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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2023
UPDATE 3/13/23: I noticed another reviewer mention that the padding has given out some after a while and I will concur that this has been my perceived experience as well. The padding flattens easily and I wish it was a bit more robust. I wouldn't say that the speakers are poking my ear, but I do feel my ear being pressed slightly and it does lead to minor discomfort over time. So I would say that the padding could definitely be better on these, and it should be at this price point. I would maybe deduct a half star for this if that was an option, but since it's not, I'm keeping my 5 star rating. I'm still happy with the sound, but I'll definitely be looking out for some better pads.
Original Review:
I'm impressed with these headphones. They are really good. I will, however, call out from the beginning that you lose some functionality and build quality (potentially - more on that below) seen in more expensive headphones and even though these are "only" $150, I think it's a bit pricey. But I think good headphones are just ridiculously expensive in general. With that out of the way, here are the headphones I tried in addition to the WH-CH720N: Sony XM4 & XM5, Sennheiser Momentum 4, Soundcore Q30 & Q45, and Technics EAH-A800.
My main objective in getting new headphones was to get a serious sound quality upgrade from the Soundcore Life Q20’s that I've had for several years now, and I was finally ready to pay $300-$400 for it if I had to. I was looking for clear mids and highs with deep, clear, separate bass (think of the difference between a sound system with a separate subwoofer vs a sound system without that tries to pack the bass into the main speakers). With the caveat that sound quality is subjective to the listener, here are my thoughts on each of the headphones I tried:
Technics EAH-A800 - absolute garbage and a joke at their price. These didn’t even merit more than a few minutes of listening.
Soundcore Q45 - disappointingly uninspiring sound compared to the much cheaper Q30. They lack bass. I spent very little time with these because I knew that I would take the Q30’s over them without question.
Soundcore Q30 - These are very good for their price (compared to the other options at that price). If I hadn't been willing to spend $300+ for the best sound, I would have kept these despite the fact that they powered off in the middle of calls (a problem I believe is specific to OnePlus phones based on my research). But compared to more expensive headphones, the Q30's bass was not as well defined/separated and it bled into all the frequencies, lending to an overall muddy sound - comparatively. But these are good, and at their price point, I doubt you can find better headphones.
Momentum 4 - These headphones had, hands down, my favorite bass signature; it was fantastically clean and able to hit impressive lows I could not hear in any other cans. The overall sound was very good, although I never could get them to sound as clear as I wanted once I experienced the 720's. The M4’s have fantastic battery life. Sadly, there were quite a few issues with the M4’s. They sound awful in wired mode - like, don’t even bother, they’re that bad. Taking calls on the M4s was a very weird experience; it’s hard to explain, but voices sounded kind of echo-y, but in the sense that it was like the voice was everywhere around me to the extent that I was sure that everyone else in the room was hearing the voice just as clearly as I was. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not - all I can say for sure is that it was a very strange experience. The M4's had software bugs that I just couldn't overlook, such as the audio being out of sync with video when using aptx (I had to use the lower SBC format to get the audio in sync and this just didn't make any sense!). The touch controls and on ear detection were a bit of a hit or miss. Software updates are unreasonably slow - like 20 minutes or longer. They are quiet - I found that I had to crank them up well past 50% to get enough volume, but at the end of the day, it didn’t really matter because they did get as loud as I ever needed and still had the ability to go louder. And they are on the heavier side, which meant they didn't stay in place on my head if I looked down or up. I actually ordered a second pair hoping that the software issues were a defect, but the replacement had all the same issues. But that bass was so good I was tempted, even prepared, to overlook all of those shortcomings. Until I tried the XM5's and the 720's.
Sony XM4 - I'm sure these were great for their time, but their age is evident. The sound was muddy and uninspiring to me. I quickly moved on from these.
Sony XM5 - these are good - very good. I would have kept the XM5's if the 720’s hadn’t been released just as I was comparing all of these headphones. The sound is very close to the 720's, but just not quite as clear, though I think the bass may go a bit lower than the 720's. It really mostly came down to price when deciding between the XM5 and 720. The XM5's are feature rich with an excellent ambient mode (the best I’ve experienced). ANC is good, but not at the level I expected for their reputation and really not significantly better than most other headphones. Compared to the 720’s, I’d say the ANC actually blocked out less noise, but the XM5’s made almost no static sound with ANC on and that may have played into that perception because I think the slight static noise the 720’s make might just be covering up the external noises that I’m hearing more on the XM5’s. But getting the absolute best ANC was not the most important thing for me. I liked the touch controls on the XM5’s - it's easier than feeling around for the correct button. But is it worth the price? Not for me - I'll take the trade-offs of the 720's for the savings, especially since I think the 720's sound better. But I can easily see how someone would buy the XM5’s over the 720’s if money is not an issue.
