Introduction

If you do a search on ‘best TWS under $100’ anywhere from the earbuds subreddit to LLMs to random Android Authority-style regurgitated pieces written by people who clearly know more about how to write effective sponsored articles than testing earbuds , you’ll probably stumble upon the Earfun Air Pro 4 - the predecessor to the 4+ - which deserved their acclaim almost as the de facto budget alternative to the Apple Airpods Pro. That Earfun achieved such popularity despite a brand name that I’ve seen many turn their noses up at, is even more of a testament to the quality of product they brought to the market.

I was one of those impressed (with caveats) with the Air Pro 4, but my relationship with Earfun hasn’t always been that way. If you watched my Air Pro 3 review, you’ll note my tone on that model was quite dismissive - the sound was way overcooked in the bass, the distortion numbers were disappointing and the ANC fell behind many of its competitors. Transparency mode was stuffy, they sucked for calls, there were spelling mistakes on the box, and summarily I was convinced the positive reviews had to be paid!

Before the release of the Air Pro 4, Earfun got in contact with me and asked me why I didn’t like them. To say I was surprised is an understatement, as we’d had no prior contact (I bought the Air Pro 3 out of my own pocket, as is the case with many brands I review). This professional exchange was commendable - there was no drama and no demand to change my review, and to Earfun’s credit, pretty much everything I fed back to them was upgraded in its subsequent release. Earfun have maintained that relationship since, even sending beta products out for feedback before they decided which markets to launch them in. They are one of the brands I really enjoy dealing with, one of the few that take note of and act upon constructive criticism. By all accounts my experience with them isn’t unique, with lots of positive feedback about their customer-focused approach.

The Air Pro 4+ (4+, 4 Plus, however you wanna refer to it) is positioned alongside, slightly above the 4 - with the “Plus” designation following the industry trend of offering enhanced versions with additional drivers, promising improved audio quality whilst maintaining the value proposition that made the standard versions popular. At around $100, the Air Pro 4+ competes directly in the crowded sub-$100 segment, where marginal improvements can really make or break a product.

The Air Pro 4 had its strengths - particularly its Harman-hugging tuning which sorted out the mess of the Air Pro 3 - but still struggled with call quality (later improved through firmware updates) and had a small rounded nozzle that gave a deeper, sometimes uncomfortable fit with notable occlusion effects particularly when using them in transparency mode. The AI algorithm handling call noise reduction was overly-aggressive, too, still leaving Earfun plenty of areas to remedy. The question of whether the Plus version addresses these shortcomings whilst successfully integrating a second driver - something Earfun had only done previously in headphone form with the Wave Pro (and not especially effectively) is more-or-less answered positively, but whether those improvements are enough to capture your purchase isn’t quite a shoe-in - read on for my thoughts, and hopefully by the end, you’ll be in a better position to judge for yourself.

Design, Fit and Comfort

It’s business as usual when it comes to the aesthetics of the Air Pro 4+, with a familiar look of subtlety, only really tweaking the tone to a warmer, more business-like look. These are medium-length stem-based buds that feature a ring at the top of the stem to designate the touch control area, and a little branding underneath. Evolution rather than revolution. Touch control sensitivity is good, by the way, with minimal accidental touches.

Whilst not looking a great deal different, Earfun have gone for a full-on redesign principle with the bit that matters most on the Air Pro 4 Plus - the bit that goes in your lug hole. The oval nozzle replaces the smaller rounded nozzle of the original, fundamentally changing the fit characteristics. This is a big change for Earfun in particular, whose smaller rounded nozzle on the Air Pro 4 gave a deeper and sometimes more uncomfortable fit.

For me, not only was the new design more comfortable, but it alleviated somewhat the occlusion effect that was overbearing on the Air Pro 4. The oval nozzle provides a shallower, more universal fit that should accommodate a wider range of ear shapes and sizes. Basically, they’ve followed the rest of the the industry, opting to go with Apple’s lead rather than sticking with the IEM-style fit of their previous releases. And as always with subjective elements like these, your mileage may vary - everyone’s ear shape, size and anatomy is slightly different, so what works for one may not work for others, but the fact Apple made that change often tells you all you need to know. Still, there’s a hint of occlusion still there when talking with transparency mode on, something I suspect will depend on even more of a redesign in terms of venting to eradicate altogether on future iterations.

Personally, I found the Air Pro 4+ comfortable - better, in a way, than the likes of OnePlus Buds 4, which are initially lightweight but would cause a little ache after a while, but not as comfortable as SoundPEATS’ AirX Pro series. The eartips are made from a curious, sticky material that added stability during exercise testing, and whilst I could feel them at times in my ears, they were still a good gym companion overall, passing the 100 jumping jacks test without issue and offering an industry-standard IP55 rating provides adequate water and dust protection.

My partner, on the other hand, has smaller ears and felt a little bit of ear pressure, notably with ANC on. I guess this comes back to your propensity for these things, and is one of the frustrations us reviewers have because everyone’s experience when it comes to fit - something that makes or breaks your experience with them - differs somewhat. If I had to hedge my bets, I’d say these are better suited to adult males of a certain age than teenagers or females, but this is of course a sweeping generalisation so don’t take that as gospel!

The Case

The case is another element that has enjoyed a redesign, with a new orientation that improves both function and aesthetics compared to the original. The earbuds ‘front-load’ - and it isn’t always easy to get them in and out - but you can pop the case in front of you on the desk and see the buds as you’re pairing.

The case LED and Earfun logo are prominent, although not garishly so. It’s a simplistic design that just works. After a fair amount of time in my pocket during testing, the plastic hasn’t scratched up too much like it did on the Air 2 NC, but it isn’t going to win any prizes at the ‘TWS Battery Charging Case Beauty Pageant 2025’ that’s for sure. Still, for those of us who couldn’t care less about such trivialities, it gets the job done.

When it comes to portability, the case is pretty compact - a big improvement over the 4, but it doesn’t feel as robust as some competitors - Realme, for example, with their Air 7 Pro. It’s still plastic and there’s a bit of machine tolerance on the edges. Still, it will fit in your pocket and not weigh you down, meaning a tick in the box for ‘improved case’ is there over the original.

The case supports wireless charging, adding a bit of convenience for those who like a clean desk. It also includes quick charge capability, giving you 3 hours of playtime from just 10 minutes plugged in - two features that are not always included, but are always welcome.

Controls & Features

When it comes to controls, Earfun allow you to change pretty much everything, and in a logical and easy-to-read layout. They have also now added a ‘mute call’ option - something I’ve only seen previously with the Technics AZxxx series. This is really handy - a new addition for Earfun, and once again evidence they listen to feedback from users, particularly those selecting these for their daily work of Teams or Zoom calls. This degree of customization extends throughout the feature set - pragmatic, useful and straightforward. The app is hardly the flashiest out there, but it more than makes up for it with its ease-of-use and simplicity.

Earfun have bundled in loads of extra features, some of which are actually really useful, like the ability to re-balance your channels based on your own hearing, which also accounts for any degredations in the product over time, given that an unfortunate side effect of sticking things in your ears, gravity and the human body’s propensity to sweat and expel ear wax making that loss of power in at least one of your earbuds an unavoidable eventuality regardless of brand. There’s a hearing limit as well, which is OK, although as usual I ignored it and cracked on with my own manual settings, as well as the ability to customise which side the mic is on. You’ve got lots of control over in ear detection, and there’s also the fabled Auracast support - a technology that sadly hasn’t really taken off yet, certainly here in the UK, preventing me from really putting that feature through its paces.

The Air Pro 4+ includes a device list for managing multipoint connectivity, making it straightforward to see what you’re connected to and switch between devices as needed. Toggling in the app doesn’t do the full step automatically - there’s still some manual intervention - but it tells you what to do, at least.

