Sony WF-C510 review

When it comes to listening to your favourite music on the go, you don’t always need to shell out the big bucks. While the premium products do offer an unmatched audio experience, these days, some of the affordable ones too can come close. 

Take for instance the recently launched Sony WF-C510, this new pair of TWS promises good build quality, pleasing design, sound experience, and all without breaking the bank. But does it deliver on all these promises? Having used the new TWS earbuds for the past few days, here’s our Sony WF-C510 review.  

Sony WF-C510 design

Sony has done a great job with the design of the earbuds. They sport an in-ear design with a soft silicon tip that covers your ear. The earpiece sits perfectly in your ears, giving you a secure fit. The fit isn’t too tight or loose, rather, we would call it a comfortable fit.  

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However, if you have a habit of using earbuds that fit partially in your ears, like the Apple AirPods or earbuds with similar fit, then it may take some time for you to get used to WF-C510’s secure fit that covers your ears almost entirely.  

Unlike some other brands in this range, Sony has opted for pressable buttons. The button on the left earbud lets you switch between Ambient mode and normal mode, whereas the button on the right earbud lets you pause and play the music or skip to the next track. It also allows you to accept and reject calls.  

Apart from this, each earbud has two microphones, and there are visible left and right indicators. As for the build, the earbuds as well as the charging case are made up of plastic. However, the smooth finish of the earbuds doesn’t make them look tacky. 

Each earbud weighs 4.6 grams, making them lighter than any other Sony TWS earbuds. So, you won’t feel the weight, even with extended usage periods.  

Coming to the charging case, Sony has moved away from the circular casing of the case of WF-C500 to a more rectangular casing that is now easier to grip. Even with the case, you won’t feel the weight and they can easily go in the smallest pocket in your trousers or a bag.  

Sony WF-C510 sound quality

Okay, the earbuds look good and fit securely in your ears, but what about the sound quality? Well, since these are Sony’s most affordable TWS earbuds, don’t expect a sound signature like the WF-1000XM5s, which are Sony’s premium pair of TWS earbuds.  

However, the Sony WF-C510 TWS earbuds do sound good. The vocals are clear, which means Sony has optimised high frequencies very well here. The mids, too, are decent. But the bass isn’t very punchy.  

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If you listen to a lot of rock, these earbuds may not offer you the thumpy and energetic output you’d expect. In Zombie by The Cranberries, for instance, I wasn’t able to feel the depth of Dolores’ screech as much as I’d like. The electric guitar and the drums used in 21 Guns by Green Day also didn’t feel very pronounced, which means the instrument separation could have been better. 

What I did enjoy was listening to ABBA’s Dancing Queen, Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, and Frank Sinatra’s Somethin’ Stupid on these earbuds. With similar genres, I’m sure you would too.  

We’d be happy, however, if Sony had worked a bit on the bass delivery here, especially in the segment, where most other earbuds focus on the bass output.  

On the Sony Sound Connect app, the earbuds do offer an equaliser that lets you manually adjust the sound output. There are several presets like bass-boosted, relaxed, vocals, and others, allowing you to easily set a sound profile depending on your preference. When we tried the bass-boosted preset, the bass performance was slightly improved, however, it still wasn’t as good as some of the other TWS earbuds in the range. 

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The earbuds also come with an Ambient mode that lets you stay aware of your surroundings, while you listen to your favourite track. The normal mode, however, is better for those who want to focus solely on the music, as it cuts out some background noise, despite the lack of the ANC feature, likely due to its secure in-ear fit. 

As far as the call quality is concerned, we faced no issues at all. The microphones on the buds picked up my voice well, and the person on the other end was also able to hear me clearly.  

Sony WF-C510 battery life and extras

One of the highlights of the earbuds is the battery life. Sony claims that the earbuds can offer 11 hours without the charging case and an additional 11 hours with the case. Although we weren’t able to test the exact 11-hour standalone battery life claim, the earbuds’ playback time was impressive, managing to get 4-5 hours in one stretch before they had to go back into the case.  

So, you should be good for an entire week with these, if you, let’s say, listen to music for around two hours daily. But note that this battery life is without the Ambient mode, with the Ambient mode turned on, expect the battery life to be slightly reduced.  

Charging the earbuds with the USB-C port is quick. A five-minute charge can provide an hour of usage, which is great if you are in a hurry and want to have a short music-listening session on your way to the office.  

Other than the sound, the Sony WF-C510 TWS earbuds also come with added features like multi-point connectivity and fast pair support for quick pairing with multiple devices. The earbuds also have an IPX4 certification, making them splash resistant. 

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So, you can easily use them during your gym sessions. However, there’s no dust resistance here, so you need to be careful in dusty areas. 

Sony also advertises these earbuds to support 360-degree reality audio, which means you can get a surround sound experience with compatible music, and for us, the experience was good. To use this, though, you need to first optimise the earbuds with the Sound Connect app.

Unboxed Take: Who should buy the Sony WF-C510?

Now, let’s come to the most important question. Who should buy the Sony WF-C510 and who should skip them? There’s a clear answer to this. Those who love to listen to anything that’s not too bassy, such as pop, country, or classic, then you can consider these sub-Rs 5,000 wireless earbuds.   

However, those who expect a bass-heavy performance and are planning to listen to a lot of rock music should look for some other alternatives, like the OnePlus Buds 3 and the Realme Buds Air 5 Pro.  

For all the above reasons, we rate the Sony WF-C510 4/5. Stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma for more in-depth reviews.