Sony WF-C500 – Review

Sony is known for making some of the best headphones out there and the WF-C500 earbuds are great true wireless buds for anyone who wants to spend less than $100. The price tag may lead you to believe that the earbuds must compromise in terms of design, features and audio quality. However, this is not the case, but you will not find premium features, such as touch-sensitive controls and Active Noise Cancellation (ANC).

Design

The construction of the Sony WF-C500 is very simple and you will get a pair of compact earbuds. Each earbud comes with just one circular button that does not have to be pushed too hard. You can pause and restart playback with just one click on the right button, while a double click lets you move to the next song on the playlist. The smartphone assistant can be activated by clicking the left button.

You can get the Sony WF-C500 in some eye-catching colors, like Coral Orange and Ice Green, along with the traditional black and white models. The buds are very lightweight, as they weigh about 5.4kg each. This means you can keep them in the ear for an extended period of time without any problems. They have a rounded shape that allow them to fit in your ear easily. You also get three tip sizes to choose from for a good fit.

The charging case weighs 35g and is also very simple. The construction is all plastic and the case also has a transparent lid. There is a USB-C charging cable given for the case.

Features

The WF-C500 are water resistant, which is quite impressive. They can withstand small splashes of water and little bit of rain. The case come with a battery life of 20 hours, while the earbuds can be used for 10 hours before you need to recharge them. You do have a fast charging option; a 10 minute charge can give you a playback of 1 hour. It is best to charge it for 2.5 to 3 hours to max out the case’s battery.

There is one microphone in each earbud and they also have decent recording quality. There is support for Bluetooth 5.0 standard.

Sound Quality

It is understood that due to the price tag, the WF-C500 cannot boast premium drivers. But, the earbuds still manage to do a pretty great job. You will find the sound to be surprisingly clear, lively and dynamic. You will not experience any harsh sounds, which is common on cheap buds. In fact, the earbuds are downright excellent in terms of instrumentals and speech. This means you can listen to podcasts, watch movies and enjoy soundtracks easily.

Bass reproduction is iffy, which is not surprising because it is a common issue amongst most in-ear headphones. But, they are able to recreate mid-range and higher frequencies quite well. The earbuds do not provide sound isolation, but their clarity helps negate the issue significantly.