Sony refreshed its budget headphone offering in 2021 when it introduced the $100 WF-C500. While that model offered a refreshed design with 10 hours of battery life, 360 Reality Audio support, and more, the budget earbuds have since fallen well below the C500's starting price. Now Sony is back with an even more affordable option, The WF-C510which will be available for $60.
The company tweaked the design once again for this budget pair, designing earbuds that are 20 percent smaller and 15 percent lighter than the C500s. In fact, Sony says this new model is the smallest design it’s made yet for closed-back headphones. The C510s maintain the IPX4 rating of their predecessor, so they should still be suitable for use during workouts, and the earbuds’ housing and case are made from recycled plastic. Thankfully, Sony added Ambient Sound (Transparency) mode even though the earbuds don’t have active noise cancellation (ANC). Ambient Sound typically only comes on sets with ANC, so the added convenience is noticeable here. The company also added multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, which will bring another useful feature to the C510s.
Sony has extended battery life by an hour to 11 on the earbuds themselves. Like the previous model, the charging case provides enough juice for an additional full charge. Plus, a quick-charge feature will give you up to an hour of use in just five minutes. The C510s will work with Sony’s headphone app to let you adjust settings, and both 360 Reality Audio and DSEE upscaling – a tool that recovers detail lost through compression – are on the spec sheet.
The WF-C510 are amazon;elmt:;cpos:5;pos:1″ href=”https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=66ea567a-c987-4c2e-a2ff-02904efde6ea&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=amazon&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsImxhbmRpbmdVcmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY29tL2RwL0IwRDlSNEdZVE4_dGFnPWdkZ3QwYy0yMCIsImNvbnRlbnRVdWlkIjoiYjUwNGI0OGEtZTdkMy00YWQ1LTllZGUtYWEyNTJjZGRhYzg5Iiwib3JpZ2luYWxVcmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY29tL2RwL0IwRDlSNEdZVE4iLCJkeW5hbWljQ2VudHJhbFRyYWNraW5nSWQiOnRydWUsInNpdGVJZCI6InVzLWVuZ2FkZ2V0IiwicGFnZUlkIjoiMXAtYXV0b2xpbmsiLCJmZWF0dXJlSWQiOiJ0ZXh0LWxpbmsifQ&signature=AQAAASeTuKqIrfWUAqV8SLACe7LiKAOpU6WsrHljErChYIbP&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fdp%2FB0D9R4GYTN” class=”link rapid-with-clickid etailiffa-link” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:available for pre-order;elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:amazon;elmt:;cpos:5;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>Available for pre-order Now available in black, blue, white and yellow for $60 and shipping is scheduled for early September.
Update, August 26, 2024, 2:57 p.m. (US Eastern Time): After this news was published, Sony clarified that the price of the WF-C510 is $60. We have updated the story accordingly.
