The Soundpeat's Air3 Deluxe HS are described by some online magazines as a cheap alternative to the AirPods 3. At just under 40 euros, they are definitely well below the price of the AirPods 3, but I would like to explain in the test report whether they can keep up technically and sonically.
Chapter in this post:
- 1 Overview of advantages and disadvantages
- 2 Difference between Soundpeats Air 3 and Air3 Deluxe HS
- 3 Specifications of the Soundpeats Air3
- 4 Scope of delivery
- 5 construction and optics
- 6 Operating the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS
- 7 Sound of the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS
- 8 AirPods Max – my recommendation for music lovers
- 9 Gamemode for games and movies
- 10 No Noise Cancellation – An Advantage?
- 11 The Soundpeat App
- 12 My conclusion
- 13 My tips & tricks about technology & Apple
- 14 Similar posts
Advantages and disadvantages at a glance
If you don't want to read the whole test report, you can find a short list of my assessments of the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS here. I just summarized it in pros and cons so you can get a quick picture of the headphones:
Benefits
- good build quality
- Battery life with 5h (earphones) quite ok
- high Bluetooth range
- automatically connects to the paired device when you open the case
- EQ settings possible and are saved on the headphones
- comfortable to wear, because no in-ear, but only half-in-ear
- sit securely in the ear (also during sports)
- Touch operation can be completely deactivated (via app)
- good sound with appropriate EQ settings
- very good value for money
Disadvantages
- Sounded a bit "flat" without EQ
- App not intuitive, but you don't need it often
- App has account compulsion
- only the most important settings are available in the app
- App localization not good
- no multipoint bluetooth
From my point of view, the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS are a purchase recommendation. Anyone who wants to buy them will find them here at Amazon or via this product box:
- 【High-Resolution Audio】 Combined with Hi-Res certified quality, LDAC technology and 14,2mm ...
- 【ENC Clear Call & Secure Fit】 The noise cancellation technology with a double microphone reduces ...
- 【In-Ear Detection and Long Duration】 The built-in sensor in the earphones can detect the wearing status when the ...
Differentiation Soundpeats Air 3 vs Air3 Deluxe HS
It is important that there is both a model called "Soundpeats Air 3" and the "Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS" presented here on the market. You can tell them apart by looking at the charging case, because the case of the Air3 Deluxe HS has a slightly protruding button on the front.
Specifications of the Soundpeats Air3
At the beginning of the report I will briefly present the technical data of the headphones:
- Manufacturer: Soundpeats
- Model: Air3 Deluxe HS
- Type: Half-In-Ear Headphones (like AirPods 3)
- Sports headphones: yes
- Bluetooth: V5.2
- Profiles: A2DP/AVRCP/HFP/SPP/GATT
- Multipoint Bluetooth: no
- Frequency range: 20 - 22.700 Hz
- Driver: 14,2mm Bio-Compound Diaphragm Driver
- Bluetooth codecs: LDAC,SBC
- Chipset: WQ7033M
- Weight of an earphone: 4 g
- Weight of the charging case with earphones inserted: 36 g
- Operation: touch operation
- Protection class: IPX4 (protection against splash water from all sides)
- Battery capacity: 300 mAh (housing)
- Battery capacity of the earphones: 30 mAh each
- Running time of the earplugs: 5 hours
- Charging case: can recharge the earbuds 3,5 times
- Earbud charging time: 1,5 hours
- Charging case charging time: 1,5 hours
- Charging port: USB Type-C
- Wireless charging of the case: no
- In-ear detection: yes, automatic pause/play
- Price: between 40 and 55 euros (currently 40 euros at Amazon)
What's in the box
In the box you will find the wireless headphones, the charging case, a USB-C charging cable and a user manual.
You won't find any silicone tips in the scope of delivery, because the earbuds don't have the closed design, but the open one, which is also found on the AirPods 1, 2 and 3.
construction and optics
The charging case of the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS is made of glossy plastic, while the earphones themselves are made of matte material. Personally, I like the matte look much better because it is more forgiving of scratches.
As a rule, I have the headphones in the charging case in my trouser pocket and there are usually other small items that scratch the case quickly. With the glossy surface, scratches can of course be seen fairly quickly.
Overall, however, the look of the headphones is beautiful and elegant. Bright colours, flashing LEDs and the like have been avoided and the designs have been limited to simple shapes.
The charging case is also pleasantly shaped and is not noticeable in the trouser pocket.
Operating the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS
As a rule, I'm always happy when manufacturers use real buttons that can be easily operated with wet fingers or gloves.
However, I used to test many headphones with touch controls and these often had extremely unreliable controls.
However, the critical times seem to have come to an end, because all the headphones that I have been able to test recently were convincing despite touch operation.
The Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS also rely on touch-sensitive operation and it didn't let me down even with sweaty finders.
In addition, you can see and feel the control surface well because it is slightly raised.
The automatic in-ear recognition is also pleasant: If you take the earphones (or just one of both) out of your ear, the music stops. Putting it back in your ear resumes playback.
