Apple is a tech giant, and for a good reason. The company has been known for creating new product categories, be it with the iPad (for the portable music player market) or the iPhone which has changed the world of smartphones. The latest category that the brand has created is truly wireless earphones. Within just a couple of years, we can see that Airpods are being used by almost everybody. Interestingly enough, there’s a massive interest in the space by all players, be it major audio companies or even smartphone brands themselves. All of them are aiming to beat Apple at its own game, along with offering the power of choice to consumers. That brings us to Sony… the renowned brand for audio products. The company has just launched its first truly wireless earphones in India and that’s what we’ll be talking about today. Read on to find out whether the WF-XB700 is worth purchasing or not.
Design
Like any truly wireless earphones, the Sony WF-XB700 has a carrying case. Talking about that itself, it’s larger than the cases of most TWS earphones and is also hefty. It’s built out of high-quality plastic with a matte finish. That gives it a good build and the black colour adds to its appeal. The outer lid is a little translucent, which allows you to see the LED indicators inside, which is an interesting touch. Once open, you’ll find the earphones themselves along with the indicator telling you about the battery status. At the back of the case, you’ll find the USB Type-C port for charging.
One reason for the case being larger is that the earbuds themselves are a little large. Unlike other TWS, they aren’t what you’ll refer to as compact. Yet, once you put them in ears, you don’t have to worry about their weight as they fit in perfectly. Not only they are comfortable to wear for long sessions, but they also remain in place even if you’re jogging or exercising for example.
Speaking of that, the pair os IPX4 compliant, which means that they can manage sweat or splashes of water too.
In terms of controls, you’ll find a button at the base of the left earbud, which is used for not only set up, but invoking Siri or Google Assistant. On the right earbud, you’ll find volume control.
Sound quality
Now if you are a lover of Sony’s audio products, then you must know that XB stands for extra bass. If you are a bass-head, then these earbuds are just about perfect for you. And this also explains the larger dimensions of the earphones as they have a bigger set of drivers. The pair feature 12mm drivers.
But of course, what matters is the actual performance. For fans of EDM, the Sony WF-XB700 are a great buy as they make your ears rumble and energise you to start tapping your foot. The good thing is that despite the earphones being bass-forward, they don’t overpower other frequencies. So you’ll be able to hear mids and treble well, and vocals too. The sound staging is quite impressive too as they transcend you to a studio-like environment.
In terms of connectivity, the pair features Bluetooth 5.0 and offers a solid connection. The range is up to 10m and we didn’t face any issues of connection dropping. There’s no latency either, which is good for watching movies or playing games. In fact, they come with a low-latency gaming mode too.
One gripe which we have with the earphones isn’t necessarily related to the pair itself, but the fact that they are incompatible with Sony’s Headphone Connect app. The app is really powerful and lets you customise the equaliser settings and more. But sadly, you can’t do that. Furthermore, in terms of the codec support, the earphones don’t support high-def LDAC format.
Battery
The battery life of Sony’s WF-XB700 is impressive. The company claims that they can last up to 9 hours, and we certainly managed to get that. This is more than what the competition offers. Sadly though, the carrying case can charge the earbuds only once. What that means is that you’ll always need to charge the carrying case after one time. They do support fast charging though with a 10-minute charge promising 60 minutes of runtime. For charging the case fully, it takes around three hours, while the pair gets fully charged in about two hours and 30 minutes.
Conclusion
The Sony WF-XB700 are a great pair of truly wireless earphones, and their target audience is also evident – those who love bass. Making the deal more compelling is their price point of Rs 9,990, which is really good. Of course, they aren’t the cheapest pair of TWS earphones you can go for, but then they do offer something different. So in case you’re looking for bass-forward TWS earphones, you know where to look.
