The WF-C510 are the newest entry-level earbuds from Sony. These are the no-frills possibility for somebody who simply needs a easy pair of earbuds for the on a regular basis commute or exercise with out having to shell out a fortune on options they do not want.
The C510 are the successor to the C500, which have been moderately widespread regardless of not being the most affordable or feature-rich possibility in the marketplace. Most individuals simply appear to need a fundamental pair of earbuds from a model they know and belief and the C500 match the invoice.
The C510 are taking a shot at basically the identical market once more. With the up to date mannequin, Sony is introducing a brand new design that’s even smaller and lighter than earlier than together with an up to date battery lifetime of 11 hours, and multipoint connection. There’s additionally a transparency mode despite the fact that there’s nonetheless no lively noise cancellation. All of the whereas nonetheless coming in on the similar $100 price ticket. Is that sufficient to justify an improve? And what concerning the equally priced competitors? Let’s discover out.
Design and luxury
The design of the C510 sees a significant rework over their predecessor with Sony doubling down on the small and lightweight facet. The brand new case is tiny, definitely the smallest I’ve ever seen, and barely takes up any room in any respect in your pocket or bag. There’s a draw back to this, after all, however we’ll get to that within the battery part.
The C510 is available in 4 new colours, white, black, blue, and the yellow featured right here. The blue and white are gentle, pastel hues with the yellow being simply a few shades away from being off-white. Each the case and the earbuds function matte-finished plastics all through, which accentuates the muted colours.
The brand new earbuds are each smaller and lighter than the earlier technology mannequin. The truth is, Sony claims the C510 are its smallest in-ear earbuds but. They honestly are tiny and barely take up any house in any respect in your ears nor stick out an excessive amount of.
A big portion of the outside of those earbuds are the bodily buttons for controlling numerous features. Like with the earlier technology mannequin, these are maybe a contact too giant, which ends up in inadvertently urgent them every time you might be inserting the earbuds in your ears. Additionally, since they’re bodily buttons that have to be pushed in, you find yourself urgent your entire earbud deeper into your ear each time you press them, which may really feel uncomfortable.
On the subject of consolation, the C510 are typically snug to put on, even for prolonged durations. Nonetheless, the ear suggestions do not fairly appear to have the strain launch design of contemporary in-ear fashions, which relieves strain whereas inserting or eradicating by way of a aspect vent. As such, there’s a truthful quantity of suction felt whereas inserting or eradicating these and you could take it sluggish so you do not put an excessive amount of strain in your ears. I discovered it finest to barely twist and corkscrew whereas inserting or eradicating them as this felt probably the most snug. Nonetheless, as soon as in, I did not really feel any discomfort.
When it comes to construct high quality, the C510 really feel very well-built regardless of being an entry-level mannequin. In addition they function an IPX4 ranking, which makes them splash-resistant.
Software program and options
The C510 are suitable with Sony’s Sound Join app, which is a refreshed model of the app that has been round for some time. At first it appears much less cluttered however that is solely as a result of Sony has performed the equal of shoving every little thing underneath the carpet by inserting all of the choices inside a menu, the place it seems identical to it did earlier than. So it is the identical app however now with one further step. It additionally nonetheless takes far too many steps to arrange.
Sony Sound Join app
Since that is an entry-level mannequin, there aren’t lots of options to regulate within the app. Proper on the prime is the Ambient Sound Management, which is what Sony calls its transparency mode. You may both merely toggle it on or off or alter its depth. There’s additionally a voice passthrough mode that prioritizes voices over different sounds.
The app additionally contains a guide EQ with 5 frequency bands and a separate Clear Bass slider. There are additionally a bunch of presets obtainable and you may have three customized presets. If an EQ appears too difficult, then Sony has a brand new function that permits you to decide from considered one of 5 choices that sounds the most effective to you when you play your music within the background. After you decide one, one other 5 seem that allow you to additional fine-tune your choice. The app then generates an EQ profile based mostly in your choice and saves it to one of many customized profiles.
EQ settings
The app additionally gives 360 Actuality Audio, which is Sony’s 3D encompass sound function for headphones that by no means actually caught on. It’s good to calibrate the function to your particular head and ear form by taking footage of your ears and the app then generates an HRTF profile for you. That is then utilized by apps that supply audio on this format. The issue is, there actually aren’t that many apps that try this in the intervening time and they’re more likely to get even fewer as time goes on. Additionally, outdoors of these apps, you possibly can’t use the profile you generate and it may well’t be used for different codecs reminiscent of Atmos, so it is largely an train in futility.