When it comes to latency, the Air Pro 4+ measures 234ms in normal mode, dropping to 113ms with gaming mode engaged. This is a bit higher than some competitors - in gaming mode, alternatives such as SoundPEATS Air5 Pro Plus and OnePlus Buds 4 clock in at 81ms and 65ms respectively - so if you’re a serious mobile gamer, this might be a consideration. Still, for videos and light gaming, it will satisfy the average user.

ANC & Transparency

There was a marked improvement in ANC performance from the Air Pro 4 to the Air Pro 4+. When tested using simulated ears and binaural microphones in both a subway and coffee shop environment, the improvement was certainly tangible - although I was keen to see how they measured when pumping pink noise through them to see if the objective matched the subjective - and essentially, it confirmed a mixture of my own experience and market feedback I’d seen from other users: better, but with caveats.

Looking at the measurements, in the lowest depths the 4+ has the advantage over the 4, but still only really offers moderate noise reduction for subway rumble and cabin noise. From 100 - 300Hz it’s a bit of a mixed bag, with the Air Pro 4 sometimes beating its successor in traffic or road noise. From 500Hz onwards, the 4+ mostly have an advantage - so you will notice an improvement in dealing with voices and indistinct chatter, although it falls behind something like OnePlus Buds 4 - one of the leaders in their price point, which offered almost 30dB noise reduction at 3KHz, compared with around 15 on the Plus and 10 on the regular 4. ANC performance, like all buds, differs depending on your seal. I got a really nice seal with the medium set of eartips, and this added passive isolation certainly augmented the experience, but for those who don’t, the shortcomings will definitely show.

Earfun gives you two AI modes - the environmental mode relieving ear pressure a bit, so if you are suffering - this is what to do. They also give you some manual adjustment to find that sweet spot as well. Their wind noise reduction mode is effective most of the time, too, although in strong gusts you will notice a little feedback, something all TWS struggle with to a degree.

When it comes to transparency mode, the Air Pro 4+ performs fairly well, giving you a good balance of intelligibility and naturalness. Unfortunately, it isn’t the huge improvement we were hoping for - it is still slightly weaker than some competitors. In conversations in particular, your own voice sounds a little bit muffled - it isn’t the heightened occlusion of the Air Pro 4, but it’s still not perfect. Environmental sounds come through clearly enough for most practical purposes, and there is a little layering of white noise at higher frequencies - keyboard taps, for example.

Audio & Sound Signature

As I mentioned in the intro, the raison’d’etre for the Plus release is the sound, with Earfun playing catchup with the competition in the driver willy-waving stakes, adding in a custom BA to open out the sound, something the 4 struggled a little with. The refined frequency response takes away some of that upper mid-range presence from the original Air Pro 4 and adds a little bit of sub-bass whilst not pushing the treble too much, and for me it is, for the most part, a winning formula. Earfun’s last two releases have focused the sound a little more Harman-esque, but the re-balancing of the tuning here gives the Air Pro 4+ a little more excitement, very much playing to the strengths of the drivers.

The bass is warm and fulsome, and there’s good depth to male vocals with only a little bleed from the lower frequencies into the lower mids. The low end is present and supportive without dominating, and a bit more balanced than the giving kick drums weight and electronic bass lines some substance without muddying up the mix. It isn’t the speediest bass, but it isn’t the slowest either - distortion stays well controlled through the bass and midrange - the driver handles low frequencies without obvious strain, and the vocal range is clean. Group delay peaks at around 1.7 milliseconds at 60 Hz and then flattens by 150 - a clear sign of a pretty well-damped bass tuning.

The ear gain through the 1-3kHz region is sensibly implemented, bringing vocals forward and adding clarity to acoustic instruments. The treble appears to roll off gently above this, erring on the smoother side of neutral. It’s - dare I say it - a sensible implementation that correlates to the driver type, quality and positioning. The consumer market seems to be heading in this direction, prioritising a comfy listen over exasperation and fatigue, although for me Earfun do it better than the darker approach that SoundPEATS have taken recently, out of the box, at least. Sibilance and harsh recordings are for the most part handled forgivingly, though absolute treble sparkle and air again take a back seat - it isn’t the widest horizontal sound field, and imaging is an improvement, but not super precise.

The measurements suggest pretty good coherency between the drivers - but not perfect. The spike at around 5KHz likely indicates phase wobble where the crossover sits - and whilst it’s a narrow spike, it’s still there. It will impact on timing interpretation around this region, with some hi-hats and cymbals sounding less tight, perhaps a little splashy, and detracting from the bite of trumpets and texture of violins. There’s also an occasional touch of sibilance on some vocals, although it does very much depend on the vocalist. For casual listening it’s likely a non-issue; for critical listening it’s a minor asterisk.

The only thing to bear in mind is the additional colouration from activating ANC, with a sizeable dollop of low-end thump and a more v-shaped sound overall. To some it may be preferable, adding weight and character, but for my liking it’s a bit overbaked. Bear this in mind when it comes to EQ, with Earfun giving you plenty of options to adjust the sound.

Call Quality

One area where the original Earfun Air Pro 4 struggled was with calls, although they did improve it slightly after a few firmware updates. The Air Pro 4+ continues to show improvement, though call performance still isn’t exceptional, and still falls short of some of their direct competition, like OnePlus and SoundPEATS. Whilst your voice is on the softer-side of natural, once again the algorithm is a bit too aggressive, so when the scene gets super-busy, you will lose a little definition and clarity. This was particularly evident in the coffee shop scene included in the YouTube video, where the Air Pro 4+ still struggles to distinguish your voice from others close by. If you’re looking for a set specifically for calls, Huawei’s FreeBuds Pro 4 is still the pick under $150 - with the Earfun, you’ll get by, but you might have to repeat yourself every so often.

Battery Life

Battery life is strong on the Air Pro 4+ - I measured 6 hours 19 minutes with ANC on using AAC, and there wasn’t much difference with aptX Adaptive, which is a big plus. With ANC off, battery life extends to around 9 hours - only a little short of Earfun’s advertised levels. Earfun still leads the way when it comes to giving you long listening sessions, and I didn’t notice too much degredation when you switch to aptX-adaptive. Obviously, the more settings you activate - gaming mode, multipoint and LDAC, for example, the more you’re going to eat into that total - my advice is stick with aptX-adaptive if your phone supports it. The quick charge feature also provides 3 hours of playtime from just 10 minutes of charging, offering solid convenience when you’re in a rush.

Summary

The Earfun Air Pro 4+ represents a successful evolution of the Air Pro 4, addressing key comfort issues through the redesigned oval nozzle whilst adding a custom balanced armature that enhances audio capability without sacrificing the Harman-target tuning that made the original appealing.

The improvements are tangible - better ANC performance, improved comfort with reduced occlusion, and enhanced treble detail from the dual driver implementation. The driver coherency is not perfect, but it’s very commendable for Earfun’s first hybrid attempt, with measurements showing well-controlled group delay and low harmonic distortion.

The comprehensive feature set stands out, with extensive control customization including rare options like mute call functionality and channel rebalancing. Proper LE audio and Auracast support, combined with good battery life, wireless charging, quick charge, and a device list for multipoint management, makes this feel like a well-rounded package that justifies picking this over the regular 4, even if it probably doesn’t do quite enough to justify an upgrade for existing users.

Earfun still have a few things they need to improve to become the de facto choice. The notable EQ shift when switching ANC on remains problematic, thickening the note weight and moving away from that desirable Harman tuning. It suggests Earfun are struggling with balancing strong ANC with the colouration impact on the sound, and are holding back a little while they work this out. Call performance still lags behind some of their close competitors, and transparency mode is better, but again not price-category-leading. The gaming mode latency at 113ms, while acceptable for casual use, also falls behind competitors clocking in at 65-81ms.

