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Virtually every 2nd sound brand in India has launched their authentic wireless (TWS) earbuds on the marketplace over the last couple of months, across various price points, ranging from below a million rupees to Rs 25,000 and past. While the class is quickly evolving, there are two glaring issues with the majority of TWS earphones -- audio quality and battery life. Sony, together with the launch of its latest WF-XB700 wireless earbuds, promises to address both these shortcomings while maintaining the cost under Rs 10,000. Let us see if they succeed.
These Sony buds have an unusual spiral layout and feel somewhat bulky. But when you wear them, they don't seem weird or stick from their ears awkwardly. Their build quality is solid and they're made of good quality vinyl, with a predominant matte finish and a touch of gloss. Silicone tips are included and you get four distinct sizes of ear tips in the bundle for various sized ears. The business says that every earbud weighs only 8 gm, but they do feel a tad thicker at the hand.
Every earbud is fitted with a large 12 mm dynamic driver to produce the signature bass the Sony XB string is known for. The capsule-shaped charging case is not the most streamlined, and weighs around 46 gm. It can be charged with any Type-C USB charger. In case you do not have one, a USB-A into Type-C cable is bundled into the package. The earbuds aren't touch-enabled and also have one physical button every single that allows you execute a small number of tasks such as answering calls, play/pause tracks, jump to the next/previous monitor and increase/decrease the quantity.
The build quality of the earbuds is solid and they are made from good quality vinyl, with a symmetrical matte finish and a bit of gloss.
These earbuds are IPX4 rated sweat resistant, so it is safe to carry them into the gym or for a jog without fretting about sweat messing them up. The Sony WF-XB700 are all Bluetooth 5.0 compliant and support the AAC codec. But, there is no support for AptX codecs, nor is there any active sound cancellation feature or NFC here. The sound does not pause automatically once you eliminate the buds out of the ear; something that one may anticipate on premium earbuds. Long story short, you merely get the necessary features here and nothing elaborate.
Sony WF-XB700 Authentic Wireless Earphones: Comfort (7.5/10)
While the earbuds look bulky and seem somewhat heavy in handthey fit into the ears absolutely after a little adjustment, and a three-point grip holds them securely in place. The weight reduction is quite smart also and you don't feel any major discomfort or heaviness in the ear. However, it might take a few minutes to get used to their presence, and a little longer in case you haven't used TWS earphones previously. Additionally, one needs to be doubly certain the buds are secured into the ears well, else they have a tendency to pop out.
The weight reduction of the earbuds is very smart and you don't feel any significant discomfort or heaviness in the ear.
Although there's absolutely no active sound cancellation here, the earphone design and also the right sized silicone hints provide fairly good passive noise isolation even in a noisy location. So much so, I couldn't hear the noise of a running tap on a metal sink in front of me or the individual speaking to me from several feet away when the music was switched on at normal volume.
Syncing the Sony WF-XB700 with the phone was a breeze. All you need to do is get the buds in pairing mode, locate them in the list of Bluetooth devices on the phone, and connect. The connection stays strong for up to 10 metres with no obstacles in between, and there were absolutely no syncing issues or delays between the 2 capsules . However, if you have to pair these with a different device, it is highly advisable to disconnect them in the previous device (rather than simply switching off Bluetooth on the telephone ) as they don't appear in the device list occasionally if you do not do that.
As I had mentioned previously, there is a tiny physical button on every one of the earbuds, but the documentation does not explain the full extent of their functionality. After fiddling around a little, I realised what they can do. i88 tws vs i12 tws on the left marijuana can be pressed once to increase the volume, and press and hold it to decrease it. As for the button on the right bud, single press resumes or resumes the audio, double click takes you to another track and triple click on the previous track. Sony might have kept things somewhat simpler here. If you can't recall all that, it is possible to merely do the needful directly from the phone.
The Sony WF-XB700 are adequately loudly even outdoors, and there was no need to take the volume level beyond 70 percent during the course of my testing. It stayed between 50 and 70% throughout. As for the sound quality, although not perfect, it is among the finest I've discovered on TWS earphones. There is ample bass, but it's fairly tight with a lot of thump. Yes, the extra bass does come at the price of particular midrange frequencies; mids sound a bit suppressed occasionally, but not overly so.
No such problems with the highs though; they're reproduced very well and seem sharp without appearing harsh. Though these earphones have a tendency to be a bit bass-heavy, the engineers have not overdone it, and the overall sound is rather enjoyable.
Most genres of audio sound great on those Sony earbuds, but they are best suited for Bollywood amounts, dancing tracks and EDM, where the excess bass makes such music more enjoyable. Rock or Metal does not sound bad, but instrument-heavy tracks can be a bit of hit-or-miss with this pair. Having said this, I can safely say that the overall sound quality of the Sony WF-XB700 is one of the finest I have heard on TWS earphones, and possibly the best below Rs 10,000.
Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Telephone grade (8.5/10) Things function as expected. The individual on the line was clearly perceptible and that I was heard loud and clear by another person too. The voice doesn't feel hollow or tinny, and so is almost as good as you get when using the telephone microphone. However, a bit of ambient noise can be observed when using those earphones outside; some thing for Sony to operate on.
Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Battery life (9/10)
While most TWS buds last near 3 hours on a single charge, Sony advertises a figure of 9 hours to the WF-XB700 on a complete charge. In fact, I got close to 10 hours out of them, when listening to music primarily, using a little calling. That is as great a number as I have observed on TWS buds until date. The case carries enough charge to recharge these buds completely, but just once. While other TWS buds' cases allow you to recharge them thrice, only a single recharge seems below par. But let's not forget that the single recharge is worth 9 hours of playback, that can be equal to almost three recharges on many TWS earbuds. Ideally, I would have chosen to find that the fee on the case burst to get no less than two recharge cycles.
Sony claims that when the buds are drained, 10 minutes of control makes it possible for one an hour of audio playback on the WF-XB700.
The battery status of this earbuds is observable on the telephone they're paired with, but similar information for the case isn't available. It takes about 2.5 hours to control the buds fully and close to 3 hours to charge the instance. Sony also claims that when the buds have been drained, 10 minutes of charge allows you an hour of music playback over the WF-XB700.
Sony WF-XB700 Authentic Wireless Earphones: Cost and verdict
The Sony WF-XB700 wireless earphones can be bought for Rs 9,990 with a one-piece guarantee. Given the price tag, we cannot call them funding TWS buds, and they do not sound like them either. We'll continue our search to find good quality TWS earphones for as low a price as you can, but for now, the Sony WF-XB700 would be the ones to conquer beneath Rs 10,000.