Sony WI-C300 Review

When the Sony WI-300 landed on my review desk, I could not have been more unimpressed.  A Bluetooth earphone retailing for a measly $49.99?  How good could it possibly sound?  Well, as it turns out, this earphone sounds good – quite good.

Sony WI-C300 Review

The earphones come packaged in your standard cardboard box.  Inside, you’ll find some eartips, a micro-USB charging cable, and the earphones themselves.

Battery life seems fairly standard, with a 2 hour charge time yielding 8 hours of continuous playback and almost 200 hours of standby battery life.  Yowza.

But the battery specs alone aren’t raising my eyebrows over here.  Nope.  My eyebrows owe that to the build quality – light but not cheap, strong but not bulky.

And don’t even ask me about the specifications…

Specs

Frequency Range: 20-20,000 Hz
Impedance:  NA
Sound Pressure Level (SPL):  NA

Sony offers specifications for battery performance and frequency range, but not impedance or sound pressure level.  This lack of info shouldn’t dissuade people from loving the WI-C300, though; that modest frequency range gives way to one hell of a sound, and you’d be hard pressed to give me any numbers that would actually detract from my listening experience.

Low End

The low end remains decent, with some detail and good bass.  Not too overpowered or muddy, the sound here won’t woo any audiophiles, but the sound is still nowhere near as atrocious as expected.

Mids

Some detail shines through here, but hints of compression and distortion remain.  It’s not enough to truly ruin the listening experience, but just enough to prevent the mids from sounding great.  Still, for the price, this midrange strikes me as being pretty freakin’ sweet.

High End

Not too bright, the highs on the WI-C300 remain smooth and trim, shirking detail if also avoiding sounding too piercing or uncomfortable.  For those who love tons of detail in their highs, this earphone may disappoint you.  For those seeking smoother highs, stop looking and get your mitts on this.

Soundstage

I know, I know – a $50 wirelesss earphone and you’re doing a section on soundstage?  Yep.  Because in all honesty, it’s not as bad as I was expecting.  There’s some depth to the sound, even if these earphones suffer from a poor sense of placement.  But hey, that is definitely a problem with almost any in-ear headphone.  The long and short of it:  pretty damn immersive for a $50 wireless earphone.

Other Observations

Comfort.  No “ergonomic design” that makes you feel like you’ve wedged a lump of cheese into your ear.  No rigid loops that pinch your giant Dumbo Ears.  Just a pair of easy-to-insert earphones that you want to use until the battery runs out, or your boss tells you to review another pair of earphones already, Carroll.

The controls could be better.  This is my only misgiving about this otherwise badass earphone.  The arrangement seems odd, as the top button turns volume up, and the bottom button pauses or plays music. The middle button turns volume down.  So I keep fumbling with these stupid buttons instead of just enjoying the great sound of the WI-C300.

Recommendations

Okay, if you need audiophile-grade-sound with a zillion drivers and gold-plating developed by TOP SCIENTISTS, this earphone is not for you.  For those who need details, I would suggest the E3000 by Final Audio.  For those who can stand to spend $149 or more on wireless earphones, there are still better options out there that will trump this particular model from Sony.

But, let’s say you want to get the best wireless earphone for under $100.  This earphone is what you want.  No, scratch that.  This earphone is what you need.  Forget the hype from the other retailers, forget the cheap chi-fi stuff that sells for $10 on eBay or Alibaba.  Forget the haters who say great-sounding wireless earphones cost copious quantities of cash; those idiots clearly never listened to the Sony WI-C300.

Final Analysis

For a low price of just $49.99, the unassuming Sony WI-C300 delivers an impressive listening experience rife with detail.  The build quality is lightweight but strong, and the battery life is on par with headphones that cost three times as much.  Is there any reason not to love this earphone?  You tell me.

Get it for the best price here:

Audio46.com

Or purchase the Sony WI-C300 on Amazon.

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