Sony has quietly introduced the new WI-C200 and WI-C310 Wireless In-Ear headphones. I wrote about the new headphones back in January when they passed through the FCC and an update when they were Bluetooth certified. I thought the headsets could debut at MWC but that did not occur and Sony just decided to put them up onto the site, around 3-4m after the initial FCC filing. With no press release, time to go through the product pages to see what the new wireless headphones offer.
The WI-C200/310 are Sony's first affordable Bluetooth 5.0 wireless headsets and first Bluetooth 5.0 headphones period. Not even the newly announced WH-XB700 offer Bluetooth 5.0 which is a shame. I suspect we may see more Bluetooth 5.0 headphones from Sony over the summer months and more likely at IFA 2019.
Back to the WI-C200/310, both offer the same features and specifications, Bluetooth 5.0, USB type-C, up to 15 hours of battery life, one-touch hands free calling, voice assistant compatible and 9mm drivers. The main differences between the C200 and C310 are colour options, shape of the cable and price. The WI-C200 only comes in black and matte white and the cable coming off the ear pods is round, unlike the WI-C310 where the entire cable is flat which should help with cable management.
The price in Europe (Germany) is 39.90 Euros for the C200 and 49.90 Euros for the C310, this is 10 Euros less than the outgoing C300 model. At these prices and features, I feel the C310 is quite a good bargain and deal. Pricing on the US Sony site is not up but a retailer has the headsets up on their site, C200 at $49.99 USD and C310 at $69.99 USD which a lot more expensive than the C300, at $49.99 USD.
Other features are a quick charge option, where 10 minutes of charging gives 60 minutes of use and the ear buds have built in magnets for easy carrying and storage. Unfortunately Sony has decided against including NFC on the new models, perhaps the addition of the new Bluetooth 5.0 chip from Reaktek, the 8763B, permits easier and hassle-free connection to other devices. Remains to be seen.
So comparing to the older C300, you have more battery life, different colour options, USB type-C and 4g more weight, but Sony did remove NFC. Of course depending on your region, the price is either more (US) or less (EU), but even even at $20 dollars more, the addition of BT 5.0 and up to 15 hours of battery is a nice upgrade.
Currently trying to ID the internal code for these headphones, and looking into 2 codes I found, more of that in a future post.
Currently trying to ID the internal code for these headphones, and looking into 2 codes I found, more of that in a future post.
Glad to see that Sony is using Bluetooth 5.0 with their more affordable offerings, and I hope they will do the same for future products at higher price ranges.
ReplyDeleteNice sound sony wi-c200
ReplyDeletehello, since they are bt 5.0 certified products, do either of those support dual profile connection? 1 headset profile connected to the phone and 1 headsed profile to my laptop per se?
ReplyDeleteThe C200 can pair with 8 devices.
DeleteDe sonido son identicos? o el WI-C310 suenan mejor?
ReplyDeleteno difference, just colour difference and material difference. Both use the same SoC.
DeleteRTL8763B
https://www.realtek.com/en/products/communications-network-ics/item/rtl8763b
Have been using the WI-C200 for almost a year now, and it's fine. In fact, a friend bought the WI-C310 while I bought the WI-C200, and the C310 does sound significantly better, with crisper sound than the C200. But, this article states that the difference between these two models is just the color options and the flat cable in C310, which is incorrect. Hence, shared my experience. Mere color options won't make Sony price them so differently.
ReplyDeleteI've used both and found no difference that is perceptible.
DeleteWell, I have observed a noticeable difference, with C310 clearly sounding better / crisper. Also, why else would Sony price them so differently ?
ReplyDeleteIt is a $10/ 10 Euros / 10 pound difference. Such a cost difference is down to the different colour options and materials on the 2 devices. They both offer the same 9mm driver, I heard no difference in my time with them.
DeleteIf the C310 sound better in your opinion that is great.
If he notices a difference between 2 headphones built using identical hardware, then I think there's little point arguing
DeleteBut it's not identical hardware, is it. The units themselves are, but the cables are different. Maybe that's enough to make the difference.
ReplyDeleteThere is no difference according to rtings. I have owned and tested both, no actual difference I could hear.
Deletehttps://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/compare/sony-wi-c310-wireless-vs-sony-wi-c200-wireless/900/902?usage=19&threshold=0.10
"The Sony WI-C310 Wireless and Sony WI-C200 are pretty much the same headphones. The main difference between the two models is that the WI-C310 have flat cables, while the WI-C200 have thin cables. The C310 are available in more colors and have slightly better isolation performance."
Even this article states they share the same hardware.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/sony-launches-wi-c200-and-wi-c300-wireless-earphones-in-india/articleshow/69894631.cms