“The wireless headphones from Sony are lightweight and do not feel cumbersome at any point”
Sony has been a dominant player in the audio segment for a while now. The Japanese brand has introduced some quality products in recent times, but not without some flaws. In April this year, the company introduced the WH-CH500 and the WH-CH400 headphones in India, both promising exemplary battery life. Read our detailed review to figure out if the WH-CH500 actually deliver on the company’s promise and have something more to offer or not.
Table of Contents
Design
In terms of design, the WH-CH500 come with an on-ear design and are not foldable, which is understandable given the price point. However, the ear cups do swivel and can, therefore, be carried around easily in a box while travelling. It is safe to say that Sony has not tried to experiment with WH-CH500 and gone for a minimalistic design. The ear cups might feel slightly small in size to some users but they fit nicely around the ears to provide an isolated immersive experience while watching movies or music videos. Despite their light weight, wearing the WH-CH500 for extended hours isn’t very comfortable.
The volume control buttons and the power button, along with the micro-USB charging port, are present on the lower side of the right ear cup. All the buttons are easily accessible and feel reasonably tactile as well, at least as far as modern headphone standards are considered. The build quality of the headset is fairly decent too. Here’s a closer look at the headset:
Audio Quality
Coming to the most important aspect of the headphones, the audio quality offered by WH-CH500 is really good for its price range. The headset performs really well while playing bass-heavy songs and achieves reasonably loud sound levels. Notably, there is not much bleeding either, thanks to a good clamping force. The mids are smooth across the range and vocals are not subdued by the bass. However, the high-range is where the headphones find their struggling point.
The instrument separation is not impressive and the sounds in the high range can come across as a little garbled. If we take the price range into consideration, the overall audio quality offered by WH-CH500 is fairly decent and the headphones can easily be used for everyday media consumption.
Battery Life
Sony claims that WH-CH500 is capable of delivering 20 hours of battery life and truth be told, my handset (a Samsung Galaxy S8+) ran out of battery before the headphones did. This itself is a strong testament to the battery life offered by the wireless headphones. There are very few wireless audio products that offer this kind of battery life and the Japanese brand should be applauded for this department in particular.
If you are hitting the road for a long trip and won’t have any access to a charging port, WH-CH500 is just the set of headphones for you. However, one caveat that comes along with long battery life is that it takes a while to charge the headphones fully.
Verdict
Overall, Sony’s WH-CH500 are a great option, especially because of the affordable Rs 3,999 price tag. The wireless headphones present themselves as one of the best options available in the price range. The Bluetooth headphones offer good audio quality and achieve decent loudness level too. However, the ear cups can be a tad bit small for some people and you might feel ear fatigue after using them for extended number of hours. Considering that the Sony WH-CH500 tick a lot of boxes for ideal budget wireless headphones, they are a compelling choice that should be taken seriously before making your final decision.
Editor’s rating: 3.5 / 5
Pros
- Impressive audio quality
- Long battery life
- Lightweight
Cons
- Struggle in high range
- Take a long time to charge fully
