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If you want a tiny, sweat-proof set of earbuds for workouts and commutes, choose Skullcandy Sesh True; if you need all-day over-ear comfort, marathon battery life and multipoint switching, choose Sony WH-CH520.
• Skullcandy Sesh True — biggest strength: true wireless in-ear freedom with IP55 sweat, water and dust resistance, plus touch controls for volume, calls and voice assistant.
• Skullcandy Sesh True — biggest trade-off: 10 hours of total battery and no headphone jack, so it's a short-session, fully wireless earbud rather than a marathon companion.
• Sony WH-CH520 — biggest strength: up to 50 hours of battery life, quick charging, multipoint connection and app-based EQ customization.
• Sony WH-CH520 — biggest trade-off: it's an on-ear design with no noise cancelling and no water-resistance rating, so it's built for desks, sofas and travel rather than sweaty gym sessions.
• Who each pick is for: pick the Sesh True if you want something sealed in your ears that survives rain and workouts; pick the WH-CH520 if you want something that stays comfortable for a full day of music, podcasts and calls.
The Sesh True is a classic true-wireless earbud built around one idea: get out of your way. Each bud sits in your ear with a rounded-tip in-ear fit, and they connect over Bluetooth with a 10-meter range, so you can leave your phone on a bench or desk and keep moving. There's no headphone jack here — this is a fully wireless product from end to end, including the charging case that doubles as storage.
What it does best is durability in a small package. The IP55 rating means it's resistant to sweat, water spray and dust, which is the spec that matters most if you're the kind of listener who runs, lifts, cycles or walks in bad weather. The touch controls cover volume, track skipping, calls and activating your phone's assistant, and there's a built-in microphone for hands-free talking. Sound isolation is passive rather than active — the in-ear seal does the work of blocking background noise, which is genuinely useful on a bus or in a noisy office.
Where it gives ground is endurance and scope. The battery average life is 10 hours, with the charging case rated at 11 hours, so you're looking at roughly a day of listening rather than several. The 16-ohm impedance and 20Hz–20kHz frequency range are typical of a compact dynamic driver — fine for everyday listening, but this isn't a product marketed around audiophile tuning or app-based sound shaping.
Buy the Sesh True if you want earbuds that disappear into a pocket, survive sweat and rain, and let you control everything from the bud itself. Skip it if you need multi-day battery, want to switch between a laptop and a phone without re-pairing, or prefer the open, airy feel of an on-ear headphone. It also ships as a single item with a 2-year manufacturer warranty, so you're covered on the hardware side.
The WH-CH520 is the opposite philosophy: a lightweight on-ear headphone designed to be worn for hours. It's built on a 30mm dynamic driver with 32-ohm impedance, and it connects over Bluetooth 5 with the same 10-meter range as the Sesh True. The physical design is where it separates itself — swivel earcups, an adjustable headband, a head cushion and soft ear pads, all in a plastic enclosure that keeps the weight down.
The headline number is battery. Sony rates it at up to 50 hours of average life, with quick charging that the description says delivers up to 90 minutes of playback from a 3-minute charge. That's the difference between charging something every night and charging it once a week. Multipoint connection lets it stay paired to two devices at once, so you can jump from a video on a laptop to a call on your phone without the usual Bluetooth dance.
Sound is adjustable rather than fixed. The EQ Custom feature in the Sony Headphones Connect app lets you pick presets or build and save your own, and DSEE is designed to boost the quality of compressed music files while streaming. There's a built-in microphone for hands-free calls, and the button-based controls include voice control — you can trigger Google Assistant or Siri by voice. The swivel design folds flat for carrying, and it comes with a USB Type-C cable for charging.
The trade-offs are honest ones. There is no noise cancelling on this model — the spec sheet lists noise control as none — so isolation depends entirely on the on-ear seal, which is looser than an in-ear bud. There's also no water or dust resistance rating, so it's not a gym or rain product. It ships with a 1-year manufacturer warranty rather than two, and the color options (including the Butter Yellow variant here) are cosmetic rather than functional. Buy it if you want comfort, battery and convenience for desk work, travel and calls. Skip it if you need sweat-proof buds or active noise cancellation.
• Best for battery life → Sony WH-CH520. Up to 50 hours versus 10 hours total on the Sesh True; that's the single biggest gap between them.
• Best for workouts and weather → Skullcandy Sesh True. IP55 sweat, water and dust resistance against no water rating on the Sony.
• Best for all-day comfort → Sony WH-CH520. On-ear fit with swivel earcups, adjustable headband, head cushion and soft pads.
• Best for switching between devices → Sony WH-CH520. Multipoint connection handles two devices at once; the Sesh True pairs over standard Bluetooth without multipoint listed.
• Best for sound customization → Sony WH-CH520. The Headphones Connect app's EQ Custom and DSEE give you tuning options the Sesh True doesn't offer.
• Best for portability and pocketability → Skullcandy Sesh True. Two tiny buds in a charging case beat a folded on-ear headphone for pocket space.
• Best for hands-free control without touching your phone → Skullcandy Sesh True. Touch controls on the bud cover volume, tracks, calls and assistant activation.
• Best for passive noise blocking → Skullcandy Sesh True. The in-ear seal plus sound isolation does more to mute a noisy room than an on-ear pad.
In my opinion, most people shopping this comparison should buy the Sony WH-CH520. The 50-hour battery, multipoint connection, app-based EQ and genuinely light on-ear build make it the better everyday headphone for work, travel, podcasts and calls — the things most of us actually do all day. I'd only steer you to the Skullcandy Sesh True if sweat, rain and pocket-sized portability matter more to you than endurance, because IP55 protection and a true-wireless fit are things the Sony simply doesn't offer. One product for a full day at a desk; the other for a run in the rain. Decide which day you have more of.
Not across the board — they're built for different jobs. Skullcandy's Sesh True wins on sweat and water resistance (IP55) and pocketable true-wireless convenience, while Sony's WH-CH520 wins on battery life (up to 50 hours), multipoint connection and app-based sound customization.
Sony rates the WH-CH520 at up to 50 hours of average battery life, with quick charging that the description says gives around 90 minutes of playback from a 3-minute charge. The Skullcandy Sesh True, by comparison, is rated at 10 hours with an 11-hour charging case.
Yes — that's their clearest use case. The IP55 rating covers sweat, water spray and dust, and the in-ear fit provides passive sound isolation. The Sony WH-CH520 has no water-resistance rating, so I wouldn't take it into a sweaty workout or heavy rain.
Neither model here has active noise cancelling — the Sony WH-CH520 lists noise control as none. The Sesh True relies on its in-ear seal and sound isolation to block outside noise, which is generally more effective at muting a noisy room than an on-ear pad. For active noise cancelling you'd need to look at a different Sony model entirely.
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