Where the Air Pro 4+ makes sense is for those in countries where buying from AliExpress introduces taxes or tariffs that make buying from there cost-prohibitive. Earfun’s presence on Amazon (and their excellent return policy for earbuds) makes buying their products relatively pain-free. With regular reductions in price taking them to some way lower than OnePlus’ Buds 4 - probably the most balanced all-rounder in their price bracket - they are a compelling option for many. As far as value for money goes, Earfun are still a contender, and with their commitment to improving products through firmware updates for the duration of the product lifecycle, you can definitely do a lot worse.

Introduction

QCY dominated many of my early reviews with a string of budget releases along their journey from busy OEM to where they are today - a consistent presence in the budget TWS market that is more than capable of standing on their own two feet. They’ve gone from ‘cheap and acceptable’ with releases like the T1 and T5 to feature-rich products at aggressive price points like the HT08 and HT10, and with this release, the next logical step for QCY was to improve the sound, since for me, it had taken a step backwards slightly from their excellent LCP driver release, the HT05.

The N70 is their latest flagship, and they’ve continued the theme of packing the buds full of features, but have also chosen to pair a MEMS driver with a dynamic driver, aiming to improve those grainy trebles on the MeloBuds Pro and give you more precision and faster transients to boot. The N70 is positioned slightly above the N60 - the single driver version, that aligns closest to the HT08 MeloBuds Pro, but I’m not going to review that model because we are all about moving forward not standing still!

The N70 retail at around £35, which even before we dive into the nitty gritty is eye-wateringly good value for a set with a MEMS driver and wireless charging. The N70 competes directly with not only other MEMS options like Creative’s Aurvana series, SoundPEATS’ Capsule3 Pro and forthcoming Air5 Pro+, but other dual-driver alternatives such as Moondrop’s planar-equipped Golden Ages 2, Realme’s Buds Air 7 Pro and OnePlus Buds 4, and it certainly holds it own. That said, the decision over whether it should be a guaranteed purchase is a little more nuanced - the sound has certainly improved, ANC and transparency have (with the right fit) also upped a notch, and whilst QCY have improved the packaging and added some flagship features like Google Fastpair support, there’s still a rather agricultural feel to their app that will put some buyers off. Hopefully by the end of this review, you’ll be in a better position to decide whether those cut-corners that inevitably come with a low price tag are emphatic enough to put you off or send you straight to AliExpress with your reddies at the ready.

Design, Fit and Comfort

The N70 are an unremarkable looking short, stem-based TWS that differ somewhat from the MeloBuds Pro in terms of both fit and design. As with seemingly most stem-based offerings these days, the rounded shoulder approach of Apple’s AirPods Pro is out-of-fashion, with brands favouring a more angular finish at the top, presumably to accommodate logical separation for the touch controls and squeeze in feedback microphones to augment calls and ANC. It’s only a subtle difference in the case of the N70, balancing practicality and looks fairly well compared to something like Moondrop’s Golden Ages 2, which stick out a little too much at the top.

The finish of the buds - glossy on the outer edge - means they are - in a similar vein to their lookalike the Redmi Buds 6 Pro - a bit of a fingerprint magnet. The medium-sized oval nozzles - again something of a trend among stem-based earbud designs - ensure a fairly secure albeit shallow fit. Whilst they passed the 100 jumping jacks test without any issues, their over-reliance on the thicker eartips to provide the traction in the ear would sometimes result in the buds thinking they were not seated, and as a result de-activating Active Noise Cancellation, before the adaptive mode realised and then kicked back in. I’ve seen a few moans about the ANC not being effective - and I suspect this is why, because when the buds are properly seated and an effective seal is present, they cancel more noise than their predecessor.

The N70 strike a decent balance between comfort and stability, albeit with a caveat. I put them through the 100 jumping jacks test and they managed to get to 100 - just - although as sometimes happens with this sort of TWS, this was achieved by ‘sizing down’ from the eartip that gave me optimal ANC performance. This again comes back to the design brief of using thicker eartips to provide the traction - it gives the best seal for ANC, but not necessarily the best fit for exercise. If you find yourself in the same position, well, at least you know what to do! They’re IPX5 btw - again great to see QCY certifying their sets, something they didn’t do with past releases, giving you a little more peace of mind when you’re caught in yet another UK winter rainstorm.

The Case

The immediate and most striking observation about the N70 is the massive improvement in the charge case - both in practicality and build quality - over their previous releases. In contrast to the MeloBuds Pro, the N70 no longer feels like a toy, and is compact and robust, belying the lowly price tag.

The finish has stood the test of time, with virtually no scratches or scuffs after a month or so of rigorous use and testing. The finish to the back of the case in particular is a big improvement over previous QCY offerings, with better attention to detail around the hinge and logo. Unlike previous efforts, the magnetic force around said hinge means it won’t fly shut when you open it in the wind.

A big upgrade is the option of wireless charging, which takes a little longer than wired, but is a convenience that should only be celebrated, especially at this price. Few of QCY’s competitors are giving you this in their similarly-priced offerings.

I mentioned in the cons section above that the layout of the case is slightly counter-intuitive, with the stems standing back-to-back and the tips facing outwards. I guess this is a subjective observation because it will depend on what you’re used to, but I’ve seen it mentioned by a few users so it felt worthy of mention. The space on the outside is limited, meaning third party eartips may not fit - a shame, because as we’ve established, there’s a fairly good chance you’ll need them.

Audio & Sound Signature

You don’t need to be an audiophile with an intimate understanding of FR to understand what QCY were trying to do with the sound here. It’s a typical QCY-tuning - forget about neutrality and reference-style presentations, the N70 exhibit your archetypal v-shape consumer-style sound with a sub- and mid-bass elevation, some way above the Harman target, before tucking the lower midrange to try (unsuccessfully!) to minimise bleed, with a fairly flat midrange up to the presence region where we see vocals brought forward to balance the boom, before some treble extension flexes the MEMS driver to add that fully-expected extra shimmer. This sound profile should come as no surprise to past QCY buyers, because it’s only really a very minor variation on what they’ve done previously, and whilst it fixes one problem the MeloBuds Pro had, it introduces another, and will probably require you to tweak the sound slightly to get the desired effect.

The treble is definitely more detailed and represents a big step forward from the MeloBuds Pro, removing some of the metallic-ism and artifacts that were quite easy to hear. If you’re not used to MEMS drivers, though, this change in timbre can be a little disconcerting, or at least require some internal self-regulation - in other words, you might need to get used to it for a bit as it will sound a tad, well, different. And whilst I get the design brief - that QCY boosted the bass to offset the extra treble to balance the sound out a bit - the result exposes a fundamental challenge with hybrid driver configurations where speed and character differ between drivers - and to the discerning ear, unfortunately this will take centre stage over power and precision. The MEMS driver, being solid-state in its origin, responds almost instantaneously to transient signals with minimal overhang, meanwhile, the dynamic driver handling the bass has physical mass that needs to move back and forth, creating inherent inertia. This means bass notes linger slightly longer than they should, with a bit of bloom and decay that extends beyond the initial attack.

When you’ve got trebles that snap into place with precision while the bass is still settling from the previous note, the result is a low-end that feels a step behind - not always a problem, but it can leave the different frequency ranges sounding a little disattached, almost like the whole band isn’t quite playing in the same room together, and we can actually observe this in the Group Delay and THD metrics.

Below the sub-bass, group delay remains mostly well-behaved, but you do see a small rise in the 60–120 Hz region that hints at the dynamic driver’s inertia — not enough to be sloppy, but enough that the leading edge of bass notes softens compared to the razor-sharp behaviour of the xMEMS tweeter. It’s subtle, but once you hear that split-second difference in “settle time”, you can’t un-hear it.