Finally, Sony WH-CH720N - these really are best described as the budget version of the XM5’s. Remember how I mentioned that they sound very similar to the XM5’s? Yeah, sometimes I forgot which headphones I was wearing, they are that close (post EQ-ing them to the best sound I could get from them). The ANC and Ambient modes aren’t quite as good on the 720's, they don’t have touch controls (a positive or negative depending on the person), and they don’t feel as solidly built (though I might argue that is only because of how incredibly light they are - they actually seem well built and there are no creaks, but their lightness is easily perceived as “cheap”). The 720’s don’t come with a case and they don’t fold (but the XM5’s don’t fold, either); not a big deal to me. Not folding just means they have fewer breaking points and are less obnoxious to handle when off the noggin. These live on my desk, so a case is not important to me. For traveling, I prefer the compactness of earbuds anyway. The auto off feature only works after they lose bluetooth connection, which for the majority of us, only happens if we turn our phone off or walk far away from the headphones. So, not significant value there, though I do turn off my phone every night, so the headphones will at least shut off at night if I forget to do it manually, and that is good enough for me. The 720’s are strictly controlled with physical buttons that are well placed, though I find myself expecting the ANC/Ambient button to be on the back, not the front (don’t know why, because it actually makes sense the way they did it), causing me to push the wrong button more than I’d like. And I wish the volume up and down were more distinct from the play/pause button. The buttons are my only real (but minor) complaint, but I'm getting used to the buttons and will be fine in short order. The 720’s are slim compared to the XM5’s and the M4’s. And did I mention they are light? They are insanely light and extremely comfortable. Most importantly, the 720’s sound really good. While they don’t quite have the bass signature of the M4’s, they are so well balanced and clear across all of the frequencies (without being harsh or sibilant) while still having great, clear bass that it could be argued that the 720’s sound better. I just kept finding myself going back to the 720’s over every other set of cans. These headphones won out over the rest from my limited (but targeted) comparison. There might be better sounding headphones out there, but I haven't found them.
Original Review:
I'm impressed with these headphones. They are really good. I will, however, call out from the beginning that you lose some functionality and build quality (potentially - more on that below) seen in more expensive headphones and even though these are "only" $150, I think it's a bit pricey. But I think good headphones are just ridiculously expensive in general. With that out of the way, here are the headphones I tried in addition to the WH-CH720N: Sony XM4 & XM5, Sennheiser Momentum 4, Soundcore Q30 & Q45, and Technics EAH-A800.
My main objective in getting new headphones was to get a serious sound quality upgrade from the Soundcore Life Q20’s that I've had for several years now, and I was finally ready to pay $300-$400 for it if I had to. I was looking for clear mids and highs with deep, clear, separate bass (think of the difference between a sound system with a separate subwoofer vs a sound system without that tries to pack the bass into the main speakers). With the caveat that sound quality is subjective to the listener, here are my thoughts on each of the headphones I tried:
Technics EAH-A800 - absolute garbage and a joke at their price. These didn’t even merit more than a few minutes of listening.
Soundcore Q45 - disappointingly uninspiring sound compared to the much cheaper Q30. They lack bass. I spent very little time with these because I knew that I would take the Q30’s over them without question.
Soundcore Q30 - These are very good for their price (compared to the other options at that price). If I hadn't been willing to spend $300+ for the best sound, I would have kept these despite the fact that they powered off in the middle of calls (a problem I believe is specific to OnePlus phones based on my research). But compared to more expensive headphones, the Q30's bass was not as well defined/separated and it bled into all the frequencies, lending to an overall muddy sound - comparatively. But these are good, and at their price point, I doubt you can find better headphones.
