Best Sony headphones 2025: top pairs recommended by our expert reviews team

Sony WH-1000XM5 on a yellow background
(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

2025 could be a big year for Sony headphones with several new models rumoured to be in the works, not least a WH-1000XM6 Bluetooth over-ear model and a WF-1000XM6 wireless earbuds.

Any new Sony headphones are big news because the Japanese giant is behind some of the very best pairs on the market, from cheap wireless earbuds to premium noise-cancelling headphones. It is nailing high performance and value more so now than in any previous period we can recall.

If you are a loyal Sony customer or have recently been sold on the brand's models (and with good reason), this comprehensive buying guide details the very best Sony headphones that our in-house reviews team has reviewed and rated. Below are both earbuds and headphones from the company's arsenal, from budget pairs to flagship ones, that nail our exhaustive testing criteria.

In line with our headphones testing process, we first and foremost prioritise sound performance against price, although you won't find a pair on this list that doesn't also tick the boxes for high comfort, solid build quality and, where relevant, good noise-cancelling and battery life levels.

Only after testing these aspects against the current class leader(s) in that model's field do we arrive at our final verdict and star rating. Every pair below is highly recommendable – in fact, five out of seven are What Hi-Fi? Award 2024 winners, meaning they are indeed the best of the best at their price point.

7 best Sony headphones

Andy Madden author bio pic
Andy Madden

I’ve been reviewing headphones and earbuds for nearly two decades. I’ve lost count of all the Sony models I’ve listened to over the years, from budget buds to multiple generations of wireless, flagship ‘XM’ over- and in-ears. This gives me a great overview of not just the general headphones market, but Sony’s specific portfolio as well. That’s why I take care of this guide, where I make sure to constantly update our advice based on our latest testing, making it quick and easy for you to find the right Sony headphones for your needs and budget.

Recent updates

6th February 2025: We have checked the availability and pricing of all the Sony pairs in the list to make sure they are available to buy. We have tested the sporty LinkBuds Fit and added it to our also-consider section. We have also done the same with the new Sony LinkBuds Open (WF-L910).

Best budget earbuds

What Hi-Fi? Award 2024 winner. Budget true wireless earbuds that don't cut too many corners.

Specifications

OS support: iOS/Android
Bluetooth: SBC, AAC
Noise-cancelling: No
Battery life: 11 hours (22 hours with the case)
Waterproof rating: IPX4
Weight: 4.6g per bud

Reasons to buy

+
Compact, comfortable design
+
Solid, musical sound
+
Multipoint Bluetooth support

Reasons to avoid

-
Build looks and feels a bit cheap
-
Ambient sound mode is only okay

The Sony WF-C500 are the best value wireless earbuds money can buy, even if you aren’t dead set on a pair from the iconic Japanese brand – we said as much recently when we gave them a What Hi-Fi? Award as our favourite cheap earbuds.

Despite costing surprisingly little, the wireless earbuds deliver a fantastic performance in many of the key areas we care about. Though their plastic design doesn’t feel as premium as some of the more expensive sets on this list, the buds proved to be incredibly comfortable to wear during our testing.

They also lasted long enough to deliver a full week’s use for most buyers, offering around 22 hours of listening – up from 20 hours with the previous WF-C500.

They sound a little richer and fuller than the model they replace, too, which is certainly no bad thing. Overall, we are very impressed with how much performance Sony has managed to squeeze out of these compact, affordable earbuds. In our WF-C510 review, our expert reviews team said: "You can tell the WF-C510 are part of the Sony family, such is their musicality and rhythmic ability – even complex pieces of music don’t unravel and their sense of timing and ability to just get into the groove of a song works with any music you play through them.

The only real downside is that the C510 don’t feature active noise cancellation, though at this price that’s fairly standard. If you do want that sound-blocking feature we would point you to the WF-C700N below.

Read our full Sony WF-C510 review

Best budget ANC earbuds

What Hi-Fi? Award 2024 winner. Sony’s wireless earbuds combine comfort, ANC and sensational sound quality.

Specifications

OS support: Android/iOS
Bluetooth: SBC, AAC
Noise-cancelling: Yes
Battery life: 15hrs (buds: 7.5hrs; case: 7.5hrs)
Waterproof rating: IPX4
Weight: 4.6g each

Reasons to buy

+
Very comfortable fit
+
Refined presentation for the money
+
Detailed, dynamic and musical sound

Reasons to avoid

-
Less battery than rivals
-
No aptX or LDAC support

If you want ANC, insist on a set of Sony earbuds, but don’t want to spend oodles of cash then the WF-C700N are the best option we’ve tested.

The WF-C700N are the direct step-up option in Sony’s current line of affordable earbuds, sitting above its cheapest option, the WF-C500.

For the little extra you pay you get a variety of benefits. The biggest of these is the addition of ANC. These aren’t the only set of earbuds you’ll find with ANC, but based on our testing they are one of the best performers. During our testing, the C700N managed to successfully block out general background office noise – a feat many other affordable ANC earbuds fail at.

But more importantly, they also sound good, for a set at this price. Featuring Sony’s own 5mm driver in their design, during our listening checks they delivered a detailed, dynamic and musical sound across a variety of genres. This plus their comfortable fit make them an easy recommendation and led our testers to conclude:

“The WF-C700N offer a jump in quality compared to the WF-C500 and a taste of the performance of the WF-1000XM4 in a cheaper package. This puts them in a very strong position and makes them an easy recommendation at the money.”

