Sony WH-CH720N Review: lightweight noise-cancelling cans that get the basics right

I’ve been using the Sony WH-CH720N as my daily headphones for work, commuting, and some gaming on my laptop. I’m not an audiophile, I just want something that sounds good, kills a reasonable amount of noise, and doesn’t crush my head after an hour. These sit in that mid-range price where you expect solid performance but not the fancy stuff from the top-end XM5.

First impression when I put them on: they’re very light, almost suspiciously light for over-ear headphones. If you’ve tried heavier models before, these feel like a downgrade in build but an upgrade in comfort. They’re mostly plastic and you feel that right away, but on the flip side, that 192 g weight means you can wear them for long sessions without neck pain.

In terms of use, I’ve mainly had them connected to my phone (Android), my work laptop, and occasionally my tablet. Multipoint (two devices at once) works fine in practice: I can listen to music from my laptop and still take calls from my phone. It’s not flawless, but it’s good enough that I don’t have to fight with Bluetooth every day.

If you’re expecting flagship-level noise cancelling and sound, that’s not what this is. But if you want something that’s comfortable, has decent ANC, and a long battery for study, office, or travel, this is clearly built for that. My overall feeling after regular use is: good, sensible headphones with some compromises you can live with if you care more about comfort and battery than premium materials.

In terms of value, these sit in a nice spot. They’re clearly cheaper than Sony’s XM4/XM5 line, but you still get proper ANC, long battery life, decent sound, and the Sony app support. A lot of users mentioned they chose these because they couldn’t justify the price of the more popular premium models, especially students. That matches how I see them: they’re for people who want something good enough and reliable, not bragging rights.

You do have some trade-offs for the lower price: plasticky build, no folding mechanism, basic buttons, no included case, and noise cancelling that’s good but not top-tier. If you’re mainly focused on sound quality and you’ve tried higher-end stuff, you might find these a bit plain. One reviewer noticed a clear downgrade after getting AirPods Pro 2. So if you’re coming from premium headphones, you’ll feel the drop. But if you’re coming from cheap earbuds or budget headphones, this will feel like a solid upgrade.

Compared to other brands in this price range, I think the main strengths are comfort, battery life, and the Sony app features (EQ, NC control, multipoint). The main weakness is build feel. Some competitors offer more metal or folding designs at similar prices, but often with worse ANC or weaker battery. So it depends what you care about most. I’d say these are especially good for: students, commuters, remote workers, and anyone who needs something light they can wear all day without worrying much about charging.

If you want something that looks and feels premium in the hand, or if you need strong voice isolation on calls (several users mentioned background noise still goes through on calls), you might want to spend more or look elsewhere. But for everyday listening, study sessions, and travel, the price-to-utility ratio is pretty solid. You’re paying for practicality more than luxury, and in that sense, they deliver.

Design-wise, Sony went for a simple, low-profile look. No flashy metal accents, no huge logos, just a clean over-ear shape. I tested the black version, which looks pretty standard and discrete. There are also white, blue, and pink versions if you care about matching your phone or outfit. One Amazon reviewer with the white version mentioned they look stylish and not bulky, and I agree: they don’t have that giant “DJ headphone” vibe.

The headband has a bit of padding, and the earcups rotate flat, which helps when you wear them around your neck or toss them in a bag. Important detail: they do not fold inward. This is one of the bigger downsides for me. Because they don’t collapse, they take up more space in a backpack, and without an included case you either baby them or just risk it. Some users ended up buying a separate hard case around £10–15, which seems almost necessary if you travel a lot.

Build quality is where the price shows. The headphones are mostly plastic, and you can feel it as soon as you handle them. One reviewer called them a bit cheap-feeling, and I think that’s fair. The plastic doesn’t feel like it will snap instantly, but you don’t get that solid, dense impression you get with higher-end models. The buttons are also on the basic side: small, clicky, and not very satisfying to press. They work fine, they just don’t feel premium.

