Sony WH-CH520 Review (2026): 50 Hours for $38

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The Specification Is Genuinely Unusual

Roughly 50 hours of battery. Not 50 with the radio idle or the feature you paid for switched off — 50 hours of listening. Charging becomes something you do monthly rather than weekly, and the most common reason cheap headphones fall out of use simply disappears.

Multipoint pairing, so a laptop and a phone stay connected at once. This is normally a feature of headphones costing four or five times as much, and it is the difference between headphones you reach for and headphones you re-pair.

Sony's app EQ. The default tuning leans warm, and ten minutes adjusting it is worth more than anything you could read about the sound.

For thirty-eight dollars from a company with a real warranty channel, that combination has no direct equivalent.

Then There Is the Format

These are on-ear, and that decides more than the specification does.

On-ear pads rest on your ear rather than around it. Two consequences follow, and both are structural rather than faults of this particular model:

They isolate poorly. There is no seal and no cancellation, so a train, a bus or an open-plan office comes through largely intact. If shutting out noise is why you are shopping, no amount of battery life substitutes.

They pinch. Pressure concentrates on the ear itself rather than spreading around it. An hour is comfortable; three or four is a different experience, and this is the most consistent complaint about every on-ear headphone ever made.

Light weight helps, and the CH520 is light. It does not eliminate the issue.

Who Should Buy It

You want maximum battery for minimum money: yes. Nothing name-brand comes close at this price.

You take a lot of calls and switch between devices: yes, for the multipoint.

You want to block out a commute: no. On-ear isolates poorly and there is no cancellation. Our Soundcore Q20i review covers a cancelling over-ear at a little more money.

You want Sony's cancellation specifically: no — see our Sony WH-CH720N review, which is the cheapest model where Sony's ANC actually appears.

You wear headphones for hours at a time: think carefully. On-ear pressure is the limiting factor, not the battery.

You want over-ear at a similar price: best over-ear headphones under $50 covers what that money reaches in the more comfortable format.

FAQ

Does the Sony WH-CH520 have noise cancelling? No. It is an on-ear headphone with no active cancellation and modest passive isolation. The WH-CH720N is Sony's cheapest model that does have it.

How long does the battery really last? Sony quotes around 50 hours, and unlike most quoted figures there is no cancellation drawing on it. It is the strongest thing about the product.

Is it comfortable? For an hour or two, yes — it is light. Beyond that, on-ear pressure builds on the ear itself. That is the format rather than the model.

Does it have multipoint? Yes, which is unusual at this price and genuinely useful if you move between a phone and a laptop.

Is the sound good? Warm and unfussy out of the box, and adjustable through Sony's app. Fine for podcasts, calls and casual listening; not a headphone for hearing detail.

On-ear or over-ear at this price? Over-ear if comfort over long sessions or any isolation matters. On-ear if you want it light, small and cheap.

Verdict

Our score: 8.0/10. The WH-CH520 wins its price bracket on specification and does it convincingly — fifty hours, multipoint and app EQ from a company that will honour a warranty is not a combination anyone else offers at thirty-eight dollars.

Buy it understanding what the format costs. On-ear means you will hear the room, and it means pressure on your ears after a few hours. Neither is a defect and neither can be fixed by anything on the spec sheet.

As a light, cheap, long-lasting pair for calls and casual listening, it is a safe default. As a commuting headphone, it is the wrong tool.