A pair of Sony headphones at £60 off at Amazon for Black Friday? Get the laptop fired up and throw those cans into your digital basket as soon as possible, because that's a belting deal that needs to be snapped up pronto. Right?
Perhaps not. Much as we normally love their headphones, the Sony ULT Wear were a rare misfire for a brand on a serious hot streak, serving up a sound that went far too heavy on the bass and skimped on all of those other sonic aspects that we usually enjoy from Sony cans. If you want serious performance, we'd direct you towards the superior Sony WH-CH720N which offer a far more nuanced sound at a better price. At £65 at Amazondown from £99, they're also a great bargain to boot.
Best Sony WH-CH720N headphones deal
We had such high hopes for the Sony ULT Wear, and while you may be looking at them discounted on Amazon and raising your expectations in a similar fashion, we'd advise you to hold your horses. The ULT Wear are a seriously acquired taste, and while we respect Sony's effort to do something different, their very particular sound makes them hard to recommend wholeheartedly, especially with finer alternatives waiting in the wings. In short, there's just too much bass, even when you haven't turned on their nuclear-esque 'Bass Boost' button, with a forceful sound that lacks subtlety or much rhythmic capability.
Is there an alternative? Of course, and it comes in the shape of the Sony WH-CH720N, an Award-winning pair of over-ear headphones that offer exactly the sort of super sound you'd expect when eyeing a pair of Sony cans in a bid to nab a Black Friday bargain. The CH720N may be cheaper than the ULT Wear, but their audio performance is easily superior, and while they aren't the subtlest cans Sony has made either, their energy, vivacity and dynamism are complemented by lavish helpings of detail and rhythmic cohesion. Yes, their bass can also be a little heavy-handed, but a quick trip to the Sony EQ can help dial back those burly lower-end tendencies, something that's not so easy with the ULT Wear thanks to their flabbier, less controlled nature.
No, the CH720N aren't quite as fancy looking as their bassy rivals, but never have we expressed concerns that they won't have the durability to do the job as your day-to-day companions. The feature list is adequately stacked, too, with 50 hours of battery life without ANC and great active noise cancellation for the price paid. Sony's DSEE sound upscaling for enhancing compressed low-quality audio files, support for Sony 360 Reality Audio tracks (available on Amazon Music Unlimited) and Bluetooth Multipoint add greater value to the CH720N.
As tempting as the ULT Wear seem, we can't recommend them to anyone who cares about proper sonic performance. The CH720N may not look as swanky, but their talents for making your music shine make them a far more attractive proposition. After an Award-winning pair of ANC headphones on a budget? These are the ones to go for.
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