On the positive side, the lightweight design is a direct result of this material choice. At 192 g, they’re very light for over-ear headphones. So yeah, the trade-off is clear: you lose some premium feel and folding hinges, but you gain low weight and all-day comfort. Personally, I’d have liked at least slightly better button feel and maybe a bit of metal in the headband, but for the price I can live with it.

Battery is where these really pull ahead of a lot of competitors in the same price range. Sony advertises up to 50 hours with noise cancelling off and around 35 hours with it on. In actual use, with ANC on most of the time and volume around 50–60%, I was getting several full days of mixed use before needing a charge. One reviewer said they charged to 100%, used them for three days, and still had 80% left, which matches my experience pretty closely.

For practical use, this means you can easily do a full week of commuting plus some evening listening without worrying about finding a charger every night. For trips, I did a long travel day (flights + airport waiting) with ANC on almost all the time and didn’t even get close to killing the battery. That’s the kind of thing that actually matters in real life: you’re not babysitting the battery or carrying a power bank just for your headphones.

Charging speed is also decent. Sony claims about 3 minutes of charge gives roughly 60 minutes of playback. I didn’t time it with a stopwatch, but quick top-ups definitely give you enough juice for a commute. A full charge does take a while (the spec mentions up to 12 hours), but since you rarely run them completely flat, you usually just plug them in overnight and forget about it.

One small point: if you’re a very heavy user (multiple hours every single day with ANC on), you’ll probably end up charging them every 2–3 days to stay safe. Some reviewers said they charge nightly just out of habit. Personally, I just plug them in when I see battery go below 30%, which doesn’t happen that often. Overall, battery life is one of the main selling points here, and it actually holds up in real-world use.

Comfort is probably the main reason I’d recommend these. Because they’re so light, you can wear them for long sessions without that heavy clamp feeling on your skull. I’ve easily done 3–4 hour study/work blocks with them on. One Amazon user who wears a hijab specifically mentioned they can wear them for hours over multiple fabric layers, which says a lot about the pressure level and padding.

The ear pads themselves are soft enough and big enough to go around my ears without pressing too hard. They’re not the softest cushions I’ve ever tried, but for the price they’re decent. Like most closed-back over-ears, your ears will get warm after a while. That’s just physics. I usually take them off for 5–10 minutes every couple of hours to let my ears breathe. This is in line with what several reviewers said: comfortable for hours, with occasional short breaks when things get warm.

Now, it’s not perfect. One user mentioned a plastic piece inside the ear cup sometimes pokes their ear. I’ve felt something similar if I push the cups too far back or if I don’t position them carefully. It’s not constant, but if you have larger ears or a different head shape, you might need to adjust them a bit to avoid that contact. Also, clamp force is on the lighter side. Good for comfort, but if you move your head a lot (e.g., intense workouts), they might not feel super locked-in.

On the headband side, the padding is fine, and I only felt mild pressure on the top of my head after very long use, nothing dramatic. For commuting, office, and studying, they’re one of the more comfortable pairs I’ve used in this price range. If you’re sensitive to heavy headphones or get headaches from tight clamping, these are a good option. If you want a very tight, sport-ready fit, these are not that. They’re more for chill use than gym abuse.

Because these are so light and plasticky, I was a bit worried at first about how they’d hold up. After regular use, I’d say they’re better than they feel. The plastic doesn’t feel premium in the hand, but it also doesn’t feel like it’s about to crack. The headband adjustment still slides smoothly, and there’s no worrying creaks beyond the usual plastic flex you get when you twist them slightly.

One long-term reviewer on Amazon said they’ve been shoving them in a bag for months without a case and they’re still fine. I haven’t abused mine quite that much, but I’ve definitely tossed them into a backpack with other stuff a few times, and so far no cracks, no loose joints, no peeling on the ear pads. That said, because they don’t fold, the earcups stick out and are more exposed, so if you’re rough with your bags, a cheap hard case is still a smart idea.

