Sony WH-CH510 wireless headphones (an honest) review

Intro

Sony WH-CH510 is an upgrade to last year’s model Sony WH-CH500. These latest headphones boast of extremely long battery life, and faster Bluetooth connectivity, and are very lightweight.

But what makes the Sony WH-CH510 worth taking a closer look at, is its sweet price point just under $60. Sure, they are affordable but what kind of quality can you expect from a sub $60 Sony headphone? Read on to find out.

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What’s in the box?

Sony’s point of focus on the WH-CH510 is to provide good quality headphones at the cheapest possible price. And one of the things they did to cut costs was to include almost nothing else in the box! Yeah, you got me right.

All you get is a USB Type-C to USB Type-A charging cable, headphones, and a manual. There’s nothing else! No carry case or bag.

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Build quality, ergonomics, and appearance

Another corner that Sony cut to reduce costs is the build quality. These headphones are made of plastic and feel very plasticky. The adjustable headband stretches out a little too easily (when you twist them) and makes a lot of squeaky plastic sounds.

But when wearing them, the headband holds the head firmly. Sony WH-CH510 is compact and lightweight.

Its earcups are designed to swivel and tilt. If you have large ears, they are not so comfortable for long use because the ear cups are a little small. There’s also no padding on the headband which makes them unbearable for bald people.

They come in a grippy textured jet black finish. Other colors include; blue, and white. There’s a discrete Sony logo on the earcups. All edges are chamfered and feel nice to touch.

Does the Sony WH-CH510 have a good Sound quality?

Yes! The sound quality is really good. But don’t compare it with high-end headphones. Sony WH-CH510 are closed headphones with an 11.82-inch driver unit.

It has a good stereo spread in the earcups, and this makes the midrange sound amazing. Vocals and instruments like a guitar sound clear and crisp.

A few users found that vocals sometimes feel thinned out in some types of music but you really have to be listening to catch that. In general, High range music sounds good on these headphones. Some keen users say that the bass sometimes sounds soft.

But in my opinion, the bass is good enough for the price. And if you are the kind of user who does not like a lot of bass then you are in for a treat.

The earcups create a good seal and there is very little sound leakage. Its onboard microphone is very good and phone calls sound crystal clear. That is as long as you stay indoors. Once you go outside (into city noise) it becomes a whole new story.

Call quality reduces in a noisy environment because of the lack of noise canceling. So don’t buy these if you plan on using them for such a purpose. But again, no one expects noise canceling on a sub $60 headset.

How does the Sony WH-CH510 function?

The Sony WH-CH510 has three buttons on the right cup (as shown in area A above). The skip forward and skip backward buttons (which is also for volume up and volume down) are separated by a play/pause button (also for power on/off). Voice Guidance says “Power On” or Power Off when you turn the headphones on or off respectively.

A little chyme sound plays when you press the previous or next track. Each time you Several users have complained that it takes a while to feel which button they are pressing. The reason is that the buttons are close, and almost identical (they have no texture differences).

• A long press (about 2 seconds) on the power button turns on the headphones.
• An LED (near the charging port) lights blue and flashes twice when they turn on.
• Another 2-second press on the power button would turn off the headphones.
• While turning it off, the LED lights up for about 2 seconds.
• A double-tap on the Play/Pause button will activate your smartphone’s voice assistant (Siri or Google).
• When there is a call music playback pauses and you hear a ringtone from the headset. Answer the call by pressing the play/pause button.
  
  For more information on how to operate the Sony WH-CH510, click here to open the Help Guide web manual in a new tab. If you need a copy of the operating instructions, click here. Finally, you can download the Reference Guide here.

Connectivity of the Sony WH-CH510

Warning! There is no headphone jack here. The only way to connect and listen to audio using WH-CH510 is by Bluetooth.

These headphones have Bluetooth 5.0 which is fast and allows connection to up to 2 devices at the same time (Sony calls it “Multipoint Connection”). The connection is fast, and reliable, with very low latency.

They can work at a range of up to ten meters when in line of sight. When connected to two phones, one can be used for music playback while the other is used for receiving phone calls.