Then, as we move back up through the 2–4 kHz crossover zone, the measurements expose the other side of the hybrid compromise: the drivers simply aren’t perfectly time-aligned. The xMEMS unit jumps ahead — as it naturally does — while the DD is still completing its decay from the previous transient. The Group Delay plot shows this as a few milliseconds of mismatch, and the THD trace reveals a cluster of midrange harmonic artefacts that wouldn’t be there if the drivers were locking together seamlessly.

None of this is catastrophic — the N70 isn’t smearing, and it’s not distorting in a way that becomes harsh or fatiguing. But it does create a kind of “phase texture” across the mids that gives instruments a slightly sculpted, almost hyper-separated character. It’s not unpleasant; in fact, for some listeners it’ll sound exciting. But compared with more cohesive sets like the H3 or Golden Ages 2, where the drivers act more as a single assembled acoustic unit, the N70’s hybrid crossover is definitely the part that breaks the illusion.

In short: the N70 delivers great treble definition and an undeniably modern sense of clarity — but the trade-off is that the bass and treble don’t always land at the same time, and your ear can occasionally sense that gap.

This alignment issue is something I don’t really want to dwell on for the entirety of the review, because for many users they won’t notice nor care, and will probably welcome the boom if my observations on audio hangouts like the earbuds subreddit are anything to go by, but if you are in the camp that is left slightly dissatisfied, thankfully it doesn’t take too much tinkering to get the most out of this effective budget setup, although in truth I had more success using Wavelet for this because whilst the QCY app is feature-rich, it seems to do things to the sound that it isn’t showing you, to the point I pretty much gave up on it.

Focus should be on trimming that thunderous lower frequency presentation that overawes instruments and vocals, and making adjustments at 2kHz, 8kHz and beyond. I’ve shared my initial EQ and perhaps you could use this as a starting point. Much of this section has focused on what the sound of the N70 doesn’t do, but after making these quite subtle adjustments, you reveal a horizontal presentation and sharper imaging that is clearly a leap from the constrained sound of its predecessor, obviating the timing issues to deliver a fun, energetic sound that is bigger on macrodynamics than microdetail - a Saturday night set, but probably one to leave alone on Sunday mornings.

It sees the N70 take pride of place as the best performing in its’ price category in my Audio League Table, scoring similarly to more expensive contemporaries, including OnePlus Buds 4, Realme Buds Air 7 Pro and SoundPEATS’ Air5 Pro, although it’s probably worthy of one final mention that they require a little more customisation than those aforementioned options to really get the best out of them - basically, you’re saving money for possibly even better sound, but you’ll likely have to work a bit for it. Note - the N70 do offer a ‘spatial sound’ setting, adding a bit of reverb without any head-tracking or other such gimmicks. For me, unless you’ve got a great implementation of this, it’s better to leave it offer, but as always, YMMV.

Controls & Features

If you’re someone who values features and functions, well QCY have them in abundance, although the delivery of these features can lack finesse, to say the least, with their app still looking a little Windows XP-like.

The control customisation is practically limitless, allowing you volume control with a single tap. It’s touch controls as opposed to physical buttons, but they are fairly straightforward to use and I didn’t struggle too much with accidental touches. There’s a ‘find my’ device feature, which although I’m not exactly thrilled at the prospect of sharing my constant location data with an app which looks like it was thrown together pre-vibe coding. Still, if remembering what you’ve done with the your earbuds is of paramount importance, the option is there, and there’s loads of other nice little features like channel re-balancing (if your hearing is better in one ear, for example), setting disconnection and power-off timers (for those who use their earbuds to drift off to sleep - note, the shape doesn’t make these particularly useful for side-sleepers) and the ability to adjust the beep volume and update firmware, although in their latest release, trying to do this causes the app to crash on all of the Android devices I tested it on.

There’s also fit detection, wear detection and wind noise detection. The first of these options tells you whether you’ve got a good deal, the second allows you to macro certain actions (remove an earbud and sound will pause, pause and resume when reinserted or neither, for example, or switch off ANC). The final one - search me - I’ve not seen this through QCY previously, and when testing in the wind I didn’t notice any real discernible differences.

The N70 are, I believe, the first QCY set to support Google Fast Pair integration, so within Android settings you can easily and quickly see how much battery is remaining and switch between your different active noise cancellation modes. This gives you some basic functionality without the travails of using or installing the app - which you may well come to appreciate given its beta-nature and array of unnecessary permissions.

The N70 offers multi-point connectivity and gaming mode. When it comes to latency, the N70 actually does pretty well, even with gaming mode switched off, registering 157ms and dropping down to 66ms with gaming mode activated. This is more than satisfactory for light gaming and streaming videos, and doesn’t impact too much on battery life. I got over 7 hours at moderate volume with ANC off, which is credible and in line with, if not better, than the majority of QCY’s direct competition.

On the other hand, taking advantage of hi-res codecs - i.e. LDAC unfortunately does, with ANC and LDAC almost halving single use playtime. I got around 5.5 hours with ANC only, but this dropped to just over 4 with both activated - for the negligible improvement you get in sound, personally I’d stick to AAC, as tempting as it might be to take advantage of what you may perceive to be the latest and greatest in technology advances. As I’ve reiterated many times - in my days as a DJ and producer, we would render our productions late on a Friday or Saturday before leaving for our gigs in 320k mp3 rather than waiting around for wav files to complete, and only we would be able to tell the difference. That was invariably on clear and powerful funktion-one sound systems, not tiny earbuds with tiny drivers. Don’t believe the hype - there’s a reason vendors are quick to promote LDAC over the drivers and their composition/placement or sound quality metrics - it’s easy to implement and even easier to fool people who are used to purchasing by spec sheet.

One of the drawbacks with sets with more complex driver arrangements is they are typically more power hungry, which directly impacts battery life. Even switching ANC on and turning the volume up had a massive impact on single use playtime. QCY gives you extra personalisation in the form of a hearing test - the first time I’ve used it with QCY buds - but it was incredibly clunky and didn’t give me particularly good results. Like most hearing tests, you need to be in a very quiet room, and will then spend the next few minutes tapping away at your phone screen when certain frequencies finally become audible. The best example I’ve seen of this is the Mimi personalisation that Creative and Nothing use with their earbuds - unfortunately, QCY are a million miles from this, but still, the option is there if you want it.

With ANC off and AAC, and using the H3 at a low volume, I could just about get over 5 hours playtime, but with ANC on it dropped to 3 hours 45 even on AAC. It’s not unusual for this kind of driver setup to be power-hungry, but for users who value long uninterrupted listening sessions, even the quick charge feature of 2 hours extra juice from 10 minutes in the case might not be enough to save the H3.

ANC & Transparency

As you’ll be aware, I ignore claims about xdB noise reduction on marketing briefs, and instead do some varied ANC tests, including recording what the simulated ears hear on a subway and in a coffee shop (which is inlcuded in the YouTube version of this review), but also setting the ears up to deliver the above graph which is generated thanks to a blast of pink noise at the same angle and volume for each earbud I test. You can now actually compare the ANC performance of all of the buds I review using my own bespoke ‘ANC Tool’ (accessible using the menu at the top of this site) - give it a try!

The grey line on the graph shows the “raw” noise floor — what the mic hears with nothing in the ear. The N70 (yellow) and MeloBuds Pro (green) sit below that line by varying degrees across the spectrum, and that gap is essentially the whole story.

The MeloBuds Pro have the edge at the very bottom end, taking out more of the 20–45Hz sub-bass rumble that you get from buses, tube trains and building vibration. They also sit slightly lower than the N70 through much of the 80–250Hz band and again between 250–550Hz, which covers broadband hum, room resonance and the lower portion of environmental clutter. They reassert their advantage again in the 1.5–3kHz region, knocking a little more energy out of upper-mid harmonics and certain speech consonants.

