When it comes to personal audio, Sony has always managed to stay in the top three in the race. It’s about the best value for money and at the same time, excellent sound. The question is whether the Sony WF-C510 carries over the tried-and-tested build quality, sound chops and features that we’re used to seeing from the company at a lower price bracket.

Fit and comfort

Similar to the LinkBuds S, there are clear hybrid silicone ear tips. There are a few options in the box to ensure a comfortable fit for all ear shapes. There is no USB-C charging cable in the box but I am sure you have one lying around in the house.

The case is an oblong pill shape with a textured finish and a flat edge on the base, so it’s not going to roll around on the desk. The LED light indicators on the buds shine through. There’s an LED light indicator on the front of the case and this changes from green to amber to red as the battery gradually depletes.

Users will get 11 hours of battery life, with another 11 hours in the charging case. With ambient sound mode on, you will get eight hours on the buds. This is when you continuously play music. When out of power, a quick five-minute charge in the case can give up to an hour of playback and a full recharge on the buds themselves is around an hour and a half.

However, something more expensive earbuds from Sony get is wireless charging, which is absent here. With these, there is a USB-C charging port on the back, next to a pairing button. The lid has a nice bit of resistance to it, so it won’t flap open easily on its own or if you drop the case, the buds won’t easily shoot out.

You get Multipoint Bluetooth, which allows you to connect two sources at once. They offer IPX4 water resistance, and you can use the earbuds independently

The buds are comfortable because of their shape and the fact that they’re lightweight (4.6g per bud). Also, the ear tips create a nice seal in the ear that keeps them locked in pretty securely and this means for most people the C510 would be ideal for running and cycling and for gym activities. Further, Sony is offering IPX4 rating to make the buds resistant to light rain. However, they are not submersible in water and the 'X' in the IP rating means they are not resistant to fine dust.

One of the slightly premium options missing here is wear-detect sensors, that is, when you are listening to music and you take the buds out of the ears, playback doesn’t automatically pause. However, the buds auto power down when placed back in the case.

Codecs and sound

The C510 uses physical buttons on the back of the earbuds and they don’t require a huge amount of force to use. These buttons recognise single, double, triple and repeated taps for volume adjustments. You can also set up a long push and hold, besides enjoying the ability to remap inputs using the Sony app.

There is access to 360 Reality Audio that allows you to immerse yourself in sound all around you. On to codecs. There is SBC and AAC via Bluetooth 5.3 (lets you pair to two devices simultaneously). You can set it to prioritise sound quality, so essentially using the AAC codec most of the time will help but SBC codec can be better for gaming due to the lower bit rate which gives you a little bit less lag while playing first-person shooter games.

Sony is offering DSEE tech. When an original music source is compressed, it loses the high-frequency elements that add detail and richness to a track. Digital Sound Enhancement Engine restores these to produce high-quality sound that’s closer to the original recording.

When it comes to microphone quality, it’s decent and eliminates most background noise but it falls behind the experience offered by Apple’s AirPods 4.

The C510 offers a frequency response range of 20Hz to 20kHz, which is standard for a lot of earbuds. The sound cans use 6mm drivers, which is again expected for the pricing. They perform well in the mid- to high-frequency range and because of this, you get crisp, clean vocal performance. The neutral EQ out of the box is good enough for most people. By using the equaliser on the app you can create custom sound, adding a bit more bass. Even at higher volume levels, the performance is impressive.

Make the call

Sony’s app gives you access to a five-band equaliser, which you can use to tweak the sound

There is no active noise cancellation but there is ambient sound mode. With ambient passthrough the earbuds use the exterior mics to feed sound from the outside into the earbuds ensuring you are aware of the surroundings.

With Diwali around the corner, you could be looking for a gift for a family member. If the person is an iPhone user, we recommend the AirPods 4 but if it’s an Android phone, Sony WF-C510 offers a comfortable fit and feel, besides good value for money.

At a glance

Device: Sony-C510

Price: ₹4,990 (the best buy price is before discounts)

High notes

Good fit

There is app support

Efficient audio passthrough

Excellent battery life

Bluetooth 5.3

Muffled notes

No wear sensor support

Wireless charging is missing