Finding your next pair of headphones can be difficult. Some people strictly like corded headphones. Others prefer over-the-ear headphones. But more and more people are clamoring for great wireless earbuds. There are a lot of options on the market for Bluetooth wireless earbuds, many of which market themselves towards specific features. For example, some are meant to work out in. Others are great for noise cancellation. The Edifier NeoBuds Pro is one of the newer Bluetooth wireless earbud pairs on the market and they’re targeted towards those interested in noise cancellation and sound quality.
There are plenty of features of note for the Edifier NeoBuds Pro. But with the price tag of around $130, are they worth the money? I’ve had a chance to test them out and here is what I found.
Pros
- Ability to adjust sound preferences in the Edifier app
- High-Res audio
- Multiple noise cancellation modes
- Comfortable to wear for a long time
- Comes with multiple tips to keep earbuds hygienic
Cons
- Battery life doesn’t last incredibly long
- Touch controls leave something to be desired
- Call quality needs improvement
NeoBuds Pro design
When you receive the earbuds, you’ll notice how sleek the case looks. The actual earbuds are also very sleek and elegant looking. You get a variety of antibiotic ear tips that allow you to find the ones that best fit your ears. These have similar designs to Apple AirPods, in the fact that they insert easily into the shape of your earhole. But the additional tips sit more comfortably in your ears, especially if you have smaller earholes.
You can wear these comfortably for long stretches of time, as your ear doesn’t interact with the harder plastic of the stem. They don’t stick out too far, so while they aren’t as inconspicuous as, say, the Urbanista Lisbon earbuds, they aren’t taking up a ton of room on your head. The earbuds also come with a USB-C charging cord and a drawstring carrying case, allowing you to toss your hard case in it for travel.
The case is small enough to fit in your palm, so it’s easy to toss in your pocket or bag. It is similar in size to the AirPods case with a bit more rounded edges. Every time you open it, the red light activates letting you know the earbuds are ready to pair. When you plug it in to charge, the red light blinks, alerting you it’s actively charging.
NeoBuds Pro technology
Edifier markets that this is the first set of earbuds to achieve Hi-Res Audio certification. The sound has been expertly tuned by the Edifier acoustics team and you can tell. The sound quality when listening to music, podcasts, or audiobooks is impressive. They can reach a frequency response of up to 40KHz. Thanks to the acoustic design that includes LHDC & LDAC solution for boosting music, a Knowles Balanced Armature driver, a dynamic driver, and electronic crossover technology, even novices can recognize they are listening to quality sound.
For those who want to potentially switch modes or fine-tune the audio, you can go into the Edifier mobile app to do so. Here you can change from classic mode, dynamic mode, or customized mode where you control the EQ settings. Listening in normal mode does not block out any noise, but you also can switch to ambient sound mode, low noise cancellation, and high noise cancellation modes. You will definitely hear the difference between each of them. The high noise cancellation mode can reduce the surrounding noise up to 42dB. You can also enjoy Gaming Mode if you’re using your earbuds for gaming. The latency is around 80ms, which isn’t bad — though not incredible.
More features
There are six microphones between the two earbuds for taking phone calls. They will pick up a lot of ambient noise around you when you’re on the call, so the other person may hear it. The wind is not as much affected but other sounds are noticeable to the other person. The call quality itself isn’t as sharp as the sound you’ll get when you’re listening to music.
The battery life leaves something to be desired as well. In a single sitting you’ll get up to six hours without ANC, or 5 hours with it — which is fine, but not great. With the charging case, you’ll get up to 24 hours, but that’s only if you don’t use noise cancelation. I’d say I got up to 12 or so hours over the span of a few days when I put it back in the charging case before it needed to be charged again. Luckily, the charging only takes an hour before they were ready to go again.
There are touch controls on either that you need to memorize. Double-tapping either side answers or hangs up a call. Double-tapping the left side kicks in noise-cancellation modes while double-tapping the right side will play or pause music. It can get confusing and, unlike other options on the market like the Nokia BH-805 earbuds, there is no way to control the volume with the touch controls. So you have to manually go into the app or press the volume button on your device that it’s connected to in order to adjust the volume. They are IP54-rated dust- and water-resistant, making them serviceable against particles and splashing but not elite.
Conclusions
If you’re someone who is looking for sound quality you can trust, these are good earbuds. But some of the features are lacking, which can get frustrating. They are comfortable to wear for long stretches and allow you to customize your sound.
The competition
If you don’t want to spend as much for Apple AirPods Pro, then you could look at Beats Fit Pro if you want to spend a little more for an Apple-style of earbuds. Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro and Sennheiser CX True Wireless Earbuds are other options in the same price range.
Should I buy the Edifier NeoBuds Pro?
Unless you are really interested in the sound quality, no. There are too many features that aren’t quite there that you may get frustrated by. That being said, the sound quality is elite with these.