The N70, meanwhile, take control in the regions people actually perceive as noise on a day-to-day basis. They outperform the MeloBuds from 45–80Hz — one of the most important bands for road noise and engine resonance — and then deliver a decisive win across 550Hz to 1.5kHz, a range that covers HVAC roar, traffic wash, café noise and the fundamental “body” of human speech. Above 3kHz the two sets trade blows without a consistent winner, and neither earbud attempts heavy cancellation up there anyway. In practice, the N70 tend to feel quieter in day-to-day use, while the MeloBuds Pro blunt the lowest bass and some higher speech harmonics a touch more effectively.

In short:

If you’re dealing with urban noise, commuting, cafés or supermarkets, the N70 can feel meaningfully quieter. If you mainly want to blunt deep engine resonance on buses or trains, the MeloBuds Pro still hold a tiny advantage. But taken as a whole, the N70 represent the stronger, more balanced ANC system, provided that fit is optimised - and it’s a big if.

Transparency performance between the two is a bit mixed, but the N70 generally have the more natural presentation. Up to around 175Hz, the N70 track the baseline more closely, letting in low-frequency ambience without over-inflating it. Past that point they introduce a touch of extra energy — most noticeably between 500Hz and 900Hz — which gives the environment a slightly lifted midrange, but not enough to sound artificial.

The MeloBuds Pro, by contrast, add noticeably more low-end and lower-mid noise up to around 300Hz, making outside ambience feel thicker and less realistic. They settle down between 300Hz and ~900Hz, where both sets run fairly close, but above that you start to see the two models trade places. The MeloBuds Pro pull ahead slightly from 2–4kHz, giving sharper definition to speech and transient detail, then lose that advantage between 4–5kHz, before coming back on top again between 5–7kHz. Beyond that, both behave similarly.

In practice, though, the N70 tend to sound the more believable of the two: less low-mid bloom, fewer tonal artefacts, and a smoother overall presentation. The MeloBuds Pro let in more information in places, but with a colouration that reminds you you’re listening through microphones, not your own ears.

Neither model is aiming for AirPods-level transparency, but the N70 are far more believable. They simply sound less processed, which, in a feature designed to be invisible, is exactly what you want.

Some other notes - you can switch ANC modes during calls (using the app) but unfortunately there’s still no ANC in single-bud mode. QCY offer a bunch of different manual modes, although I found adaptive to give the best results, despite sometimes lagging a little in its recognition of how and when to switch. Transparency offers six manual levels, with levels 5 and 6 far less natural sounding with plenty of white noise at the cost of hearing more. The level we tested in the graph is the default - level 4. The N70, like most budget buds, will ‘pop’ a little when you get sudden sharp sounds, such as dropping cutlery in a cutlery tray, although it isn’t as invasive as something like Earfun’s Air Pro 4.

Call Quality

You’d have a hard time separating the MeloBuds Pro and N70 when it comes to mic performance - in fact, I’d say it’s probably using the exact same mics in the same setup, as both sets punch above their weight, striking a good balance of environmental noise reduction and voice clarity. In my coffee shop tests, some background noise could be detected, notably the sound of the steamer wand and, albeit very muffled, a little indistinct chatter. Outdoors, however, QCY have got the ingredients tasting just right, with traffic noise and even light breezes effectively blotted out.

At the price, I haven’t found anything that competes with QCY for calls given we have pretty much accepted that mics have hit a ceiling when it comes to noise reduction. The only way to effectively improve on this is using bone conduction voice mics like Huawei and Samsung do, or using some post-noise-processing like Apple do within iOS. It isn’t the cleanest nor most authoritative representation of your voice, and it won’t remove everything from the scene like the FreeBuds Pro 4 do, but for the majority of users the majority of the time, it will allow you to make and take calls without having to repeat yourself over and over, just be sure to understand the constraints within this budget segment.

Summary

Kudos has to be given to QCY for once again not only improving on their previous best efforts, but cramming in features and functions and delivering all of this at a very competitive price. Don’t pay the Amazon price - QCY are routintely on offer through AliExpress and the approx. $45 price tag is pretty remarkable given everything you’re getting here.

The sound is, after some tweaking, good enough - just be mindful of the driver drawbacks and how you like your music to sound, and building on the tweaks I’ve shown above will get you to where you need to be. The N70 does all the basics well too - ANC, transparency and calls all deliver, and the latency is good enough for casual gaming.

To see improvements across the board, you have to pay quite a bit more for products like OnePlus’ Buds 4 - if you’re on a budget, once again QCY are to the rescue. The N70 is a better choice than the MeloBuds Pro, better than anything Soundcore or SoundPEATS have at a similar price, and probably not only the best pick under $50, but worth saving for if your budget comes in a bit lower.

Introduction

The H3 is an ambitious, triple-driver TWS that fuses two SoundPEATS product sets, hoping that the sum is greater than the parts. The H series has seen two previous iterations, the H1 and H2 - both multi-driver sets, both fun-sounding, the former with a big old subbass and wider-than-average soundstage. The Opera series encapsulated two balanced armatures and 1×DD, albeit at the cost of real-estate (they were massive). The H3 takes the driver arrangement concept from the Opera05 and puts it in a shell similar to the H1, thankfully much more practical.

The goal for SoundPEATS with this release is clear: add some extra detail to that fun SoundPEATS house sound and deliver a technical performance that punches above its price point. This isn’t going to be an all-rounder set like the Air5 Pro, for example. But as we’ve learned from countless audio products over the years, simply cramming more drivers into a shell doesn’t automatically translate to better sound. Driver quality, coherency between those drivers, and tuning execution all play crucial roles in the final result.

At its price point, the H3 would have to go some way to justify the extra expense over strong competition from innovative alternatives like the QCY N70 with its MEMS driver implementation and Moondrop’s planar-equipped Golden Ages 2, not to mention the sets vying for your purchase at the same price point or just above, or even the sets they are really aiming to challenge from high-end audio brands like Noble and perhaps even Geekfly. And as usual, the answer isn’t clear cut, but the H3 will definitely appeal to some, maybe even many, with a solid delivery from SoundPEATS that is worthy of consideration without quite knocking it out of the park.

Design, Fit and Comfort

The H3 is thankfully more ‘H1’ than ‘Opera’ in its fit and appearance, giving a nod and a wink to a custom IEM, reminding us that this release is all about the sound.

The H3 features a plastic, semi-transparent shell with a fetching gold faceplate displaying the SoundPEATS logo across the edge. The internals are visible in the side that faces your skin, and whilst it isn’t quite premium in its approach, it’s functional and attractive.

This design results in a deeper insertion profile than typical stem-based TWS, which brings both advantages and compromises: with the right eartips (such as the Dunu S&S tips pictured above, which do also fit in the case) you can experience excellent passive isolation, although the slightly-larger-than-average nozzle means it can feel a little uncomfortable for smaller ears, at least with the shallower stock tips, especially if your ear canals are on the narrower side. It’s not as comfortable as, for example, Geekly’s Vitas, which uses a similar design brief.

The shell, whilst smaller in footprint than the Opera series, is still a bit chunky - not altogether unexpected given the requirement for multiple drivers, battery, board, chipset, mics, etc. In my average-sized-ears they stick out a little, but they stay in place pretty securely.

More rigorous stability testing showed strong results, passing the 100 jumping jacks test without issue and remaining secure even with aggressive head shaking, chewing, talking, etc. The IPX5 rating makes them suitable for gym use and outdoor activities in light rain, but I wouldn’t go running with them due to the weight displacement and occlusion that is inevitable from these deeper-fitting sets.

The Case

The case is big, bold and a bit of a mixed bag. It’s roomy enough to fit pretty much any third party eartips - a huge bonus - but it’s probably a bit too big to fit comfortably in your jeans pocket. There are some areas that represent attention to detail, such as the leather effect inner-edge and Soundpeats slogan across the centre, but some areas that remind you this is a budget brand working with OEM suppliers for elements of the design.

