You know I love the Sony 1000XM2 cause they have the best Active noise Cancelation on
the market right now.
But I know that dropping $350 on a pair of ANC headphones is a lot for some people.
So today we’re going to compare 3 ANC headphones in the $200 budget range…
Specifically the new Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT Quitepoint, the Sony WH-CH700N, and the JBL
Everest Elite 750NC cause they’re always on sale now.
Just so we’re clear, this isn’t a full review on either of these headphones…
I’m just trying to point out the most important differences between them so I can help you
with your purchase.
If you want to learn more about either of these headphones then watch their full reviews.
The Audio-Technica ANC700BT, which I’m going to be referring to as the Quitepoints are
the newest headphones here and currently retail for $199.99.
The Sony 700N’s were released around the same time as the Quitepoints and also retail
for $199.99.
The JBL Everest Elite are a year old now and used to retail for $299.99, but they’re
usually on sale now for about $230… so thats why I’m including them in this versus video.
If you want to pick either of these ANC headphones up I’ll have links in the description below,
and if you use the links it really helps out the channel.
Check them out cause you never know when these headphones might go on sale so you might get
lucky.
Ok first lets go over some small but crucial details.
All three of these ANC headphones use micro USB ports for charging and they all have an
audio jack for passive listening.
But only the Sony 700N’s have a 3.5 millimeter audio jack, where as the Quitepoints and Everest
Elite have 2.5 millimeter audio jacks.
Also, only the Everest Elite come included with a hardshell carrying case.
While the Quitepoints come included with a carrying pouch and the Sony’s don’t come
with a carrying pouch at all.
Now lets talk about fit cause I feel its the most important thing to take into consideration
when choosing headphones.
All three of these ANC headphones are over- ear headphones and they all have a stainless
steel headband, plastic body panels, and synthetic leather on their ear cups.
But the Sony’s are the lightest here weighing in at 234 grams, the Quitepoints weigh in
at 247 grams and the JBL’s are the heaviest here weighing in at 280 grams.
But hands down I feel the Quitepoints are the most comfortable headphones here cause
they have very roomy ear cups, and they have the least amount of clamping force.
The Sony’s are also comfortable, but they are a little snug if you have a bigger head
like me.
The JBL’s have the same amount of clamping force as the Sony’s but since their ear
cups don’t pivot as much as the Sony’s or Quitepoints I feel they never fit just
right they put some pressure on the anterior portion of my ear.
Also since the JBL’s have so much padding… over heating is definitely an issue with these
headphones.
Where as the Audio-Technica’s don’t over heat too much and the Sony’s is somewhere
between the Quitepoints and JBL.
So comfort points has got to go to the Audio-Technicas.
And when it comes to build quality, I feel the Quitepoints and Sony’s are on par with
one another where as I feel the build quality on the JBL isn’t the best.
They crack and squeak a lot when ever I handle them.
But now lets talk about another small but important thing to take into consideration
and thats how you control your music playback with these headphones.
Obviously you can play, pause, skip a track, go back a track and activate your voice assistant
directly from these headphones.
But how you go about it is very different on each of these headphones.
The Sony’s have the best controls heres thanks to a dedicated volume rocker and a
separate switch.
So you can skim through your music very quickly and easily.
The Everest Elite has control buttons, but they are very hard to find and to tell apart.
And instead of double pressing or triple pressing the center button to skip a go back a track…
you have to press and hold the volume up or volume down button.
And I hate this cause it just takes for ever to skip a track.
But more importantly, controlling your music playback on the Quitepoints is near impossible.
The Quitepoints use touch controls that are almost never accurate when you’re trying
to skip or go back a track and since they are on the left ear cup instead of the right
ear cup it feels very unnatural for me since I’m a righty.
And since controlling my music playback is so hard with the Quitepoint’s touch controls
I just naturally find myself defaulting to my phone.
Now lets talk about battery life cause they’re all very different across the board.
With ANC and bluetooth turned on and with the volume set at 50% the Everest Elite manage
to average 17 hours of playback time.
Under the same circumstances the Quitepoints manage to average 23 hours of playback time
and the Sony’s have the best battery life here averaging 37 hours playtime.
And with ANC turned off the Sony’s managed to hit 45 hours of playback time.
Regarding connectivity, all three of these headphones have a 30 foot range.
But the Quitepoints and Sony’s are using bluetooth 4.1 while the JBL’s are using
bluetooth 4.0.
Wireless connection on the JBL and Sony is very stable, where as if you get a single
wall between the Quitepoints and your phone your music will start to stutter a bit.
And the Sony and JBL have very little latency which make them good for watching video, where
as the latency on the Quitepoints is much more noticeable so these aren’t the best
for watching videos.
And all three of these headphones can only be connected to one device at a time so thats
something to take into consideration if you’re a power user.
Now lets talk about the Active noise Cancelation on these headphones.
The JBL’s manage to block out the most sound here but they do have a considerable amount
of cabin pressure.
When ever I put the JBL’s on I constantly find myself trying to pop my ears… but they
don’t cause me headaches like the Bose QC35 do.
The ANC on the Sony and Quitepoints is really only worth using on a bus ride commute or
in already quite office cause they don’t do a really good job of blocking out chatter.
But the ANC on either the Sony or Quitepoints have very little to no cabin pressure which
is good cause I can go hours with them on without feeling any discomfort.
When it comes to sound quality, the Audio-Technica Quitepoints have a neutral sound signature,
they also have the best sound stage and instrument separation here, but they get the least loudest
at max volume.
The Everest Elite also has a pretty good sound stage and they have the most bass here, but
if the bass really gets going then it’ll bottom out now and then.
Its not as bad as it used to be, but it still happens.
The Mids and instrument separation on the Sony’s is very similar to the JBL’s but
the sony’s don’t have nearly as much bass.
But the Sony’s bass doesn’t bottom out and they also get the loudest here.
All three of these headphones sound good, but I do find myself reaching for the Quitepoints
cause of that soundstage.
But both the Sony and JBL have an app where you can quickly and easily adjust the EQ on
either of these headphones.
So if you want you can crank the bass up to a ten or if you want to put an emphasis on
vocalists you can bring the mids out.
Unfortunately the Quitepoints don’t have an app so you’ll have to use a third part
app instead.
And though JBL’s app you can also adjust how much ambient sound you want to pump into
each ear individually.
And this feature is good cause you can be aware of your surroundings if you’re walking
around in the city.
This feature is also found on the 1000XM2, but the 700N’s don’t have this feature.
So if ANC is very important to you and you have a $200 budget then go with the JBL Everest
Elite cause they manage to block out the most sound here.
But like I mentioned earlier they do have a considerable amount of cabin pressure.
Some people are able to get used to it… but I’m not one of those people.
And like I mentioned earlier I don’t think they are the most comfortable headphones here
and you’re also going to be getting the worst battery life.
I think the Sony CH700N is the safe buy here cause they should be comfortable to wear for
most people, their ANC gets the job done if you’re on a bus, and since they have a stupid
long battery life they’re great for traveling and or commuting.
But if you’re mostly interested in sound and comfort and occasionally plan on using
ANC then the Audio-Technica Quitepoints might be more your style…
I think they’re the sleekest looking headphones here.
But remember, their touch controls are not the best.