The Bad

To be honest, a lot of these upcoming points are more about expectation setting and price point differentiation than “hard criticisms”. But, these are still points that need to be raised to help you make a decision.

I still think the ANC can’t measure up to the big competitors. While I think it would be unfair to really have that expectation (remember, these are $80.00 buds) - I’m just being honest to quell any hype/hyperbole or confusion right now. There are just some things missing that can’t get them over the hump to meet that. More in the performance section.

Controls were a little over sensitive in my usage. It was very easy to hit them while adjusting the buds, scratching your ear, etc. 

They don’t have a memory on the ANC settings. So each time I put them in, they are in normal mode. Easy fix here though on the software side, I would think. 

If you’re used to the higher end buds, there are three features missing that I think you’ll notice. The first is the “auto-pause”. When you remove AirPods Pro from your ear, the audio instantly pauses. If you’re on a podcast or spoken word, that’s an incredible thing you might not put much weight behind…until you don’t have it any more. So I noticed that.

No wireless charging. This is the ultimate purely “convenience” complaint, but it’s a con for those that are used to it and feel they need it.

Something you won’t find at this price point is the “loud noises protection” that you find on AirPods Pro. I don’t blame these AT ALL due to the cost - but that feature is INCREDIBLE. In NYC, the subways are ANCIENT and the trains ripping past at some stations are crazy loud. Like honestly “bad for your ears” loud. I love that Apple has their pods programmed to basically block sounds over a certain decibel level. And that’s in PASSTHROUGH mode. It’s quite incredible. So, I definitely missed that as I can use passthrough mode to still speak with my wife, but have protection from those trains at the same time.

Similarly to ANC, the transparency just isn’t quite comparable to Apple’s. Again, I don’t think you should expect that but that’s my frame of reference so I’m going to put it here. It was ENTIRELY acceptable however. I used it in coffee shops to order all the time and it works as expected.

This is a brand thing rather than an Air5 Pro thing - but the product lineup is pretty confusing. There are a LOT. It’s hard to see what’s positioned as the flagships, mid, etc. You can just guess based on price. Would like to see SOUNDPEATS trim down the offerings a bit, and make the distinctions between them clearer. I think as a young brand they mean well and want to offer a lot - but it can confuse consumers.

The Performance of the Air5 Pro Earbuds

Like my previous reviews, I take these into a mix of scenarios that are “real life” and also make sure to actually look at them from a travel perspective. 

On subways, they did a good job overall cutting out much of the city cacophony while in the tunnels. It can’t compete with Airpods due to Apple’s leading “volume limiting” feature. But, I’ve not seen any other buds do that period, nevermind at this price point.

In cafes, it cuts down much of the background noise for sure and helps make it easier to concentrate. Where I think they can continue to approve is the ability to block outside music, as well as voices. That New Yorker that was passionate about every subject she was working on except work, and making sure everyone around her knew it? These were no match for her in the coffee shop. Same goes for airport lounges. Of course this improves with music on, but you hear the voices near you, especially the “loud folks”. Normal people won’t be much of an issue.

In an office setting, these performed very well at keeping the noises down and blocking out most normal conversations. Again though, it was no match for Sales people that still think you need to yell into microphones like it’s 2004.

ZERO connection issues, even in the city and wide intersections. All the new chips and newest Bluetooth perform really well in that regard. Really good marks here and this is one of the most important things.

At the airport - they perform solid and well. One thing to do is to switch between normal and ANC mode and that really helps you to see the difference. It blocks out a lot of the noises in the terminal for sure. Again, except loud voices and music. A lot of ANC has problems with that in my testing, Apple included in the voices part. On the plane, it muffled enough noise so I was able to ignore those around me, which, come on - that’s what you want on a plane! The loud engine noises were taken down a notch as well, and I had no problem with watching downloaded YouTube videos from my phone or listening to music. I was work traveling during US summer vacations and I will say ANC is a GODSEND with all the maniacs on the planes. Screaming kids included (Not saying it’s the kids’ fault, just stating the fact it was happening).

Final note on the ANC adaptive settings - I tried cycling through the modes, but ultimately just kept it on the standard settings. I did notice slight differences, but not enough to really be bothered with it each time. YMMV on this but it DOES change the profile for sure. So give it a go.

I used a mix of music to test these in these settings. Americana, Indie Pop, Classical, some Zep, and even some harder shamisen. Yes that’s a thing, look up KiKi shamisen if you don’t believe me.