This story was originally published 2020/04/23
9:00am PDTon Apr 23, 2020 and last updated 2020/05/03
7:48am PDTon May 3, 2020. 

Long associated with compelling personal audio products from the Walkman to studio headphones, Sony's made something of a reputation on the back of its sound credentials. The same has quickly become true of its wireless headphone and earbuds portfolio, being well-known for their great sound (and terrible naming conventions) in premium products like the WH-1000XM3 and WF-1000XM3. With its $130 WF-XB700 true wireless buds, the company takes aim at a more budget-conscious product segment. I really like them — but stiff competition and a pronounced dearth of bells and whistles makes them tricky to recommend.