SoundPeats H3 - More trouble than I expected
Link to YouTube video review at the end of this post!
I had heard of the brand SoundPeats but hadn't used any of their products until after I tried the Creative Aurvana Ace Mimi, which are Bluetooth earphones that have xMEMS drivers in them. I bought them because I wanted to try out this new type of driver and see how it performed against other items in my collection. But not long after that, I learned that SoundPeats had put out the Capsule 3 Pro+ that also had xMEMS drivers, and I did a comparison of those two earphones. The arrival of the H3 on paper wouldn't seem to be anything particularly special other than their traditional in-ear monitor (IEM) design and multi-driver approach - but this is something wired IEMs have been doing for years. Could this approach for a wireless IEM really matter for the sound and overall experience? I had to ger them and hear them for myself.
Design and Build
As previously stated, the H3 look like a pair of wired IEMs that have had the connection for the wire removed. They are quite chunky compared to many wireless IEMs, but for the wired variety, they are reasonably sized. Fitting in multiple drivers has always required a bit of space, and these also have to accommodate hardware for Bluetooth, ANC, and the touch controls. They are rather large and stand out of my ears in a very noticeable way. However, if you're a fan of gold, you may like the way they look. The faceplates are transparent with a gold layer underneath that has a portion of the geometric-stylized SoundPeats "S" logo. The rear portion of each bud has a bit that sticks out that is designed to help hold the bud in place, but I found that the buds want to inch out of my ears over time, even with eartips that fit well. I tried the tips that came pre-installed, but they were uncomfortable, so I went down in size. They are less uncomfortable in my ears now, but they still take up all of the available space and them some in my ear. I am a fan of gold, so I like how they look even as they protrude from my ears. However, I am used to this look as I own several pairs of wired IEMs that share these traits. Most of those stay in my ears better than these do, though. From the back, you can see the dynamic and dual balanced armature drivers; they are very tightly placed inside the housing. It does look as if these are as small as SoundPeats could make them without downsizing the drivers. SoundPeats say these are IPX5 rated, so if they fit your ears well and stay in place, these could be fine for exercise outside in the elements. Just don't wear them to the beach as they're not rated for protection against dust.
The charging case is also a little bit larger than average to accommodate the larger earphones. The case is not IP rated, so be sure to keep it safe and dry. The case is fairly unremarkable other than the "Hear the difference" in cursive lettering on the front (SoundPeats likes to put phrases in cursive on its products for some reason) and the SoundPeats logo on the back. The lid is dark but transparent and you can see the earphones sitting inside the case when it is closed. The case does not have wireless charging. There is also a reset button on the back and the charging port is on the bottom. The case can stand up in optimal (i.e. perfectly flat) situations, but it's fairly rounded so it wil fall down very easily.
Features
The H3 aren't stellar performers when it comes to active noise canceling, but I also didn't expect them to be. I will say that because they can plug up your ears pretty well, they are going to block quite a bit of noise passively. Once you turn on music, you'll find that most sounds are drowned out even without having ANC turned on. The transparency setting does let sound in, but it also adds a bit of higher-pitched white noise that makes it sound a tad less natural than some other products. However, I think that if you're playing audio, especially music, you won't notice this extra noise but you will be able to hear your surroundings better, and that is the point, after all. I know some people take transparency settings very seriously - these are usually people who've tried Apple products, which are generally known to be the gold standard in this area - but if the goal is hearing what's going on, most products can handle it fine. If the goal is safety, then products like these that seal off your years aren't really the best option. For exercising outside, it's probably better to look at open ear earbuds or perhaps bone conduction headphones if audio fidelity isn't your number one concern. Nevertheless, I think the transparency here is better than average.
The App Experience
Nowadays, it seems as if you can't really gain full control of most Bluetooth audio products without an app. To be fair, you can absolutely take these out of the box, affix the eartips that work best for you, and use them happily without ever touching the app. But if you want to manage ANC options, adjust EQ settings, update the firmware, or do the hearing test that creates an adaptive EQ setting for you, then you will need the app. I hate that I didn't find an easy way to use the app without creating an account, but I'd already created an account from using the Capsule 3 Pro+, so I already took that hit on my privacy and the sanctity of my inbox. I used the H3 on devices where I'd not previously installed the app, so I went through the adaptive EQ hearing test again and played around with the EQ settings. This time around, I didn't find that the EQ presets had a dramatic effect on the audio I was listening to. Fortunately, I didn't have any issues with the stock tuning, and playing with EQ was more out of curiosity than wanting to correct any glaring faults in the sound.
