Inperson 1 Intro So these are the Sony WH-CH720N, now personally
I am very excited to make this video for multiple reasons. First off, I used to love the Sony
WH-CH700N’s… but when the WH-CH710N’s came around, they were an all around disappointment.
They got the job done… but there were so many downgrades to them. But now, there are
the WH-CH720N’s which I feel have redeemed Sony… and I will admit, when I first unboxed
these headphones, I was a little disappointed and unimpressed. But now, the WH-CH720N’s
have managed to win me over.
Voice 2 Price Now first lets talk about price. Now both
the WH-CH700N and the WH-CH710N’s used to have a retail price of $200… but they would
routinely go on sale for $150 and if not a little less on major shopping holidays. But
now the WH-CH720N’s have a retail price of $150… so I guess it is safe to assume
that they will go on sale for around $130 on a regular basis and maybe a little less
on shopping holidays. Nonetheless, I do like and recommend the WH-CH720N at $150… but
if you find them on sale, I would jump on the opportunity.
Voice 3 Case Now first lets talk about the case… unfortunately,
the WH-CH720N’s still don’t come included with any type of carrying case. And I do feel
that this is unfortunate, cause there are many entry level ANC headphones that either
come included with carrying pouches… or they come included with hard shell cases.
So if you do plan on traveling with these headphones, or if you plan on using them while
at the gym… then I do recommend that you invest in a hardshell case.
Voice 4 Design But now lets talk about the headphones themselves.
Build quality wise, these headphones really surprised me. Initially I thought that they
would be fragile just cause of how light weight they are… but I have found that they are
fairly durable… but more importantly, they have noticeably better build quality then
their predecessors. With the 710N’s… these body panels would constantly wiggle and there
would just be a lot of squeaking anytime that you handled these headphones. Where as this
wasn’t an issue with the 700N’s and this isn’t an issue with the 720N’s. Now the
720N’s still have a mostly plastic body… but the 720N’s have gone back to using a
smooth plastic unlike the textured plastic that you’ll find on the 710N’s. But more
importantly, the leatherette on the 720N’s feels much better than the leatherette found
on the 710N’s. I felt that the leatherette on the WH-CH710N’s felt rough and corse,
and it got everywhere… and after awhile, this leatherette could get a little itchy.
Where as the leatherette on the 720N’s is back to feeling smooth and a little supple,
and I feel that its leatherette feels a little better than the leatherette found on the 700N.
But overall, I am going to have to say that the build quality on the 720N’s is much
better than on the 710N’s… and looks wise, the 720N’s look much sleeker than the 700N.
Voice 5 Fit And when it comes to fit… these headphones
fit great. When it comes to clamping force, these headphones have a neutral fit to them.
As in they aren’t too tight but they also don’t have a loose fit to them… but regardless
they are big head approved cause I can wear them for hours on end without any problems…
and since their headband extends a lot, they fit well with hats as well. But another reason
as to why these headphones are so comfortable is cause of their light weight. The 720N’s
weigh in at 192 grams… which is super light weight. Where as the 710N’s weigh in at
223 grams and the 700N weigh in at 240 grams. Now for context all of these headphones are
light weight cause the XM5’s weigh in at 250 grams and the XM4’s weigh in at 254
grams… and I would also consider those to be light weight as well. But with the 720N’s
with these things weighing as little as 192 grams… it is just much eiser to forget that
you’re even wearing these headphones when you’re sitting at your desk or walking around
with them on. But another reason why these headphones are so comfortable is simply cause
of their earpads. The earpads on the 720N’s are just as spacious and as deep as the earpads
found on the 700N… meaning that they should fit most ear types, and even if you have really
large ears or ears that stick out a lot, then the 720N’s should still have you covered.
And this is a big deal, cause with the 710’s… yes these earpads have a big diameter to them…
but they are very shallow. And even if you have average sized ears like I do… these
earpads are going to press down on your ear cartilage which is going to get uncomfortable
after while. So overall when it comes to fit… I really don’t have any critiques. They
are big ahead approved cause they have a neutral amount of clamping force, they’re super
light weight making them super easy to get that you have them on, their ear pads are
much more spacious, their leatherette feels better, they rest very naturally on your head,
and hot spots are never an issue cause their headband is very well padded.
