I have now owned these earbuds since launch (arrived around the first week of July 2022) and can confidently say these are the best, most convenient earbuds I have owned. I have used these for almost 5-8 hours nearly every single day since. I have owned and used dozens and dozens of earbuds over the years, and these are by far the best for general everyday wear. If you also over-analyze cost-performance ratios like I do with tech, these would be great for you. I have somewhat smaller ear canals, and always have an extremely uncomfortable experience using most earbuds, which always end up falling out no matter the ear tip size. Sorry it's a long review, hopefully it's useful to you!
Here's the in depth breakdown:
-DESIGN: If you like the idea of active earbuds but think it'll look "goofy" or feel weird with this hook design, I promise, it isn't. They're sleek and small enough where they fit quite flush against your head without the bulk. Upon recieving these earbuds, they are much smaller than I expected, which was a great thing compared to so many other bulky active earbuds. I love the flippable hook design, because gigantic cases are awful. The pivot points on the hooks are extremely rugged. I've folded mine thousands of times, plus the wrong way on accident for the first few weeks and have no issues whatsoever with the reliability.
-EQ APP: If you're annoyed also like me that other active earbud manufacturers don't have an actually GOOD or adjustable EQ App, you'd love these. Soundcore's app is by far the best mobile EQ out there. Actually works how an EQ should, unlike (way too basic) Beoplay Connect, doesn't lag (looking at you Sennheiser), isn't an unfriendly UI (hi Sony), don't have to re-pair because earbuds disconnect half the time when the app loads (hello Skullcandy) and gives you everything you want and need for a mobile app. Easily pairs within 3 seconds to the app, and displays battery info. The answer is yes, these earbuds do recieve firmware updates as well (fixing sound issues, general driver updates, etc), which is a huge plus for being able to pair with an EQ.
-IPX RATING: Has an IPX7 rating. For those reading reviews that possibly don't understand the importance of this, it's huge. Especially at this price point. Having fully waterproof rated earbuds is great. I live where there's tons of snow. I can shovel snow and be in the rain for hours with these without any issue at all. Or, if you have run earbuds through a washer before, these should actually survive.
-BATTERY LIFE: Is great, when you don't need extreme volume. This is my only very minor nitpick with these earbuds after about 10 months of using them constantly. The battery has held up fantastic with very little degradation, but isn't quite clearly what's advertised. 8 hours playback on a charge is what is said, but doesn't mention that number stacked to some of the best features, i.e. ANC and Transparency modes. I generally have experienced about 6.5-7 hours with the volume on 40-50% from the very beginning with ANC on, and about 7.5 with ANC off. Holds a charge well however, and both earud and case standby is a lot longer than you'd expect with the quality of batteries in both.
COMFORT: Almost the best there is. They have a full matte-rubber feeling finish on the ear contact points. These are the first pair of earbuds I have ever owned where I genuinely forget I'm wearing them. I've worn these from fully charged until dead and longer after a charge, and 8-10 hour sessions are still comfortable. I've worn these to bed, on college campus, stores, housework, my job, and it's been comfort all around.
SOUND QUALITY: Is amazing for the price point. I also have a pair of Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro, and amazingly for being such groundbreaking tech just a few years ago, the sound is essentially the same for what was a $150 set of earbuds at the time. I have a OnePlus 9 Pro for reference, so my audio streams in SBC codec. SBC is 320kbps, which matches the streaming bitrate of Spotify Premium as an example. With the quality of the dynamic acoustic drivers, the quality is very close to what you could listen to over aptX or aptX HD codecs in more expensive mid-range or high end drivers. Quite detailed sound for the price range.
MODES: ANC works fantastic, and Transparency could use a tiny bit of tweaking. There's white noise with Transparency mode on, but just enough to hear if it's very quiet.
BLUETOOTH: With BT 5.2, these are the best you can get as of right now for this price. By the time I unfold the hooks out of the case, they are already connected to any device I have it paired to. Never had an issue with annoying single earbud pairing or the case not powering them off at all. No noticable delay or input lag when using the physical buttons or audio feedback delay.
CALL QUALITY: Wind mode is the way to go. Call quality is clear enough for normal calls, and masks breathing right next to the mics quite well....
