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Two hands hold the Sony WH-CH720N showing the outer housing with the ear cups rotated flat.
Harley Maranan / SoundGuys

Sony WH-CH720N review

Lightweight cans with good battery life.
By

Published onNovember 13, 2024

7.4
Sony WH-CH720N
The bottom line
If you're looking for a decent set of noise canceling cans but don't want to shell out the top-tier headphones, consider the Sony WH-CH720N as a good in-between option. These balance app support, good battery life, and solid functionality. They feel a bit plasticky, but nothing to whine too much about.

Sony WH-CH720N

If you're looking for a decent set of noise canceling cans but don't want to shell out the top-tier headphones, consider the Sony WH-CH720N as a good in-between option. These balance app support, good battery life, and solid functionality. They feel a bit plasticky, but nothing to whine too much about.
Product release date
03/2023
Price
Original: $148
Dimensions
Ear cup: 66mm x 40mm
Cable length: 1.2m
Weight
192g
Model Number
YY2966
Waterproof
No
What we like
Good clamp force
Battery life
Lightweight
Controls work well
EQ
What we don't like
Plasticky
Somewhat wonky frequency response
Warms up
7.4
SoundGuys Rating
7.4
User Rating
Rating Metric
Our Rating
User Rating
Isolation / Attenuation
4.9
6.8
7.0
Active Noise Cancelling
7.3
6.7
7.0
Durability / Build Quality
6.0
7.7
8.0
Value
7.0
7.7
8.0
Design
6.2
7.0
7.0
Connectivity
9.0
7.3
7.0
Portability
7.0
7.5
8.0
Battery Life
9.8
8.0
8.0
Feature
8.5
8.1
8.0
Comfort
7.9
7.2
7.0

While the Sony WH-1000XM5 might reign at the top of the Sony heap, the mid-tier Sony WH-CH720N share some of the same features for fewer dollars. In their favor, the WH-CH720N sport active noise canceling (ANC) and Sony 360 Reality Audio in a lightweight form factor. How do they fare in a packed market of similarly spec’d Bluetooth headphones?

Editor’s note: this article was updated on November 13, 2024, to include a comparison to the Sony ULT WEAR.

About this Sony WH-CH720N review: We tested the Sony WH-CH720N over 10 days. The Sony Headphones Connect app ran version 10.1.0. SoundGuys purchased the unit for this review.

For sensible people and students who balance function and budget, the WH-CH720N provide ANC and are lightweight. They have a good battery life, a boon for travelers and remote workers who use headphones for hours daily.

What’s it like to use the Sony WH-CH720N?

Two hands hold the Sony WH-CH720N showing the inside housing with a wood surface and grid in the background.
Harley Maranan / SoundGuys
The WH-CH720N use 30mm dynamic drivers.

Weighing 192g, the Sony WH-CH720N are lightweight over-ear headphones with 66mm x 40mm of space to accommodate most ears. They don’t fold down, but the ear cups rotate and adjust easily. The padding is comfy enough for most but can heat up and feel sticky at room temperature. What Sony gets right is the clamping force, which is tight enough to stay put if you dance around but not so tight as to cause discomfort. If you wear glasses, the WH-CH720N might push too hard.

Edges along the plastic housings feel unrefined, and the headphones’ seams are raised around the headband. For example, where the headband splits to adjust the size, there are some rougher corners. They don’t feel as upscale as the nicely finished Sony WH-1000XM5 flagship. With that said, this compromise is one you can deal with because they’re comfortable where it’s important.

A close up of the interior padding of the ear cups of the Sony WH-CH720N.
Harley Maranan / SoundGuys
Though the cushioning feels ample, heat can build up after an hour.

Otherwise, they’re utilitarian, with no case or bag included. You still get Sony 360 Reality Audio on limited streaming platforms and DSEE (Sony’s audio-enhancing digital signal processing). They feature wired listening and Bluetooth. Sony throws in noise canceling to sweeten the deal with dedicated buttons to command the headphones.

How do you control the Sony WH-CH720N?

A close up of the Sony WH-CH720N showing the buttons on the ear cups.
Harley Maranan / SoundGuys
Besides the power button, all the controls are on the right earcup.

Essentially, the controls for the WH-CH720N are baked into the buttons on the ear cup. You can’t do anything to change them in the app. Intelligently, Sony places the controls on the sides, so unlike the Beats Studio Pro, you won’t be pushing directly into your ears to actuate a button.

