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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want long battery life, app-based sound tuning and a light on-ear music-first headphone for everyday listening, choose SONY WH-CH520; if you need a single-ear work headset with a flip-to-mute noise-cancelling boom mic for calls, choose Middle Rabbit TK01.
• SONY WH-CH520 — biggest strength: up to 50 hours of playback with quick charging, plus EQ Custom tuning through the Sony Headphones Connect app and DSEE processing for compressed files.
• SONY WH-CH520 — biggest trade-off: it is a wireless-only on-ear pair with no headphone jack and no noise cancellation, so it is not built for blocking out a loud office or for wired listening.
• Middle Rabbit TK01 — biggest strength: a boom microphone with noise cancelling and flip-to-mute, four EQ modes tuned for calls and meetings, and a 300-degree rotating mic you can wear on either ear.
• Middle Rabbit TK01 — biggest trade-off: it is a single-ear, work-first headset with active noise cancellation rated for 30 hours of talk time rather than a stereo music headphone with Sony-grade battery endurance.
• Who each pick is for: the WH-CH520 suits commuters, students and casual listeners who want one light pair for music and calls across two devices; the TK01 suits call centre staff, remote workers and anyone on back-to-back voice calls who needs a mute they can hit instantly.
The WH-CH520 is a Bluetooth 5.2 on-ear headphone with a dynamic driver covering 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. It weighs 147 g, which is genuinely light for something you wear on your head, and it uses swivel earcups plus an adjustable headband, cushion and soft ear pads. In my opinion that combination is the whole point of this model: it is designed to slip on and off all day without you thinking about it. The plastic build keeps the weight down, and the blue finish is one of four colour options alongside black, white and cappuccino, so there is some room to match your taste.
Sound shaping is handled in the Sony Headphones Connect app with EQ Custom, and DSEE is there to lift compressed streaming files. There is a built-in microphone for hands-free calling, media controls on the earcups, and Bluetooth range is listed at 10 metres. What you do not get is noise cancellation, and there is no headphone jack — it is wireless only. There is a 90-day limited warranty on this listing.
Buy it if you want one light, long-lasting pair for music, podcasts and the occasional call, and you like the idea of tweaking the sound yourself. Skip it if your day is mostly voice calls in a noisy room, or if you want wired listening as a backup.
Middle Rabbit TK01: Who It's For
The TK01 is a different animal. This is a wireless headset with a microphone built for work — the listing names call centres, offices, PCs and laptops. The microphone uses noise-cancelling technology and, crucially, it flips up to mute. That single gesture is the reason a lot of people buy a headset like this: you do not hunt for a button, you just flip the boom and you are off-mic. The mic also rotates 300 degrees, so the headset can be worn on the left or the right ear depending on which side you favour.
The TK01 uses Bluetooth 5 and connects without a dongle. It holds two devices at the same time, which is the realistic office setup: a laptop for meetings and a phone for everything else, moving between them without repairing. The app gives you four EQ settings — communication optimisation, noise reduction, music and podcast — so you can push the tuning toward speech clarity for calls and back toward music when you are off the clock. Active noise cancellation is listed as the noise control method, and the earpiece is described as over-ear even though this is a single-ear design, with soft foam padding on every point that touches your head rather than only on the ear side. That last detail is the one I would appreciate most over a long shift.
Battery is rated at up to 30 hours of call time or up to 45 hours of music playback, with a 1.5-hour recharge. That is a shorter music runtime than the Sony, but the call figure is the one that counts here, and 30 hours of talk time is a lot of meetings. There is a 1-year warranty, and the box includes ear cushions.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for battery life → SONY WH-CH520. Up to 50 hours of average life versus 45 hours of music and 30 hours of call time on the TK01.
• Best for voice calls → Middle Rabbit TK01. A noise-cancelling boom mic with flip-to-mute beats an on-ear built-in mic for anything longer than a quick call.
• Best for music listening → SONY WH-CH520. Stereo on-ear drivers, EQ Custom and DSEE are aimed squarely at streaming music.
• Best for noisy environments → Middle Rabbit TK01. The TK01 lists active noise cancellation and a noise-cancelling microphone; the WH-CH520 lists no noise control at all.
• Best for multitasking across two devices → either, with a caveat. Both support two simultaneous connections, so pick on the other factors.
• Best for left- or right-ear wearers → Middle Rabbit TK01. The 300-degree rotating mic adapts to either side.
• Best for all-day comfort while working → Middle Rabbit TK01. Foam padding on every contact point, including the non-ear side, is a deliberate choice for long shifts.
• Best for travel and commuting → SONY WH-CH520. Light at 147 g, swivel earcups and a big battery suit a bag and a long day out.
If I had to pick one, I would buy the Middle Rabbit TK01 — but only because of what I would be buying it for. For calls, meetings and any job where a mute switch and a clear mic decide how you come across, the TK01's flip-to-mute boom, four EQ modes and 30 hours of talk time are the features that actually do the work. If music, podcasts and battery endurance are the priority instead, I would take the SONY WH-CH520 without hesitating — 50 hours, EQ Custom and a 147 g on-ear design are hard to argue with for listening. They solve different problems, so match the headset to your day rather than to the spec sheet. Check the current price on Amazon for both before you commit.
It has a built-in microphone and multipoint for two devices, so short calls are fine. It has no boom mic and no noise cancellation, so for long calls in a busy room the TK01 is the better fit.
Yes. It supports up to 45 hours of music playback and includes a Music EQ mode in the app, though it is a single-ear design, so it will not give you the stereo separation of the WH-CH520.
The Middle Rabbit TK01 lists active noise cancellation and a noise-cancelling microphone. The SONY WH-CH520 lists no noise control, so it does not block surrounding sound.
Yes. The microphone rotates 300 degrees, so the headset adapts to left- or right-ear wear.
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