Sony WH-CH720N

The Sony WH-CH720N delivers flagship-level noise canceling in a budget body, with ANC that ranks at the absolute top of our charts. Battery life is impressive at 35 hours, and real-world comfort is excellent despite a puzzling low score from our test rig. Shop carefully, prices swing from $98 to $250, and don't expect a premium build or carrying case. If you prioritize silence and battery life over everything else, these are a steal.

Let's talk numbers. The ANC here is borderline magical for the price. That 98th percentile ranking means the WH-CH720N outperforms nearly every noise-canceling headphone we've ever tested, including some that cost two or three times as much. Dual noise sensors and the V1 processor do heavy lifting, and you'll immediately notice the drop in background hiss when you power them on. They're not quite at the level of Sony's own WH-1000XM5 when it comes to silencing jet engine roar, but for bus commutes, shared workspaces, and home office use, they're more than sufficient. Just know that in extremely loud environments like a subway car with screeching brakes, some high-pitched noise leaks through. That's consistent with user reports, and it's a reasonable trade-off given the price.

Battery life is another bright spot. At 35 hours with ANC on, you're looking at a solid 76th percentile result, easily lasting a full workweek of commutes and focus time. Quick charging is a genuine convenience: three minutes plugged in nets you an hour of playback, which has saved us more than once when we forgot to charge overnight. Connectivity is excellent too, landing at the 90th percentile. Multipoint pairing works smoothly across a phone and laptop, with fast switching that doesn't stutter. The microphone performs above average at the 79th percentile, so your voice comes through clearly on calls, though it's not broadcast-quality. The sound, as noted, is middle of the pack, with a slight boominess in the bass that can overshadow vocals if you don't tweak the EQ. For casual listening, it's fun and engaging; for critical listening, it's merely adequate.

The most obvious alternative is the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, which handily beats the WH-CH720N in build quality, comfort, and overall ANC effectiveness in extreme conditions, but typically costs over $300. You're paying a premium for a more premium feel and better mic performance for calls. If sound quality is your top priority, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 absolutely smokes these with a richer, more detailed presentation and better codec support, though its ANC isn't quite as strong. The JBL Live 770NC sits in a similar price bracket and leans harder into bass, so it's worth a listen if you find the Sony's low end too polite. On the budget end, the Audio-Technica ATH-S300BT and TOZO HT3 both cost less and offer competent ANC, but they can't match Sony's processing power or app integration.

What you're really choosing with the WH-CH720N is a no-frills, function-first headphone. You sacrifice the premium materials and included travel case of pricier models in exchange for absolutely top-shelf noise canceling and solid battery life. If most of your listening happens indoors or in moderately noisy environments, and you don't mind a plasticky build that'll show wear, these are a smarter buy than spending double on the fancier Sony XM5. The latter is objectively better, but for many people, the gap in everyday performance isn't $150 wide.

Pricing on these is a bit of a rollercoaster. Across different vendors, we've seen them range from $98 all the way up to $250. The sweet spot is clearly the low end: if you can snag a pair under $100, you're getting near-flagship ANC and battery life for less than the cost of a nice dinner. At $250, though, you're stepping into territory occupied by the Sony XM5 and Bose QC Ultra, both of which deliver noticeably better build quality, sound, and comfort. So this is one of those products where shopping around actually matters. We'd strongly recommend checking which store has the best current deal, and right now that's the $98 listing. For the money, the value proposition is hard to beat.

Sony's WH-CH720N sit in a sweet spot that's getting crowded fast: over-ear wireless headphones with serious noise canceling at a price that doesn't make your wallet weep. They're aimed at commuters, remote workers, and anyone who wants to zone out to music without dropping $300+. What makes them interesting is that Sony crammed its Integrated Processor V1, the same chip that powers their pricier flagship models, into a set of cans that regularly dips under a hundred bucks. That's the kind of trickle-down we love to see. On paper, you're getting adaptive ANC, 35 hours of battery, multipoint Bluetooth, and a foldable design that actually fits in a backpack. The bundle we looked at even throws in a pair of JBL T110 earbuds, which is a nice touch if you need a backup set for the gym.

The thing is, our comfort testing data threw us for a loop. While practically every owner review raves about how light and comfortable these feel during marathon listening sessions, our technical scoring put comfort down at the 6th percentile. That's bizarrely low, almost dead last compared to every other headphone we've tested. We think there's a calibration mismatch here: our testing rig might penalize the clamp force or pad material in a way that real humans don't notice. In real-world use, people wear these for entire workdays and forget they're on. So we're comfortable saying the comfort score is misleading, but it's worth flagging so you know our database has an odd outlier. Build quality, on the other hand, lands at the 35th percentile, and that tracks with what owners say: the all-plastic shell picks up scratches fast, and there's no carrying case included.

Where these headphones shine is noise canceling. The ANC sits at the 98th percentile, making it one of the best performers at any price. For office chatter, air conditioner hum, and city rumble, these are outstanding. The sound signature is more divisive: our scoring puts it at the 42nd percentile, so it's solid but not exceptional. You'll get a consumer-friendly V-shaped tuning with punchy bass and clear highs out of the box, and the app's EQ lets you fix the slightly foggy mids that some listeners notice. If you want audiophile-grade detail retrieval, you'll need to look elsewhere. For the target audience drowning out a coffee shop while binging a podcast? It's plenty good.

If you're buying headphones for studio monitoring, mixing, or critical audio work, the WH-CH720N are not for you. Their sound profile is consumer-tuned, and our database puts studio suitability at a paltry 31.8 out of 100. You'd be better off with open-back headphones from Sennheiser or Beyerdynamic that offer a flatter, more analytical response. Durability is another reason to look elsewhere: if you're hard on your gear or toss headphones loose in a backpack, the scratch-prone plastic build will show wear fast. Also, anyone who needs top-tier ANC in chaotic, high-noise environments like subway platforms might find the high-frequency isolation lacking. For those scenarios, a Bose QC Ultra or even Sony's own XM5 will deliver better all-around noise suppression, albeit at a higher cost.

For the daily commuter or home office warrior who cares more about drowning out noise than impressing audiophile friends, the WH-CH720N is an easy recommendation, provided you hunt down a sale price. The ANC is genuinely best-in-class, and the battery will outlast even your longest workday. Pair them with your phone and laptop, spend five minutes tweaking the EQ in Sony's app to taste, and you'll have a reliable workhorse that disappears on your head. Just be ready to baby the plastic shell, and maybe budget for a third-party carrying case if you plan to travel with them often.

If your heart is set on critical listening, studio monitoring, or you need robust ANC in challenging acoustic environments like trains and planes, these aren't the ones. Sound quality is merely okay, and the build won't survive a fall off a desk. In those cases, we'd point you toward the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 for sound or the Bose QC Ultra for all-around refinement. But for the price? The WH-CH720N is Sony's secret weapon for anyone who wants to tune out the world on a budget.