things happen. Like if I have the ANC turned on on the headphones, it will turn off and forget the EQ settings I have chosen. Also, sometimes when I try to disconnect them from the phone by simply turning off bluetooth, they don't make the disconnect sound. I don't know. I'm glad I didn't buy them to use exclusively with the phone. I have a different set of headphones for that. I just wanted to include this in my review to note that I did indeed notice some issues when I left them connected to my phone for a while. I will be keeping them because PC is all I care about. END UPDATE --------------------- ORIGINAL REVIEW Things that mattered to me in choosing these headphones... 1. I'm not going to try and sugar coat this too much. I don't have money to burn. But a set of headphones that check all my boxes without doing anything I hate for a price I can handle is a tall order. Good headphones have never been cheap. ANC is still a premium feature (though this is changing fast). These headphones were just barely in my price range at $150. And frankly, although I like everything about them (so far) I think $100 would have been closer to the price these should be selling for. This segment of the market is crowded and if I was willing to gamble even more than I did, I could have probably gotten something I was happy with for significantly less than that $150. I went with Sony because I'm an old guy and I know that you usually don't pay more for a Sony product for no reason. 2. Comfort. Of course, we're talking perceived comfort. Comfort involves a lot of guesswork. For these, it appears that I mostly guessed right. These just fit my ears with a little pressure here and there. My ears are not small but also not that large. If you have large ears, you should probably go somewhere where you can try the headphones on before you buy. I probably should have done this myself because comfort is always my top priority (other than price). Most likely the pads on these will not be difficult to replace should the need arise. And it usually does with headphones. Sooner or later, the pads will always wear out. 3. ANC - Of course. This is my first pair of ANC headphones and it's everything I want. The transparency mode is slightly quieter than I would like but it's acceptable. I've seen some people complaining about the ANC not being effective on these. Not sure what they're talking about but maybe they're coming from much higher end ANC. For me, the first day I had them, I had some people come to see me and they were banging on my door. I heard absolutely nothing. They were freaked out because they thought something was wrong. So....my verdict on this is if you want perfect ANC, maybe shop around. I'm not here to tell you it's the best. I don't have anything to compare it to. I can only say it leaves me wanting nothing and I'm happy with it. 4. Sound quality - Out of the box, I found the factory sound to be lacking. But that usually happens with me when I have new headphones. I can't say for sure if the burn in effect is psychological or real but all I can say is a new pair of headphones takes some getting used to for me. At least the EQ is sufficiently adjustable in the app and I managed to get them to sound very nice. It's nice that the settings you choose in the app will be stored in the headphones so the same settings will apply on other devices. I mostly use Bluetooth headphones on my Windows 10 PC so I'm not going to be fiddling around with the app much. These can go pretty loud and have decent bass. The drivers can provide good clarity for mids and highs if you fiddle with the EQ. The stock EQ sounds muffled. But that also might be a result of them not having been burned in. CONS - It's really nitpicking for me to find many cons. These are great headphones (at least initially). 1. The buttons could be a bit more tactile. In particular, I find the play/pause button a bit difficult to find and always find myself hunting for it. It is right between the Vol +/- buttons and should stick out a little more than it does to make it obvious. Also, the ANC button is nearly flush with the earcup and still makes me hunt for it a bit more than I like. I think I'll get used to these buttons eventually but I don't love them. 2. The shortest timer for the auto off that's available in the app is 15 minutes. I was really kind of surprised that there was no option for a shorter time. 3. The headband is adjustable by clicks. So if the size you need is between two clicks, you might have to have them slightly too tight or slightly too loose. The higher end Sony headbands with no clicks seem like they would be better in this way. 4. Although (as I said) the comfort is pretty good, it's not great. But this is not terribly unusual for lower end headphones. I strongly prefer over ear (earcups that surround the ears rather than sit on them and smash them) and I'm very picky about it. I don't like it if my ears are not completely inside the earcups and I don't think it's asking much since my ears are not enormous. I find that these do kind of smash the tops of my ears. It's not something I notice right away but after about half an hour or so, it starts to become something I'm almost constantly aware of. It's not exactly painful but it isn't really pleasant either. To make matters worse, there is a seam in the fake leather that runs all the way around the inside where your ear is probably gonna be if your ears are just slightly larger than the ears of a child. I find that many of these types of earpads have that seam and I don't know it's purpose but I know that ones that don't have it tend to be easier on your ears even if your ears don't fit perfectly. So all I'm saying is this isn't some upstart company. This is Sony. These are low end Sony headphones but they're still not really cheap and they're still made by an enormous company that's been around for many decades. I don't know what it is. Almost every company that makes headphones of this sort makes the earcups too small for even slightly larger ears. I guess they think people with larger ears don't use headphones. Of course my ears could be really large. In which case, I probably wouldn't be able to wear them even if they were a little larger. 5. Also, I have to kind of agree with all the other reviews that mentioned the little plastic part that sticks out from the area where the driver is on the inside of the earcup. I am not sure if it actually pushes on my ears or not but it seems like it might. I kind of feel something and it does stick out far enough to where I can see how it could rub your ears. I think these pieces are the place where the microphones are mounted so if that's the case, they kind of have to be there but they probably don't have to be as poorly designed as they are. I feel like I might be able to trim some of the plastic off if I really wanted to but I'm not going to start working on a brand new set of $150 headphones. It doesn't bother me (yet) so maybe I'll change my mind later on. I think this could have been avoided if the padding were a bit thicker on the earpads.

