We’ve said this last year and we’ll say it again: Sony is, at the moment, the Manchester City of the wireless headphones world, dominating the competition over the past few years with hit after five-star hit. From the budget WF-C500 wireless earbuds to the exceptional WH-1000XM5 over-ears, Sony has been hoovering up Awards and five-star ratings like the Sky Blues monopolise Premier League titles.
We know how good Sony can be on the premium side, but the WH-CH720N – which retains its What Hi-Fi? Award as the best budget wireless headphones – fill a gap in the market by offering active noise-cancellation (ANC), good build quality and even better sound at a reasonable price. These are designed as a pair of cans for those who aren’t keen on forking out a few hundred quid for a premium pair of over-ears, but equally don’t want to miss out on features such as ANC or suffer a significant drop in audio fidelity by opting for cheaper, affordable pairs.
The over-ear Sony CH720N, then, pull off this impressive trick with aplomb, receiving yet another recommendation from us for its mix of talents at this budget price.
Price
- Launched at £99 / $129 / AU$259, but available for cheaper (especially in the UK)
- Few rivals at this level; none have beaten the 720N’s overall value for money
The Sony WH-CH720N headphones are designed to fill a very particular place in the Sony line-up, bringing ANC and a greater feature list to the more budget-friendly end of the cost ladder.
They cost £99 / $129 / AU$259 when we originally tested them, a figure that places them around twice the price of the decidedly cheap and cheerful non-ANC Sony WH-CH520 headphones we tested at (£49 / $59 / AU$79) and the recently-discontinued (but former Award-winning) Sennheiser HD 250BT (£50 / $60 / AU$120) with which we compared them.
We’ve seen the CH720N’s price drop in the last year. Officially, they now cost £89 in the UK, while we’ve seen prices as low as £78 at various retailers. We’ve not seen many US price drops for this pair, but you can find them on decent deals in Australia during seasonal sales.
We’ve tested a few budget rivals since then too – such as the Earfun Wave Pro (£80 / $80), Sennheiser Accentum Wireless (£160 / $180) – but none of them have reached the effusive five-star success as the Sonys, nor been able to knock off them from their perch. In terms of sheer value for money, the CH720N remain unbeatable.
Build quality & comfort
- Simple but sturdy build quality – decent at this level
- Comfortable to wear; easy to use
- They don’t fold way
As is often the case at price points such as these, this is very much a case of managing your expectations. The Sony WH-CH720N are hardly a lavish affair and they certainly don’t make the heart flutter with excitement every time you set eyes upon them, but they’re solid, substantially made and reasonably comfortable for a pair of sub-£100 cans. Uncluttered and unassuming, this is a pair of headphones designed to get the job done. No fuss. No flourishes. All business.
Sony WH-CH720N tech specs
Bluetooth 5.2
Codec Support SBC, AAC
Noise-cancelling? Yes
Battery Life Up to 50 hours (ANC and BT off), 35 hours (ANC / BT on)
Finishes x 3 (Black, Navy Blue, White)
Weight 192g
They’re comfy, too. Comparing the CH720N with the recently-discontinued Sennheiser HD250BT (a What Hi-Fi? 2022 Award-winning pair of budget over-ears for an even cheaper price), and the difference is marked. The Sony cans are larger and more substantial than the diminutive Sennheisers, sporting a cushioned headband and lightly padded ear cups. At this price, we find that that the Earfun Wave Pro over-ears offer a more robust build quality and a neatly foldable design.
No, the CH720N don’t fold up and away, nor do they come with a designated carry case, something that we’d still like to see at this admittedly modest price point. Crucially, though, they feel good in the hand, with a construction that, like so many of Sony’s products, never feels as though it’s about to disintegrate, snap or be torn asunder by the wear and tear of everyday use.
You’re even treated to on-ear buttons on the right ear cup, including a play-pause button and volume controls, as well as a switch that toggles ANC modes between classic Noise Cancelling and Ambient Sound Control. It all works well enough, even if the buttons’ slightly awkward positioning can make them a little tricky to find during a busy commute or when your other free hand is occupied trying to stop your Jack Russell from digging into the neighbour’s backyard.
Features
- Active noise cancellation (ANC) is great for this price
- Long battery life: 50 hours (ANC off), 35 hours (ANC on)
- Extra features like Bluetooth Multipoint and custom equaliser
A big part of the CH720N’s appeal, nay, their raison d’être, is to provide noise cancelling on a budget, so it seems only right that we start with this vital pillar of the new Sony cans’ performance. Thankfully, they don’t let themselves down, and while more premium models such as the WH-1000XM5 over-ears or the Bose QuietComfort 45 will block out external noises more effectively, we find these affordable Sonys do an effective job of dampening, if not silencing completely, the rumble and swoosh of each passing car as it whizzes its way past on a busy nearby road.
There are two ANC modes to choose from: full Noise Cancelling and Ambient Sound. Both are controllable from the Sony Headphones mobile app, your base hub from which you can also select your EQ preferences, check battery life and generally tweak your cans’ settings to suit your preferences.
Battery life, meanwhile, is an impressive 50 hours with ANC turned off, and is slightly more conservative with a higher listening volume. If you have ANC turned on, you get 35 hours of juice – these are similar numbers as those achieved by the cheaper (but non-ANC) WH-CH520. The 50 hours of playback at this budget level is more than plenty, though, and if you do find yourself running low, a three-minute quick boost will provide up to 60 minutes of extra playtime thanks to the CH720’s quick charge capabilities.
