Soundpeats Air4 Pro Review: Tiny but Mighty

Soundpeats Air4 Pro Review

As Serious Insights becomes a destination site for audio, we have the opportunity to explore more brands. Recently, Soundpeats reached out to share their Air4 Pro earbuds. The tiny but powerful earbuds offer excellent sound, even without a device that can deliver on their aptX potential, and several other high-end features, like ANC and IPX4 water resistance, that would be expected from earbuds many times their price.

Specifications

Feature
Multi-point Connection	Yes
Active Noise Cancelation	Yes
Driver	13mm dynamic driver
Supported Codecs	AptX Lossless/AptX-Adaptive/AptX/AAC/SBC
Frequency response	20-40000Hz.
Microphones	6 with AptX Voice and ENC
Battery life	Up to 6 hours without ANC (25 hours total with case)
Wireless charging	No
Charging time	1.5 hrs
Bluetooth®	5.3
Weight (each earbud/with case)	4.53g/38g – .16oz/1.34oz
IP Rating	IPX4

What we like

Pros

• Tiny charging case
• Good build quality
• Multi-point connection
• Touch controls
• A lot of bass, but balanced for non-bass forward tunes
• Very good call quality

The very small, oval case is a little jewel, with, in the case of the black pair I received, copper accents, even around the USB-C charging port. The smooth edges allow the case to slip into a pocket easily. It’s perfectly sized for the little extra pocket on many jeans that stick out above the right pocket.

Everything about the Soundpeats Air4 wireless earbuds suggests that the engineers wanted a little more fit and polish to their product. They cared what the case looked like and offered tiny details to the earbuds to make them distinctive. Apple Airpod clones often look cheap with their shiny, unembellished, rounded exteriors. The Soundpeats Air4s are more sculpted, and the copper accent looks as good on the earbuds as it does on the case.

The Soundpeats Air 4s offer touch controls, a low-latency game mode, and in-ear detection. The Bluetooth 5.3 earbuds support multi-device connections along with the other connectivity and battery life features of the updated wireless standard.

And the sound is outstanding for inexpensive headphones. Before I get back to my head rocking to Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Poor Poor Pitiful Me,’ let me just share the current pricing for the $89.99 list earbuds: $51.99. “Wow, great,” you might say, but then there is a 20% off coupon plus an extra 5% if you buy two pairs of Soundpeats headphones. [Note: the $89.99 price was from the Soundpeats site. At time of publication, Amazon listed the full price at $79.99.]

As I always say, the math isn’t good if the sound isn’t good. For this price, even at full list, these earbuds do an outstanding job. I have been rocking out all afternoon. Jefferson Starship’s ‘Miracles’ transported me back to my high school bedroom. Multiple Linda Ronstadt tunes reminded me of just what the world lost when she was no longer able to sing. I thought the earbuds had blown out based on the grumble of U2s ‘The Fly,’ but no, the earbuds recovered gracefully as Santana and Michelle Branch lit them back up with ‘The Game of Love.’ It was just an enjoyable afternoon in which I often forgot I was wearing earbuds.

Bright vocals stream across a broad soundstage. A grumbly base when needed, clear mids and non-tiring highs. I enjoy every minute these buds are in my ear.

The Soundpeats Air4 earbuds support AptX Adaptive Lossless. As wonderful as that sounds, it doesn’t mean much to Apple users like me who don’t have an AptX source to listen to. All of the new Hi-Res audio standards require end-to-end support for a Hi-Res listening experience. Owners of some Android smartphones and subscribers to some music streaming services may be able to leverage this next level of audio fidelity. The high-end features are all driven by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound.

The Soundpeats app offers customization like access to game mode, the ability to turn off in-ear detection, and the equalizer. Keep in mind the device or streaming service might have its own equalizer, so use only one.

AptX does matter when it comes to voice calls, as AptX Voice works on the input rather than the output. It keeps calls crisp and clear, even when working through multi-device handoffs, such as answering an iPhone call on an iPad.

A pass-thru mode opens up the Soundpeats Air4 Pros to the outside world.

What could be improved

Cons

• ANC in the low end doesn’t perform
• Middling battery life
• No support for quick charge or wireless charging
• Non-recyclable plastic tray in the box, plastic wrap over box

I wore the Soundpeats Air4s on an airplane recently. While the ANC works fine around the house, the earbuds are left in the deep jet roar. I checked the ANC setting more than once. On the return trip, the Jabra Evolve2 buds transformed the engine’s roar into a dull background noise. I will try again on my next trip.

Battery life sits in the midrange of earbuds. Small designs make for compromises, and it’s usually the battery that gets small.

At the Air4’s pricepoint, quick charge and wireless charge can’t be expected, but they would be nice. It’s one of those features people might decide they want just enough to pay just a little more.

On the environmental front, the plastic-wrapped box and the non-recyclable inner tray need an upgrade to biodegradable.

Soundpeats Air4: The bottom line

I’m new to Soundpeats. I was impressed. Soundspeats clearly cares about its products. The Air4 Pros look classy and sound even better than they look.

Soundpeats provided the Air4 for review. Images courtesy of Soundpeats unless otherwise noted.

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