SoundPeats H3 TWS Bluetooth Earphone IEMs – Stylish Freedom Musically Attractive
SoundPeats H3 is a $129 USD pair of Bluetooth Earphones with a flagship architecture, 2 Balanced Armature Drivers and One Dynamic Driver for a full-range audio response. Equipped with Bluetooth LDAC and aptX Lossless, today we review the new H3 and see how it sounds in person.
Introduction
Soundpeats is a company that has a history with us, having been one of the first bluetooth tws earphone brands we reviewed, and nowadays they’re still around and kicking. SoundPeats produces interesting, stylish products, but H3 is actually slightly less interesting than the audiophile stuff we review in marketing, yet usually they deliver such an amazing sonic performance that audiophiles purchase them more than options from the competition. Soundpeats products are available on Amazon, Aliexpress and other Hifi Outlets as well as general electronics stores.
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Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/47HDuE2
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c3CmvWo7
Build Quality – Design
SoundPeats H3 is a uniquely stylish pair of IEMs with transparent and golden accents, and with a transport charging case that has black golden and transparent accents. They sport 2 balanced armatures, and a 12mm dynamic driver for a complete sonic reproduction. Quite a bit better than most audiophile IEMS, Soundpeats uses a QCC3091 Snapdragon Hi-Res Wireless audio chip with LDAC and aptX Lossless. The setup offers H3 a battery life of up to 7 hours per change and 37 hours with the case, so around 4 extra charges are held captive in the case. Right now only two other products use the same QCC 3091 BT chip, and those are SoundPeats Air5 PRO, which is made by the same company, and Noble FoKus Amadeus.
Although this appears nowhere in the name, H3 has ANC that is AI-Powered (whatever this would mean), and they have 6 microphones to deliver a promised up to 55dB of passive noise isolation across 4 modes, which include Adaptive, Indoor, Outdoor and traffic. For call quality, they have six built-in microphones with (once again whatever this means) AI noise reduction, and cVc 8.0 to deliver clear, stable voice quality. PeatsAudio App requires a username and a password, and that’s a big no no from me. The fact that LDAC is disabled unless you enter your info in the app is also a bad thing, I want access to the entire product without accounts and ideally without having an app, but the app should work by itself, like Tronsmart does.
You can use the Peats Audio app and their 9-Band EQ to fine tune your sound, and SoundPeats promises IPX5 Water Resistance for their H3. Each earbud has a battery of 35 mAh while the case has a battery of 400mAh. It takes one hour to charge the earbuds and 2 hours to charge the case. Each earbud has a weight of 6 grams while the case and earbuds are light at 53 grams. The Bluetooth codec list is comprehensive and it includes SBC, AAC, LDAC, aptX, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless.
Fit – Subjective Usage
I have to hand it to SoundPeats, the comfort they have is incredible, they just sit nicely in my ears, never feel too heavy, and they are comfortable. This being said, IEM shells are on the larger side, and fitting is medium-shallow with the charging case looking like it would scratch easily. A bit too much tech inside each IEM means that they would be rather sensitive to breaking if they fall out of your ears.
For the ANC, the quality is very good, one of the strongest performers, but the sound is almost filtered, with the low frequencies being filtered really well, while higher frequencies and voices pass through just fine. So while I hear zero bass, zero thumps from outside, I hear a lot of voices, my keyboard clicking while I type and basically all high-pitched noises. Pass-through mode amplifies the sound from the outside, but also mostly midrange and treble, with little bass amplification. Normal mode is just normal. Using ANC does not degrade the sound in any way, which is very pleasing.
Connection quality is great, my phone can use aptX with HD quality, overall I had zero signal dropouts, a bit sad to see that LDAC is locked behind having an account with an app that you have to register.
Sound Quality
Pairings – I’ve been using my Samsung S24 Ultra to test the SoundPeats H3, they work well with all smartphones but each smartphone has a unique sound quality.
Overall Signature – Soundpeats always had a vocal sound, but H3 seems to further advance that signature, they sound warm, vintage, sweet, large with exceptional detail and resolution. While bass is a bit on the shallower side, with extension as low as 40 – 45 Hz, it is warm and big, slow and pleasing. Midrange is also warm and pleasing with vocals being the central part of the SoundPeats H3 signature.
Bass – Starting from down low, bass starts at 40 Hz but you mostly hear it from upwards of 45 dB with most bass energy between 80 Hz and 150 Hz, creating a vintage, big and warm bass. This adds warmth to the midrange and the treble too, everything is veiled in a sweet and musical layer of bloom. Bass is wooly and slow, great for creating a vintage, bloomy presentation.
Midrange – Mids are magical for H3, they present music in a playful, engaging way, sound pops at you in a vivid way, instrument separation is insanely good, and female voices are sweet and personal. All voices come through as forward, punchy and colorful. H3 is great for listening to pop, EDM and new music, as well as older, orchestral and classical music. They are the kind of IEMS that give music personality and a bit of magical pop
Treble – Top end is crisp and not very bright, but present and not rolled off before 14 kHz, after which it rolls off gently. There’s enough air and space, enough shimmer to keep pop and EDM interesting, but H3 is not designed for rock and metal in general. Sound can become a bit aggro if turned too loud, a situation in which treble in particular gets brighter and more in-your-face.
Dynamics And Textures – SoundPeats H3 has a highly compressed dynamic range, both by the Bluetooth compression algorithm, but also because of how they process sound. This means that all sound is like a wall of sound, everything has a similar loudness, although for the way they handle space and width, you don’t notice this as a bad thing. Instead, all details and information are more easily audible with H3. Textures are slow and wooly in the bass, and tighter, faster, dry for the treble, with the midrange being a cross between the two.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – I would call Sound Peats H 3 a good mid IEM, they sound good at medium volumes. If you go very loud, compression is far more evident, sound gets a bit aggressive and in-your-face, while at very low volumes, it gets vague, wide and atmospheric.
Soundstage – H3 has a huge soundstage, really wide and holographic. It is very good for instrument separation having a high degree of layering. Voices are especially well separated from instruments and the whole sound is HUGE. A bit atmospheric and a bit vague too though, H3 can be a bit scattered at times.
Value and Conclusion
For 129 USD, SoundPeats H3 is a uniquely vocal, pleasing to use IEM physically, with long battery life, and with a strong ANC performance. They are great for music enjoyment and a good purchase. This being said, having to use an app to unlock features, having to have an account in that app to use it, is not ok and downgrades the value from excellent for their sound and construction to medium as those are both security issues and discomforts that you’re not supposed to have to go through when purchasing a product.
At the end of the day, Soundpeats can still get it together, they have an excellent product that you can totally use without installing their app and you can enjoy a sweet, vocal, warm signature as well as ANC and aptX lossless, and I like the earphones. I hope that the company will improve their app and remove the need to be logged in to use the earphones, H3 is great overall sonically and physically but needs a bit of extra software support.
PROs
- Sweet and warm sound
- Huge soundstage
- Exceptionally detailed for the price range
- Comfortable with a shallow-medium fitting
- Lightweight shells
- Long battery life
- Very stable bluetooth connection
- Low price for the sonic performance and features
- Premium Bluetooth QCC3091 chip used for BT comms
Cons
- Has features like LDAC and EQ locked behind an app
- That app requires you to register an account and log in
- IPX5 rating is very low and they would likely not survive a drop
- Case is easy to scratch
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/47HDuE2
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c3CmvWo7
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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