What really helps the CH720N to earn their stripes, though, are those extra, slightly more premium features that, aside from the boon of ANC, help to make these sensibly-priced over-ears feel like a great deal rather than a product designed simply to fill a market gap. Decent sound and noise cancelling would have been enough for most users at this price point, but the addition of Bluetooth Multipoint (which lets you stay connected and switch between two devices seamlessly), Sony’s DSEE sound upscaling (which aims to enhance compressed low-quality audio files) and support for Sony 360 Reality Audio tracks (available on Amazon Music Unlimited streaming service) add further value to the CH720N.
Sound
- Punchy, solid, energetic performance
- Great sense of drive and rhythmic propulsion
- Plenty of detail and textures revealed, for this price
- Over-enthusiastic bass by default, but you can tone the bass balance down
For all this talk of ANC and an expanded feature set, there’s no question that, in order to justify a significant price leap over the ultra-budget WF-CH520, the CH720N should be offering a much more complete, cohesive sound over that cheap and cheerful model.
Prodding around for a few appropriate test tracks via Tidal immediately gives us a clear impression of how the latest Sony over-ears carry themselves sonically. No shrinking violets, they imbue their musical cargo with heft and conviction, operating on the front foot in delivering an immediate, assertive sound with an emphasis on forceful, burly bass.
It’s a sonic character that can become a little overwhelming at times, and as we bounce across the Tidal-sphere digging out tracks from Ava Max, The La’s and Hans Zimmer, there’s no question that a pushy, bassy presentation is very much the CH720N’s default modus operandi. If you do find that becomes the case, we’d recommend heading over to the Sony Headphones app and adjusting the equaliser (we manually turned the bass down a notch but you can adjust your own settings accordingly), leaving us with all of that assertiveness and drive without so much emphasis on that sledgehammer bass. Now we’re in a better position to really let the Sony cans do their thing.
And boy, do they do it well. For the price, we can’t think of a pair of over-ear headphones at this price that could keep up with such a spirited delivery as we plunge into Muse’s Hysteria and find it to be a pulsating, crunchy delight, very much in keeping with the track’s original intent. The CH720N’s rendition of Tina Turner’s The Best really reveals their understanding of the song’s kick-snare rhythmic drive, while Wu-Tang Clan’s Gravel Pit is an invigorating, pulsating listen.
There’s no question that such an energetic, lively pair of headphones – far more akin to a bounding young puppy than a laid-back cool cat – are thus more conducive to certain genres than others. Rock and hip-hop fare especially well, benefiting greatly from the meat and texture that these over-ears afford. Listen to the absolute percussive force you receive when you listen to Nirvana’s You Know You’re Right and you’ll see, or rather hear, exactly what we mean.
That isn’t to say that subtler, quieter tracks fare poorly. There’s still texture and feeling to Elliot Smith’s Between The Bars, especially with regard to that resonant guitar sound, while alt-J’s Every Other Freckle retains a great deal of its signature subtlety and surrealism within its layered arrangement.
Nonetheless, the CH720N’s punchy presentational style feels tailor-made for the genres that can get the best use from it, namely rock, hip-hop, big orchestral numbers and peppy, energetic pop hits. If those are the qualities you prioritise and the genres with which you feel the greatest affinity, the CH720N will really be right up your particular street.
Verdict
The WH-CH720N have delivered exactly what Sony intended. For a very reasonable price, they’re a dependably made, enthusiastic-sounding pair of headphones that, while occasionally straying into the realm of excessive bass, deliver good ANC and a strong feature set to the very affordable end of the wireless headphone market. Most definitely a job well done.
First reviewed: September 2023. Updated review: October 2024.
Tester’s notes
Our rigorous testing process for the Sony WH-CH720N involved putting them through their paces in several key performance areas and then comparing their abilities with those of their direct price rivals, such as the now-discontinued Sennheiser HD 250BT. We test dozens of wireless headphones across all price ranges every year and consequently have an unparalleled context of the market, while direct, side-by-side comparisons allow us to assess new arrivals against our What Hi-Fi? Award winners and five-star favourites to gauge exactly where they sit within it. You can read more about how we test and review headphones at What Hi-Fi? here.
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Tester’s notes | Rating | Header Cell – Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Engaging sound with effective ANC – we haven’t heard a better overall affordable pair at this level | 5/5 | Row 0 – Cell 3 |
| Design | Basic but sturdy, they don’t fold away | 4/5 | Row 1 – Cell 3 |
| Comfort | Comfortable to wear, good amount of cushioning on headband and earpads | 5/5 | Row 2 – Cell 3 |
| Features | Great ANC at this level, while Multipoint Bluetooth and Sony’s DSEE upscaling tech are great to have at this level | 5/5 | Row 3 – Cell 3 |
| Sound quality | Punchy, energetic performance with ample detail and rhythmic drive; has a bass-happy balance that can be toned down | 5/5 | Row 4 – Cell 3 |
| Battery life | A generous 35 hours with ANC on, or 50 hours with ANC off | 5/5 | Row 5 – Cell 3 |
Also Consider
MORE:
Don’t need ANC? Read our review of the cheaper Sony WH-CH520
Our pick of the best over-ear headphones
See all the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024 winners