Lastly, there’s Sony’s DSEE or Digital Sound Enhancement Engine, which claims to revive among the misplaced element in compressed media. This function is basically meant for use with extremely compressed audio and turns into functionally placebo at greater bitrates. Toggling it even with Spotify audio made no audible distinction.
The app additionally permits you to customise the perform of the buttons on the earbuds. The performance is relatively restrictive as you possibly can both assign ambient sound or playback controls to the buttons however you possibly can change, for instance, the particular playback management gestures. I personally would have preferred to disable the only press gesture for play/pause because it at all times triggers unintentionally however that is not attainable. Both you could allow all features as they’re or disable them completely.
Transferring on to the options, as famous earlier, the C510 lacks lively noise cancellation. Again within the day, this could have been fantastic as nobody would have anticipated an entry-level pair of earbuds to have ANC. Nonetheless, that is not the present panorama and lots of, if not all, of the competing choices now have correct lively noise cancellation built-in. This contains stuff just like the OnePlus Buds 3, which has fairly nice noise cancellation for the worth.
Nonetheless, Sony takes the cost-cutting to a different degree by additionally omitting fundamental options reminiscent of in-ear detection for computerized play/pause performance. I complained about its absence within the current OnePlus Nord Buds 3 assessment, which price half as a lot because the C510, so there’s actually no motive for the C510 to get a go right here.
Lastly, Sony has as soon as once more gone with solely probably the most fundamental codecs. Contemplating it actually created LDAC, it is awfully stingy with how typically it implements it in its personal merchandise.
Efficiency
Audio high quality
The C510 function a single 6mm dynamic driver with 20-20,000Hz frequency response. The earbuds assist SBC and AAC codecs over Bluetooth 5.3.
The C-series fashions have traditionally had probably the most balanced tuning amongst Sony’s client line of audio merchandise, and Sony even describes them as such. Nonetheless, “balanced” for Sony normally quantities to not having lots of bass. Outdoors of that, the C510 comply with the standard blueprint for Sony audio, which is mellow and considerably darkish with added heat within the low-end.
Beginning with the bass, the C510 tuning is vastly extra conservative in comparison with its different fashions and likewise a lot of the competitors. The low-end doesn’t blow you away with a ton of low-bass and even mid-bass vitality. There’s a slight bump within the mid-bass but it surely by no means will get overwhelming and even distracting. Low-bass can also be missing considerably so the deeper registers do not fairly have the identical thump and rumble that you simply’d count on.
The mids begin off a bit weak with barely subdued low-mid however then decide up properly with a totally fleshed-out mid and higher mid-range response. The treble is the place the sound loses fairly a little bit of its vitality, with a reasonably retracted and subdued response throughout the vary. There is not even the standard higher treble sparkle right here; the treble is simply uninteresting throughout the board.
So how does all this sound? At first impression, the sound is undeniably blunt and muted within the higher frequencies. Nonetheless, after spending just a few hours, it didn’t trouble me as a lot because it did initially. The sound is mellow however the general tonality is kind of pleasing. I shortly realized that the sound is at its finest with older, typically poorly recorded music, which tended to be fairly shiny. My 70s and 80s playlist performed superbly on these earbuds with glorious vocals and an adequately fleshed-out high-end. The slight bump within the bass additionally helped make up for the dearth of low-end on these older tracks.
This was additionally true for different genres which might be inherently shiny, reminiscent of digital music in addition to widespread music from Japanese, Latin, and Indian languages. The upside of the subdued tuning is that the sound is not fatiguing and you may pay attention for hours with out discomfort.
What the C510 would not do properly with is complicated preparations and instrumentals. Soundtracks with a number of devices layered are dealt with clumsily with an unfocused, muddy sound. The pipe organ in Hans Zimmer’s Cornfield Chase from the Interstellar soundtrack simply would not have the identical presence or impression because it simply melds with the opposite sounds and the crescendo in Mountains from the identical album is anti-climatic. The second you give the earbuds something even barely technical, the sound simply falls aside, exposing the inherently entry-level nature of the setup.
I’ll say, nevertheless, that I used to be actually impressed with the imaging and, to some extent, the soundstaging efficiency of the earbuds. Objects are positioned very properly within the sound discipline, which makes some stereo results very convincing.
Total, the C510 handle to sound pleasing regardless of not being technically spectacular. Nonetheless, how a lot you discover that true will rely drastically on what you prefer to take heed to.
Microphone
The C510 have first rate microphone efficiency. Voices have been a bit quiet however largely clear and pure with out an excessive amount of synthetic garbling by the noise cancellation. The noise cancellation additionally does a terrific job of blocking out ambient noise and the voice high quality doesn’t change a lot even in noisy environments. Total, a succesful efficiency for many who require good name high quality.
