Sony’s £349 WH-1000XM5 headphones have been praised to the rafters for their awesome sound and long battery life. So, it is no wonder the Japanese company is bundling some of its mightiest specs into two new budget models.
Priced at £100, the new WH-CH720N headphones pack the same V1 chip as last year’s XM5. The processor, combined with dual noise sensors, powers noise cancelling on the over-ear headphones by capturing and eliminating external and ambient sounds.
An accompanying app also lets you adjust how much outside noise you want to hear, with 20 different levels for when you’re out and about.
Still, Sony has made some cutbacks to warrant the low price. There are two mics in each earcup on the new over-ear headphones versus eight mics in the pricier XM5. That means they may not be as well equipped at handling noise-cancelling as their older siblings.
But, Sony is promising natural vocals, crystal clear sound and balanced tuning courtesy of its Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE). The audio tech essentially boosts tracks that have lost their high-frequency elements through compression to bring them closer to the original recording. Sony claims the feature can restore details and richness to songs to make them sound more like the artist intended.
The same engine is also featured on the new £50 WH-CH520 headphones, which boast a whopping 50 hours of battery life. That’s 20 hours more juice than the mid-budget XM5, while the WH-CH720N can last for 35 hours with noise cancelling on.
They also sound as if they will be a good fit for those who like to listen to music and audio for longer periods. Weighing 192g, Sony said the WH-CH720N are its lightest ever overhead wireless headphones with noise cancelling. Anyone who has ever owned a pair of bulky headphones will tell you they can be a pain to wear for lengthy periods.
You can take calls on both the new headphones but the £100 WH-CH720N offer better sound quality thanks to beamforming mics that can pick up your voice more clearly in different environments. They also come with a newly developed wind noise reduction structure around the microphones to reduce background noise.
