Soundpeats Air5 Pro+

Back Story: In early December I posted a review of the Soundpeats H3 Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds. Once it was posted, I emailed Soundpeats directly, hoping to draw their attention to the findings of the review, with a hope that they will improve the battery life. They liked the honesty of the review and their Public Relation Specialist,… Read more

called ‘Icy’ emailed me and asked me if I would like to review another set of wireless earbuds, their Air5 Pro+.

I said ‘Yes’ and on the 20th of December 2025, they arrived in the post.

This review will be in-depth experience of these earbuds and include everything from packaging, to sound quality in both music and phone call terms.

I have not owned or reviewed a wireless earbud with an ‘open stem’, as Icy termed it, so I have no preconceived ideas how it should feel, work or perform.

I will compare the Air5 Pro+ to the Soundpeats H3 wireless earbuds, as not only are they from the same company but they are packaged and designed similarly and use the same phone app.

Some Tech Stuff: Specifications:

SOUNDPEATS Air5 Pro+ Hybrid Driver Wireless Earbuds, xMEMS & Aptos Class-H Amplifier, LDAC & aptX Lossless, Hi-Res Audio Wireless Certified, 55dB Adaptive ANC, Bluetooth 5.4, Fast Charging (About this item (from Amazon)) (ZeYuan-AU is the authorized seller of authentic SoundPEATS products):

• Awarded “Reference-Grade Hybrid” by Audio Science Review: “The Air5 Pro+ achieves what single-driver designs cannot: perfect tonal balance. Unlike traditional balanced armatures which often render harsh, ‘tinny’ highs, or dynamic drivers that struggle with treble extension, its xMEMS micro-speaker delivers flawlessly articulated details without a trace of metallic sibilance. The midrange avoids the clinical coldness of typical armatures, presenting vocals with a warm, textured richness, while the custom 10mm composite driver provides a low-end that is both powerfully deep and remarkably fast, eliminating the ‘muddy’ boominess of conventional designs.”

• 【xMEMS Silicone Speaker & Dedicated Aptos Class-H Amplifier】Experience the acoustic revolution with the world's first true Hybrid Driver system. The xMEMS silicon speaker delivers a response speed 4x faster than traditional drivers for breathtaking detail, while the dedicated Aptos Class-H amplifier ensures every nuance is powered to perfection. This groundbreaking combo redefines clarity and precision in wireless audio.

• 【10mm Dual Copper-Coil Composite Diaphragm】Feel the power and depth of your music. Our custom 10mm dual copper-coil driver is engineered for exceptional performance, delivering robust, punchy bass and rich, full-bodied midranges. As the core of our Hybrid Driver system, it works in harmony with the xMEMS speaker to produce a perfectly balanced and immersive soundstage.

• 【Dual Lossless Codecs & Hi-Res Audio Wireless Certified】Enjoy true CD-quality, lossless sound. Officially Hi-Res Audio Wireless Certified, the Air5 Pro+ supports both LDAC & aptX Lossless codecs. This dual-codec system transmits over 3x the data of standard Bluetooth, preserving every bit of detail for a pristine, wired-like listening experience that audiophiles crave.

• 【55dB Adaptive ANC & Pure Noise-Free Background】Immerse yourself in absolute silence. Our 55dB Adaptive Hybrid ANC intelligently cancels external noise, while the metal shielding and anti-noise nickel ring design eliminate internal circuit hiss. This creates an incredibly pure, noise-free listening canvas, allowing you to focus solely on your high-resolution music.

• 【30H Total Playtime + 10-Min Fast Charge for Instant Power】Get 30 hours of total playback with the portable charging case, powering your commutes, workouts, and trips without frequent recharging. Need a quick boost? Just 10 minutes of fast charging delivers 2 hours of use—perfect for last-minute outings or low-battery emergencies.

• Engineered for an uncompromising lifestyle. IPX5 rated waterproof for preventing damage caused by sweat seeping in, an ultra-low 60ms game mode for seamless sync, and the latest Bluetooth 5.4 for rock-solid connectivity. All this is housed in an ergonomic design for all-day comfort(ultra-comfort even for side sleepers).