Unperson 6 Battery Life But now lets talk about tech specs, the WH-CH720N’s
have an advertised battery life of 35 hours with their active noise cancelation turned
on, and with their active noise cancelation turned off, they have an advertised battery
life of 50 hours. Now this advertised battery life of 35 hours with their active noise cancelation
turned on is the same for both the 710N and 700N… however, the 720N’s being able to
go for 50 hours with their ANC turned off is an improvement over its two predecessors
cause they max out at 40 hours.
Inperosn 7 Now in general, the 720N’s having an advertised
battery life of 35 hours with their ANC turned on is really good.. but it would have been
cool if they were upgraded to the 40 hour mark. But regardless, battery life on the
WH-CH720N is really good. Now when it comes to charging these headphones, they charge
via a USB C port… as they should. But this is something worth pointing out cause if you
have the 700N’s which still charge via a micro usb port… I think this is another
reason worth upgrading.
Inpeson 8 However, something that did get upgraded on
the 720N’s is their fast charging. If you were to plug these headphone in for 3 minutes
from a dead battery, they are going to get you one hour of playback time. Where as with
its predecessors, 10 minutes would only get you 1 hour. Now there are plenty of other
headphones out there with better fast charging numbers… but the fast charging on the 720N’s
has been improved.
Inperson 9 bluetooth But a major new feature that has finally made
its way to the WH-CH720N is multipoint connectivity. Meaning that these headphones can finally
be connected to two devices at the same time, which is really good if you’re a power user
that wants to use your phones with your phone and your computer… and they don’t necessarily
have to be in the same eco system.
Inperson 10 Now this is a big deal cause neither of these
headphone’s predecessors do this… and this has been a feature that has been missing
on Sony’s headphones for awhile now. They are litterly one of the last big companies
to finally get this right. Inperosn 11
Now in order to turn this feature on, you have to go into their app and activate it.
But the weird this is, you’re going to get a prompt saying that if you want to use this
feature, you’re going to have to sacrifice LDAC. Now LDAC is Sony’s higher quality
audio codec that found on their more premium headphones. But the thing is… these headphones
don’t have LDAC, I already checked. They top at AAC. So this could just be a glitch.
So if you want to use multipoint connectivity, you have to go into the app and turn it on
and you can ignore that prompt about LDAC.
Inperson 12 But when it comes to overall performance,
these headphones have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on
your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… and when it comes
to audio codecs, these headphones have support for SBC, and AAC. And whether you’re an
iPhone user or an android user, AAC is going to work perfectly fine.
Voice 13 Sound But now lets talk about actually listening
to music with these headphones. For starters I am going to have to say that these headphones
sound like your typical Sony headphones. As in they sound good enough to get the job done
and they have a decent amount of physicality in their bass so they are going to rattle
your head a little bit. However, instrument separation on these headphones isn’t the
best cause instrumentals can be a a little hard to pick out and the highs don’t have
the best clarity. With these its mostly vocals and bass. But don’t get me wrong, they sound
good and they get the job done.
Voice 14 However, the most important thing about these
headphones is that they no longer have a super bass heavy EQ and they connect to Sony’s
app again, meaning that you can adjust their EQ to your liking. Cause with the 710N’s,
personally I never really liked these headphones cause they had a super bass heavy stock EQ.
So they sounded super shallow. And if you were going to use these headphones to watch
movies with, you would have to use them at max volume cause if not, you couldn’t hear
what people were saying. But what I really didn’t like about these headphones is that
sony removed their app compatibility. So you couldn’t go in and fix their EQ. And I still
don’t know why sony removed the app support on the 710N’s cause the 700N’s did have
app support. But more importantly, Sony brought that app support back to the 720N’s… so
now you can go in and adjust their EQ to your liking and you can have different EQ setting
for different listening situations. But like I said, these headphones do sound a little
narrow and the highs don’t have the best clarity and detail to them… however these
headphones do sound good enough to get the job done, and if you’re someone that likes
to feel the bass in your music… then these will be able to deliver.
Voice 15 Now when it comes to your media controls,
these headphones have physical buttons. You can easily adjust the volume, you can skip
through your music and these buttons are easy to find and they have a satisfying click to
them. But I will admit that I still miss the toggle switch that was found on the 700N.
