Headphones were meant to be wireless. Ears weren't meant to be bound and shackled to tangled wires. Now that we've had a chance to regularly use Bluetooth headphones over the past few years, we can't help but wonder how we were able to get along without them.

In November 2017, Sony rolled out the WF-1000X in India. The wireless headphones were the first in the world to include noise cancellation in a truly wireless form factor while reproducing good audio.

Active noise cancellation; IPX4 certification; Adjustable ANC

Flimsy charging case; No volume controls

We've seen a lot of new truly wireless earphones hit the market in 2018, all trying to compete against the most well-known member of the breed, Apple's AirPods . Sony's latest, the WF-SP700N, retails for $180 (£180, AU$300) and is essentially the sports version of Sony's earlier WF-1000X .

Fits comfortably and securely and sounds good for truly wireless headphones; Built-in noise cancelling helps muffle ambient sound; An included charging case delivers two additional charges

Battery life is only OK at 3 hours; It's a little awkward to get the earbuds into their charging case; Some audio delay when using certain streaming video apps

Water resistant, truly wireless earbuds with noise cancelling

Awesome fit and sound quality

Awful battery life

They fit well and sound great, but the Sony WF-SP700N fall short on battery life, and that's a deal breaker.

Extremely comfortable; Clear sound with potent bass response; Sweat-proof

Battery 40 percent less than competition; Poor noise-canceling

As noted in our recent review of the Xperia Ear Duo , it's difficult to think of any company - aside from maybe Jabra - that's playing as deeply into the fast-growing true wireless earbuds space as Sony is.

Noise-cancelling; Solid durability

Battery life lags compared to competition; First-gen connectivity dropouts

Sony's WF-SP700N true wireless earphones are a rare misstep from a company that typically has much higher standards.

Secure in-ear fit; Solid noise cancellation for the price

Poor audio performance; Short battery life; Low IP rating for gym-focused earphones

Though the noise-cancelling capabilities are impressive, the omission of aptX support but inclusion of AAC support is curious.

Digital noise-cancelling; IPX4; AAC support; Great fit; Customization through app

Mic quality; Battery life; Audio-visual lag (unless using iPhone; No aptX; Difficult to fit earbuds into case

We are coming into almost a year since Sony unveiled their first truly wireless earbuds last year with the Sony WF-1000X at IFA. Those earbuds came with a brushed metal charging case that had adequate battery life but provided some of the best bass in their category.

Summertime is no time for over-ear headphones (as the sweat smears on my QC-35 earpads will attest). So when Sony asked me to review its new truly wireless WF-SP700N earbuds, the timing was perfect.