So for awhile now, Sony has really been killing
it with their headphones. Right now the 1000XM3’s
and XB900N’s are some of my favorite headphones
to recommend. But their earbuds on the other
hand are not the best. Sony had moderate success
with their WF-1000XM3’s… But then after
the AirPods Pro, Galaxy Buds Plus, Jabra Elite
75T and Sennheiser Momentum 3’s came out
and the WF-1000XM3’s fell back a little
bit.
Sony has obviously found a formula that works
for them when it comes to their headphones…
but their earbuds not so much. Sony is constantly
churning out new earbud designs hoping that
something sticks… And now we’ve got the
new WF-XB700’s… the earbuds themselves
have an all new sculpt, they have a brand
new case thats completely different from the
WF-1000XM3’s… And these earbuds have extra
bass to them.
So im going to start off by saying that yeah
these ear buds are okay, and if you like a
lot of bass to your music then these earbuds
will might be up your ally. But I definitely
wouldn’t pay their full $130 retail price
cause plainly said I highly recommend that
you spend the extra 20 bucks and get yourself
the Galaxy Buds Plus. But if these earbuds
are on sale for sub $100 then yeah I think
these will might be worth considering. So
if you want to pick these earbuds up they’ll
be linked down below.
Alright, so lets talk about this case… I
think this case is fairly decent but it is
a little bit on the larger side cause this
case is noticeable when you’ve got it in
your pocket and it is fairly larger than other
cases out there like the Pixel Buds, AirPods,
Galaxy Buds plus and Jabra Elite 75T’s.
But at least this carrying case is significantly
smaller than the WF-1000XM3’s carrying case.
Like I’ve said in the past, I just really
think the WF-1000XM3’s case is just way
too big and it really does handicap them when
you’re trying to choose from other wireless
earbuds on the market. So technically the
XB700’s case is an improvement over the
WF-1000XM3’s cause it is smaller. The case
itself feels very durable cause its made of
some really dense plastic, the lid on it feels
sturdy, and my favorite part is that this
case has some really strong magnets on it.
So you don’t got to worry about these earbuds
falling out their case and these stronger
magnets make putting your earbuds back into
the case itself cause the case itself essentially
just sucks them in.
So even though I do prefer this carrying case
over the WF-1000XM3’s case mainly cause
its smaller… its size reduction does mean
reduced battery life. These earbuds have a
combined battery life of 18 hours… the earbuds
themselves can go for 9 straight hours and
the case can supply one additional full charge.
And these earbuds having a combined battery
life of 18 hours is little below average in
2020 cause right now most earbuds have a combined
battery life of around 24 hours.
The Galaxy Buds Plus have a combined battery
life of 22 hours, both the AirPods and pixel
buds have a combined battery life of 24 hours,
the Jabra’s has a combined battery life
of 28 hours and the WF-1000XM3’s can go
for as long as 32 hours if you have ANC turned
off on them. So even though the XB700’s
18 hour battery life is okay… its not all
that impressive given that these other earbuds
have smaller cases but larger battery lives.
But when it comes to charging these earbuds
thankfully they charge via a USB C port. So
if you have an android device you can charge
your phone and earbuds with the same cable.
But just keep in mind even though these earbuds
do have a rather large case… they don’t
have wireless charging. Which personally I
don’t care for… but just wanted to point
it out.
Now when it comes to fit… I'm really happy
to say that the XB700’s fit like a standard
pair of in ear ear buds like the Jabra Elite
75T’s or Galaxy Buds Plus do. The XB700’s
don’t fit like past sony earbuds like the
WF-1000XM3 or WF-SP700N which like to go in
really deep into your canal. Which personally
im not a fan of cause it feels unnatural and
they also tend to get itchy very quickly.