The commands that can be sent via the touch surface on the left and right headphones are quite versatile and I have listed them here in a table
| feature | execution of the service |
|---|---|
| turn on | Automatic: Open the charging box cover / Manual: Press the touch button on the earbud for 1,5 seconds |
| Turn off | Automatic: Put the headphones back into the charging case and close the cover / Manual: Press the touch button for 10 seconds |
| Play / Pause | Automatic: Take off one of the earbuds to pause music, wear either earbuds or both together to play music. / Manual: Double tap the touch buttons. |
| Volume - | Click the touch button on the left earbud once |
| Volume + | click the touch button on the right earbud once |
| Last title | Press the touch button on the left earbud for 1,5 seconds |
| next title | Press the touch button on the right earbud for 1,5 seconds |
| Answer / end call | Double tap the touch button |
| reject call | Press the touch button 1,5 seconds |
| Switch between two calls | Press the touch button for 2 seconds |
| Enter pairing mode manually | Press the button on the charging box for 3 seconds |
| Activate the voice assistant | Tap the touch button on the right earpiece three times |
| Entering / exiting the game mode | Tap the touch button on the left earpiece three times |
| game mode | Triple click the multi-function button on the left earphone to toggle game mode on or off. When it is on, the sound is "Game Mode" and when it is off, the sound is "Exit Game Mode". |
Sound of the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS
For me, one of the most important criteria for headphones is the sound. And since I unfortunately travel a lot with AirPods, other headphones – even if they are not in the same price range – have to be able to compete with their sound.
If you listen to the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS directly "out of the box", they sound a bit "flat". But since you have the option in the app to create a typical bathtub curve in the EQ, you can significantly improve the sound.
My conclusion is that the sound of the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS is quite good with the EQ settings. I wouldn't say "very good" as the AirPods 3 sound a little more "alive". I don't know if they can separate the individual musical instruments and vocals any better, but the bottom line is that the AirPods 3 sound better.
The basses can be turned up in the Soundpeats EQ, but they still don't sound as good as in the AirPods. But the difference is not big. If I had no comparison, I would be absolutely satisfied with the Soundpeats. Only the direct comparison shows differences here.
By the way, I've heard fewer differences in classical music. Maybe they just have a better frequency response for this type of music than for rock music.
AirPods Max – my recommendation for music lovers
If you are looking for great sound and for whom money only plays a subordinate role, you should take a look at the Apple AirPods Max. Neither the AirPods 3 nor the AirPods Pro 2 nor the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS can keep up, which is understandable given the over-ear design of the AirPods Max.
Gamemode for games and movies
To test the game mode, I watched movies and played a few games with and without activated game mode. This mode cuts the latency down to a mere 60 milliseconds.
If the low latency mode is switched off, you actually have a slightly noticeable offset between the sound and the picture. It's not much, but you can tell by watching the actors' lip movements.
If the game mode is activated, I can no longer detect any offset with my eyes and ears. In this respect, this option makes perfect sense.
Unfortunately, I can't say what disadvantages the game mode brings with it. I haven't noticed any degradation in audio quality, but range may be limited in this mode.
No noise cancellation - an advantage?
In the Amazon reviews, a user wrote that the headphones have no ANC. He sees this as an advantage because the ANC hardly filters out anything on most of these cheap headphones and also significantly worsens the sound quality. I can understand this experience.
Of all the in-ear headphones I've tested so far, the AirPods Pro have the best active noise cancellation. So if that's a feature you absolutely want in wireless headphones, I'd rather go for the AirPods Pro 2.
In my opinion, the fact that there is no ANC on the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS is no reason to give them a bad rating.
The Soundpeat App
I installed the Soundpeats app from the App Store on my iPhone. The fact that it has 2 stars in the average rating already showed me that the app will not be designed to be particularly user-friendly.
The suspicion was then confirmed. I would give the app something between 3 and 4 stars because the user guidance is often misleading and not entirely comprehensible. But at least the most important functions are available in the app.
In between, despite the language selection "German", you get dialogues in (probably) Chinese characters, which of course didn't mean anything to me. I then clicked somewhere and it continued. I have probably agreed that the KPC can view all data from my iPhone at any time. Who knows?!
Sometimes options like EQ also require you to tap a small arrow rather than the full box as you would intuitively. That could really be improved. Otherwise the app is ok.
I would like to give you the following information about the app in bullet points:
- Account requirement: App use only possible with an account
- Firmware updates can only be imported via the app
- EQ settings possible via the app (presets or your own settings)
- you can do a "listening test" in the app, which then adjusts the EQ based on the results
- if you don't want touch operation, you can deactivate all touch functions via the app
- different languages like english, spanish, german and some more are adjustable, but the localization didn't reach all dialogs
My conclusion
The Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS are a good recommendation for people who are looking for completely wireless headphones under 50 euros. They come with good sound and practical features such as in-ear detection and equalizer and reliable touch controls.
In terms of sound, they are very close to the AirPods 3 and at an insane price that is a fraction of the AirPods. And you can even activate Siri with a triple tap on the right earbud.
Of course, they can't support the fast device switching that the AirPods and Beats headphones allow due to the missing H1 chip. However, those who have usually paired it with a device will not miss this function.
I can do that Soundpeat's Air3 Deluxe HS highly recommend. I'm currently not aware of any true wireless headphones that offer this sound and this wealth of functions for such a low price.
- 【High-Resolution Audio】 Combined with Hi-Res certified quality, LDAC technology and 14,2mm ...
- 【ENC Clear Call & Secure Fit】 The noise cancellation technology with a double microphone reduces ...
- 【In-Ear Detection and Long Duration】 The built-in sensor in the earphones can detect the wearing status when the ...
My tips & tricks about technology & Apple
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Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He acts as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with technical problems. In his spare time he rides electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with the iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions to current bugs.
The page contains affiliate links / images: Amazon.de
