Sony Float Run Wireless Headphones Review

These headphones have a very unique design. They have a bulky ear hook design that wraps around the front of your ear and connects to their neckband below. They don't enter your ear at all, and unlike other similarly designed headphones like the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction, they have two 16mm dynamic drivers in their hooks that 'float' off of your ears. They're only available in one color: 'Black'.

These headphones are reasonably comfortable. They're lightweight, and the ear hook fits well on most sized ears. However, comfort is greatly impacted if you wear glasses. They don't fit well over the arms of your glasses and can weigh them down, pushing them into the top of your ear and causing discomfort. It's more noticeable than with other similarly-designed sports headphones, like the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction.

These headphones have adequate controls. The three buttons on the right ear hook are relatively easy to use. They have good tactile feedback, and there are voice prompts to indicate power on/off, battery level, and Bluetooth connection status. However, because they're located on the end of the ear hook, your ears can inhibit access to the controls, depending on their size and shape.

Plus button ('+'):

• Single press: Raises the volume.
• Press and hold: Plays the next track.

Minus button ('-'):

• Single press: Lowers the volume.
• Press and hold: Plays the previous track.

Multi-function center button:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio, answers and ends calls.
• Double press: Activates your device's voice assistant.
• Press and hold: Turns the headphones on and off.

These headphones are fairly portable. They don't fold into a more compact format, and they're bulkier than other sports headphones, like the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction. They won't fit in your bag or pocket without risk of damage, but you can wear them comfortably around the neck.

These headphones have a disappointing case. It's a nylon drawstring bag with a soft fabric lining on the inside. It won't do anything to protect your headphones against physical damage or exposure to water, but it can protect them from dust.

These headphones have a decent build quality. The hooks and driver housings are made of plastic, while the neckband is coated in a silicone-like material. The plastic casing around our unit's ear hooks has a small gap in it, which you can see here. The neckband also feels flimsy compared to other sports headphones like the AfterShokz Aeropex Bone Conduction. Fortunately, they're rated IPX4 for protection against water splashes, so long as you ensure the USB-C charging port's flap is closed securely.

The Sony Float Run have good stability. The ear hooks keep the buds secure on your head, but because the neckband floats away from your head, it's prone to get snagged by clothing. Also, tilting your head upwards can move the neckband and change the headphones' position on your head.

• Sony Float Run Wireless headphones
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Manuals and warranty information

The Sony Float Run have a warm sound profile. Vocals in podcasts and singer-centric genres like R&B sound detailed and present. Sibilants also sound bright and crisp. However, due to their unique open-ear design, the drivers 'float' too far away from your ears to adequately deliver bass. The low-mid range is overemphasized, making audio sound warm but muddy and cluttered. These headphones also don't have a companion app or sound customization options like an EQ or presets, meaning you're stuck with their default sound profile.

These headphones have remarkable frequency response consistency. They aren't prone to inconsistencies based on position or fit, and their audio delivery won't be affected if you wear glasses or have long hair.

Due to several design factors, these headphones can't deliver almost any low or mid-bass. What high-bass you can hear sounds warm, if not a little muddy. Out unit also has popping coming from the low bass range, which is annoying while listening to bass-heavy genres like hip-hop and EDM.

These headphones have great mid accuracy. An overemphasis in the high-bass range continues into the low-mid and makes vocals and lead instruments sound muddy. However, the rest of the mid-range is very well-balanced, making the synths in the breakdown to Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic sound clear and present.

These headphones have excellent treble accuracy. The whole range is well-balanced, making instruments and sibilants, like the cymbals in Call on Me by Eric Prydz, sound detailed and bright.

These headphones have sub-par peaks and dips performance. Due to their open-ear design, these headphones don't perform the same way in these tests as regular in, on, or over-ear headphones. Their design prevents them from delivering much, if not any, bass to your ear, so it's normal to see a dip present from the low bass to high-bass frequencies. An abnormally tall and wide peak from the high-bass to the low-mid results in instruments and vocals sounding muddy and boomy, and a small peak in the low-treble also makes instruments sound harsh.

These headphones have poor imaging performance. Sony is a very reputable company with good quality control and ergonomics. Treble reproduction is transparent, but our unit shows a mismatch between the L/R driver in group delay, indicating a loose bass. However, these headphones have trouble delivering bass to your ear, so this mismatch can be difficult to hear with real-life content. Unfortunately, we also noticed pops in this region when doing our sweeps, which can be annoying if you're listening to content with low-bass sounds.

The L/R drivers aren't well-matched in other tests, most notably in phase response. As such, sound objects, like instruments or sound effects, sound inaccurately placed in the stereo image, which also isn't well balanced. Keep in mind as well that imaging varies between units.

These headphones have sub-par passive soundstage performance. Their open-ear and open-back design means they sound open but don't interact with their environment to create a natural-feeling sound. It seems like audio is coming from close by rather than from all around the room.

These headphones have a middling weighted harmonic distortion performance. There are random popping noises in the bass range and further distortion at high volumes in the mid-range. As such, it's hard to ensure clean and clear audio, especially when listening to heavier genres like EDM and trap. If your unit also has experienced this issue, please let us know in the discussions below.

Due to their open-ear, open-back design, these headphones have very bad noise isolation performance. It's an advantage if you run outside in busy areas and need to hear the environment around you, but it won't be ideal for use on a bus or subway because they'll let in commuter chatter and rumbly engine noise.

These headphones have inadequate leakage performance. Like most open-back headphones, they leak a substantial amount of audio. Most escaping audio is in the treble range, so it sounds thin at high volumes and audible to those around you, even in busy environments like a loud office.

The integrated mic has fair recording quality. Your voice sounds thin and unnatural, though you're still understandable on the other end.

These headphones have a mediocre noise handling performance. You won't have trouble making calls from a quiet place, but loud traffic or a nearby passing train can easily make your voice sound boxy or drown it out completely.

These headphones have a mediocre battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to last 10 hours continuously, and we measured just over that. This will get you through long runs and hikes without a recharge, but battery life can vary depending on usage. Fortunately, they have a standby mode that lasts 200 hours continuously, so they'll still have power for a few days if you forget to turn them off after a run.

These headphones have decent Bluetooth performance. They're designed for sports and fitness, so it's unlikely that you'll want to use them for PCs. That said, if you do, you'll experience sync issues when watching video content. However, latency is much lower with iOS and even better on Android, meaning you won't notice any audio lag while watching videos on your phone. It can vary, though, as some apps and devices compensate for latency differently.

These are Bluetooth-only headphones, and you can't use them wired. They come with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable that can't be used for audio playback.

These headphones have full audio and mic compatibility with PCs via Bluetooth. You can't connect them any other way.