The headphones can only play music or receive calls from one device at a time. Sony WH-CH510 can store the pairing information for up to eight devices. If you pair a ninth device, it would automatically delete the oldest paired device.

How to Pair Sony WH-CH510 by Bluetooth (smartphone, windows, mac, PS4)

• The headset automatically enters pairing mode the first time you turn it on.
• If you want to pair a second or subsequent device, hold down the power button for about 7 seconds. The voice guidance would say “Bluetooth Pairing” and the LED repeatedly flashes twice in a row.
• The pairing device must be within one meter during pairing.
• At this point, turn on the Bluetooth in your smartphone and search for “WH-CH510”.
• If required, the default passkey is 0000.
• For windows open your Bluetooth settings and click add a new device. Then under “choose the kind of device, select Bluetooth (default passkey is 0000 if required).
• For mac, open system preferences, click Bluetooth then add a new device. Select “headset” as the device type and search for WH-CH510 (0000 is the default passkey).
• On PS4 just go to settings, devices, Bluetooth devices, and add WH-CH510.
• Once paired, there is a Voice Guidance confirmation that says “Bluetooth Connected”.
• Click here for more information about how to pair with a smartphone

How portable is the Sony WH-CH510?

Remember that squeaky plasticky body that I spoke about earlier? Well here’s where it gets positive points. With all its plastic, the WH-CH510 weighs only 132g. That makes it extremely light, and it’s easy to wear all day. However, if your ears get hot and fatigued from the discomfort caused by its poor build quality as explained above (in build quality) then you would be happy that they are easy to pack.

These headphones are very compact. Their ear cups can swivel to make them lay completely flat inside a small slot in your bag pack. It’s worth noting that sony does not include a pouch or carry case in the box. So if you don’t like wearing them around your neck all day long, make sure you have a bag to carefully keep them inside.

What’s the Battery life and charge time of the Sony WH-CH510

Battery life is the strongest point of the WH-CH510. Sony claims up to 35 hours of music playback time (30 hours of call time and 200 hours of standby time).

The proprietary USB C cable in the box supports Quick Charge. Using it to charge the headphones for 10 minutes results in 90 minutes of playback time. It takes 4.5 hours to get a full charge.

You can connect the charging cable with a wall adapter or supported computer USB ports. While charging, the LED indicator lights up in red and turns off after the charge is complete. If charging is abnormal, the indicator repeatedly flashes in red.

And when there is an abnormally high temperature during charging, the LED repeatedly flashes twice in red.

How to check the remaining battery charge

Remember that integrated voice guidance? Yes, it also announces the remaining battery percentage each time you turn on the headset.

But I recommend you use it as a rough estimate. If you pair it to an iPhone, it will show a battery icon that indicates the remaining battery charge on the phone’s notification bar.

Android smartphones display the headphone’s remaining battery as a percentage instead. (When the battery drops to 20%, Voice Guidances says “Low battery, please recharge headset”. When it’s at 0% it says “Please recharge the headset.

Power off”. And that’s the last thing you hear before the headphones automatically turn off. The LED indicator also turns red when the Sony WH-CH510s are on low battery. More information here.

Conclusion – Should you buy the Sony WH CH510 or not?

Before I give my conclusion, let’s have a summary of the pros and cons.

Pros

• Excellent Battery life
• Lightweight
• Compact and portable
• Clear call quality
• Multiple device Bluetooth connectivity
• Good sound quality
• Fast USB-C charging
• Affordable

Cons

• No water resistance
• No pouch or carry case
• No headphone jack
• Uncomfortable over long periods of usage

After a detailed review, we can now draw the full picture. Sony built WH-CH510 headphones to cater to a particular group of clients. The ones who love and are loyal to the brand, but want something in the low budget range. It has good sound quality and super-long battery life. But it’s a little lacking in comfort.

There are many other brands out there that offer more competitive headphones at a sub $60 price point. But very few of them bear the prestigious “SONY” logo. With these headphones, you are going to get what the money pays for. With that in mind, I would recommend them.

Disclaimer: As An Amazon Affiliate, We Earn From Qualifying Purchases