Ben Truong United States

Good headphone product

I have used a wide variety of headphones including both wired and wireless headphones. I don’t like wired headphones, because they are quite cumbersome, very inconvenient and not noise cancelling. I also used to wireless headphones of Apple. They are so good, but it is easy for me to forget or lose, and their battery life is not what I expected. My criteria for buying a headset are good battery life, comfort when using, good sound quality. After a while for searching a headphone online based on my criteria, I found the right headphones for me, which are wireless over-the-ear headphones. The wireless over-the-ear headphones help you move freely without worrying about getting tangled or entangled in objects, with noise cancelling, it is light and very comfortable while using. These things are especially useful for doing housework, jogging and working. I begin to search a few types of headphones on Amazon. My budget to buy a new headphone about under 100 dollars. With this budget, I found quite a few quality headphones brands. Such as, Bose, Sony, JBL, Marshall… After a while, read reviews and compare the types of headphones with each other. I chose Sony WH-CH720N headphones for 88 dollars on Amazon. After using this headphone for about 5 months. I feel it worth the money spent. I like these advantages of it. Such as, good battery life (35 hours with noise cancelling), good noise cancelling, good quality sound (I can customize the sound quality according to my preferences through the app of the headphones). In addition, it has a lot of colors to choose and light weight (comfortable for using a long time). Although, I even don’t like a few things about this headphone as it is made of plastic so it is very scratchy, there is no headphone case. Sometimes, I also use it when travelling by plane, when I travel by plane, I often have tinnitus and very tired of the surrounding noise. But since using these headphones to fly, I have eliminated a lot of tinnitus and noise; it both entertains me and helps me sleep on the plane. I'm also quite impressed with its durability because I sometimes drop it when I don't notice, but it's scratched a little bit, not dented. This headset comes with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm microphone audio cable. It is very reasonable to spend on gaming, when connecting the cable, the sound delay will not be available, which will make the gaming experience more interesting. When I bought this headphone, the price was very good, only 88 dollars, usually I see that the price of this headphone about 179 dollars. The price of this headphone like a robbery. Overall, this headphone is a very good headphone in the price range. It fully meets the requirements that I wanted before buying it such as comfort, good sound quality, long battery life, good noise cancelling. Its disadvantages do not affect my experience too much. It's a great headphone. I believe that if you choose it, it will not disappoint you. I will rate this headphone 4.5 stars.

Brent Hinson United States

Exceptional Headphones That Are Worth The Investment

I can honestly say that these headphones are worth the investment. There are times when I still need to plug in my headphones with a 3.5mm cable, so I like that I can use them wired or wirelessly. When it comes to using them wirelessly with Bluetooth, they are amazing. You can connect the headphones to a single dedicated device or to two devices simultaneously. For me, that is such a great feature. I use the headphones to connect to my computer for work purposes, but they're also connected to my phone as well. The sound quality is the best I've ever gotten from a set of headphones. I've never experienced noise-cancelling audio as precise as this. And for the times when you don't need to totally cancel everything out, the ambient sound mode provides audio that is just as good. The Sony Sound Connect app you use with these headphones is designed to deliver the best possible sound. The equalizer function lets you control how you experience whatever you're listening to, offering options like bright, relaxed, vocal, speech, and bass boost. I use these headphones all day while I work, and they hold a consistent charge. I still have plenty of battery life left at the end of the day, but I usually plug them up to charge when I'm done with them. The volume control buttons on the headphones are easy to use. The only thing that can be frustrating at times is that the button to stop/start a song or move to the next track is right in the middle of the volume buttons, so I end up hitting it when I want to raise the volume. However, it is nice that they've also included a button on the headphones to toggle between noise-cancellation and ambient sound. Again, I use these for work, so I wear them for the majority of the day. They fit well and are comfortable to wear. As the day wears on, my ears do get a little warm from the cushions around the headset, but compared to how much I like using the headphones, it's a minor issue. The only other item of note is that, given the investment, it would be nice to include a storage box or bag. If you're on the fence about buying these headphones, I highly recommend them. They are worth the investment, and you'll be pleased with both the sound and design.

ThereIsNoAway United States

definitely not mint but great headphones

found a deal so decided to splurge a little out of my typical <$40 range. first thing was box felt empty, they are so incredibly lightweight my little spectrum/migraine sensitive head was so happy, super duper plus! second, they actually comfortably fit my small adult head (I wear child size hats,) amazing because that is rarely the case and the number one reason for all my other returns! connected to bluetooth easy, prompted for app download, easy to follow set-up prompts for this old non tech savvy gal. NC seems decent enough but not great, it's an important feature to me but we'll see. I didn't custom set anything yet and sound was really good for my typical goth/techno/EDM. it also prompted to a 360 sound app- omg that was some crazy amazing quality but not venturing there at this time- but obviously these headphones have some quality to them sound wise. I usually have no issue with buying returns, and these were ok but definitely not mint, nor in a box, nor came with even the correct charger which was all that was included, and took 2 months to arrive (late) from the same coast I'm located- I'm least happy with the wait, seriously why?! the surprise was they were blue- I was settling for black because of the deal, and ended up with what I preferred! so if they last all-in-all twas probably worth the major discount and wait, if they don't then I'd probably still search them out again because it's taken a literal year and 24 pairs of exhausting headphone trials and returns to find something that actually fits and is lightweight and comfortable to boot~ WOOWOO! I kinda want to dock a star for the NC and not being honestly listed but for now I am definite 5 stars happy!