Affordable Earbuds: Budget Sound, No Frills, All Thrills

Price & Availability

The Sony WF-C510 has been available since September 2024 with a recommended retail price of $59.99. You can buy them from the official Sony store or Amazon and other third-party retailers.

Design

As far as design is concerned, the Sony WF-C510 relies on its compact dimensions and pretty pastel colors. You do get the feeling that these are entry-level wireless headphones. The plastic feels very cheap, for instance.

Pros:

• Compact, discreet design.
• Good fit in the ears.
• IPX4 certification.

Cons:

• IPX4 certified only.
• Poorly designed case.
• Pressing the physical buttons pushes the earpiece in further.

Sony WF-C510 arrives in four colors: white, blue, yellow, and black. These are in-ear headphones, which are meant to be inserted into the ear canal. The earbuds and its chassis are very compact. Each earbud tips the scales at 4.6 g, while the case weighs a mere 31 g. Sony's earbuds are IPX4 certified for water and dust resistance. Sony opted for physical instead of tactile buttons in this model.

I liked the compact design of the Sony WF-C510, which is quickly forgotten once they are in your ears. The pastel colors are also very pretty to look at and above all, discreet. The fit was also very good. The case is very compact but I found the plastic used to be really "cheap". Opening and closing the lid didn't feel very fluid, which is probably a sign that the hinge could be improved.

Audio Quality

The Sony WF-C510 does not support Sony's LDAC Bluetooth codec. They are not Hi-Res certified, but they are compatible with 360° audio and retain the DSEE function to upscale your music tracks.

Pros:

• Perfect for podcasts and movies/series.
• Precise, full-featured equalizer.
• Very good passive noise isolation.

Cons:

• Bass is very low by default.
• No LDAC support.
• No Active Noise Cancellation.

The Sony WF-C510 features 6 mm drivers and a frequency range of 20 to 20,000 Hz. They support only Bluetooth AAC and SBC codecs, leaving LDAC out.

• Find out how to change your smartphone's Bluetooth codec

The audio signature is rather lightweight. Sony concentrates on the highs and treble. Bass is not very deep here, but it does have a certain impact. You won't hear them much, but they flow well and do not overwhelm the rest of the musical message. Vocals and instruments are clear and detailed.

They're the perfect kind of headphones for listening to podcasts or watching films and TV series. Anyway, you can always adjust the bass for a punchier sound via the equalizer in the Sony Headphones Connect app.

• A guide to the audio quality of your headphones

The Sony WF-C510 has no Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) function. They do, however, have a transparency mode that I found to be quite natural. And the passive noise isolation provided by Sony's in-ear format filters out a minimum amount of ambient noise. Just note the volume isn't very powerful. Without Active Noise Cancellation, you'll have to push the volume slider pretty high when you're out on the street or in a noisy environment.

Features and applications

The Sony WF-C510 headphones have a lot of comfort features despite their relatively affordable price. Spotify Tap, multipoint, 360° audio, and a customizable equalizer aren't too shabby after all. The Sony Headphones Connect application is as complete as ever, despite its rough-and-ready interface.

Pros:

• Comprehensive application on Android and iOS.
• Multipoint, Spotify Tap, and 360° audio.
• Customizable 5-band equalizer.

Cons:

• Control customization is too unintuitive.

The Sony Headphones Connect app is available on Android and iOS platforms. Since the Sony WF-C510s does not feature HD Bluetooth codec support, you can use AAC with an iPhone without any issues. There is nothing to lose compared to Android.

Sony headphones support multipoint connectivity, letting you connect to two devices simultaneously. Sony also offers its DSEE function to upscale your MP3 tracks. Spotify Tap is also a welcome addition in this price range, even if the function is not essential.

There are also some very familiar Sony functions here. Find your equalizer lets you create an equalization profile according to your preferences, with various audio tests. It's also a good way to understand how you perceive sound.

360 Reality Audio, Sony's version of spatial audio, is also available. This is rather rare for such "inexpensive" headphones. Sony's application photographs your ears to optimize spatial audio. Personally, I don't use spatial audio as I think it is a gimmick. Above all, without an actual head-tracking function, it doesn't really work as intended.

Finally, the physical controls can be customized via the Sony Headphones Connect application. However, don't expect to be able to conjure up dozens of different combinations. Perhaps that's just as well, because the process is such a headache.

Basically, there are two types of commands: media playback and Ambient Sound Mode. You must assign one command type per listener. For each type of command, the listener can recognize four different types of presses.

Battery & Charging

Battery life is one of the main advantages of the Sony WF-C510. According to the manufacturer, the headphones can last up to 11 hours on a single charge. That's very good battery life, making it 1.5 to 2 times longer than what is offered by far more expensive models.

Pros:

• Excellent battery life.

Cons:

• Case charges slowly.
• Only one charge with the case.

Personally, I've used the Sony headphones with these settings:

• 100% charged.
• Did not recharge during my review.
• Ambient Noise Mode was always disabled.
• 50% listening volume.
• Paired with an iPhone.
• AAC codec.

I easily passed the 10-hour mark when I heard the low-battery warning. Note that it takes 1.5 hours to recharge the headphones from 0 to 100% via the box. You can only perform one full recharge before having to plug it in. The latter takes at least 3 hours to recharge from 0 to 100%. I think that's pretty decent for a pair of sub-$60 headphones.

Technical Specifications

	Technical specifications
Device	Sony WF-C510
Image
Design	Format: Intra | No wear detection | Physical controls
Weight	Weight per earbud: 4.6 g | Case weight: 31 g
Dimensions	Case dimensions: not specified
IP rating	IPX4
Audio	6 mm driver | 360° audio | DSEE
Frequency response	20-20,000 Hz
ANC	No | Transparency mode
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.3
Codec	SBC and AAC codecs
Multipoint	Yes
Battery life	11h listening without transparency 8h listening with transparency Full recharge: 1h30
Battery life with case	22 hours 5-minute recharge = 1.5 Box fully charged: 3h
Wireless charging	No