It’s not hard to spend a lot of money on a pair of wireless headphones. If you want something flagship, you’re looking at a bill to match the level of prestige. Apple’s AirPods Max 2 are $550, Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are $450, and Sony’s WH-1000XM6 are $460. No matter which way you spin it, you’re spending somewhere in the ballpark of $500 to get the top of the line. I speak for most people’s wallets when I say “ouch.”
The thing is, not everyone wants a flagship. Sometimes, you’re willing to make some compromises to find something that fits your audio budget, and maybe (just maybe) some features that you thought you needed aren’t actually as critical as you made them out to be. Maybe what you really need is a little word salad: Sony’s WH-CH530 wireless headphones that only cost $70.
Sony WH-CH530
This cheap pair of wireless headphones from Sony might not have ANC, but the sound is great and the price is very right.
Pros
- Sound is great for the price
- Good passive noise cancelling
- Very affordable
- Fun colors
Cons
- Feels a bit cheap
- Not many features
- Call quality isn't great
Don’t let the price fool you
If you’re like me, seeing a $70 price tag elicits two responses: intrigue first and then skepticism. Cheap wireless headphones sound like cheap wireless headphones, right? Not always.
If there’s one thing I love about the WH-CH530, it’s that they don’t sound nearly as budget-friendly as they are. Listening to my go-to test songs like “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” by Steely Dan, I enjoyed the balance out of the box—at least for the most part. For how small these wireless headphones are, there’s still a good amount of bass, and the soundstage is robust—guitar solos are crisp, and vocals are clear. My only minor complaint is that (to my ears) they could use a slight boost to the midrange, which I did myself using the custom EQ in the Sony Connect app. After that small tweak, I was happy.
The bass I mentioned is palpable in other go-to test songs of mine like “Da Funk” by Daft Punk, and while it’s not quite as powerful as larger, over-ear wireless headphones like the flagships I mentioned at the start of this review, it’s still punchy, present, and well-mixed.
If there’s one area of audio quality that I can deduct points for, it’s voice calls. It’s not that the WH-CH530 have a hard time picking up my voice; it’s that they tend to pick up a lot of ambient noise. During a test call, the person I called said they could hear quite a bit of room chatter, making the call feel pretty distracting. This isn’t uncommon among wireless headphones in every range, to be honest, but it’s still not ideal. Ultimately, they rated the call a 6.5/10. Not great, but not awful.
This is one of the areas where Sony says it actually improved on the WH-CH530’s predecessor, the WH-CH520, and while I’ve never tested that model for myself, I shudder to think what call quality was like before.
ANC? In this economy?
If there’s one thing you need to know about the WH-CH530, it’s that they don’t have one of the main features you’d expect in a pair of midrange or flagship wireless headphones: active noise cancellation (ANC).
To be honest, it’s been a minute since I’ve used a pair of wireless headphones without ANC, and while I was skeptical of how the experience would come off, especially living in the loud city that I do, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought.
Despite the fact that the WH-CH530 are on-ear wireless headphones versus over-ear—the difference being they don’t cover your whole ear—I felt they blocked out a decent amount of noise. Maybe it was the fit, which is slightly tighter than other pairs of wireless headphones, but either way, they held up well.
Walking on the streets of Manhattan, I could still hear some street noise, and on the subway I got more train noise than I would have with ANC headphones, but at no point did I really feel like it was disruptive. With the passive noise cancellation, I found the WH-CH530 to be more noise-cancelling than cheaper pairs of ANC wireless earbuds like the Nothing Ear 3a.
Honestly, the on-ear design is one of the things I like the most about the WH-CH530. These wireless headphones really fit my head, which is great for making me not feel like a dork when I wear them, and also good for general stability when I’m walking around. The size also makes them easily storable in my bag. If there’s one thing I would have liked to have seen, it’s the ability to fold the headphones, making them even more pocketable, but that’s just another compromise with flagship products, I guess.
Speaking of build, the WH-CH530 do feel like they’re $70. These aren’t the most premium-feeling wireless headphones in the world, but they’re not a torture device or anything. The plastic feels a little cheap, and the cushions aren’t super plush, but again, that’s just the name of the budget/entry-level game.
Controls also aren’t very flashy (no special pill-shaped volume roller like on the $300 Nothing Headphone 1), but on the right earcup there is a power on/off button and a button for track skipping. I would have liked to see an option for wired with 3.5mm and/or USB-C, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
If there’s one area that I think the WH-CH530 get points design-wise, it’s the colors. In addition to your white and black colorways, there are fun options like mint, pink, and the pair that I reviewed, “coral.”
Ultimately, there aren’t a lot of bells and whistles with the WH-CH530. Pulling open the Sony Sound Connect app tells you everything you need to know—there’s an option to select a preset EQ or make your own, and that’s about it. Sony did improve on the EQing in this generation, though, allowing you to adjust 10 bands instead of the five on the last generation.
Sony says itself, though, that this is a pair of wireless headphones meant for casual listeners, and for most people a cheap pair of wireless headphones that sound good and look cool check more than enough boxes.
The battery life doesn’t hurt the equation either. Sony says the WH-CH530 get 55 hours of battery life, which is five more than the last generation. In my testing, I listened to the WH-CH530 for an hour at 50% volume, and the Sony Connect app told me that the wireless headphones were still at 100% battery. The Sony Connect app sometimes doesn’t give exact battery percentages (it can be in increments of 10 in my experience), so it’s hard to tell, but I’m inclined to say that Sony’s battery estimate is accurate. I listened for another hour, and the battery percentage stayed put.
Entry-level doesn’t have to feel cheap
As skeptical as I was about a $70 pair of wireless headphones, I think Sony’s WH-CH530 are above and beyond what you would expect. No, there isn’t any ANC, which is probably a dealbreaker for lots of people, but not having ANC wasn’t nearly as disruptive as I expected given the solid passive noise cancellation.
For me, it’s the sound quality that really felt like a highlight, and if you’re just planning on using your headphones to listen to music and you don’t care about having the most features, these might be the best way to do so without spending a lot of money.