ButtonSingle pressDouble pressTriple press
Button
Volume up
Single press
Volume up
Double press

Triple press

Button
Multifunction
Single press
Play / Pause / Answer call
Double press
Skip forward
Triple press
Skip back
Button
Volume down
Single press
Volume down
Double press

Triple press

Button
NC/AMB
Single press
Noise canceling mode / Ambient mode
Double press

Triple press

Button
Power
Single press
Power on/off
Pairing (press 2 seconds)
Double press

Triple press

The controls work just fine, but the volume and pause/play buttons feel so similar that you need to learn to recognize them. A couple of times, I hit the wrong one. Buttons definitely signal the budget nature of the Sony headphones, compared to the Sony WH-1000XM5, which use touch controls and gestures. Neither is better, and buttons might suit you best if you don’t want to remember gestures.

Should you use the Sony Headphones Connect for the Sony WH-CH720N?

Plenty of headphones demand you submit personal information; the Sony Headphones Connect is no exception. It is, however, one of the only apps that will allow you to use all of the features only if you create an account.

What you get in exchange is updates, listening modes, DSEE (Sony’s digital signal processing), Sony 360 Reality Audio analysis of your ears, equalizer, codec selection, and adaptive listening mode. If you let it, the app can learn your listening habits and adjust the listening settings based on location. Sennheiser has a similar function found in headphones like the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless.

How do the Sony WH-CH720N connect?

The Sony WH-CH720N with the ear cups rotated flat, showing the interior ear padding.
Harley Maranan / SoundGuys
The USB-C cable only charges the headphones.

It should be easy to connect the WH-CH720N, but the cans had trouble establishing an initial connection with my iPhone. Ideally, you simply press and hold the power button until the LED blinks blue to enter pairing mode. Your options are connecting through your Bluetooth menu or the Sony Headphones Connect app. Once established, the headphones reconnect quickly in subsequent uses with Bluetooth 5.2. Throughout the test period, the headphones maintain a stable connection.

Your Bluetooth codec options are LDAC, AAC, and SBC. LDAC plays nice with Android, while AAC works best with Apple products. Of course, you get a headphone jack and included cable for lossless analog listening. In addition, the WH-CH720N has multipoint, which is nice.

The Sony WH-CH720N is pretty simple on paper to pair.

  1. Enable Bluetooth on your device.
  2. (Optional: download the Sony Headphones Connect app.)
  3. Press and hold the power button for roughly 2 seconds until the indicator light blinks blue.
  4. Select the Sony WH-CH720N on your list of devices, or open Sony Headphones Connect and follow the directions.

How long does the Sony WH-CH720N battery last?

According to our standard battery test, the Sony WH-CH720N reaches 40 hours 11 minutes with ANC on. Besides not having to charge it up as frequently, the upshot of good battery capacity is that they ought to last longer overall. As a consumer, that reduces how often you need to replace your headphones, and that’s great. It’s also better for the environment if you don’t need to buy new cans as frequently.

Of course, you could also get passive wired headphones if you are primarily eco-conscious. Fortunately, if you drain the battery, the WH-CH720N will work passively when plugged in. Charge it up again with the included USB-C cable. In the Sony Headphones Connect app, you can set an auto-off timer, which is excellent for battery life preservation and forgetful folks.

According to Sony, charging the Sony WH-CH720N for merely three minutes supplies about an hour of playback.

How well do the Sony WH-CH720N cancel noise?

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Landing in the middle of the Sony pack, the WH-CH720N supply slightly below average isolation. Similarly, the ANC performs fine. The ANC hovers around 20dB of reduction for most lower-pitched noise frequencies, peaking at about 28dB of attenuation at 80Hz, removing those low rumbling noises. It’s enough to make most environments more pleasant, and most noise frequencies are either blocked or canceled reasonably well between the isolation and ANC. While not objectively the best noise canceling, this performance easily could’ve been top-tier performance merely a couple of years back.

How do the Sony WH-CH720N sound?

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In their default state without introducing an equalizer, the Sony WH-CH720N overamplify bass compared to our headphone preference curve. In particular, between roughly 100Hz and 400Hz, the frequency response sees a boost. Between 5kHz and 10kHz, the treble is also exaggerated. If you don’t a/b these headphones, they sound fine, but reducing the volume of excessive lower frequencies and adjusting the treble significantly improves the sound.

Lows, mids, highs

When testing the Sony WH-CH720N with the dream pop and trip-hop influenced track, Go On by a.s.o., it sounds pretty good initially. The exaggerated bass suits the song quite well, particularly when the bass line kicks in around the 1:21 mark; you can feel it. The reduced upper midrange volume between 900Hz and 4kHz makes the crowded melange of synths, piano, guitar, and other instruments challenging to parse in concert with the exaggerated lower frequencies. I can still hear all of the instruments, even if they’re hard to identify. Lastly, the vocals come through at a good volume but sound a bit like Alia Seror-O’Neill has a slight head cold.