The only slight downside is that the inclusion of ANC does impact their battery life. During our checks, we only managed to eke out seven and a half hours of use with ANC on, which is well below rivals. As a rule of thumb, these days we’d expect ANC buds to at least offer 10 hours of listening.

Read our Sony WF-C700N review

Best premium earbuds

What Hi-Fi? Award 2024 winner. Sony's most accomplished and detailed wireless earbuds to date.

Specifications

Noise-cancelling: Yes
Bluetooth: SBC, AAC, LDAC
Battery life: 8hr (+16hrs from charging case)
Wireless charging: Yes
Waterproof: Water resistant
Finishes: Black, Silver

Reasons to buy

+
Class-leading levels of detail and clarity
+
Top-notch musicality and timing
+
Comfortable, light and discreet design

Reasons to avoid

-
Some rivals produce more bass
-
Fit could feel more secure

If you have the cash to spare then the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning WF-1000XM5 aren’t just the best wireless earbuds from Sony – they’re also the best on the market holistically and the set we recommend to any buyer with the cash to spare.

Even compared to other flagship sets, we found the 1000XM5 offers the best overall performance, featuring no obvious weaknesses. This plus competitive pricing also makes them fantastic value for money, from a performance-per-pound/dollar perspective.

Good battery life? Check. During testing we easily managed a lengthy 16 hours listening with ANC on during our tests.

Comfortable fit? Yep. With a new streamlined design and variety of tip options, every single one of our testers was able to get a secure, comfortable fit with a tight seal.

Reliable ANC performance? You got it, with the buds delivering effective noise cancelling, even when we checked it on the incredibly difficult London Underground, whose rumbling engines and screeching brakes knock out many cheaper earbuds’ ANC.

Good audio? Another tick in the box. Featuring a custom Sony Dynamic Driver X, the buds offered excellent audio with class-leading levels of detail and clarity and top notch timing during our tests.

Our testers conclusion says it all: “The excellent WF-1000XM5 are Sony’s most accomplished and analytical wireless earbuds yet.” And with no sign of a potential WF-1000XM6 model arriving any time soon, we think these will be around for a while yet.

Read our Sony WF-1000XM5 review

Best budget over-ears

Certainly cheap and definitely cheerful, these affordable wireless over-ears tick several boxes.

Specifications

OS support: iOS/Android
Bluetooth: SBC, AAC
Noise-cancelling: No
Battery life: 50 hours
Waterproof rating: None
Weight: 147g

Reasons to buy

+
Balanced and engaging sound
+
Great battery life
+
Useful and extensive control app

Reasons to avoid

-
Dynamically inhibited
-
Could have greater insight

If you prefer over-ear headphones to earbuds and don’t need ANC then the WH-CH520 are our testers’ current recommendations. Despite costing surprisingly little, the CH520 proved to be a cut above the competing affordable over-ears we tested them against.

While they definitely don’t feel as premium as Sony’s more expensive over-ears, with our testers pointing out the plastic used feels quite cheap, the CH520 are well made and can survive being chucked in a rucksack with no trouble.

They’re also comfortable to wear, with the headband and earcups having enough clamping force to stay in place without pinching.

Bluetooth 5.2 is onboard, making them quick and easy to connect to smartphones and, despite the lack of aptX support, audio quality was the best we’ve experienced on a set of over-ears this price. Whether it was jazz classics or thumping drum’n’bass, the headphones delivered a balanced and engaging sound.

If that wasn’t enough to tempt you, battery life is also excellent, with our testers on average getting 40 hours listening out of them, which is more than enough for a full week’s use.

This combination of factors makes them an easy recommendation for Sony headphone fans on a budget. As we said in our WH-CH520 review:

“What’s remarkable about the Sony WH-CH520 is how little compromise they demand of you, both in terms of audio performance and ergonomics. They’re a little bit of a bargain.”

Read our Sony WH-CH520 review

Best budget ANC over-ears

What Hi-Fi? Award 2024 winner. Affordable noise-cancelling over-ears with no obvious shortcomings.

Specifications

OS support: Android/iOS
Bluetooth: SBC, AAC
Noise-cancelling: Yes
Battery life: 35 hours
Waterproof rating: None
Weight: 192g

Reasons to buy

+
Forceful, robust sound presentation
+
Decent ANC for the price
+
Solid build quality

Reasons to avoid

-
A little over-enthusiastic in the bass
-
No case or foldability

The What Hi-Fi? Award-winning WH-CH720N are a great value pair of wireless, over-ear headphones that pack ANC.

While the ANC performance can’t match some more expensive headphones, including that which you’ll get from Sony’s more premium WH-1000XM5, it’s among the best we’ve experienced at this price. Background office noise was effectively blocked out, and it definitely diminished the distracting traffic sounds one of our testers experienced working from home with a window open.

On top of that, while our testers found they are a little over enthusiastic when it comes to bass, they otherwise performed excellently during our tests. Low-end qualms aside, they delivered a nicely forceful sound, which particularly pleased the rock and pop fans among our team. This led our testers to report:

“The WH-CH720N have delivered exactly what Sony intended. For a very reasonable price, they’re a dependably made, enthusiastic-sounding pair of headphones that, while occasionally straying into the realm of excessive bass, deliver good ANC and a strong feature set.”

Our only minor quibble is that they don’t have a foldable design, or come with a carry case, which is an annoyance for people who use their headphones on the go on a regular basis.

Read our Sony WH-CH720N review

Best premium over-ears