The finish on the plastic seems to resist scratches reasonably well. On my black pair, minor scuffs don’t really show. A user with the blue version also mentioned they expected scratches but hadn’t seen any after a few bumps. The ear pads haven’t flattened out yet in my case, but that’s something that usually shows up after a year or more, so hard to judge long-term. At this price, I wouldn’t expect replaceable pads from Sony directly to be super cheap, but you can usually find third-party ones later if needed.

They’re not water resistant, so I wouldn’t wear them in the rain or for sweaty workouts. No IP rating means you should treat them as indoor/commute gear, not sports gear. Overall, they feel like lightweight daily drivers that can handle normal use and some occasional rough handling, but they’re not built like a tank. If you treat your stuff decently, they should easily last through a few years of study or office life.

Sound-wise, I’d describe these as good enough for most people, not for audio snobs. Out of the box, the tuning is what you’d expect from Sony: a bit of extra bass, clear vocals, and a generally pleasant sound for pop, hip-hop, and podcasts. Nothing feels harsh or piercing. You also get Sony’s DSEE upscaling, which is meant to clean up compressed tracks a bit, but honestly, I didn’t hear a big difference – and I don’t think most people will obsess over it.

The real plus is the app EQ. You get a 5-band equaliser with presets and manual control. I bumped the bass slightly and cut a bit of mid harshness, and the sound became more to my taste. One Amazon reviewer said they’re no expert but could clearly tell the upgrade from their old headphones, and I’d agree: if you come from basic wired earbuds or cheap Bluetooth, these will feel like a step up. On the other hand, another user who later bought AirPods Pro 2 said the quality difference became obvious afterwards. That lines up with my impression: these are mid-range, and you can hear that once you try more expensive gear.

Noise cancelling is solid for the price, not top-tier. It does a good job with constant background noise: traffic hum, engines, fans, air conditioning. Several reviewers mentioned motorway noise basically disappearing, and I had the same experience on trains and buses – the low rumble drops a lot. Voices are a different story: people around you are muted but not gone. You’ll still hear conversations, just less clearly. For studying in a library or working in a café, it’s enough to make things less distracting, but it doesn’t create total silence.

Ambient mode works as expected: it lets in outside sounds so you can hear traffic or announcements. I used it when walking on busy streets and it did the job. One thing to note: a reviewer said full ANC sometimes gave them a headache after a while. I’ve felt some slight pressure sensation too after long sessions, which is common with ANC headphones. If that bothers you, you can lower the NC level or switch to ambient mode or off in the app. Overall: sound is solid for everyday use, ANC is genuinely useful, but don’t expect flagship-level performance.

The WH-CH720N are basically Sony’s “sensible mid-range” over-ear headphones. On paper, you get: Bluetooth 5.0, active noise cancelling, ambient sound mode, support for a wired 3.5 mm jack, and up to 50 hours of battery with ANC off (around 35 hours with ANC on is more realistic). There’s also an app (Sony | Headphones Connect – they called it Sound Connect in some listings, but it’s the same thing) where you tweak EQ, noise control, and some smart features.

In the box, it’s pretty barebones: the headphones, a USB-C charging cable, and an audio cable. No hard case, no pouch. For a product at this price, I would have liked at least a basic soft pouch, especially since these don’t fold. If you want a proper case, you’ll have to buy one separately, like some Amazon reviewers did. Not a deal-breaker, but something to factor into the total cost.

In daily use, the controls are a mix of physical buttons (volume, playback, power, NC/ambient toggle) and the app. The listing mentions touch controls, but in reality this model uses buttons, and they do feel a bit cheap and clicky. They work, but they don’t feel premium. I mostly ended up changing modes and EQ in the app because it’s faster and clearer than trying to remember which button combo does what.

My typical routine: I turn them on in the morning, they auto-connect to my phone and laptop, and I basically forget about battery for several days. For commuting, ANC is on most of the time; at home I sometimes switch to ambient mode so I can hear the doorbell. The headphones are clearly designed for this kind of mixed usage: study, office, travel, casual listening. They’re not really targeted at hardcore studio work or console gaming, especially with no native PS5 Bluetooth support, which one reviewer rightly complained about.