The Sony WH-CH720N earns its place as our first budget ANC recommendation: a 192-gram frame owners praise for all-day comfort, noise cancelling that independent labs measured at roughly 20 dB across low frequencies, and battery life that tested above Sony's own 35-hour claim. The stock tuning is bass-heavy and needs five minutes in the app EQ, and the all-plastic build, missing case, and lack of wear detection are the price of the price. At typical street prices well under list — check the current price on Amazon before you buy — it's an easy pick for commuters and students; at full list, merely fine.
— THE VERDICT · JUDGEANY EDITORSWhy the CH720N still matters in 2026
Launched in February 2023, the WH-CH720N is now the veteran of Sony's lineup — and that is exactly why it is interesting. Its $179.99 list price was never the real price; three years of discounts have settled it into the $100 zone, where its combination of Sony-branded ANC, 192-gram comfort, and genuinely long battery life has few rivals. This review pulls together Sony's spec sheet, published lab measurements, and aggregated owner feedback. JudgeAny doesn't run a test lab — the scores below are editorial judgments built on that evidence.
Noise cancelling: good for the money, not flagship-grade
SoundGuys' lab testing measured roughly 20 dB of attenuation across most lower-pitched frequencies, peaking near 28 dB at 80 Hz — enough to dull traffic rumble, airplane cabin drone, and office HVAC. Isolation alone is only slightly below average for the category, and RTINGS' noise-isolation rating of 6.3 out of 10 — next to 9.7 for the WH-1000XM6, as summarized by Notebookcheck — keeps expectations honest. DHRME, which tested the CH720N against five other $150 headphones, graded its ANC "Tier B": effective on lows, thinner on mids and highs. Its transparency mode fared better at "Tier A," with DHRME noting it is easy to follow a conversation with the headphones on.
Comfort and battery: the reasons to buy
At 192 grams this is the lightest wireless noise-cancelling over-ear Sony has made, and comfort is the thing owners praise most — a clamp force that holds without squeezing, good for long commutes and full workdays. One caveat from SoundGuys: glasses wearers may find the pressure a bit much. Sony rates battery life at 35 hours with ANC on and 50 with it off, and independent tests beat both claims — SoundGuys measured 40 hours 11 minutes of continuous playback with ANC on, RTINGS measured 38.4. A 3-minute quick charge adds about an hour of playback, per Sony. The included USB-C cable only charges; per SoundGuys there is no USB audio.
Sound: fun, bass-heavy, and fixable
Out of the box the tuning is V-shaped and unapologetic. SoundGuys' measurements show a bass lift between roughly 100 and 400 Hz, pushed-back upper mids (900 Hz–4 kHz) that leave vocals sounding slightly congested, and treble between 5 and 10 kHz that can turn fatiguing at volume. RTINGS' take, quoted via Notebookcheck, is friendlier: "extra thump, punch, and boom" that suits EDM and hip-hop. Both can be true — this is a casual-listening tuning, not a neutral one. The fix works, and owners use it: SoundGuys found the sound improves markedly after trimming the low end in the Sony Sound Connect app's EQ. HEAD acoustics' MDAQS panel rated overall sound quality 3.3 out of 5 — "okay but not exceptional" for the price band, with standout immersiveness (4.7) dragged down by distortion (2.9).
Calls and codecs: where the evidence splits
Two findings in this review genuinely conflict with each other, and they are worth spelling out. On calls, SoundGuys judged the mic "quite good for an embedded mic" — intelligible in an office, with good wind filtering — while ExpertReviews called call quality "sub-par," and Aaron of Loud and Wireless recorded samples showing muffled, noise-prone pickup in loud cafés. The fair synthesis: fine for office and home calls, a gamble on windy streets. On codecs the split is easier to resolve: Sony's spec sheet lists SBC and AAC only, and most reviewers agree there is no LDAC — one outlet (SoundGuys) lists LDAC support, which contradicts Sony's own documentation, so we don't count on hi-res wireless.
The complaints are real, too
Aggregated reviews — commentchoisir's roundup of 15 reviews averages 3.9 out of 5 — converge on the same gripes: an all-plastic build that feels cheaper than it looks, no carrying case in the box, earcups that swivel flat but don't fold, no wear detection for auto-pause, and physical buttons instead of touch controls. At street prices these read as reasonable trade-offs; they are the reasons the WH-1000XM5 and XM6 exist.
Price: never pay list
The $179.99 list price is a starting point for negotiation, not a fact of life. In March 2026 Notebookcheck reported the black model selling at $97 on Amazon — 46% off — with the white at $113.92. Prices move constantly, so check the current price on Amazon before buying; these headphones are perpetually discounted, and buying at list means overpaying.