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The C710n is the most affordable noise canceling earbuds from Sony, so there’s not as much emphasis here in terms of specs. For example it’s only got the base version of DSEE upscaling, and it doesn’t have Hi-Res codec support or Spatial Audio with head tracking (on selected Android phones). And nope, it doesn’t have wireless charging either, so you really are getting the basic stuff with the 710n. Yes, I love this new transparent Crystal Clear color, but what’s more important is do they perform as well as they look. So we’re going to compare them to the LinkBuds Fit and the flagship WF-1000XM5 in terms of sound, mic pickup, noise canceling and transparency.

Microphone Quality

In terms of mic pickup, these do have clean voice pickup in quiet conditions. In noisy conditions, it’s got great background noise reduction, and voice pickup is serviceable, but my voice sounds pretty muffled compared to either the XM5 or LinkBuds Fit. In my mic quality rankings it would come under a respectable B-rank.

👉 Have a listen to the mic quality samples

Active Noise Cancelling

In terms of active noise canceling, they’re not exactly top performers because if we look at this measurement, (I know it looks messy, please bear with me) we can see that compared to the others, it doesn’t cancel as much noise in the bass and lower mids. In fact, in the 20-60hz region, it’s even picking up excess sub-bass frequencies above the flat noise level, represented by the white line. This means it’s less effective at dealing with rumbling, droning noises than either the LinkBuds Fit or XM5. But it does cancel almost as much noise in the upper mids and highs as the XM5, so you really can feel that muffling effect using it in public places, more so than the LinkBuds Fit.

👉 Have a listen to the ANC quality samples

Transparency Mode

In terms of transparency, you can see that this excess resonance is still there in the sub-bass, but by and large the 710n is close to the others in terms of passing through the ambient noise which is represented by the white line. However, I am seeing more amplification up to the 1khz mark compared to the LinkBuds Fit and XM5, this means that ambient passthrough is louder in general, but the XM5 is louder in the upper mids which should give it a crisper, less muffled voice passthrough compared to the others. Let me translate that into simple English. The 710n has the loudest passthrough, but the XM5’s passthrough sounds more natural. All three of them are usable in the default transparency mode for general awareness and verbal exchanges.

Sound Quality

In terms of sound quality, out of the box, the C710n sounds very flat. Of the three earbuds in this comparison, this sounds the least exciting. Very little crispness and airiness in the mids and highs, and bass is also a bit less thumpy. As you can see from this measurement, while the others hug closely to the Harman preference curve, the 710n's are more recessed in general, especially in the mids and highs.

👉 Have a listen to the sound quality samples

I Fixed It!

However, I can fix that, like me looking at a hot mess at a club and saying, I can fix her. Basically I jumped into the Sound Connect app and just ramped up the 4.3khz and 16khz bands, then bumped the Clearbass dial a bit, and now, it sounds so much better, more lively, more punchy, exciting, enjoyable. I tried doing it with the Find My Equalizer feature, but it couldn’t quite nail what I wanted, so I DIYed.

Now, it still doesn’t have the XM5’s same level of detail retrieval, clean separation and texture, but it does sound enjoyable, rather close to the LinkBuds Fit which has that crisp, punchy signature by default.

So the C710n is basic, and relatively speaking, compared to the more expensive Sonys, if we go by its features and performance, its price point makes sense in that you won’t feel like you’re overpaying. It’s at that sweet spot, so for somebody new to wireless earbuds, or if you like Sony products, it can meet most expectations in terms of noise canceling, transparency, battery life, and with a bit of tweaking, sound quality. In other words, the basics.

But if we zoom out, and take a look at what’s out there, it’s really not that competitive in terms of features because many of the Chinese brand alternatives do offer more for less. Of course, that is the case now, but with the new tariffs kicking in, we could see prices go up for these Chinese alternatives for not just the US, but globally. So if Sony can keep its price at its current level, these may end up looking a bit more attractive down the road, relatively speaking.

Something which I didn’t quite like, or rather, have mixed feelings about, is the 710n’s new touch controls. The previous version, the C700n, had button controls, and that had its own appeal because they still work even if I’m wearing gloves, and they’re less prone to accidental presses. However, it may not be a big deal for most people because most Sony earbuds use touch controls anyway.

Check latest price:
Sony WF-C710n ($120 US) - Amazon Link TBA
Sony LinkBuds Fit - https://amzn.to/4g0uGvT
Sony WF-1000XM5 - https://amzn.to/4g3dXaJ