Sony WF-C500

Think before you buy – After 3 sets of these earbuds, I would not/could not recommend them. Sony replaced each set that lasted such a short time, no sound, no Bluetooth connection, no charge of set. Instead of Sony replacing for 3rd time I asked for refund, which was denied, due to time lapse since first purchase, this was 7mths. really not happy that I could not receive a refund and move on.

Overall, I am impressed with this in-ear buds performance – I am happy with its performance whilst listening to music, podcast and everyday use. On the matter of taking a call though, this ear buds picks up everything around me and does not able to suppress ambient sound around me. My sound is also muffled on the other side. So, yes to music, podcast and everyday use but would have a different pair for talking and/or meeting as I believe that it is not designed to cancel the noise.

Would I recommend these to others? No – I’ve lived with these for ten months now. Long enough to form an honest opinion and long enough to say that enough is enough. The plus side: fantastic battery life; easily the ten hours quoted and way longer with the holder recharge. Sound is very good. Down sides: The biggest one is that they just will not stay in my ears. The slightest movement, even eating or talking, starts to dislodge them: the left falls out pretty much instantly and the right has to be continually reseated. I’ve tried every combination of buds with no improvement. A very close second are the large control buttons; They are too big and too easy to touch if you’re trying to reseat the unit. The left one is volume so no real problem there but very annoying, but if when making a phone call you touch the right one it disconnects the call: big, big problem there, especially if you’ve been sat in a queue for many hours. Would they be any good in the gym or running etc? Not a chance. Other downs: No indication of battery level. You’re continually told ‘battery fully charged’ then suddenly it falls off a cliff, one brief warning of ‘battery level low’ and then it’s gone. And takes ages to recharge. Would I buy them again? Never. Would I recommend them? Never. As an aside: the 700s are the same design. The 1000s are a different design but I see that What Hi Fi say in their review that they do not feel secure. Alarm bells?