Trying a different song, Feel Your Weight (Poolside Remix) by Rhye, sounds more or less acceptable. The bass plays back too loud, even for a track clearly relying on the bass line as an anchor, but again, okay if you like that. All the keys and guitar come through perfectly fine. Michael Milosh’s airy falsetto sounds mostly good and similarly a little congested like the a.s.o. track, although it’s only super noticeable with close listening. What truly sticks out is how fatiguing the high-pitched percussion gets after some time. You can hear everything, but it doesn’t sound accurate to the songs in question.

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Of course, one of the appealing aspects of the Sony WH-CH720N is that you can still use a headphone jack. It sounds the same plugged-in, as long as it’s powered on and the battery is charged. If not, you’ll run them in passive mode, which has a very different sound,  as shown in the chart above. The headphones significantly cut treble and boost lows and mids in this mode.

Can you use the Sony WH-CH720N for phone calls?

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The mic performance of the Sony WH-CH720N is quite good for an embedded mic. You can hear the speaker’s voice perfectly well in an office, with some background noise attenuation. Some keystrokes will make it through. With the introduction of wind, the WH-CH720N filters out wind noise particularly well, and speech remains intelligible.

Sony WH-CH720N microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Sony WH-CH720N microphone demo (Office conditions):

Sony WH-CH720N microphone demo (Windy conditions):

How does the microphone sound to you?

4168 votes

Should you buy the Sony WH-CH720N?

The Sony WH-CH720N with the ear cups rotated flat, showing the exterior plastic housing, resting on a wood surface with a grid in the background.
Harley Maranan / SoundGuys
At under $150 initially, these are a good choice for most people if you don’t expect perfection.

The Sony WH-CH720N is a decent set of headphones for anybody who can’t swing for the upscale big-name ANC headphones. You get a solid battery life, reasonable comfort, a perfectly useable microphone, and wired or Bluetooth listening.

The noise canceling isn’t the very best, but it performs relatively well. The default tuning is wonky, but it’s pleasant enough, like most recent Sony offerings, and you can tweak using the app with some equalization. The WH-CH720N is worth a shot for the money if you can live with the somewhat plasticky build.

Sony WH-CH720N
Sony WH-CH720N
Sony WH-CH720N
ANC • Value • Comfortable
MSRP: $148.00
Light-weight noise cancelling headphones
A light-weight design, active noise cancelling, and up to 35 hours of battery life make the Sony WH-CH720N serious contenders for the best portable wireless headphones. Alexa is built-in, and the ambient sound mode offers twenty levels of control.

Sony WH-CH720N vs Sony ULT WEAR: Which should you buy?

A photo of the Sony ULT WEAR sitting atop a carbon fiber surface.
Christian Thomas / SoundGuys
The Sony ULT WEAR look a lot like the WH-1000XM5.

In 2024, Sony released a new mid-range headphone, the Sony ULT WEAR ($148 at Amazon). The Sony ULT WEAR are for those who love bass. Out of the box, the ULT WEAR have a similar frequency response as the WH-CH720N. However, you can press a physical “ULT” button on the ULT WEAR to unlock even more bass. You can press it again to unlock the ULT 2 preset, which makes these one of the most bass-heavy headphones we’ve ever heard.

Sony ULT WEAR
Sony ULT WEAR
Sony ULT WEAR
Comfortable • Long battery life • Immersive sound
MSRP: $199.99
Press ULT to rattle skull
The Sony ULT WEAR headphones are a new generation of folding, wireless headphones with ANC and a big, comfy design. Good connectivity options and a focus on immersive sound are the key selling features.

What should you get instead of the Sony WH-CH720N?

A handheld view of the Anker Soundcore Space Q45's ear cup.
The wonky frequency response is the main flaw of the Anker Soundcore.

In the same price ballpark, consider the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 for $149 at Amazon. These use the same LDAC, AAC, and SBC codecs and have excellent noise canceling. Like the WH-CH720N, the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 use buttons to control functions. The build has a slightly less plasticky design as well. Plus, you get a zip case.

If you can skip the LDAC codec available on the Sony WH-CH720N, take a gander at the JBL Live 660NC ($149 at Amazon). These are mid-tier, like the Sony headphones, and include similar noise canceling and app support with EQ. The downsides of the Live 660NC are that the microphone is a weakness, and if your ears are on the larger side of the spectrum, they might feel small.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, the Sony WH-CH720N have multipoint to connect to two devices simultaneously.

Due to the vinyl covering on the Sony WH-CH720N, they can trap heat in hot weather.

Yes the Sony WH-CH720 use the Sony Headphones Connect app for Android or Apple devices.

You can use the Sony WH-CH720N with an iPhone or Android device with the same level of compatibility. The only notable difference is that Apple devices will optimally default to the AAC codec. Android devices can (ideally) connect via the LDAC codec, but they can also use AAC or SBC.

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