So right now, I feel that sony is in the process of releasing their new generation of earbuds that
all feature relatively smaller cases from their predecessors and updated connectivity instead
of using a hero and side kick set up like their past earbuds. Now first Sony released
their WF-1000XM4’s which have amazing ANC… even though I am not a fan of their foam ear
tips… and most recently they released their link buds… which are very peculiar. But today
we are going to checkout Sony’s new super entry level and budget friendly earbuds… the WF-C500’s.
Now regarding pricing… the WF-C500’s retail for $100…
a little steep if you ask me… at that price I would just recommend that you upgrade to
the Galaxy buds 2… but the WF-C500 like to go on sale for $70. And at that price,
these earbuds are doable. And just for comparison sake, the link buds have a retail price of $180
and the WF-1000XM4’s have a retail price of $280. Both in completely different leagues from
the WF-C500’s. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about this case. Now the C500’s case is doable for everyday carry
earbuds… but it certainly isn’t my favorite. This case is rather noticeable when you’ve got
it in your pocket. However this case is more manageable than Sony’s last generation earbuds
like lets say the WF-1000XM3, WF-SP800N, or the WF-XB700. Now from user experience standpoint,
this case is mostly textured plastic so its very easy to get a grip on this case…
unlike the link buds which have a super slippery case… this friction lid snaps open and closed
very well, and I personally really like that there are some strong magnets in this case.
However, this is larger than your WF-1000XM4’s case and its way larger than your link buds case.
Now the WF-C500’s case is also a little more noticeable when its in your pocket than the
Galaxy Buds 2 case… and personally I do prefer the Studio Bud’s case here cause even though
this case has a larger foot print… it is a little thinner. And just as you’d expect… this case is
way more noticeable when its in your pocket than lets say the Airpods case, Airpods 3 case, and
AirPods Pro case. Now even though this case is a little on the larger side… it does tick off the
right boxes when it comes to usability like having a decent lid that is easy to open and close,
this case is easy to handle, and you’ve got those strong magnets which I think means a lot.
Now when it comes to battery life… the WF-C500’s have a combined advertised battery life of 20
hours. The earbuds themselves can go for up to 10 hours… which is above average…
most earbuds top out at like 4 to 6 hours… and the case can supply an additional full charge.
So if you’re someone that works retail or in a warehouse… and you like to wear your earbuds for
an extended period of time… then the WF-C500 could be up your ally.
But for comparison sake… the WF-1000XM4 have a combined battery life of up to 36 hours
if you were to use them with their active noise cancelation turned on…
and if you were to use them with their ANC turned on they have a combined battery life
of 24 hours… And then there are the link buds which have a combined battery life of 17 and
a half hours… which is a little below average for a pair of upper mid tier earbuds like these.
But when it comes to charging these earbuds… the WF-C500 can only be charged by using the USB C
port on the back. Unfortunately, these earbuds don’t have wireless charging. Which I don’t feel
is a big deal cause not a lot of other earbuds in this price range have wireless charging.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves… the WF-C500’s fit like your standard pair of in
ear earbuds like lets say the Galaxy Buds 2, Jabra Elite 3 or Jabra Elite 7 pro. As in they go into
your ear canals a decent amount. The WF-C500’s are nothing like the link buds which rest in the bowl
of your ears like the Airpods 3, or Galaxy Buds Live and they have a hole in the center of them.
However, I will say that the WF-C500 are way more comfortable than the WF-1000XM4’s.
First off, the C500’s don’t go in as deep into your ear canal like the WF-1000XM4’s… but more
importantly… the C500’s are using your standard silicon ear tips. Now these silicon ear tips don’t
feel super premium… however these silicon ear tips don’t get super itchy after like 15 minutes
like the foam ear tips found the WF-1000XM4’s. But overall, the WF-C500’s have a very similar sculpt
to the WF-1000XM4’s. These earbuds do a decent job of staying in place… and since these earbuds
create a decent seal with your ear canal… they are going to passively block out more noise than
your earbuds that just rest in the bowl of your ear like either your AirPods or Galaxy Buds Live.
However, I would mainly recommend these earbuds for casual use. Even though the WF-C500’s are
rocking an IPX4… making them water resistant and a viable option for working out… these
earbuds do like to wiggle out if you’re moving around too much. Especially if you’re jogging.
Now when it comes to connectivity… each earbud establishes a connection with your phone. So
if you just want to use on earbud at a time you can use either one, it doesn’t matter.
And this is the connection set up that we expect to see from our earbuds nowadays…
and this is the same connection set up that you’ll find on both the WF-1000XM4’s and link buds.
