We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-23 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want truly wireless earbuds you can wear through sweaty workouts without worrying about rain, sweat or dust, choose Skullcandy Sesh True; if you need headphones that stay charged for days, feel comfortable for hours at a time, and let you jump between your laptop and phone, choose Sony WH-CH520.
• Skullcandy Sesh True — biggest strength: a cord-free in-ear design with an IP55 sweat, water and dust resistance rating, so it handles gym sessions and messy weather far more gracefully than a pair of on-ear headphones.
• Skullcandy Sesh True — biggest trade-off: 10 hours of total battery life from the buds, and no headband or swivel structure to spread pressure, so long listening sessions come down to how the rounded tips fit your ears.
• Sony WH-CH520 — biggest strength: up to 50 hours of playback with quick charging, plus multipoint pairing so you can stay connected to two devices at once.
• Sony WH-CH520 — biggest trade-off: it's an on-ear design with no water or dust resistance rating, so it's not the pair you reach for when you're sweating hard or caught in the rain.
• Who Skullcandy Sesh True is for: someone who wants small, sealed, workout-friendly earbuds and values freedom of movement over marathon battery life.
• Who Sony WH-CH520 is for: someone who wants one comfortable pair to wear all day at a desk, on commutes and on trips, with battery life that outlasts the week.
The Sesh True is a compact true wireless earbud built around movement. Bluetooth 5 keeps the connection to your phone stable within roughly 10 meters, and there's no cable at all between the two buds — nothing to snag on a barbell, a jacket zipper or a bag strap. The rounded-tip, in-ear shape seats the bud inside your ear rather than pressing against it, which is the right call for a pair meant to stay put. And the indigo finish gives it a bit more personality than the usual all-black options.
What really separates it from the Sony here is the IP55 rating. That's a meaningful spec: it means the Sesh True is built to shrug off sweat, splashes and dust. If your listening happens on a treadmill, a bike, a muddy trail or a humid summer walk, that protection matters more than almost anything else on a spec sheet. Skullcandy backs it with a two-year manufacturer warranty, which is a longer coverage window than the Sony's one year.
The trade-off is battery. Skullcandy lists 10 hours of total battery life for the buds, with the included charging case adding up to about 11 more hours. That's workable for a few days of workouts and short listening sessions, but it's nowhere near the Sony's figure. The controls are touch-based on the buds themselves: volume, track skipping, calls, and a shortcut to activate your phone's voice assistant. Noise control is passive sound isolation — the seal of the tip does the work, rather than any active processing.
Sony WH-CH520: Who It's For
The WH-CH520 is the opposite philosophy: one comfortable, long-lasting pair you put on in the morning and forget about. Sony rates the battery at up to 50 hours, and the quick-charge spec is genuinely useful — a short 3-minute top-up delivers up to 90 minutes of playback, and a full charge takes about 3 hours over the included USB-C cable. For a multi-day trip or a long festival weekend, that's the kind of number that means you can leave the charger at home.
Comfort is clearly the design brief. It's a lightweight on-ear build with soft ear pads, an added head cushion, an adjustable headband and swivel earcups that fold flat for packing. The swivel joints also make it easy to slip the headphones on and off between calls. On-ear models can get fatiguing, but everything in this spec sheet — the low weight, the cushioning, the silent joints — points at all-day wear rather than a quick session.
Features-wise, the WH-CH520 punches above its simple looks. Multipoint connection lets it hold two Bluetooth devices at once, so you can be watching something on a laptop and take a call on your phone without re-pairing. There's a built-in microphone for hands-free calls. The Sony Headphones Connect app adds EQ Custom, so you can pick presets or build your own sound profile, and DSEE upscales compressed audio files for better-sounding streams. It supports voice assistants like Google Assistant and Siri, and you can locate a misplaced pair through Google's Find My Device app.
Two caveats worth being honest about. First, the spec sheet lists active noise cancellation under noise control, but this is an on-ear headphone without the sealed fit of an earbud, so don't expect the isolation of a purpose-built ANC model — treat it as a light assist rather than a cone of silence. Second, there's no water or dust resistance rating at all. Sweat and rain are not this headphone's friends. Sony covers it with a one-year warranty, and it comes in six colors including the Cappuccino finish.
Buy the WH-CH520 if you want maximum battery life, a comfortable on-ear fit for long days, multipoint switching and app-based sound tuning. Skip it if you need something for intense workouts, rain, or dusty environments.
• Best for battery life → Sony WH-CH520. Up to 50 hours versus 10 hours on the Sesh True is not a close contest.
• Best for workouts and sweat → Skullcandy Sesh True. IP55 protection and a cable-free in-ear fit make it the only sensible pick of the two for training.
• Best for all-day comfort → Sony WH-CH520. Lightweight build, soft pads, head cushion and swivel earcups are designed for hours of wear.
• Best for switching between devices → Sony WH-CH520. Multipoint connection handles two devices at once; the Sesh True pairs to one at a time.
• Best for compact, pocketable carry → Skullcandy Sesh True. Buds plus charging case are far smaller than any on-ear headphone.
• Best for sound customization → Sony WH-CH520. EQ Custom in the companion app lets you shape the sound; the Sesh True's tuning is fixed.
• Best for warranty coverage → Skullcandy Sesh True. Two years versus Sony's one year.
• Best for commuting and travel → Sony WH-CH520, unless rain is a regular part of your commute, in which case the lack of water resistance is a real problem.
If you're weighing cost, both live in the budget-friendly end of their respective brands, but I'd check the current price on Amazon before deciding — the page has a button for that.
In my opinion, the Sony WH-CH520 is the better buy for most people. Fifty hours of battery, multipoint pairing, app-based EQ and a comfort-first on-ear design cover the way most of us actually listen — at a desk, on a commute, on a trip. The Sesh True only wins if your priority is sweat-proof, cable-free earbuds for exercise, and it wins that category convincingly. If you train hard several times a week, buy the Sesh True. If you want one dependable everyday pair, buy the Sony.
Not in general — it depends on the job. Skullcandy's Sesh True wins on water and dust resistance and on warranty length. Sony's WH-CH520 wins on battery life, comfort for long sessions, multipoint connectivity and app-based sound tuning. Match the product to your use case rather than the brand name.
Yes, that's exactly what they're built for. The IP55 rating covers sweat, water and dust, and the true wireless in-ear design means no cable to snag. The main limitation is battery: around 10 hours per charge, with roughly 11 more in the case, so plan on regular top-ups.
Sony rates it at up to 50 hours of playback, with a full charge taking about 3 hours via USB-C. Quick charging gives you up to 90 minutes of playback from just 3 minutes of charging, which is handy when you're heading out the door.
The spec sheet lists active noise cancellation, but because it's an on-ear design without a sealed in-ear fit, expect light ambient reduction rather than deep blocking. If blocking out a noisy commute is your top priority, neither of these two is the specialist pick.
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