Here you can see an example of evident ‘machine tolerance’ in some of the joins and edges. It’s hardly a deal-breaker, but is one of the compromises you get compared to the Sony’s and Samsung’s of this world, who do the whole design and build in-house. It doesn’t feel the most robust case in the world either, and has already scratched up pretty quickly.

Overall, it’s a functional rather than impressive case, lacking elegance and support for wireless charging, but getting the job done.

Audio & Sound Signature

Whilst it’s pretty clear what SoundPEATS are going for in terms of the H series target curve, an iterative approach to refining the sound is evident when you look at the transition from H1 to H3. The H3, like the Air5 Pro and Pro Plus, adopts SoundPEATS new take on their ‘Classic’ house sound - the big low-end and mid-bass emphasis of the previous two versions has been reigned in somewhat, whilst the less-offensive treble has been retained, with some minor adjustment. SoundPEATS has tried to trim a little brightness from the upper midrange too to give it a more ‘hifi-style’ profile, and it definitely achieves that, but I’d argue the changes from the H2 actually harm the sound more than improving it, with vocals often sounding a bit honky and nasal. Tonally, it sounds better, but in terms of actual enjoyment, I feel like it needs quite a bit of adjustment to show off the H3’s full capabilities.

I made some slight changes to the sound in the SoundPEATS app, although the adjustments don’t do as much to the FR as you might expect. Ignoring the 8kHz resonance peak, even the mild bass adjustments don’t seem to do much, but this EQ at least made the H3 a little more palatable. I’ll update the review with a better EQ once I’ve had a proper chance to tune them to my liking, probably with Wavelet as PEATS Audio is a bit limited.

The travails with the default sound aside, there are plenty of positives. The triple driver setup (two Bellsing balanced armatures plus a 12mm custom polymer dynamic driver) delivers much better coherency than their last stab at this, the Opera05. Group delay measurements confirm the perceived strong phase response and driver integration, and the imaging precision is easily SoundPEATS’ best achievement yet, with an almost holographic stage presentation (by TWS standards) and accurate instrument separation and spatial cues. Harmonic distortion is well controlled, particularly in the upper registers where it drops as low as 0.06% at 90dB. This level of performance is usually reserved for sets upwards of £150 and is testament to the ambition and delivery of such a project, which only succeeds when you’ve made the mistakes previously to learn from.

Whilst the macrodetail and dynamics, after a little EQ adjustment, deliver emphatically, critical listening will reveal a slight shortcoming in microdetail, with vocals sometimes sounding a little ‘smoothed over’ when you have more complex layering. The staging is impressive and the dynamics are good, but if you switch to something like the Vitas soon after, the gulf in class is very evident.

SoundPEATS are trying to straddle the line between ‘fun’ and ‘audiophile’, so this can be forgiven to a degree, and it’s kudos to them that they’ve attempted to squeeze this level of audio engineering from a bud that also does ANC and calls pretty well. But if you’re expecting a detail monster, you might be left wanting a little, and whilst the tonality is good by triple driver standards, it lacks the organic charm of even something like Moondrop’s Golden Ages 2, a set that combines a tuning and Planar driver selection that meshes meticulously. I’ve seen some comments that the H3 could rival the high-end hybrids like the Rex5, ZX1 and the aforementioned Vitas….in reality, it falls short, not just in tonality and micro detail, but in the bass too, which is a bit pillowy compared to the Vitas, for example, which purrs by comparison, flexing layer after layer and exuding textured resonance. The H3 is kinda in the middle - a step up from standard dual-driver TWS offerings that cram in a BA for spec-sheet top trumps, but never really troubling the big hitters.

It’s worth noting, that with ANC off, the bass falls off the chart quite dramatically, so bear this in mind when you’re eq’ing.

Controls & Features

Despite using Qualcomm’s newest chipset, the QCC3091, the only ‘bit’ that SoundPEATS really take advantage of is the improved throughput. The H3 comes with a wide selection of codecs, including AptX-Lossless, LDAC and AptX-adaptive, and for those with young and uncoloured hearing, you might even notice the barely incremental differences between them, but when it comes to features and functions, the H3 is probably deliberately a bit threadbare.

Notable omissions include wear detection sensors, wind noise reduction modes, and a device list within the app for managing multipoint connections. For a product positioning itself as a premium budget option from a brand typically offering all-rounders, these omissions do feel like missed opportunities, because good audio a bit cheaper than the big guys probably isn’t enough of a differentiator - for SoundPEATS, they really have to do audio really well and a bit of everything else too, not just the basics. The hearing test feature lacks the shine of the Mimi equivalent that we’ve seen included with many brand’s apps, from Nothing to Creative. It’s clunky and produced inconsistent results, at least for me, and whilst many might see Spatial Audio as a bit of a gimmick, more and more releases now have it with decent implementations even in budget offerings from the likes of Realme, QCY and Moondrop.

SoundPEATS have always given us a default control scheme that makes sense, including single tap for volume control, but there’s also lots of customisation options through their Peats audio app. There’s also a low-latency mode, which drops latency from around 216ms to approx. 83ms, although when using LDAC, both gaming mode and multipoint connectivity are disabled, forcing you to choose, to a degree, between optimizing audio and functionality. In all honesty, you’ll probably want to stick with AAC anyway because of the hit battery life takes, and because, as I said previously, the differences between codecs are barely noticeable on earbuds - akin to discerning between SD and HD video on a postage stamp.

With ANC off and AAC, and using the H3 at a low volume, I could just about get over 5 hours playtime, but with ANC on it dropped to 3 hours 45 even on AAC. It’s not unusual for this kind of driver setup to be power-hungry, but for users who value long uninterrupted listening sessions, even the quick charge feature of 2 hours extra juice from 10 minutes in the case might not be enough to save the H3.

ANC & Transparency

The H3 delivers consistent, mid-tier ANC performance that benefits from the deeper fit and resulting passive isolation compared to previous SoundPEATS offerings. In real-world testing across busy coffee shops and subway environments, it performs adequately without reaching the heights of stronger performers like the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC or Realme Buds Air 7 Pro, which cut more low end rumble from typical outdoor scenes.

The Air5 Pro and Pro Plus are SoundPEATS’ own yardstick, and they don’t fall too far short, sometimes even outperforming them. For the deep, rumbling drone you get on aircraft or the tube, the H3 actually does a better job of taking the edge off. Both struggle with that slightly higher bass rumble - neither will silence a bus engine idling next to you for example - but through the frequencies where everyday background noise lives (think air conditioning hum, distant traffic, the general murmur of a busy coffee shop), the H3 maintains a slight but consistent advantage.

Where the Air5 Pro Plus (and other more versatile sets) claw back some ground is with higher-pitched sounds and the upper registers of speech. Nearby conversations are not handled as well by the H3, where the passive isolation can’t quite work its magic as effectively. Honestly though, the differences between the two are subtle enough that getting a good seal with the right ear tips can make up enough ground to not be a significant deal breaker.

Where the H3 falls short is against more versatile competitors like the OnePlus Buds 4 - the Swiss Army Knife of sub-$100 sets that does all the basics very well (but sounds nowhere near as good). The Buds 4 maintain consistently better reduction across the board - that low rumble the H3 struggled with around the 40-50Hz mark? The OnePlus handles it with noticeably more composure. Through the frequencies that make up the bulk of everyday noise - traffic, HVAC systems, the general din of public spaces - the Buds 4 stay a step ahead. It’s not a dramatic gulf, but it’s consistent and audible. As we’ve established - The H3’s strengths clearly lie elsewhere - so with either set you’ll have to compromise - it’s up to you where that compromise should be depending on your preferences.

