Sony WF

Nov 07, 2023

It was just the other day that I had the Sony WF-C700N buds in my ear for review, and to be honest, they’ve been my go-to’s since then. They just work, and that’s all I need. Then I received the much more premium WF-1000XM5 buds to play around with, and I have a feeling Sony may have done too well with the C700s. Let me explain why.

The C700 and the XM5 buds are on complete opposite ends of Sony’s bud range, with the XM5 being the most premium. This, of course, means it comes with a lot more quality-of-life features and better hardware all around, from case to drivers but at a much greater cost.

Let’s quickly cover all the premium features of the XM5.

Starting from the outside and working our way in, the case features a soft, matte texture, and the shape is much more appealing than the pill of the C700s. It fits inside your jeans pockets a lot better and is a lot more stylish. It also has wireless charging, which is handy if you already charge things wirelessly, but the case does pack more juice in it, and I can squeeze two extra full charges out of it, compared to just a single charge on the C700s. The XM5s give me just over eight hours of playtime if I listen at a reasonable volume level, which I hardly do because I’m deaf as a doornail, but that’s beside the point.

The Sony WF-1000XM5 come with a foam tip compared to the traditional silicone that we see on most buds these days, and again I feel this feels different to everyone. The tips that came on the XM5s felt quite uncomfortable and scratchy at first. However, after switching them out to the correct size, they were no longer noticeable. You get super small, small, medium and large tips in the XM5 box. The buds also look quite stylish, with a glossy black or white vibe and a bronze outer ear microphone for a bit of flair.

The buds have proximity sensors, so they know when they’re in your ear and when they aren’t. The C700s rely on being taken out of the case to be activated “automatically”, so this is a handy feature to have.

On paper, the XM5s come with an 8.4mm driver compared to the 5mm driver we see in the C700s. It’s quite clear that the XM5s deliver a more rounded and balanced sound to the C700s, which are quite bassy. I quite enjoy a sound profile with more bass, so I didn’t find that to be an issue. For those with a more attuned ear, you will definitely enjoy the sound quality that comes out of the XM5s, and the bass has a nice deep hit without overshadowing the treble. The sound is smooth and feels full, and if you do want to mess with the EQ, you can via the companion app.

Sony brags about the Active Noise Cancelling on the XM5 buds, but I was not able to find much of a difference between the C700s and this model. This could largely be due to the fit of the buds. The C700s fit into my ear canal a lot better than the XM5s do, no matter which tip I use. I can hear a difference when I have the Ambient Sound enabled, which opens up the outward-facing microphones to let in the sounds of the world through. The Sony WF-1000XM5 has a more realistic sound to them than the tinnier sound that comes from the C700s. This also applies to taking phone calls and using the microphone on the buds. The XM5 provides a more natural-sounding voice, while the C700 can sometimes sound digitised.

The Sony WF-1000XM5 also has an inner microphone, so it blocks out other surrounding sounds much better than the C700s can because it can detect your own voice more accurately.

Now I know what you’re thinking; everything in this review tells us that the XM5 is a much better product than the C700 buds, and it is. In fact, it’s a great set of in-ear wireless buds. The thing is, so are the C700s.

Looking at pricing, the Sony WF-1000XM5 these buds are available at a heft R8,499. Yes, this is a premium product, and they perform exceptionally well, but for much less, you can pick up the Sony C700 and still have an amazing experience.