Sony may not be the brand of headphones everybody is crazy about, but they have their own share of heavyweights. Regardless, you can’t talk about Sony’s headphones without talking about their cut-rate products. There aren’t many brands out there that put the size of the buyer’s pockets into consideration, but Sony seems to be holding that forte quite decently. And with the Sony WI-C200, they move a step further, leaving other brands to bit the dust.
The Sony WI-C200 is a wireless in-ear headphone that boasts a lightweight design, portability, balanced sound, and a great battery life. Not to mention the behind-the-neck build that allows you to carry the headphone along with you. These choices are designed to make listening to music wherever and whenever a possibility.
One tiny letdown about the WI-C200 is its noise cancellation. It doesn’t cut off noise from the surroundings as efficiently as you think it would, and you can pick out intrusive sounds from the environment while listening to music. It’s not the idea you have in your head for a headphone, true. But when have you ever bought a noise-cancelling headphone for $18?
That’s exactly what you need to grab the Sony WI-C200. Now, we’re about to see if there are any more reasons why the WI-C200 is a no-no or a must buy.
Before that, let’s go through a brief rundown of the headphone’s specifications.
Sony WI-C200 Specifications
- Colors: Black and White
- Style: Neckband
- Driver Diameter: 9 mm
- Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 20000 Hz
- Weight: 19 g
- Magnet: Neodymium
- Bluetooth Version: 5.0
- Bluetooth Range: 10 m
- Charging Time: 3 hours
- Noise Cancelling: No
- Charging Method: USB
- Battery Life: 15 hours continuous playback; 15 hours continuous talk time;200 hours waiting time
- Battery Type: Lithium-ion
Now, to the review proper.
Who It’s For
The Sony WI-C200 is for people who don’t want too much out of a headphone. By too much, I mean you shouldn’t expect a resounding bass sound from the WI-C200 or the kind of crispy sound you get from $1000-headphones. This doesn’t mean that this headphone doesn’t have a bass sound. It does, and it’s pretty great for the price.
Also, if you want something lightweight and comfortable that you can always carry about, the WI-C200 wouldn’t be a bad purchase. You won’t get to feel that silent buzz of discomfort you feel from other headphones after having them on for too long.
Connection
The Bluetooth version on the Sony WI-C200 is 5.0, which puts it way above some headphones out there. Apart from the hierarchical supremacy, being 5.0 compatible also means the connection will be strong and uninterruptible. However, the WI-C200 can’t connect to multiple devices at the same time, and it doesn’t have the NFC feature.
Unfortunately, the WI-C200 is strictly Bluetooth-based. You can’t even use an audio cable even if you want to.
Battery
One important bit you should know about the WI-C200’s battery capacity is that it’s huge. At 15 hours of continuous playtime, you can listen to music for much of the day. However, for all its time, the WI-C200 doesn’t have a power saver, which means that so much power can get lost if you just leave it on.
It takes about three hours for a full charge which can be quite a letdown because most people are almost always on their headphones. However, getting 15 hours for a 3-hour charge doesn’t really look like a bad deal when you think about it, does it?
Design
Sony went for an in-ear/around-the-neck design for the wireless WI-C200, and they’ve got three extra tips of different sizes just to make sure the headphone is a fit for people with different ear sizes.
The headphone might be wireless, but it’s still got cables running from the control modules to the earbuds. These cables form dangling loops when in use, and that invites the danger of getting caught on something or being accidentally pulled.
The casing for the earbuds and control modules are made out of plastic and look like they can give in under the slightest pressure. Regardless, the WI-C200 is prepared for bigger things than its cheap plastic-look displays. Don’t just take it on a test of pure strength. You just know it will fail. Besides, that’s no way to treat a headphone.
The control modules contain all the buttons that you’d use to control the headphones. You can do anything from pause and play music to access your voice assistant.
Comfort
The WI-C200’s lightweight design makes it comfortable to wear. You can put these on and even forget that they’re around your neck. The earbud tips come in different sizes ranging from small to large. In case your ears are too small for the tips with the prepackaged tips, you can easily switch them for a better fit.
Portability
One of the perks of the WI-C200’s 19 gram-weight is that you can carry it around your neck without feeling anything. However, if you’re a stickler for discretion, the WI-C200’s flexible cable makes it possible for you to stick it in your pocket or in a bag. The earbuds are also magnetic, so they can stick together when they’re not in your ears. It just makes carrying the headphone around even easier.
Performance
The WI-C200 are far from poor when it comes to performance. In fact, it delivers better than they’re worth. The bass, mid-range, and treble responses are quite impressive. The bass is a little more than decent and is capable of delivering hip-hop worthy beats. However, when the bass gets to the high-frequency, the sound gets a bit floated.
Regardless, you can hear the vocals or instruments clear enough. It’s almost like you’re listening to them from the studio or stage. However, there’s a little distortion around the mid-range. The treble frequency also suffers the same thing when it gets around the mid-range. However, these distortions in the sound quality can be overlooked if you don’t have an ear for detecting subtle stuff like this.
The noise cancellation feature on the WI-C200 isn’t exactly the best of the best. It isn’t even second or third best. It still lets through a reasonable amount of ambient noise. However, thanks to the tips of the earbuds, when they’re a fit, they keep the song from leaking and give you the opportunity to raise the volume as high as you want to cut out surrounding noise.
There’s a mic integrated here, and it’s supposed to deliver crisp vocal responses. However, it flops in its inability to separate actual speech from the surrounding noise. In other words, the vocal feedback is chaotic, and that’s definitely not something you want to have in your ears.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Impressive Sound Quality
- Comfortable Design
- Great Battery Life
- Easy Controls
Cons
- Cheap-looking plastic build
- Poor Noise Cancellation
- Incessant Mic Feedback.
- Long Cables
- Distortion of some frequencies
Final Thoughts
The Sony WI-C200 is a great product for people whose pockets aren’t too friendly. It gives people most of the big-budget features without making the product look like a concession. If you’re looking for something small, comfortable, affordable, and good enough in the sound department, the Sony WI-C200 is not a bad choice. It’s not a bad choice at all.