Momentum 4 - These headphones had, hands down, my favorite bass signature; it was fantastically clean and able to hit impressive lows I could not hear in any other cans. The overall sound was very good, although I never could get them to sound as clear as I wanted once I experienced the 720's. The M4’s have fantastic battery life. Sadly, there were quite a few issues with the M4’s. They sound awful in wired mode - like, don’t even bother, they’re that bad. Taking calls on the M4s was a very weird experience; it’s hard to explain, but voices sounded kind of echo-y, but in the sense that it was like the voice was everywhere around me to the extent that I was sure that everyone else in the room was hearing the voice just as clearly as I was. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not - all I can say for sure is that it was a very strange experience. The M4's had software bugs that I just couldn't overlook, such as the audio being out of sync with video when using aptx (I had to use the lower SBC format to get the audio in sync and this just didn't make any sense!). The touch controls and on ear detection were a bit of a hit or miss. Software updates are unreasonably slow - like 20 minutes or longer. They are quiet - I found that I had to crank them up well past 50% to get enough volume, but at the end of the day, it didn’t really matter because they did get as loud as I ever needed and still had the ability to go louder. And they are on the heavier side, which meant they didn't stay in place on my head if I looked down or up. I actually ordered a second pair hoping that the software issues were a defect, but the replacement had all the same issues. But that bass was so good I was tempted, even prepared, to overlook all of those shortcomings. Until I tried the XM5's and the 720's.
Sony XM4 - I'm sure these were great for their time, but their age is evident. The sound was muddy and uninspiring to me. I quickly moved on from these.
Sony XM5 - these are good - very good. I would have kept the XM5's if the 720’s hadn’t been released just as I was comparing all of these headphones. The sound is very close to the 720's, but just not quite as clear, though I think the bass may go a bit lower than the 720's. It really mostly came down to price when deciding between the XM5 and 720. The XM5's are feature rich with an excellent ambient mode (the best I’ve experienced). ANC is good, but not at the level I expected for their reputation and really not significantly better than most other headphones. Compared to the 720’s, I’d say the ANC actually blocked out less noise, but the XM5’s made almost no static sound with ANC on and that may have played into that perception because I think the slight static noise the 720’s make might just be covering up the external noises that I’m hearing more on the XM5’s. But getting the absolute best ANC was not the most important thing for me. I liked the touch controls on the XM5’s - it's easier than feeling around for the correct button. But is it worth the price? Not for me - I'll take the trade-offs of the 720's for the savings, especially since I think the 720's sound better. But I can easily see how someone would buy the XM5’s over the 720’s if money is not an issue.
Finally, Sony WH-CH720N - these really are best described as the budget version of the XM5’s. Remember how I mentioned that they sound very similar to the XM5’s? Yeah, sometimes I forgot which headphones I was wearing, they are that close (post EQ-ing them to the best sound I could get from them). The ANC and Ambient modes aren’t quite as good on the 720's, they don’t have touch controls (a positive or negative depending on the person), and they don’t feel as solidly built (though I might argue that is only because of how incredibly light they are - they actually seem well built and there are no creaks, but their lightness is easily perceived as “cheap”). The 720’s don’t come with a case and they don’t fold (but the XM5’s don’t fold, either); not a big deal to me. Not folding just means they have fewer breaking points and are less obnoxious to handle when off the noggin. These live on my desk, so a case is not important to me. For traveling, I prefer the compactness of earbuds anyway. The auto off feature only works after they lose bluetooth connection, which for the majority of us, only happens if we turn our phone off or walk far away from the headphones. So, not significant value there, though I do turn off my phone every night, so the headphones will at least shut off at night if I forget to do it manually, and that is good enough for me. The 720’s are strictly controlled with physical buttons that are well placed, though I find myself expecting the ANC/Ambient button to be on the back, not the front (don’t know why, because it actually makes sense the way they did it), causing me to push the wrong button more than I’d like. And I wish the volume up and down were more distinct from the play/pause button. The buttons are my only real (but minor) complaint, but I'm getting used to the buttons and will be fine in short order. The 720’s are slim compared to the XM5’s and the M4’s. And did I mention they are light? They are insanely light and extremely comfortable. Most importantly, the 720’s sound really good. While they don’t quite have the bass signature of the M4’s, they are so well balanced and clear across all of the frequencies (without being harsh or sibilant) while still having great, clear bass that it could be argued that the 720’s sound better. I just kept finding myself going back to the 720’s over every other set of cans. These headphones won out over the rest from my limited (but targeted) comparison. There might be better sounding headphones out there, but I haven't found them.