Transparency mode on the H3 is perfectly serviceable without being anything special. Voices come through clearly enough for a quick conversation or staying aware of announcements, though there’s a subtle warmth to how the outside world sounds - a slight thickening in the lower registers that makes things sound marginally less natural. Low-frequency sounds like distant traffic rumble or the hum of a train carriage are filtered more than they should be, while high frequencies roll off noticeably - bicycle bells and birdsong will sound softened and less immediate. It’s the same story as the Air5 Pro Plus, suggesting this is simply where SoundPEATS’ transparency algorithm sits rather than anything specific to the H3. Usable for everyday awareness, but you still might want to pop an earbud out for any proper conversation. I was able to hold clear conversations in shops without difficulty, hearing most words clearly. This represents a genuine improvement over older budget offerings.

SoundPEATS also offer a ‘vocal mode’ within their app, but it seemed to do little compared to offerings from the likes of QCY, where voices are not only enhanced, but surrounding sounds are also muted somewhat. The H3 also handle wind noise adequately (despite no dedicated mode), although stronger gusts will see some reverb through the mics.

Call Quality

Call performance is adequate but not exceptional. The H3 gets the job done across various environments, but voice clarity and noise reduction fall short of premium offerings like the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4, which uses bone conduction mics and benefits from the closer proximity derived from a stem-design.

In busier environments, the noise reduction algorithm steps back a little, prioritising your own voice, which can sound a touch raspy. Quieter indoor calls work better, with more consistent voice reproduction. The ability to switch to ambient mode during calls through the app helps mitigate some of the isolation issues.

Summary

The SoundPEATS H3 is something of a gem, albeit not an especially versatile one. It delivers genuinely well-rounded technical audio performance that rivals products at significantly higher price points, particularly in its imaging and soundstage capabilities, that surpasssed my expectation in a mid-budget true wireless offering, although it required a bit of work to get the sound how I liked it. I fear that SoundPEATS change-in-direction towards a rather dark treble is possibly hiding the performance of some of their newer releases - a shame as some won’t spend the time working with the EQ and will dismiss them off the bat. I realise tuning is highly subjective and this narrative probably plays into the hands of those who might judge me a ‘Harman is best’ reviewer, but I don’t think you can ignore that it is still considered the default among consumer audio products so significant deviations will often be perceived as bad, or at the very least different. And different usually starts as bad and often stays at that stop. The macrodynamic performance, after EQ, is resounding - this is a fun set that flex a bit of technical muscle at the same time, without trying to be too detailed. The timing between drivers is very good. SoundPEATS played to their strengths here.

But for those seeking a set of all-rounders, this technical strength comes wrapped in compromises. I can accept a bit of EQ intervention since sound is largely subjective, and a good driver selection and combo will encourage EQ tweaking rather than see it as detrimental. The short battery-life, though, will put people off, given so many people these days can’t seem to tolerate ten minutes of real life without their music, and I may be alone in thinking this but the cheap-feeling case is so bad it’s almost enough to actually put me off taking them out.

SoundPEATS, IMO, have struck a nice balance between high quality audio and doing the basics. The shortfalls inevitably mean this isn’t a shoe-in purchase, but I like them enough to keep them on rotation - high praise indeed!

Introduction

Earlier this year, I reviewed the Creative Aurvana Ace 2, one of the first mainstream TWS to feature solid-state XMEMS driver technology, and a release that showcased both Creative’s strengths and weaknesses in equal measure. Whilst the xMEMS implementation demonstrated clear advantages, with snappy transients and a treble that was both detailed and well-sculptured, the dynamic driver selection wasn’t the most cohesive, and the ANC and overall stability of the device (mostly down to the buggy Qualcomm chipset deployed) weren’t quite up to the job, at least in a set with a retail price of over £100.

Creative has now followed up with the Aurvana Ace Mimi – not a direct successor (hence not being called Ace 3), more a variation on a theme with some notable differences. The headline feature is the integration of Mimi sound personalization technology, which provides a hearing test to customize audio based on your specific hearing capabilities. Mimi are the world leaders in this space, with Nothing, Beyerdynamic, Focal and many other partners scrambling to adopt their developments into their value propositions, but for this to be a real success Creative would have to ‘right a few wrongs’ - at the very least provide a stable operating environment off the bat. Does the Aurvana Ace Mimi meet expectations? Well, kinda - read on for my thoughts on why you may or may not consider this a viable next purchase option.

Design, Fit and Comfort

The Mimi (as we will refer to them going forward) have adopted the same shell as the Ace 2, which is good and bad news depending on how highly you rated that design. I found them to be quite comfortable, thanks to the shallow fit and smaller footprint to the oval nozzle, that sits somewhere between the Earfun Air Pro 4 and Realme Buds Air 6 Pro in terms of size and footprint.

While the build quality isn’t exceptional, and truth be told a bit disappointing compared to others at a similar price from the likes of Huawei and OnePlus, the comfort level is sufficient, even good, for daily use, and the improved ear tip material brings better stability than the previous model.

The earbuds maintained their position reliably during my exercise testing, passing the 100 jumping jacks test with no issues. The IPX5 water and sweat resistance rating makes them suitable for workouts, though without proper waterproofing, I wouldn’t recommend them for swimming or extremely heavy rain. I have seen some reviews complaining about their performance in windy conditions, but I suspect this is more down to fit and seal than anything Creative have done in terms of the design. I’m in the UK, not Cape Verde, and whilst we get wind from time to time, it isn’t enough to really notice the extremities in performance - the Mimi seemed to be as good (and bad) as everyone else.

The Case

The case design is reasonably portable with a decent finish, though the hinge mechanism is problematic, sometimes slamming shut unexpectedly. Creative has upgraded the accessories, including a drawstring bag, which I’ve used a grand total of zero times since!

Controls

Touch controls on the Ace Mimi work OK, but can at times be a source of frustration. You have to hit them at the right point to ensure you don’t fail to register - not always easy given the ‘shoulder-style’ indent at the top of the stem - and the default control system isn’t particularly intuitive. They do offer fairly good customization through the app, although there are limitations. The “Custom Buttons” section allows you to configure double tap, triple tap, and long tap gestures. Most functions are available for double and triple taps (except volume control), while long press is limited to volume adjustment or no function at all. Unfortunately, single touch, like Edifier, is not an option, which reduces accidental touches but adds a layer of restriction some users might find annoying.

ANC & Transparency

The active noise cancellation is somewhat disappointing, actually performing slightly worse than the Ace 2 and falling behind similarly priced competitors. It focuses its efforts where most ambient annoyance lives - the low-frequency drone of buses, trains, air conditioning units, and aircraft cabin noise. With 10-15dB of reduction through the bass frequencies and up to 15-20dB through the midrange, it takes a meaningful bite out of constant background rumble. On a commute, you’ll notice the tube or bus engine recede noticeably into the background, and open-plan office chatter will be dampened enough to improve focus, though not eliminated entirely.

Higher-frequency sounds - keyboard clatter, nearby conversations, the ping of notification sounds - will still cut through, as the cancellation tapers off above 5kHz. This, whilst par for the course at this price bracket, is where the Mimi and Creative buds in general could do better; don’t expect the near-silence of premium over-ears or even close to better peforrming in-ear TWS. Above shows the Mimi struggling against the OnePlus Buds 4 from 100Hz all the way up to 5kHz - which is basically where all of the noises that we encounter on a day to day basis reside.

Measurements show the Mimi and Ace 2 performing very similarly on paper, though in real-world use I found the Ace 2 actually marginally more effective - likely down to subtle differences in fit or driver tuning that don’t fully translate to controlled pink noise testing. Either way, both deliver satisfactory noise reduction that will likely leave you wanting a tad. For Creative to neglect to make improvements here when practically every review on the Ace 2 criticized its ANC calls into question why Creative even bothered to release this model, especially with the FCC approvals in progress for the Ace 3.

