Our Verdict
The Sony MDR-ZX770BN are mediocre everyday headphones. Their lightweight comfortable and have a wireless design. However, they poorly isolate and plasticky build quality. This makes them not versatile enough for some use cases and environments.
- Lightweight, comfortable design.
- Efficient controls and ergonomic button layout.
- Great audio reproduction.
- Flimsy joints and build quality.
- Poor noise isolation.
- Bass and treble delivery varies significantly across users. Sensitive to glasses.
Decent for neutral listening. They're comfortable for long listening sessions and have a decently well-balanced sound but they won't be the ideal choice for more neutral listeners.
Decent for commuting. They're comfortable and have a good control scheme, but their noise isolation is a little weak for loud environments.
Average for sports. The Sony ZX770BN have a lightweight and comfortable wireless design, and an efficient control scheme. However, they are too unstable and bulky for strenuous exercise.
Decent for office. They leak a lot and have poor ambient noise isolation. You will be able to hear the chatter of a busy office.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Apr 18, 2019: We've updated the THD values and score after retest
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
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Test Results
The Sony MDR-ZX770BN are well-designed headphones that look quite stylish. The two-tone gray and dark gray color scheme and the silver accents on the frame and ear cups are visually appealing. The back of the earcups have a matte, sandstone finish with subtle metallic Sony branding that works with the overall aesthetic.
The Sony ZX770BN headphones are quite comfortable when on the head. The lightweight, softly padded ear cups and headband do not exert too much pressure on the head. The ear cups successfully encompass the ears and swivel, providing a little more comfort regardless of exact placement on the head. The only issues are the lack of padding on the headband and the flimsiness of the swiveling ear cups, which causes some instability when on the head.
Button layout and functionality is simple and efficient. The well-designed buttons are located on the bottom of the ear cups. These headphones provide volume, call-music and skip controls, as well as the power and noise cancelling enabling buttons layed out across the two ear cups. They take a little time to get used to but once you are accustomed they are efficient and the tactile feedback is great.
The Sony MDRZX770BN have large earcups that lay flat to take less space making these headphones somewhat portable. Unfortunately, they don't fold into a more compact format and will occupy a decent amount of space in a backpack. They won't comfortably fit in a handbag and are far too big to fit in a pocket, even larger jacket pockets.
Build quality is decent but feels flimsy. The metal frame of the Sony MDR-ZX770BN is sturdy and flexible enough to handle a decent amount of stress. The plastic used for the build is not the most high-end but is sufficiently dense to not crack after a few drops. Unfortunately, the swivel hinge is loose, flimsy and susceptible to breaking.
The Sony MDR-ZX770BN are moderately stable. However, they're not sports headphones, and they will slip off your ears if used while running or doing high-intensity exercises in the gym. On the upside, they have a wireless design and won't be yanked off your head because the audio cable got hooked on something.
The frequency response consistency of the ZX770BN is sub-par. There is shows quite a bit of deviation in bass delivery across our human subject, especially with the one who wears glasses. This shows that the bass of the Sony is sensitive to fit and seal and could cause as much as 7dB of drop in bass at 100Hz, which is quite noticeable. The treble delivery however, is more consistent.
Sub-par isolation. The passive isolation provided by the earcups is decent, but not good enough to make up for the poor active isolation. The active noise cancellation works very narrowly in the bass range, being most effective only around 40Hz. In the mid-range they don't do much at around 200Hz, but reach a decent -20dB at 600Hz. In the treble range, these headphones seem to perform slightly worse with ANC On compared to when the ANC is set to Off.
Average performance. The Sony ZX770BN headphones leak a lot across a broad spectrum (900Hz-6KHz). If you listen at very loud volumes, you will be hearable from a couple of feet away.
The Sony MDRZX770BN have a decent battery life that delivers about half a day of continuous playback. They charge a lot faster than the MDRZX550BN but cannot stream audio and continue charging at the same time. On the upside, they turn off automatically when no Bluetooth connection has been established which saves a bit of power.
No compatible app.
