Sony’s taking on Apple AirPods with new $99 wireless earbuds

Sony's taking on Apple AirPods with new $99 wireless earbuds

(Image credit: Sony)

After refreshing its flagship racket-canceling headphones the WH-1000XM4 earlier this year, Sony has turned its attention to its entry-level sound products. So get set for the WF-C500 wireless earbuds, which looks like a genuine rival to Apple's AirPods.

The Sony WF-C500 volition retail for $99, which makes it $threescore cheaper than Apple's culling, and will offering 360 Reality Audio for an immersive listening feel. If it offers the audio quality we've come to expect from Sony's audio products, it could be a strong contender for our all-time wireless earbuds page.

The WF-C500 volition replace the WF-XB700 as Sony's cheapest truthful wireless earbuds. Furthermore, they'll be launching at a retail price point that is $30 cheaper than the WF-XB700 did. It seems that Sony is aggressively pricing the WF-C500 in order to hook back some market space from the ascendant AirPods.

These wireless earbuds definitely brand a compelling case compared to Apple'due south best-selling earbuds. The WF-C500 takes design inspiration from Sony's more than premium WF-1000XM4 earbuds, with a smaller size and a more secure fit than its predecessors.

Don't let the miniature size fool y'all, though: these buds will even so pack an audible punch. The WF-C500 is equipped with Sony's Digital Sound Enhancement technology, which restores the item lost when music is played over Bluetooth. Plus, the earbuds are sweat-proof thanks to an IPX4 rating — regular gym-goers will honey them.

Sony claims the earbuds can manage 10 hours of playtime on a unmarried accuse (with DSEE switched off), with a full boosted juice-upwards coming from the supplied case. That's double the 5 hours of charge time offered by AirPods v2, although Apple's charging case can heave this to 24 hours of boosted ability.

The Sony WF-C500 wireless earbuds is available to order from multiple retailers including Sony, Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. While all retailers will exist selling them in black, some do have exclusive colors: Amazon has white, Best Buy has green and Target has orangish.

Alternatively, if y'all're looking for over-the-ear noise-canceling cans, the best Sony headphones are a neat place to start. Or, if you'd rather stick to a pair of wireless buds, some of the best cheap wireless earbuds are expected to receive big discounts in this year's Blackness Fri deals.

More: AirPods Black Friday deals 2021 — what to expect

Rory is a staff writer at Tom's Guide based in the UK. He covers a wide range of topics including tech news, deals, gaming, streaming and more. When he's not writing hot takes on the latest gaming hardware and streaming shows, he tin can be constitute watching a deadline unhealthy amount of movies and existence thoroughly disappointed past his terrible football squad.