Design and features:The headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. These headphones can be used wirelessly with Bluetooth devices or can be cord connected. When cord connected they have medium sensitivity when powered with or without the noise cancelation feature turned on and when unpowered, so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and all but the lowest-powered portable audio devices. The WH-CH710N integrated microphones and volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls that work with paired Bluetooth devices. Additional features include an ambient sound monitoring function, the ability to simultaneous connect two Bluetooth devices, support for Google Assistant and Apple Siri digital voice assistants when used with mobile devices that have those features, NFC Bluetooth pairing, and earcups that swivel for ease of carrying and storage. This model comes with a detachable 46-inch long standard audio cable and a USB charging cable.
Sound quality: We found the WH-CH710N delivers sound quality that falls in the good range - it reproduces music and voice reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound and excellent active noise reduction. With with the noise canceling mode engaged the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is somewhat prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is a bit muffled and grainy, somewhat congested (think sonic traffic jam), and has a noticable plastic resonance (something like what you would hear if you talked into a semi-rigid plastic cup). The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is fairly extended but is a bit smeared and somewhat subdued. While the sound has a decent sense of liveliness, it is somewhat closed (sound-wise it's fairly obvious you have something plugging your ears) . It does a decent job of recovering room ambience (the sense of the acoustic space in which the audio program that's being listened to was recorded). Warmish character. The overall sound can be summerized as somewhat bassy and plasticy, and a bit muffled. Noise Canceling: Excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. Noticeable rushing noise can be heard when there is no audio program to drown it out.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears. As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Users with larger ears might find that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the earpad seal and reduce the noise reduction capabilities of the headphone. Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range and that the headband presses uncomfortably on the top of the head. Some users may find that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward, but not to the point of falling off. When wearing this model while walking the muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard through the headphones. When the audio cord is used the sound of it rubbing on clothing may be faintly heard through the earphones.
