Sony Truly Wireless Earbuds offer AirPods-like features for athletes
The SP700N includes noise cancellation and is sweat-proof
Outside of Apple and, to a lesser degree, Fitbit, wearables didn’t work out for tech players who rushed to the category in fear of being left out, only to spend a ton of time and money on a market they could never get traction in. With the wearable craze now shifting to our ears, Sony (and others) are at it once again with their own takes on what consumers might want and the SP700N might just have the right ingredients.
Those familiar with AirPods will automatically feel at home with the always fantastically named Sony Truly Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds or SP700N (seriously, who names this stuff?). Like AirPods, SP700N offers a charging case that offer two full charges on top of the units three hour battery life. All in all, you can get 9 hours of playback and if you’re in a pinch, a 15 minute quick charge will top you off with 70 minutes of playback.
From there, the Sony Truly Wireless Earbuds offer a host of unique features like being
the world’s first noise-cancelling and splash-proof (IPX4) functionality among truly wireless headphones
as claimed by Sony. For those wearing these units at work or out in the city, the noise cancellation goes a long way towards improving what you want to hear and instilling some peace while the splash-proof design means athletes can safely sweat away during their workout without worrying about frying their earbuds.
For cyclists, runner, and even pedestrians, the SP700N also includes an Ambient Sound Mode which basically allows sound from the outside to seep in so you’re better aware of your surroundings, a fantastic safety feature that I’m sure Allegra Osati, the cyclist in our family, appreciates.
Other functionalities include making/receiving phone calls as well as invoking Google Assistant. As Billy Steele notes on Engadget, the headphones also come with a Extra Bass mode which gives your music more oomph.
After a few minutes listening to the earbuds, I came away quite impressed by the audio quality. The WF-SP700N has punchy highs and a solid amount of bass that’s not overpowering. I’ve found these true wireless devices tend to lack a healthy dose of base a lot of the time, but I’m happy to report that’s not the case here.
It’s clear that when Sony designed the SP700N, they weren’t concerned with just chasing the market and creating an AirPods clone and instead, they had a very different product in mind and it shows. For athletes and city commuters, there’s plenty to love here, assuming the headphones deliver long term on all the above promises. The Sony Truly Wireless Earbuds will launch some time in Spring 2018 for $179 and will be offered in black, pink, yellow, and grey.
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