Sony improves its budget earbuds by making them smaller, lighter, and cheaper

All without compromsing audio quality

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Sonyis following up on its fantasticWF-C500 wireless earbudsby launching a new budget pair: the WF-C510. Like its predecessor, the refresh aims to deliver a high-quality audio experience at an affordable price. This time, however, the series has gone through a slight design change.

TheWF-C510is now more compact. Sony reportedly toldonline outletsthat their model is “20 percent smaller and 15 percent lighter than the C500.” It is also apparently their smallest closed-type buds. The company said in the official announcement that the earbuds have an “ergonomic surface design [allowing] for a more stable fit” in the users’ ears. They also have a button on the outside for audio control.

Even the charging case saw an update. It is now thinner so it can better fit inside a pants pocket or bag. Despite the shrunken size, the WF-C510 proves big things can come in smaller packages because it introduces several improvements.

For starters, the earbuds have a slightly longer battery life at 11 hours or 22 hours with the charging case. Sony says this number can be shorter depending on how you use the pair and what features you have active.

Features

The WF-C510 wireless earbuds pack in a ton of functionality within their tiny frame. They’re capable of outputting high-quality audio thanks to their support of the DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine). This piece of software optimizes low and high frequencies ensuring sound is well-balanced.

360 Reality Audio is present as well, enabling immersive “spatial listening.” If you want to personalize the output further, you can connect the devices to theSony | Headphones Connect appand then fine-tune them via custom EQ profiles. Hopping between different audio sources is easy to do as the WF-C510 sports Multipoint Connection, letting you connect to “two Bluetooth devices simultaneously”.

Speaking from personal experience, other people often find it annoying when they try talking to you, but you can’t hear them. Sony’s earbuds offer a solution. Activating Ambient Sound Mode allows outside noise to better flow into your ears so you can be aware of your surroundings. Additionally, users can turn on “Voice Focus” to better capture people’s voices. Ambient sound is blocked out.

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Other notable features include a water resistance rating of IPX4 and Fast Pair. Just like the old model, the WC-C510 earbuds lack active noise canceling.

Sony’s WF-C510 wireless earbuds are available for pre-order onthe company’s websiteandAmazon for $59.99. That’s cheaper than the WF-C500  when it first came out.

The ship date fromAmazonis set for September 2 and you can get the pair in three different colors: black, white, and yellow. Sony won’t ship their pair until September 9 although the tech giant does offer an exclusive baby blue option.

While we have you, be sure to check out TechRadar’s roundup for thebest earbuds for 2024.

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Cesar Cadenas has been writing about the tech industry for several years now specializing in consumer electronics, entertainment devices, Windows, and the gaming industry. But he’s also passionate about smartphones, GPUs, and cybersecurity.

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