Sony MDR-ZX110

Sony MDR-ZX110

By Sony · Noise-Cancelling Headphones · Audio & Electronics

  • Wired on-ear headphones, 3.94 ft cord
  • 30mm drivers, 1200 mW power handling
  • Swivel-fold design for portability
  • Passive noise isolation from sealed earcups

Lowest price seen
$9.99
from $9.99 at eBay · Checked Oct 12, 2026

Prices are snapshots. Check the current price with the store.

Summary

A cheap wired on-ear headphone for a laptop, desktop or phone with a headphone jack. It has no microphone, no battery and no noise cancelling, so check your call needs and your headphone jack before buying.

Strengths

  • Low cost: US stores showed it between about $10 and $16 in October 2026.
  • No battery, pairing or app; plug the 3.5 mm connector in and it plays.
  • Light at about 120 g with earcups that fold flat for a bag.
  • An independent listening test found more instrument separation than expected for the price.
  • Closed-back foam-and-vinyl pads cut some background noise and outward leakage.
  • The earpads are replaceable, and some pairs run for years.

Weaknesses

  • Pad vinyl flakes and foam flattens; one owner saw it after months at 1.5 years of use.
  • The fixed cable can fail on one side and cannot be unplugged and replaced.
  • No microphone, so calls through the headphone alone are impossible.
  • No ANC and only modest passive isolation, so cafes and planes stay noisy.
  • On-ear pressure can hurt after a few hours, especially with glasses.
  • The 1.2 m cord is short for a couch or a desktop.

Verified specifications

Drivers30 mm dome-type dynamic, closed-back, with a CCAW voice coil and a neodymium magnet.
Impedance24 ohms at 1 kHz.
Sensitivity98 dB/mW.
Power handling1,000 mW (IEC).
Frequency response12 Hz–22,000 Hz, Sony’s advertised range.
Cablefixed Y-shaped 47-1/4-inch (1.2 m) cord with an L-shaped 3.5 mm stereo plug; it is not detachable.
Weightabout 120 g (4.23 oz) without the cord.
Fiton-ear and closed-back, with sliders and earcups that swivel flat and fold inward.
Controlsnone, so no microphone, remote, volume buttons, Bluetooth, ANC, USB audio or app.
Powerpassive analog, so no battery and no charging.
In the boxheadphones, operating instructions and a warranty card.
Warranty90-day limited warranty under Sony’s Portable Audio terms.
Water resistancenone rated.
Full research notes and sources

Sound and fit

Sony rates the 30 mm drivers at 24 ohms and 98 dB/mW, and the advertised 12 Hz–22,000 Hz range says nothing about how flat the sound is. An independent hands-on review found usable vocals and instruments for the price, with modest bass extension and restrained upper treble. Owners disagree about bass: one April 2026 owner called the sound thin and quiet even at high volume, while others praise punchy bass and the reviewer found decent punch but missing depth. Source output, fit and expectations explain most of the gap. The pads rest on the ear rather than around it, so glasses and large ears often mean pressure or an uneven seal.

What it does not have

There is no microphone, so the plain ZX110 cannot handle two-way calls by itself; a computer can still use a webcam mic, but a phone without a headphone jack needs an adapter. There is no ANC and no voice assistant, and no volume, play or skip buttons on the cord. The MDR-ZX110AP adds an inline microphone and the MDR-ZX110NC adds active noise cancelling, but both are separate models.

Parts and upkeep

The headphone uses no battery, no charging and no subscription, so the running cost is $0 a year. Sony’s instruction sheet names earpads as replaceable parts and points owners to its parts portal or Encompass at 1-866-835-1146, though it gives no official US pad part number or price. A compatible 70 mm aftermarket cushion pair was listed at $8.36 (Walmart marketplace), and an open-box Sony pad pair on eBay at $7.23 plus $3.50 shipping, $10.73 in total. Treat these as one-off repairs rather than an annual bill, and replace pads only when the vinyl peels or the foam flattens. There is no authorized replacement for the fixed Y cord, so a failed wire usually means a new pair.

Which model this is

This page covers the plain wired Sony MDR-ZX110 in black, US SKU MDRZX110/BLK and UPC 027242867086. It is a listening-only stereo headphone: the MDR-ZX110AP is the version with an inline microphone, and the MDR-ZX110NC is a separate active noise-cancelling model whose test results do not apply here.

Is it worth it?

In October 2026 US store snapshots it was inexpensive nearly everywhere: Best Buy showed $9.99 on one exact MDRZX110/BLK listing, with other Best Buy pages at $19.99 and a $24.99 reference figure, Walmart $11.88 and $14.88, B&H $14.88, Sony direct $14.99 and Target $15.99. Below about $11 it is a bargain for listening only; $11–15 is a normal deal; above $20 the money is better spent on a mic-equipped headset such as the Sony MDR-ZX110AP at $21.99 or the JLab Studio 2 Wired at $21.99. None of these figures is guaranteed nationwide, so check the listing before buying.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

Retailers and parts:

Buying guides for this category

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