Now even though the C500’s can only be connected to one device at a time…
these earbuds are a decent option for any power use out there. If you
want to jump from one deice to another all you have to do is go into your device’s bluetooth menu
and establish a new connection… and the earbuds will just jump over. Thankfully you don’t have to
put these earbuds into pairing mode every single time you want to go from one device to another.
But when it comes to over all performance, these earbuds have zero latency across the board
whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… and when it comes to audio codecs…
these earbuds have support for SBC and AAC. Unfortunalty there is no LDAC here… but that
is to be expected cause that’s usually saved for Sony’s more premium products like the WF-1000XM4.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these earbuds. Now to keep it short…
the WF-C500 sound good enough to get job done. But just like with a lot of other entry level earbuds
like these… the WF-C500’s do have a rather bass heavy sound signature… but the problem here is
that the bass can get a little over powering at times… the bass can roll off… and the highs can
get tinny. Now thankfully these earbuds do have a customizable EQ… and I like to lower the bass
on these earbuds, raise the mids, and lower the treble as well. This makes these ear buds sound
more balanced, its easier to hear the vocals… and distortion in the highs isn’t as big of a
problem. But like I said, these earbuds sound good enough to get the job done, but don’t expect them
to sound as good as lets say the Beats Studio Buds and especially the Sennheiser CX Plus.
Now when it comes to your media controls… these earbuds are using physical buttons… something
that some people will really like. Now with the left earbud you can raise and lower the volume,
and with the right earbud you can play or pause your music, you can skip through your
music and you can press and hold to activate your voice assistant. But unfortunately,
you can not customize the layout of your buttons like you can with Sony’s other earbuds.
And one major thing that I have to point out about the WF-C500’s is that they don’t have
proximity sensors… so these earbuds will not automatically play or pulse your music
if you take them out or put them back into your ears. And
I personally really think that this is a major inconvinnace.
And given these earbud’s price point… I do feel that they should have proximity sensors.
And another feature that I do feel that these earbuds should have is
an ambient mode. Cause a lot of earbuds in this price range… and a lot of other
entry level earbuds out there do have an ambient mode. But these earbuds don’t. And
I do feel that its a shame that the WF-C500’s don’t have an ambient mode
cause having a decent ambient is very useful for commuting. Especially with in ear earbuds.
But finally here’s the microphone test… not this has never been Sony’s
strong suit. Now there have been incremental improvements… and thanks to a few firmware updates
the mic on the WF-1000XM4’s sounds a little better… But sony still has a a lot of work todo.
Now the microphone on the WF-C500 sounds very robotic… but I would actually argue that its
easier to understand you with these earbuds than with the more premium WF-1000XM4’s.
But finally here are the links buds, which overall have the best preforming microphone
here… but that’s not really saying much. Now this microphone sounds very similar to the microphone
on the WF-1000XM4’s but these are doing a slightly better job of focusing on my voice.
The links buds also do the best job of dealing with ambient noise here. As
you can hear this microphone is doing a decent job of blocking out this road noise
while keeping my voice front and center.
Where as with the C-500 I do sound rather choppy… but you can make out what im saying…
Where as with the WF-1000XM4’s I sound shallow and there’s some static in the
background when im talking. But I do sound choppy like with the WF-C500.
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, the Sony WF-1000XM4’s sound
shallow but there isn’t as much static in the background this time.
Where as with the WF-C500’s my voice is a lot more forward… but there is still some choppiness.
Nonetheless, I prefer this mic over the WF-1000XM4’s.
But finally here are the link buds… now my voice sounds a little hollow… but nonetheless this
microphone is doing a good job of isolating my voice from the chatter… and there’s no static in
the background or any choppiness. Overall, I think the link buds have the best performing microphone
here… But its still nowhere near as good as a lot of options out there like the Airpods 3.
Now even though the WF-C500’s don’t have the best sounding microphone out there… I do
think that it is passable for a pair of entry level earbuds.
But with all of the being said, the Sony WF-C500 are a justifiable pick if you can get them on
sale. If you can get these earbuds on sale, the WF-C500’s are a very budget friendly option
to consider. From a usability standpoint, the WF-C500’s fit well… they fit way better than
the WF-1000X4’s cause they don’t go in as deep and they don’t get itchy… their case ticks all of the
right boxes when it comes to handling it… they have good stamina on a single charge… they sound
good enough, and their microphone is usable. However personally I do wish that these
earbuds had an ambient mode and proximity sensors would have been very nice as well.