Sony's noise-cancelling WF-C700N earbuds get an official release date and price
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UPDATE: Just a few hours after Best Buy spilled the beans, Sony is finally making the WF-C700N officially official at a recommended price of $119.99.
Surprisingly, the affordable new noise-cancelling buds are scheduled to start selling on April 5 instead of April 21 after all at both Best Buy and Amazon in addition to other "Sony authorized retailers."
That's also when the Midnight Blue-coated WH-1000XM5 are set for a US release at the same $399.99 price as the other existing color options of probably the best high-end Bluetooth wireless headphones in the world. Our original story follows below.
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Yes, these puppies will be able to "block out the world" with state-of-the-art active noise cancellation technology, as revealed a few days ago, and they are now all but guaranteed to do so in exchange for $119.99 starting on April 21.
Until Sony confirms all that, there's of course a slightly larger chance than zero that these details will prove inaccurate. Still, retailers like Best Buy tend to be far more reliable about this type of stuff than any leaker, insider, or pundit, so it's probably not unwise to circle that exact release date in your calendar and get ready to pay that specific amount of money for a black or "sage" flavor of Sony's next noise-cancelling buds.
The WF-C700N are obviously not meant the replace the ultra-high-end and very well-reviewed WF-1000XM4 or go up against Apple's hugely popular AirPods Pro 2. At a fraction of their price, what you're looking at here is a strong new contender for the title of best budget wireless earbuds in the world, replacing and improving on the cheaper WF-C500 from 2021 in a number of crucial ways.
Despite integrating both noise cancellation and Ambient Sound capabilities this time around, Sony's affordable WFs will apparently make no significant battery life compromises. The full (and official) numbers are not in yet, but the 15 hours currently listed by Best Buy most likely refers to the combined endurance rating with the charging case considered and ANC enabled at all times, so the maximum achievable score could well be 20 hours just like on the WF-C500.
The IPX4 water resistance rating is also seemingly going unchanged, and the same goes for the fast charging support allowing you to squeeze a good hour of uninterrupted music listening time after a 10-minute charge.
The Sony WF-C700N are confirmed (by Best Buy, at least) to offer multipoint connectivity as well, which is not exactly guaranteed at a sub-$150 price point these days, and compared to the WF-C500, an overall audio performance upgrade is also to be expected.
In addition to the two colors listed today (again, without pictures), white and (light) blue paint jobs are virtually etched in stone too following recent leaks, although it is possible that one or two of these hues will be exclusive to certain US retailers.
Best Buy, of course, is not taking orders or pre-orders for the technically unreleased WF-C700N earbuds yet, merely letting prospective buyers sign up for notifications regarding this impending commercial debut, as first noticed by Roland Quandt (who else?).
It remains to be seen now if the blue Sony WH-1000XM5 over-ears are also coming on April 21, and there's even a chance the super-premium WF-1000XM5 earbuds will see daylight on the same date.
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