It bums me out when one of my reviews leans more toward the negative, but honesty must prevail! On paper, the SoundPEATS Air5 Wireless Earbuds seem to bring a lot to the table, but I found these buds to come up short in more ways than one.
SoundPEATS Air5 Wireless Earbuds
The SoundPEATS Air5 Wireless Earbuds run on Bluetooth 5.4 and support the aptX Adaptive, AAC, and SBC codecs.
- Comfortable fit and responsive controls
- Decent in-app customizations
- aptX Adaptive support
- Four color options
- Poor sound quality and narrow soundstage
- No wireless charging
- App can be awkward to navigate
- Overpriced
Price and Availability
The SoundPEATS Air5 earbuds sell for $110 and can be purchased through Amazon or directly through SoundPEATS. They’re available in Black, White, Beige, and a SoundPEATS-exclusive Purple colorway.
Hear Your Imagination
I actually quite liked the cosmetics of the Air5 buds and case. The former reminded me a lot of the Apple AirPods, a design that even Samsung emulated earlier this year. Matte- and glossy-black plastic covers a majority of the bud body, save for a metallic racing stripe that leads up to the touch point (where the SoundPEATS logo is embossed). And much like the standard AirPods, a semi-open design means there are no rubber ear tips to speak of. Regardless, I thought the Air5 buds were pretty comfortable, and they didn’t jostle much when I moved around or talked.
An IPX5 ingress protection rating makes the Air5 buds a solid choice for hitting the gym or going for a run. This level of defense doesn’t carry over to the charging case, though. Speaking of, fans of Disney’s Haunted Mansion attraction may get a kick out of the case design, as, when opened, it looks like one of the ride’s iconic doom buggies! Unfortunately, the goblins and ghoulies didn’t grace this vessel with wireless charging, leaving us mortals to fend for the life of our earbuds via USB-C.
Controls are handled by single, double, triple-taps and long-presses to the Air5 touchpoints, and you can customize various gestures in the SoundPEATS app (available for iPhone and Android devices). I found the controls to be responsive, and the slight bump-up where the touch points are located made them easy to find. Just be mindful of these controls if you have to readjust the buds. I inadvertently paused a few songs when readjusting the Air5 buds.
Struggles With Sound and Call Quality
Equipped with 13mm drivers and powered by Qualcomm’s S3 audio platform, the SoundPEATS Air5’s Snapdragon Sound certification means Android devotees will be able to listen to aptX Adaptive hi-res tracks, along with standard SBC and AAC-encoded tunes. Unfortunately, these impressive audio capabilities aren’t reflected in the earbuds’ overall sound quality.
While I don’t think the audio quality is terrible by any means, I’m not impressed. The default sound profile lacked detail in both the highs and low-end, so I quickly hopped into the PEATSAudio app to tune things up. I recommend taking the frequency-detection test if you don’t mind a bit of automated calibration. Once the test was complete and I switched over to the new Adaptive EQ preset, I was happier with the soundstage but still not wowed. The Air5 buds struggled to push treble and bass at lower volumes, and once I started cranking the decibels, the sound just got muddy.
Superheaven’s Ours Is Chrome is an excellent road rock album, with songs like I’ve Been Bored and Leach serving as perfect companions to highway driving or a tarmac pilgrimage through the desert. I love this record on car speakers and through my AirPods Pro buds, but the Air5 buds only fared well at about 70% volume with this indie group.
Billie Eilish’s bury a friend trades guitars for bouncing bass and a spotlight on Eilish’s vocals. While there was a decent amount of separation between the main beat and singing, the Air5 buds couldn’t achieve the kind of warm rumble this track is capable of. And, once again, the overall mix started mushing together at 70% volume or louder.
I tried switching between audio presets to see if any setting would work better when the overall sound was coming up short, but nothing sounded better than the Adaptive EQ preset.
I wouldn’t recommend the Air5 buds for taking phone calls, either. I found my own speaking voice to be riddled with choppiness and a hefty amount of compression. Unfortunately, the person talking on the other end of the line didn’t sound much better.
Limited ANC Appeal
The SoundPEATS Air5 are classed as semi-in-ear buds. This presents issues when it comes to noise reduction, as ANC performs best when an earbud forms a tight seal in your ear canal. So, while SoundPEATS managed to deliver an acceptable ANC experience with the Air5, it’s hard for me not to remember that the Skullcandy Dime 3 True Wireless Earbuds I reviewed didn’t even have ANC. Yet, they blocked out unwanted noise better than the Air5 buds.
I couldn’t hear the low-end drone of my apartment’s HVAC system, but I could still hear the fan operating, sound that my AirPods Pro completely cancel out. I honestly couldn’t even detect much difference between ANC being enabled or disabled, save for a little less environmental sound reaching my ears.
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Battery Is Par for the Course
SoundPEATS claims the Air5 buds should last for 6 hours on a full charge, with an additional 24 hours provided by a fully charged case. An LED indicator on the case lets you know the charge level. Green is 50%-100%, yellow is 10%-49%, and red is less than 10% battery remaining.
While ANC, volume level, and certain EQ settings will affect how long the Air5 buds ultimately last, I can definitely stand behind SoundPEATS laboratory numbers. Yes, 8 to 12 hours per bud would be preferable, but 6 hours is about average these days, so no harm no foul.
Using the PEATSAudio App
The PEATSAudio app isn’t required to use the Air5 buds, but it’s worth a download if you’re interested in messing with the EQ and other settings. The app, available on iPhone and Android, also provides firmware updates for the Air5 buds.
Similar to other earbud apps, the PEATSAudio app home page shows a battery life readout for both buds and the charging case. ANC controls, gesture customization, and a toggle for Game Mode can be found here, along with a unique panel called “Ear Canal” with three presets. I didn’t hear much difference when switching from one to another, other than a slight decrease in treble for preset 1 and a little bump in the bass for preset 2.
When you tap the EQ icon (three horizontal lines with circles), you’ll be taken to a screen where you can toggle between four premade presets, or you can tap the “+” icon under “Customize” to make your own. I was shocked to discover an eight-band EQ, as most earbud apps tend to be limited to four or five. You’ll also be able to tap Adaptive EQ to take a frequency-hearing test. When finished, your custom-tuned listening profile will be saved, and all you have to do to enable it is tap the Adaptive EQ button.
When I first used the app, I had a little problem. Whenever I’d select one of the Ear Canal presets, the app would continually disable ANC for no reason. When I returned to the app a day or two later, though, this glitch was gone.
Should You Buy the SoundPEATS Air5 Wireless Earbuds?
Whether you’re a casual listener or a discerning audiophile, I wouldn’t recommend the SoundPEATS Air5 Wireless Earbuds. Yes, Snapdragon and aptX Adaptive support is nice, but I can’t foresee these hi-res settings pushing past the narrow soundstage the Air5 buds were confined to.
I also think the Air5 buds are overpriced, especially since I’ve tested earbuds that cost much less and sounded far better.
SoundPEATS Air5 Wireless Earbuds
The SoundPEATS Air5 Wireless Earbuds run on Bluetooth 5.4 and support the aptX Adaptive, AAC, and SBC codecs.
