Sony WF-SP800N vs Panasonic RX-S500W NC

The Sony WF-SP800N is a great Earphone for its $198 asking price.

The Panasonic RX-S500W NC, however, while a reasonable product for $179, doesn't stack up against its competitors quite as well. If you're considering Earphones in the $140 range, you might want to check out some better options.

The Sony WF-SP800N has done great in quite a few roundups from some of the most highly trusted sources available, such as Rtings, CNET, PCmag, and Tom's Guide, which perform high-quality in-depth testing. It got awarded the "Best Sony Headphones For Sports" title by Rtings, "Best noise canceling for runners" by CNET, and "A Good Pair for Runners" by PCmag in their respective roundups. Earning that much praise from such respected sources is undoubtedly an impressive accomplishment.

Moving on to the Panasonic RX-S500W NC: it was loved by reviewers at Expert Reviews and Reviewed - two reliable sources that conduct objective in-depth testing. In fact, it was their "The most effective noise-cancelling earbuds under £150" and "Best Value", respectively, pointing towards it being a Earphone worth considering.

Out of the sources that tested and rated both of these Earphones, Digitaltrends preferred the Sony WF-SP800N, whereas reviewers at SoundGuys liked the Panasonic RX-S500W NC better. What Hi-Fi?, Techradar, and PCmag gave them identical review scores.

We also took a look at which sources liked these products best - the highest Sony WF-SP800N rating came from What Hi-Fi?, whereas the Panasonic RX-S500W NC most impressed reviewers at What Hi-Fi?; they earned scores of 10 and 10, respectively.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Earphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Earphones being 7.3 out of 10, whereas the Sony WF-SP800N and Panasonic RX-S500W NC managed averages of 8.0 and 8.0 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sony WF-SP800N vs. Panasonic RX-S500W NC comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.