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As you might guess, triple drivers and fancy codecs add to the cost. To keep the H3\u2019s price as accessible as possible, Soundpeats made some compromises in other areas. The case feels a bit cheap and plasticky, and it doesn\u2019t have wireless charging. The earbuds lack wear sensors for music auto-pause, and despite using the latest Bluetooth 5.4 protocol, there\u2019s no support for Auracast. You don\u2019t get spatial audio modes or headtracking.<\/p>\n
Once I found the right size, I was impressed by the passive noise isolation. You may find it\u2019s all you need for not-so-noisy environments. You can kick on the ANC for more, and it does a decent job with lower frequencies, but don\u2019t expect Bose, Sony, or Apple levels of hush. Think of it as pushing some of those annoying sounds further into the background as opposed to canceling them outright. The same is true for transparency mode. It\u2019s fine for situational awareness, but you\u2019ll still feel a bit separated from the rest of the world, especially when listening to your voice.<\/p>\n
My only real complaint is that you can\u2019t skip over Normal mode when jumping from ANC to transparency, unless you use the app, something I\u2019m hoping Soundpeats will fix with a firmware update. Speaking of the app, Soundpeats is in the midst of transitioning its products from the legacy Peats Audio app to the newer Soundpeats app. Until that happens, you won\u2019t be able to use the Peats Audio app without an internet connection, something to keep in mind if you\u2019re routinely without a data connection.<\/p>\n
With Bluetooth 5.4, wireless connectivity is strong and stable, even when using LDAC\u2019s high bit-rate mode. You get multipoint support when LDAC is turned off (a fairly standard limitation with that codec), but the H3 can\u2019t do LE Audio or Bluetooth Auracast. I realize that Auracast is still far from ubiquitous; however, if we want this incredibly useful tech to proliferate, it needs to be added to as many new Bluetooth devices as possible.<\/p>\n
Call quality was another pleasant surprise. My voice lost some of its bass, leaving it sounding less natural, yet what remained was crystal clear. And it was consistent; regardless of how many loud, intrusive sounds occurred on my side of the call, none were transmitted to my callers, and they only affected my voice quality by a tiny amount. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d want to rely on the H3 for longer calls and meetings, as the lack of a natural transparency option eventually proves tiresome, but for shorter, just-the-facts chats, they\u2019re more than adequate. One caveat, though: Active phone calls will lock out the ANC mode switch\u2014even from the app\u2014so you\u2019ll need to choose your ANC mode before taking or placing a call.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n