Sound
The H3 has a 12mm dynamic driver that is largely responsible for low-end response and the two balanced armatures handle the higher frequencies. The out-of-the-box sound is fairly well-rounded. Mids don't feel excessively recessed as is common with many Bluetooth audio products aimed at the mainstream. The bass also isn't overly hyped up and doesn't overwhelm the mids. I did not find that choosing the bass boost preset really boosted the bass all that much, but there is a 9-band EQ, so further adjustments could be made to get a bassier sound if you are a fan of BIG BASS. I like the stock tuning more than I expected I would. When I played music, I found that drums and cymbals sounded as I expected them to and voices and instruments in the midrange felt more present than on many other Bluetooth audio products I've used over the past couple of years. If you like a relatively neutral presentation, these probably won't require a ton of adjustment. I do tend to like a little bit more bass, but I resisted the urge to push these and just enjoyed them as they sound with the stocking tuning and with my personalized EQ setting that the app generated for me when I did the hearing test. Since I didn't find that it changed the sound dramatically, I was fine with either setting.
Microphone Performance
SoundPeats indicates that these earphones have the now very usual AI noise reduction for the microphones. In a quiet room, the microphones perform acceptably. The sound isn't the best nor the worst I've heard. But once you introduce noise into your environment, the earphones go into overdrive to reduce that noise and in exchange degrade the reproduction of your voice as you speak. Ambient noise is reduced, but you will probably be harder to understand. So again, you could use these earphones outside due to their IP rating, but they aren't the best choice to conduct conversations outside (I like the Shokz OpenComm for this purpose). For normal indoors purposes, they are more than adequate but I wouldn't use them for work or professional purposes.
Battery Life
I found that due to the discomfort and/or the inability to keep them safely ensconced in my ears, I couldn't wear these long enough for battery life to be an issue for me. SoundPeats declares you can get up to 7 hours of use, but this is without ANC/transparency or LDAC enabled. Being able to get 2 hours of use from a 10 minute charge is useful if you find you frequently forget to charge them. It takes 1 hour to fully charge the earphones and 2 hours to fully charge the case. These are pretty average stats and to me don't present any specific pros or cons against other competing products.
Other Consderations
I did not have a painless experience with these earphones. Sometimes when changing settings in the app, the earphones would stop producing sound and the only way to get it back was to place them back in their case, close the lid, wait for my device to detect that they were disconnected, and then put them back in my ears. I also had problems with erratic response in the app. I blame the erratic app response on my use of it on a tablet; the app is not even remotely optimized for tablet use. It is meant to be used in standard phone format and performs more reliably when used in portrait rather than in landscape. But I also experienced issues with the touch controls. I like that they control volume, but I found it too easy to turn them up when trying to do something else, so I customized the controls so that play/pause was one tap and volume controls required two taps. This addressed the volume problem I experienced, but the touch controls often didn't do what I'd set them to do and sometimes the earphones would spontaneously go into pairing mode when they should have already been connected to my tablet. I also found that the app didn't always reliably reconnect to the earphones after having been closed/minimized. I'd have to go through the discovery process (not pairing) again for it to see that they were connected. I also had the earphones randomly power off and on when trying to do the fit test. Trying again, the test did complete successfully, but these little annoyances add up to the worst experience I've had with a Bluetooth audio product and its app in a long time. Everything is usable and will eventually work, but it requires patience and multiple attempts sometimes and this just should not be. These aren't cheap $30 or $50 earphones. I expect more at this price.
The retail price for these earphones is $149 and that is the price you are likely to find on the SoundPeats website. On Amazon, you will probably find them at a lower price, and with coupons you may be able to get them for less than $100. At that price, I think they offer very solid sound quality and a unique and pretty build (if you like gold, that is) with decent features that these would be worth buying IF you have larger ears and larger IEMs fit well in your ears. As these don't fit me well and don't stay in my ears, it's hard to recommend them, but I have seen other reviewers remark on their comfort, so this will really be an individual choice. If you have smaller ears. I'd stay far away from these earphones as they're very likely to disappoint you with their fit. There will surely be a new pair of earphones coming out soon to distract you from these anyway, perhaps even from SoundPeats.
YouTube review:
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