REVIEW: Sony WI-C200 is the basic headphone for your day-to-day

O WI-C200 are headphones bluetooth earphones made for an audience that wants to hear their music with quality at a more affordable price. Unlike premium products from Sony launched last year as the WF-1000XM3, WI-C200 focuses on simpler construction, without the technologies found in older cousins.

Now, will the WI-C200 stand out from your competitors? We received the headset for testing and you can check out the full review now.

Design

O WI-C200 It is a bluetooth headset with a minimalist design, but with wires. Its construction is very similar to sports headphones, where the wire that connects each of the buds is flat and rests behind the neck. However, the biggest setback of this choice is the too long thread that creates loops just below the jaw line, which in addition to not being elegant, can get caught in something.

Because it's Bluetooth, the WI-C200 It has a control module on the right side of the headset. In it, basic controls can be performed such as giving play / pause, advance e back tracks, increase decrease the volume and activate the Google Assistant (Android) or Crab (iOS). Not only responsible for the control, the module also creates a weight balance so that the headset is stable and comfortable on the user. For that, the Sony added a counterweight on the left side of the same size and weight as the control module.

The most disappointing factor WI-C200 is the quality of the material used in its construction. The plastic is too simple, giving the impression of fragility both in the module and in the cable that leads to the buds. It is recommended to never take off or pull the headphones by the cable and avoid bending them too much when storing them.

The headphone charging port on the Sony is housed in the control module. It uses connection USB-C, like the entire line of sound-oriented products launched by the company in 2019, which will greatly please users for the ease of using your smartphone charger to charge it.

The passive isolation of WI-C200 can be considered good for use in low noise environments. In noisy environments, such as urban centers, the user may be disturbed, as sounds such as horns, external music and people talking at high volume easily pass through isolation and interfere with the sound experience.

Audio

Using its greatest sound assets, the Sony put on WI-C200 a sound driver from 9 mm that reproduce excellent bass for such a small device. However, that's all. The reproduced sound is not balanced and has some very uncomfortable points in the reproduction of mid and high frequencies.

To carry out the tests, several songs of the most varied genres were played, in addition to the use of smartphone equalization to understand the limits of each frequency of the WI-C200.

As said before, the bass frequencies are the highlight here, songs like Bad Guy of the pop singer Billie Eilish e Madness from the alternative rock band Muse are extremely benefited and reproduced with deep bass and sub bass well defined. Bass lines, bass drum sequences and bass drops (common climax in dubstep and electronica genres) sound like a sonic boom and will please bass lovers. Although the mid-bass frequencies are not so well defined, the headphone proved to be great for music reproduction. pop, electronics e dubstep.

The mid frequencies are very shy, almost non-existent. songs like Barstool Warrior from the metal band Dream Theater e Jesus of Suburbia from the alternative band Green Day, which have the distorted guitar as the basis of the song's sound construction, do not have any prominence. The lack of mids and mids/trebles leaves the sound very poor, lacking definition both in the guitars and in the vocals that are also present at this frequency.

The highs are a little higher than the mids, but they also lack definition. By equalizing and trying to make this frequency more apparent and balanced, the WI-C200 reaches its limits when we try (unsuccessfully) to make the sound clear and crisp. The songs become opaque, resembling cheaper headphones with less powerful drivers.

Battery and Connectivity

The battery of the WI-C200 has 15 hours of autonomy in continuous use, taking 3 hours to fully load. Charging is done via the USB-C port on the control module, and can be charged via PC, Notebook or cell phone charger up to 5W.

The autonomy is very satisfactory for a headset in this price range, however, the WI-C200 there is none timer or sensor that identifies that the handset is not in use. For example, if the user takes the headphones out and puts it away, but forgets to turn it off, it will consume the battery continuously.

Connecting the headphones to the Sony is done via Bluetooth 5.0, which means high quality connection, without stuttering and crashes while playing songs. However, for users who are going to use it for games or watching series and movies, they will notice a slight delay between the audio and video.

Microphone 

O WI-C200 it has a simple microphone model, made just to break a branch in calls and voice messages. During our tests, in quieter places, the microphone manages to capture the voice satisfactorily, even if a little muffled and without much definition.

In places with more noise such as urban centers and shopping malls, the microphone struggles to separate the voice from the external noise and the result is not good at all. It is difficult for the person on the other side to understand what is being said.

Conclusion

O WI-C200 da Sony It is the most affordable option of the company's bluetooth headphones and will meet the expectations of the less demanding public in terms of sound quality. Despite its fragility, the headset is worth the R$199,00 charged, as long as the user is careful with their handling.

The cost-benefit ratio is quite satisfactory if the connection is taken into account. Bluetooth 5.0, the great battery life and bass well present. If the idea is to buy it for a more basic daily use, buy it without fear. However, music addicts should think twice, as the phone is far from delivering the sonic detail seen in the company's premium products like the WF-1000XM3.

O WI-C200 can be found at official online store da Sony in Brazil.

WI-C200 Technical Specifications