Sony WH-CH710N revealed by Certification

First revealed from a FCC filing back in late December 2019, the Sony WH-CH710N is Sony's affordable Noise cancellation headset. The design is now less edgy and more rounded. The photos show a shiny plastic, but I suspect this is a pre-production unit, so the final product might have a more matte finish.

The left side contains the on/off button, type C usb port, and 3.5mm jack, while the right side has the volume +/-, and a central button for answering calls. Below the controls is the NC/AMB button for noise cancellation and ambient sound control.

Colour options could be similar to the current model, black, blue and gray, the blue can be seen in the certification photos, but nothing is confirmed.

Specification include, upgrade to Bluetooth 5.0 from 4.1, battery life increase up to 40 hours (wired) with NC on, but the rated power consumption is now rated at 2W rather than 1.2W. I suspect the battery capacity might have been increased.

It is unknown if the driver size will be 40mm or if it will be decreased to 25mm like on the h.ear on 3 line.

Codec support has also slightly changed, aptX has been dropped and only SBC and AAC are supported. DSEE should be present like in the previous model. There is no LDAC support unfortunately. I believe the drop of aptX is due to a change in the Bluetooth chip being used, now most likely a Mediatek or even Airoha. There was a Sony headset with a new Airoha chipset certified at Bluetooth SIG in January, the HDX-2947, so this might be the WH-CH710N. The chip is the Airoha AB153x, it is a less high end chip than the MT2811 (Airpha AB155x) but still quite capable, and might be ideal for an affordable NC headset.

As for when these will debut, difficult to say, they may just show up on Sony's website without a press release or be part of a press release with some other products, perhaps WI-SP510, WF-SP800, WF-XB700 or even WH-1000XM4. Regardless, these should arrive before the summer.

Here are the rest of the photos. Comments and thoughts below.

Source: Anatel