Voice 16 Active Noise Cancelation But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation
on these headphones. Now the active noise cancelation on the 720N’s has been improved
from its predecessors… but its not a huge leap. But the important thing is their active
noise cancelation has zero cabin pressure, there’s zero static in the background and
it doesn’t affect how your music sounds and their microphone array does a really good
job of blocking out wind noise. But lets just jump into the ANC Test.
ANC test
Voice 17 So like you may have just seen the 720N’s
block out a decent amount of noise for a pair of entry level ANC headphones… but if you
were to invest in Sony’s more premium headphones… then they will block out more noise. However,
the 720N’s are doing a much better job of blocking out more low frequency sounds like
road noise than both of its predecessors… and they are also doing a better job of blocking
out the amount of noise from the high end when blocking out chatter. So overall, yes
I will say that the 720N’s block out more noise than both the 710N’s and 700N’s.
And the ANC on these headphones can be useful on your bus ride commute, at the gym, or if
you’re in the cafeteria. However, if you want to block out more noise, you should invest
in a more premium pair of headphones and personally I wouldn’t fly with these cause they will
let in a lot of Airplane noise.
Voice 18 Ambient Mode But then there’s the ambient mode on these
headphones. Now for starters the 700N’s don’t have an ambient mode… all you can
do is use them with their ANC turned off. Now the 710N’s do have an ambient mode…
but you can’t adjust it. But then there’s the ambient mode on the 720N. Now with these
you can adjust he ambient mode on your headphones to your liking. And in general, the ambient
mode on these headphones sound much more natural than the ambient mode found on the 710N’s.
And like I mentioned earlier, the microphone array on these headphones does a really good
job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors. Just keep in mind, this ambient
mode lets in everything. The Ambient Mode on the WH-CH720N doesn’t actively block
out sudden loud sounds like with the ambient mode found on the XM4’s or AirPods Pro 2.
MIC TEST
Mic 19 700N quiet But finally here’s the microphone test.
Now sony has always struggled with their microphones on their headphones for phone calls.
Mic 20 710N quiet However, with the 1000XM5’s… sony finally
saw some major improvements with their microphones for phone calls.
Mic 720N quiet And I have to say, the microphone on the Sony
WH-CH720N is better than the microphones on its predecessors… specifically, this microphone
is doing a better job of focusing on my voice.
Mic 720N Road Noise However, when it comes to blocking out noise
pollution… this microphone is still struggling. Cause here you can hear a lot of road noise
in the back ground.
Mic 710N Road Noise And with the 710N’s you can also hear a
lot of road noise in the background… if not more than the 720N’s
Mic 700N Road Noise And with the 700N, you can hear a lot of road
noise in a background and you can bearly even hear my voice.
Mic 700N Coffee Shop And its the same thing when it comes to blocking
out chatter, you can bearly even hear me.
Mic 710N Coffee Shop Now with the 710N’s you can hear me a little
better… but I still definitely wouldn’t take phone calls with the microphone.
Mic 720N Coffee Shop And then there’s the 720N’s which don’t
sound amazing… but this is an improvement from the 710N’s. So overall, I would say
that the microphone on the WH-CH720N’s is good enough to take phones calls with while
in a quite room… but I wouldn’t take phone calls with them if there’s a lot of noise
pollution around.
Voice verdict But with all of that being said…personally
I really like the Sony WH-CH720N’s, I feel that sony has redeemed themselves after what
they did with the 710N’s… but I also feel that sony really needed to make things right
cause the entry level ANC headphone market is very competitive.
Overall, the Sony WH-CH720N are very easy for me to recommend cause they have much better
build quality and their predecessors, they fit great cause they are super light weight,
and they have very spacious ear pads again, they have great battery life with improved
fast charging, and they now have multipoint connectivity. And Sound Quality wise, these
headphones sound good enough to get the job done, but the important thing is that they
now have an adjust EQ again… so you’re not stuck with a super bass heavy EQ like
you were with the 710N’s. Now even though the 720N’s have improved active noise cancelation
from its predecessors… don’t expect them to block out a ton of noise. And their microphone
for phone calls is so so. Overall, I think the WH-CH720N’s are a decent pair of daily
driver headphones… or they can be a great option for the gym. The only thing that I
still wish that these headphones came with was a case of some sort.