These Sony buds have an unusual spiral design and feel a touch bulky. However, when you wear them, they don’t look weird or stick out of the ears awkwardly. Their build quality is solid and they’re made of good quality plastic, with a predominant matte finish and a touch of gloss. Silicone tips are included and you get four different sizes of ear tips in the bundle for different sized ears. The company states that each earbud weighs just 8 gm, but they do feel a tad heavier in the hand.
Each earbud is fitted with a large 12 mm dynamic driver to produce the signature bass that the Sony XB series is known for. The capsule-shaped charging case isn’t the most compact, and weighs around 46 gm. It can be charged using any Type-C USB charger. In case you do not have one, a USB-A to Type-C cable is bundled in the package. The earbuds aren’t touch-enabled and have one physical button each that lets you perform a handful of tasks like answering calls, play/pause tracks, jump to the next/previous track and increase/decrease the volume.
Sony WF-XB700--
Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Comfort (7.5/10)
While the earbuds look bulky and seem a bit heavy in hand, they fit into the ears perfectly after a bit of adjustment, and a three-point grip holds them firmly in place. The weight distribution is quite smart too and you don’t feel any major discomfort or heaviness in the ear. However, it may take a few minutes to get used to their presence, and a little longer if you haven’t used TWS earphones in the past. Also, one needs to be doubly sure that the buds are locked into the ears well, else they tend to pop out.
sony-In Ear
Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Call quality (8.5/10)
There is very little to complain about in this department. Things function as expected. The person on the line was clearly audible and I was heard loud and clear by the other person too. The voice doesn’t feel hollow or tinny, and is almost as good as you get when using the phone microphone. However, a bit of ambient noise can be heard when using these earphones outdoors; something for Sony to work on.
Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Battery life (9/10)
While most TWS buds last close to 3 hours on a single charge, Sony advertises a figure of 9 hours for the WF-XB700 on a full charge. In reality, I got close to 10 hours out of them, when listening to music primarily, with a bit of calling. That is as good a number as I have seen on TWS buds till date. The case carries enough charge to recharge these buds fully, but just once. While other TWS buds’ cases let you recharge them at least thrice, just a single recharge sounds below par. But let’s not forget that the single recharge here is worth 9 hours of playback, which is equivalent to almost three recharges on most TWS earbuds. Ideally, I would have preferred to see the charge on the case suffice for a minimum of two recharge cycles.