Noise cancellation
The C510 lack lively noise cancellation. Nonetheless, the design of the earbuds and particularly the ear suggestions create a unbelievable seal that could be very able to blocking lots of ambient noise passively. More often than not I wasn’t conscious of issues like followers, air conditioners, keyboards, and even folks talking close by. Certain, it may well’t fairly eliminate the low-frequency hum like lively noise cancellation can, which makes them worse on airplanes however for in every single place else, the passive isolation is a lot good.
So good, in reality, that the included transparency or the Ambient Sound mode turns into a necessity. This function works rather well and the standard of sound is fairly pure. The choice to concentrate on vocals is very useful when all you need is to listen to folks round you and never essentially every little thing else.
Latency
The C510 have mediocre latency efficiency. When paired to a PC, there’s a delay within the area of 200-250ms when watching video content material. Not everyone seems to be delicate sufficient to note that however in case you are then it is perhaps a deal breaker relying upon the content material you watch. For some issues, I wasn’t too bothered by the delay, particularly if the video was animated or had a low sufficient body charge. However you would not catch me gaming with these, particularly since Sony nonetheless doesn’t embrace any type of sport mode on its Bluetooth merchandise.
Connectivity
The C510 had first rate connectivity efficiency. On the whole, the connection was steady with none interruptions or disconnections.
One minor annoyance with the connectivity was the slight delay between the 2 earbuds when adjusting the quantity. This delay exists on most earbuds as just one earbud is definitely related to the telephone and the opposite earbud connects to the primary earbud, so all alerts have to be relayed from one earbud to the opposite.
Nonetheless, on the C510, this delay was particularly noticeable so all quantity changes had one earbud altering earlier than the opposite with a greater than regular little bit of delay. It is not too dangerous but it surely was arduous for me to not discover it each single time the quantity was adjusted.
The C510 do assist multi-device pairing, which has grow to be a useful function for many who like to connect with their telephone and both a pc or pill on the similar time. It really works properly and you may handle each gadgets by way of the app.
Battery Life
The C510 has a claimed battery lifetime of 11 hours with the case holding one other 11 hours. Sony additionally claims 1 hour of playback after a five-minute fast cost.
Previously, I’ve seen Sony Bluetooth merchandise blowing previous their claimed battery life figures so I wasn’t in the slightest degree shocked when the C510 managed to return 14 hours and 14 minutes of steady playback. That is over 14 hours of steady playback from a pair of wi-fi earbuds with none charging in between, which is a loopy good end result.
I additionally know that the DSEE function is thought to scale back the battery life to some extent and positive sufficient, with it enabled, the earbuds lasted for just below 13 hours. That is nonetheless a unbelievable end result however contemplating the function did not do a lot in my testing I’d simply go away it off.
As for the 1-hour declare, I did handle to get simply over an hour with DSEE disabled and just below an hour with it enabled, in order that checks out.
Pretty much as good because the battery life outcomes are, it needs to be talked about that the case solely holds one further full cost for the earbuds. And whereas a mixed battery lifetime of over 25 hours is not dangerous, it is not as excessive as a lot of the competitors, which can not final as lengthy in steady playback however do maintain extra cost within the case for an extended complete playback. In apply, that issues extra than simply 14 straight hours of playback that nobody would want on earbuds.
Conclusion
Sony’s newest entry-level earbuds are a blended bag. On one hand, the compact design of the earbuds and the case is pleasant and the battery life for steady playback is excellent. There’s additionally good microphone efficiency together with sturdy connectivity that helps pairing to 2 gadgets. And whereas there isn’t any lively noise cancellation, the passive sound isolation works fairly properly and the Ambient Sound mode is basically efficient.
Alternatively, the sturdy suction of the earbuds that permits that passive noise isolation might be uncomfortable. The buttons on the aspect are additionally fairly straightforward to press by accident and supply restricted customizability within the app. There isn’t any in-ear detection for computerized play/pause, which is unbecoming for an audio product in 2024, even when it is entry-level. The passive noise isolation, whereas spectacular, cannot compete with precise ANC that the competitors now gives. The latency can also be a bit excessive for gaming. And at last, the case holds a really restricted quantity of cost that impacts complete battery life.
The sound high quality embodies the blended nature of the general product; whereas it may be genuinely pleasing and pleasant in some genres, it’s fairly unremarkable in others.
Relying upon the place you reside, the WF-C510 price the identical or much more than among the competing choices in the marketplace, such because the OnePlus Buds 3. The OnePlus possibility is superior on nearly each depend, which makes the C510 arduous to advocate on pure worth. However you probably have your coronary heart set on a Sony product then you do not actually have lots of choices on this value vary.