On the positive side, transparency mode is cleaner than the previous model with minimal occlusion effect when speaking. Through the bass and midrange - the frequencies that carry the weight of speech and most environmental sounds - the algorithm does a reasonable job of letting the outside world in, staying within a few decibels of natural hearing. You’ll be able to hold conversations and hear traffic approaching without removing the earbuds, which is the primary goal. However, treble reproduction falls away noticeably above 5kHz, with attenuation reaching 10-15dB by 10kHz. In practice, this manifests as a slightly muffled quality to ambient sound - voices remain intelligible but lose some crispness, and sharper sounds like bicycle bells, birdsong, or the higher harmonics of car horns will sound softened and less immediate. It’s perfectly usable for a quick chat or staying aware on a busy street, but it won’t fool you into thinking you’re not wearing earbuds. Performance here is subjectively marginally better than the Ace 2, although both are adequate and very usable.

Audio & Sound Signature

The dual driver configuration pairs an XMEMS solid-state driver handling mids and treble with a 10mm dynamic driver for bass. This results in excellent performance in the mid and high frequencies, where the XMEMS technology shines with fast transients, detailed instrument separation, and natural-sounding yet highly polished treble extension that combines air and precision without hitting hitting the point of fatigue. If you listen to tracks heavy on percussion, you’ll notice that the trebles aren’t perfect - there’s a slight scratchiness at higher volumes, but overall it’s a big improvement from single DD’s or the unnatural taste of balanced armatures.

The bass response, while slightly improved over the Ace 2 with reduced mid-bass bloat, still lacks the punch and definition to match the precision of the mids and highs. Bass notes tend to linger a bit longer than ideal, creating a slight disconnect between the tight, articulate upper frequencies and the softer, less defined low end. It sounds like Creative simply adjusted the variables to improve the tuning, rather than use a different dynamic driver, so whilst the end result is slightly-more cohesive than the Ace 2, it still isn’t ideal. Still - both the Ace 2 and the Mimi exibit warmth and depth that make them a comfy listen.

In the sub-£150 category, though, the Mimi still rank well in my audio league table, thanks to a sensible tuning and outstanding level of customisation, both hearing and preference-based, but it’s still slightly disappointing that the improvement over the Ace 2 is incremental rather than transformative. A different dynamic driver implementation could have elevated the overall performance further, so they’ve left us longing for more here really, which is a shame.

Mimi Personalization

The Mimi personalization and EQ (both custom and preset-based) is where the Mimi really stand out from the crowd, with both accessible through the Creative app. The Mimi process involves a 4-minute hearing test (best done in a quiet environment) where you hold your finger on a circle and release when you can no longer hear the frequency being played. After completion, it generates a profile for each ear with a visualization of your hearing abilities across frequencies. The resulting profile creates a sound signature compensating for your specific hearing deficiencies, with a slider to adjust the intensity and three presets for further customization. Importantly, this isn’t based on tonal preference but on hearing capability, so you may still want to use the EQ for personal taste adjustments.

For me, it made a tangible difference to the listening experience. For those with high-frequency hearing loss (like myself, from years of playing at clubs and festivals), the combination of the xMEMS plus Mimi is a winner - with my specific hearing profile, it significantly enhanced detail retrieval in the upper frequencies without causing fatigue, providing a better foundation for further EQ adjustments. A notable limitation is that the Mimi profile is stored in the app rather than on the earbuds themselves, meaning the personalization doesn’t work when connected to devices without the Creative app – a limitation Creative doesn’t mention in their marketing.

On the hearing preference side, the app’s 10-band custom EQ is well implemented with strategically placed frequency points and a generous ±9dB adjustment range. Creative includes numerous music and gaming presets with helpful visual representations of how each preset modifies the frequency response that you can then use a baseline to fine-tune further. Overall, you get a very helpful level of control over the sound that is thoroughly well-implemented.

Call Quality

The Mimi, like the Ace 2 before them, deliver fairly good call performance across various environments, giving you an acceptable balance of noise reduction and voice tone and weight. The noise reduction algorithm works consistently in both indoor and outdoor settings, though voice clarity isn’t optimal, meaning your voice can sound authoritative but slightly muffled, even in quiet conditions. Despite this minor issue, calls remain intelligible in all tested scenarios, making the earbuds fairly reliable for communication in controlled environments and usable whilst on the go.

Codecs & Connectivity

Unlike the Ace 2, the Mimi doesn’t use a Qualcomm chipset, so it lacks aptX-Lossless support, maxing out at LDAC instead. Whilst spec-sheet nerds might take umbrage here, the real-life difference is negligible - even separating LDAC and AAC in a blind test is difficult, so distinguishing between two hi-res codecs is an absolute non-issue. For Creative, the number of users with phones that support LDAC is much higher than the aptX family, which will appeal to those who overblow the importance of bitrate over the real sound quality determinents - tuning and drivers.

My experience using LC3 was far better this time however - a stark contrast from the buggy and frustrating time I had with the Ace 2, which often wouldn’t even register in the app and had weird side issues like an abnormally-low mic volume, disconnections when the mic wasn’t in use (like with DuoLingo, between rounds) and the inability to control the volume your phone (only the buds). As I said at the time, this appeared to be a Qualcomm issue, since I noticed the same problems with other buds with the same chipset, but regardless, Creative managed something fairly stable first time around this time, as opposed to ten firmware updates later.

This stability comes with an unexpected benefit: extremely low latency, measuring around 60ms even without gaming mode activated. With gaming mode engaged, latency becomes virtually imperceptible, and when you combine this with the litany of gaming presets, you get a pretty handy set for PubG mobile addicts.

Multipoint connectivity also feels more reliable than on the Ace 2, though the app still lacks a device list for managing connections, and the Mimi still lack a few features, like wear detection and a ‘find my buds’ mode.

Battery Life

Battery performance shows improvement over the Ace 2, offering approximately 4 hours and 50 minutes with ANC enabled – about 45 minutes more than its predecessor. It’s hardly market-leading stuff, but it’s about what we come to expect these days. The problem, though, is that unlike many of its competitors, who offer a similar single use performance but then give you a couple of hours boost from their ‘quick-charge’ feature, the Mimi neither support this nor a reduced charge time, with the industry-standard 60 minutes to fully charge the buds (and even longer for the case) meaning you’re possibly going to be without them for a period during the working day - not ideal. The case does support wireless charging, which is always a welcome feature, although at the cost of time, which may already be at a premium. You get three additional charge cycles with the case.

Summary

The Creative Aurvana Ace Mimi represents an interesting sidestep rather than an upgrade from the Ace 2. Its greatest strengths lie in the implementation of the Mimi sound personalization technology and the improved stability of both codec performance and, to a degree, the app and multipoint, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not really enough, with many of the Ace 2’s shortcomings still in play.

The XMEMS driver technology continues to impress with exceptional mid and high-frequency performance, though the bass response still leaves room for improvement that could, and probably should, have been remedied with an alternative dynamic driver. The personalization features are genuinely useful, especially for those with specific hearing characteristics, though the limitation of profiles being stored in the app rather than on the earbuds is disappointing.

Despite a far more stable LC3 implementation and better battery life bringing them close to their competitors, ANC performance and charging speed remain mediocre, and they lack many ‘bread-and-butter’ features that we expect to see at this price - notably quick charge, wear detection and spatial audio.

Whilst I enjoy using the Mimi, and do rate them as a solid (although slightly-overpriced) option (especially for those with specific hearing needs). This feels like a lazy and slightly unimaginative release. I love that Creative have pioneered the xMEMS tech and tried to push the industry forward, embracing innovation faster than many of the more recognisable names in TWS, but we have all become a bit fatigued from releases that only offer incremental improvements, and sadly, this is one of those.