Honor is now a strong, independent brand and is trying to squeeze into the void its former parent left in the world of smartphones and accessories. The Magic4 Pro is a stunning flagship and was launched with the Earbuds 3 Pro alongside it.
The TWS earbuds aim equally high and after spending some quality time with them we are ready to share how far they have come.
Our Honor Earbuds 3 Pro are available in white, but they are also available in gray. Both variants look good, even if they look a bit plasticky. The bright look might suggest problems with smudging or handling in general, but once you get the hang of it, getting the buds out of the case becomes a problem.
Each top has a stem, which is short enough not to get in the way of a face mask, but still has plenty of room for a touch controller. The trio of microphones are strategically placed to pick up outside noises and cancel them while capturing your voice, but we still felt the quality during the call left something to be desired.
In a quiet environment, the microphone does a good job. However, if it’s noisy, the microphone still picks up traffic noise, creaking doors, and public service announcements over speakers and broadcasts an orchestra of chaos on the other side of a call.
Beyond that there is a plethora of features that we loved.
The comfort of the Earbuds 3 Pro is extraordinarily high. The case opens and closes with a satisfying snap and can remain open by leaning against the lid thanks to the sturdy hinge. The buds themselves are relatively easy to harvest and extract, and even if you have some trouble at first, they quickly disappear after a day or two.
Honor provides three sets of rubber tips for easy comfort in the ear. We were absolutely blown away by the lightness of the buds and how easy it is to stay in the ear for an extended period of time. Our resident trail runner had them for a long run and had no issues with comfort or falling off the tops.
If you need to use the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro for long periods of time, we suggest you ditch the noise cancellation, though. There are four levels of NC, along with two other options for Noise Control – Off and Awareness.
In the Off mode, the 42mAh battery in each gem can provide five hours of continuous playtime. Switching to Awareness means that all three microphones work in tandem, but the feeling was overwhelming, picking up sounds from everything around you.
It’s a useful feature when having a quick conversation with someone, whether it’s a cashier at the grocery store or someone in the office who needs a quick word.
The three main modes of noise cancellation are Cozy, for a quiet environment; Moderate for semi-noisy environments; Ultra, for your flying needs. There is a fourth, called Intelligent. It works with the microphone facing out to pick up noise and select the appropriate level of noise cancellation. This is the best choice for longer use, but the noise it irritates is subjective, so it’s often not that smart.
We said battery life is good, but another critically important feature is charging. Honor provides a USB-A to USB-C cable in the retail box, and five minutes really delivers two hours of music playback. A full cable charge takes around 70 minutes, although we had a hard time draining the case and buds batteries to reach total zero.
The case also supports Qi wireless charging, so any charging pad would work.
The Earbuds 3 Pro easily connect to any device via Bluetooth 5.2. The standard allows you to connect two devices at the same time, but only one is capable of playing audio. For better controls, there’s an app called AI Space that lets you adjust the noise cancellation, customize the controls, and includes a fit test that helps you choose the correct rubber tip.
There are three touch controls by default: double tap for Play / Pause, hold to switch between noise control modes, and swipe up / down to control volume. You can change them, but you can’t have gestures for both next / previous song and play / pause, neither with a double tap. There is no single tap feature, which means accidentally pausing won’t be a problem, but also you can’t use the simpler option.
The best part about the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro is the intensity and quality of the sound. Inside is an 11mm driver and it comes with an independent rear cover and an additional PZT (piezoelectric) tweeter. The sound is wide and rich, with powerful bass and strong, clear treble.
Sadly, Honor hasn’t provided an equalizer within the AI Space app, so you have to rely on external means, such as the source device’s built-in settings. We tested the Earbuds 3 Pro with Dolby Atmos-equipped smartphones and the feature balanced the sound experience a bit more; on a desktop computer, it is recommended that you enable the Windows Sonic function.
The Honor Earbuds 3 Pro sound great, fit perfectly, look discreet, and charge quickly for extended music playback. Call performance is the only insignificant aspect of their performance, but even with that little glitch, we can recommend these TWS earbuds directly.
Honor Earbuds 3 Pro is a strong contender for the title of “Best Earphones of 2022”, even with the price tag of € 200 / £ 170. The company offers the audio accessory on its website in some European countries and we hope it will expand availability because more people deserve to try them.
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