Just after the launch of its distinctive LinkBuds, Sony has gone back to basics with an in-demand type of earbuds, the latest Sony WF-LS900N. It comes with an in-ear design, and ANC feature. In this review, we’ll let you know what all is in store in the new Sony WF-LS900N.
Design
Years of experience in the sound domain have helped Sony to a great extent to understand the demands of the users and deliver accordingly, and the inclusion of the new WF-LS900N in its product range highlights this clearly. The new WF-LS900N has been designed to stick to your ears easily without falling. The new earbuds come in a small size and are light, ensuring wearing them for long periods of time is comfortable. Both earbuds come with touch sensitivity allowing you to accept/reject calls, and move to the next track or the previous track. The good thing here is that you can assign controls like Ambient sound control/Quick Access, Playback, and Volume depending on what functions you want on your earbuds. The earbuds come with IPX4 water resistivity. That means you can wear them quite comfortably while you workout.
The new Sony WF-LS900N comes with a plastic case that is light and easy to carry around. The charging case has powerful magnets that keep each earbud firmly in its section. To display the earphones’ and case charging state, a central LED is present at the front when you open the case. At the back side of the case lies a USB-C port for charging.
Connectivity
The new Sony WF-LS900N is easy to connect as it uses Bluetooth 5.2 and supports the default SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs. To have better controls and options one needs to download and install the Sony Headphones Connect application on an Android or iOS device. Connecting to Android and Windows devices is quick and simple thanks to support for Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair. The application allows you to see the battery status of the earbuds and the case.
The app allows you to select noise cancellation, and ambient sound and switch them on or off by switching to the Sound tab. The automatic wind noise reduction option can also be turned on or off if noise canceling is chosen. The ambient sound settings allow you to adjust the background noise level and turn on the focus on voice using a slider.
There is also a Speak-to-Chat feature which is very helpful in work and home settings as it allows one to talk to another person while still wearing the headphones by lowering the sound level.
Another good thing about the app is the option to control the bass in the equalizer option. One can select the bass enhancing options like bright, excited, calm, relaxed, vocal, treble boost, bass boost, speech, and custom. Additionally, one can configure a few custom settings according to personal preferences. Furthermore, a Bluetooth connection quality selector is present, allowing you to decide if a dependable connection or sound quality should come first. A toggle for DSEE Extreme is also included. Last but not least, there is a setting for spatial sound optimization where your head movement is monitored both vertically and horizontally. The earbuds also come with a voice assistant feature.
Sound
The new Sony WF-LS900N offers a soothing sound experience and the in-ear design enhances the ability to drive uninterrupted sound. The sounds omitted are very soft and easy on the eardrums allowing them to be worn without any stress. The treble isn’t spiky, and neither does the bass sound dumpy or thick. The lows have no trouble lending weight to the bass notes because they are firm and strictly controlled.
Sony WF-LS900N offers a soothing listening experience with in-ear design for ability to drive uninterrupted sound | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Support for high-resolution audio is one feature that sets the WF-LS900N apart from many of the competition, however, an LDAC device is required as the source. The earbuds also support Sony 360 Reality Audio, which is the most immersive listening option. However, you must have a membership to one of the music streaming services that support the format. The overall sound experience is very clear and each tone pitch hits the right notes and you can feel the treble in the songs very accurately.
ANC and Transparency
The active noise cancellation on the new Sony WF-LS900N is very good as it cancels out sound completely. While testing the ANC feature, we found only a minor amount of noise was to get through which is something that can be ignored. The transparency mode on the other hand keeps you aware of the surroundings especially when you are listening to music and walking outside on the road.
Call Quality
The quality of the calls on the new Sony WF-LS900N is very good. Even in noisy surroundings, the earbuds were good at isolating speech, and the mesh covering on the outer microphones prevents wind distortion. The person on the other side of the call was able to hear our voice quite easily with less disturbance.
Battery
The company claims that the new Sony WF-LS900N can last 6 hours with a single charge. During our review period, we found that the earbuds lasted 5:30 to 6 hours easily with the ANC feature enabled. The case comes with 20 hours of battery support which is almost true as we recorded 19-20 hours while using the earbuds.
Conclusion
Sony WF-LS900N substitutes the LinkBuds pretty successfully thanks to its rich audio quality and slight EQ tweaking. It has a fantastic ANC, well-fitting ability, and is simple to use. The overall experience is good, and the only thing which bothered us a bit is that the earbuds take comparatively more time to connect to the phone which the company should take into consideration. The Sony WF-LS900N has been priced at ₹ 16,990.
Published - November 21, 2022 01:00 pm IST
