Here’s Why the Sony WF-SP800N Wireless Earbuds Are a New Favorite of Ours
We judge all headphones on a scale of 10, analyzing the categories we think are most important: sound, comfort, design, battery performance, and, if applicable, special features.
Here's how the Sony WF-SP800N wireless earbuds stack up.
Sony’s all-new WF-SP800N truly wireless earbuds are an instant favorite of ours in this product category. The workout-friendly buds bring exciting and necessary improvements over their characterful but flawed predecessors, headlined by improved audio performance and — crucially — vastly longer battery life.
SCORES
Sound: 9/10
Comfort: 8/10
Design: 7/10
Battery Performance: 9/10
Overall Score: 8/10
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE Sony WF-SP800N:
The earbuds have high-quality sound you can customize
Their noise-canceling experience is robust, but not the best in class
They're comfy, water-resistant, and ideal for exercising
They have top-notch battery life and a USB-C-equipped charging case
SOUND: 9/10
The audio quality of the WF-SP800N earbuds is on par with Sony’s excellent brand cachet. It's well-balanced, easily customizable, and appeals to anyone's musical tastes.
I was impressed by their acoustic performance while listening to “The Time Is Now” by Moloko. The beats, the classic guitar chords, and Róisín Murphy’s voice sounded crisp, detailed, and undeniably entertaining.
Sony’s mobile app allows you to adjust the sonic experience to your exact liking. There are several presets, as well as the option to fine-tune the bass, the midrange, and the treble manually.
Of course, there’s also the option to tune the intensity of the bass in the app. The feature is effortlessly easy to access and adjust in the section with the equalizer settings. I created a dedicated custom preset for my workouts with maxed-out lows to keep me motivated.
The digital noise-canceling experience of the WF-SP800N is solid, but not on par with the class-leading quiet bliss of the Sony WF-1000XM3 wireless earbuds. The buds did do a solid job of tuning out most ambient noise, allowing me to focus on work or my workout.
Unsurprisingly, the earbuds maintained a superb connection with an iPhone 11 Pro and a OnePlus 8 Pro while I tested them, thanks to Bluetooth 5.0. Phone calls performed reliably, too.
COMFORT: 8/10
Sony’s latest buds have a comfy and and secure fit, thanks to a lightweight build and ear arc inserts. I used the WF-SP800N for outdoor runs, jumping jacks, burpees, and push-ups and never worried about them falling out.
Each earbud has touch-sensitive controls for controlling the playback and the noise-canceling experience. I like that you can customize them via the mobile app.
Compared to the AirPods Pro — another superb pair of noise-canceling buds — the Sony WF-SP800N earbuds are slightly heavier. This is not a surprise, because they pack larger batteries. Thankfully, the earbuds' retail package contains several sets of ear arcs and ear tips for finding a comfortable and secure fit.
DESIGN: 7/10
The WF-SP800N buds have a no-nonsense, utilitarian design — the focus here is clearly performance. I wish they protruded a bit less from the ear like, say, the Jabra Elite 75t, but I think that having longer battery life and noise-canceling tech are worthy tradeoffs.
As expected, the earbuds have a water-resistant build with an IP55 rating. The latter ensures that they can survive sweaty workouts and outdoor runs in the rain. According to Sony, you can even wash them after exercising.
There are three colors to choose from: black, blue, and orange, with the last one being an Amazon exclusive. Each pair of buds comes with a matching charging case.
BATTERY PERFORMANCE: 9/10
The battery life of the WF-SP800N earbuds is nothing short of exceptional. They can deliver up to 9 hours of wireless playback with noise-canceling turned on — an amazing feat for completely wireless buds even without noise-canceling on board.
Disabling the noise-canceling tech can extend the battery life of the WF-SP800N to a class-leading 13 hours between charges. That's noticeably longer than the praise-worthy battery performance of the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ I recently tested.
The earbuds’ charging case holds one additional full charge, for a total of up to 26 hours’ worth of wireless tunes. It’s equipped with a futureproof and speedy USB-C connector. I enjoyed being able to get an hour of playback after charging the WF-SP800N for only 10 minutes.
OVERALL SCORE: 8/10
I spent a week with the Sony WF-SP800N and found the earbuds to be not only excellent for exercising, but also ideal for daily use regardless of the occasion. They don’t have the same audio capabilities as the similarly priced Sony WF-1000XM3 earbuds, but they are comfier and considerably more durable.
Read More:
Ranked: The Top Wireless Earphones on the Market
Top-Rated Affordable Earbuds Worth Your Attention
Noise-Canceling Headphones for Tuning Out More Sound
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