But like I said, the XB700’s have a very
standard fit to them. And when it comes to
the earbuds themselves… they’re made of
the same dense plastic as their carrying case
so they feel very durable but they’re also
very light weight so they do a really good
job of staying in place when you’ve got
them in your ears even though these earbuds
don’t have any ear fin accessories.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity,
Sony claims on their site that each earbud
establishes a connection with your phone…
but my earbuds behave as if they are using
a hero and side kick set up cause in order
for the right earbud to connect to my phone
the left earbud needs to be out of 
its case. Cause if im listening to music with
these earbuds and if I put the left earbud
back into its case the right earbud also loses
its connection with my phone. And ive tried
everything to pair just the right earbud with
my phone but no luck. So for now I gotta say
that if you just want to use just one earbuds
at a time you gotta use the left earbud.
Now when it comes to watching movies or videos
on your phone with these earbuds… these
earbuds have zero latency on both iPhone or
android devices when youre using apps Netflix,
Disney plus or HBO Now. Where as these earbuds
have a slight latency to them when you try
to watch YouTube videos on an iPhone. And
when you try to watch YouTube videos on an
android device… sometimes there is latency
and some other times there isn’t.
But now lets talk about actually listening
to music with these earbuds. Like I mentioned
earlier these are a part of Sony Extra Bass
product line up… so these earbuds have a
lot of bass to them. And when it comes to
bass these earbuds definitely deliver… actually
the bass on these earbud is quite impressive
cause it punches really hard. But in order
to balance out all of that bass the mids on
these earbuds are noticeably extenuated and
so are the highs a little bit. Sony obviously
increased the mids on these earbuds so that
the vocals aren’t muddled out by the bass
but this does leads the vocals on these earbuds
to sound a little tinny some times. And even
though vocals do manage to keep from being
drowned out by the bass on these earbuds,
the rest of the instrumentals do end up getting
buried. So what you mainly hear with these
earbuds are vocals and bass. If you’re someone
that like a bass heavy sound signature you’ll
might enjoy these earbuds but if you’re
someone that like a neutral EQ or wants better
clarity then you definitely want to stay away
from these earbuds. And also these earbuds
don’t connect to Sony’s headphones app
like the WF-SP700N or WF-1000XM3’s do so
you can’t directly customize their EQ. So
you are stuck with the bass heavy EQ these
headphones comes included with.
Now when it comes to controlling your music
with these earbuds… each earbud has single
button on them. The right earbud is used to
play, pause, and skip through your music and
if you press and hold on it you can activate
your voice assistant. Where as with the lest
ear bud if you press on it you can raise your
volume and if you hold on it you can lower
your volume. Technically Sony’s system does
work and you can control your music playback
without having to use your phone but its not
the sleekest out there.
Inperson 13
But two major features that are really missing
on these earbuds is that they don’t have
proximity sensors so they won’t pause your
music when you take them out of your ears
and they also don’t have an ambient mode.
Which is something that I feel is very important
to truly wireless earbuds especially plan
to wear them a lot when you’re walking around
the city.
But finally here’s the microphone test…
its not the worst but its definitely not the
best. It sounds a little tiny and a shallow
but I think its still usable.
But regardless, sony really does struggle
with the microphones on their products cause
even the microphone on the new WH-CH710N sounds
pretty bad too.
So with all that being said, the WF-XB700’s
are fairly decent but I definitely wouldn’t
pick them up for their full $130 retail price…
I would only recommend that you pick these
earbuds up if they’re on sale. Their lack
of an adjustable EQ, lack of proximity sensors,
and lack of an ambient mode and fairly sizable
case just make it very hard for these earbuds
to compete against the Galaxy Buds Plus which
cost just $20 more. And all of these missing
features that I just listed off are definitely
worth it in the long run. But I do appreciate
that sony is trying to change things up with
these earbuds cause the WF-XB700 have a much
smaller carrying case then the WF-1000XM3’s
and their ear tips don’t go in as deep into
your ear canal making them a little more comfortable.
Now if you’re watching this video cause
the WF-XB700’s are on sale for some ridicules
price… keep in mind these earbuds aren’t
for everyone. They have a lot of bass which
is a lot of fun to listen to but if you like
a neutral sound signature or want better clarity
you’re better off staying away from these
earbuds. These earbuds are meant for people
who like a lot of bass
in their music.
