The SoundPeats Air5 Pro noise-canceling earbuds offer a lot of features for under $80. Testing them for a few weeks now to see how they hold up for their affordable price point.
DESIGN SOUNDPEATS AIR5 PRO
The SoundPEATS Air5 Pro earbuds have a minimal design. The small black case has a front-flipping cover to expose the earbuds. The bottom of the case has the usb-c charging port and the pair button next to it. Right above the indicator light on the case, “hear the difference” is written on the border. You can only see that when the case is open.
The stemmed Air5 Pro earbuds are a glossy black with a copper accents on them. The copper strip on the earbuds are the touch controls. In the box you get the earbuds, ear tips in three different sizes, charging case, and a usb-a to usb-c charging cable. The build seems pretty solid. While the case is plasticky and light, the earbuds feel sturdy.
SOUND AND EXPERIENCE WITH THE AIR5 PRO EARBUDS
The eartip nozzle that goes into your ear is relatively narrow, and the body of the earbud is small, so they don’t put any uncomfortable pressure on my ears. At just 4.8 grams each, they are incredibly lightweight—you can almost forget you’re wearing them.
Getting a good, tight seal is absolutely critical for both sound quality and noise cancellation, and I know some users have had to swap out the included tips for third-party ones to achieve it. I’ve done it myself, when I am not a fan of the eartip materials. But here’s something I have to give Soundpeats major credit for: they designed the charging case with extra room. This means you can use most third-party ear tips without worrying if the buds will still fit in the case to charge. This is a thoughtful design choice that makes a huge difference. Sometimes I switch out the eartips for an outside brand. For me, the fit was great right out of the box, and they stayed comfortable even when I was wearing my glasses and earrings—a crucial lifestyle test for me.
Active Noise-canceling on these earbuds were very surprising for me. I did not expect it to be as good as it was. You can change it by tapping the earbuds or in the app. When changing a setting there is a clear voice stating the updated setting. Such as “pass-through”, “ANC on”, “Normal Mode”. The Prompt Tone can be changed to four languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, or German.
HIGH RES AUDIO
The Air5 Pro earbuds spec sheet is decent and checks the boxes. It’s powered by the Qualcomm QCC3091 chip and supports pretty much every high-resolution codec you could ask for, including aptX Lossless and LDAC. In simple terms, these codecs allow you to stream music over Bluetooth at a much higher bitrate, preserving more of the original detail and delivering something close to “wired-level sound quality”.
You can test these codecs on some Android phones. To test this, I enabled LDAC in the SoundPEATS app (it’s disabled by default) and connected to my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, firing up some master-quality tracks on Tidal. The difference was immediately noticeable. There was an extra layer of detail, texture, and clarity in the music that you just don’t get with standard codecs. For anyone who invests in high-quality streaming, this feature alone makes the Air5 Pro an incredible value.
SOUNDPEATS APP
I definitely suggest downloading the SoundPEATS app (Apple and Android) and tuning the equalizer. Sounds much better than the default bassy sound. There are some preset equalizers to choose from or you can create and save your own.
It’s not the prettiest app and it can use a bit of cleaning up but it works. It does the basics like show you how much battery life you have left in each earbud and in the case. You can also set what the touch screen controls do.
BATTERY LIFE ON THE SOUNDPEATS AIR5 PRO EARBUDS
Left these on for hours and it they died at the six hour mark. Not horrible because I doubt I’d wear earbuds for more than 3 or 4 hours tops. But once you add recharging them in the case, you can get a good 30 hours. There is no wireless charging on the case. I didn’t expect there to be at this price point.
When it comes to call quality, you won’t always have the best results. The 6-mic array, combined with AI noise reduction was hit or miss for me. Sometimes the other party heard me clearly, other times it was super muffled.
VERDICT
If you want a nice design, decent active noise canceling at an affordable price, with an IPX5 rating, definitely give the Air5 Pro earbuds a try. Once set up, the app allows you to have control of the sound and ANC. Great for those who constantly lose their earbuds, with the “Find Earbuds” feature on the app, clear prompts and ANC control. So many useful features, all for under $80.
SoundPeats Air5 Pro Noise-canceling Earbuds
$79.99
Pros
- Great active noise canceling
- Rated IPX5
- Qualcomm Chip supports high res codecs aptX Lossless and LDAC
- Great for smaller ears
Cons
- No wireless charging
- Sometimes calls sound muffled