• 【30 Days Money-Back & 12 Months Replacement 】SOUNDPEATS wireless earbuds come with a 30-day money-back and one-year replacement. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our 24-hour online customer service. ★Contact information: "Your Account" > "Your Orders" > Invoice(under your order number)>"Order Summary" > "Seller profile">"Ask a Question". Alternatively, under the "Add to Cart" > "Sold by: ZeYuan-AU" > "About Seller" > "Ask a Question"

Air5 Pro+ Packaging:

The Air5 Pro+ is packaged identically to the H3s and that says a lot. The box the Air5 Pro+ come in is packaged in a slip outer case. The inner box is a pale-yellow colour, with the gold coloured Soundpeats ‘S’ logo embossed on the front (very tasteful and oozes quality). The cardboard box they come in, is hinged at the back and opens right back, allowing easy access to the contents.

The lid contains a smaller, grey-coloured cardboard box, containing the user guide, app information, stickers, USB A to C cable and two sets of ear tips, small and large (as the medium size is on the earbuds).

Notably the accessories box is well fitted into the lid with a darker grey dense foam rubber surround, so the box doesn’t fall out.

Note: the earbud tips appear to be made of two different materials, silicon for the outer shell that seals to your ear and an inner core of dense rigid sponge, for added sound isolation. I know this is not new, but from my research , different materials afford better sound isolation and assist with music reproduction, with a darker background.

The bottom of the box houses the earbuds in their respective case. The case is wrapped in a plastic film, with a clever pull handle. The case is nice and tightly fitted in the dark grey foam rubber padding, which is about an inch thick. Again, very well thought out. It looks and feels like quality.

The earbuds are housed in a black coloured matt plastic case, like a flattened egg. There is a little bit of weight to the case, making it feel substantial but not heavy.

There is a USB C port and a Bluetooth pairing button on the bottom of the case. The USB port is trimmed in a gold-coloured metal rim with a matching gold coloured ‘SOUNDPEATS’ logo on the hinge, at the back.

When you open the lid, the green LED light comes on at the bottom of the front of the earbuds case and changes to white, after you hit the Bluetooth pairing button.

The case is what I would call consider medium sized. It is bigger than my Sony’s but a lot smaller than the case for the Soundpeats H3.

The earbuds stems are wrapped in a blue coloured plastic sheath, that slips off, so they can make contact with the case charging points, to be able to be charged.

Setting up the Air5 Pro+:

All I had to do was find the Air5 Pro+ in the Bluetooth connections of my Samsung Galaxy S25 Android phone and the white LED on the front of the earbud case turned off.

I already had the Peats Audio app on my phone and added the Air5 Pro+.

I took the earbuds out of the case then and inserted them in my ears. I could instantly feel that the tips were too small and quickly swapped them over for the larger tips.

I noticed the earbud tips had a gold-coloured perforated oval-shaped metal plate at the end, that matches the shape of the inner foam material of the tips.

I found to fit the earbuds properly it is best to put the earbuds in the ear, so the stems are angled forward slightly and once fully in the ear canal, to then turn the stems downwards and slights back, towards the earlobes.

First Soundcheck:

First test was at home in my office.

I ran my Spotify lossless playlist without EQ and with Noise Cancelling, Adaptive Noise Cancellation on. Volume was set on half or 50%, one notch below red on my phone.

The ear tips sealed well and playing Nicholas Payton’s ‘I just Want 2 B with U; I was immediately gripped by the clarity and tightness of the sound.

Noticeably the high-hat sound in the track was somewhat higher and crisper in tone than the H3s.

The deep base in Saltwater-Ilan Bluestone Remix by Chicane was not as deep and full as the H3s.

The track ‘Two’ by Nicholas Payton was nicely holographic but again the overall tone was of a higher pitch, but it was also noticeably airy and sounded as if the music was pushed outside of the earbuds, and not the closed headphone sound.

Summer in E Major – Extended Mix by Chicane was lovely and airy. The expanding and swelling bass at the start of the track was not there but when the bass beat kicked in, it was tight and punchy.

The seal of the tips and the ANC appeared to work well, giving the gaps in music a deeper black.

Adaptive EQ Test and How it Changed the Sound:

After the Adaptive EQ ear test, I re-ran Summer in E Major – Extended Mix by Chicane and still found it lacking in the swelling bass at the start. I turned the volume up one notch on my phone and found the track came to life, with better bass.

I then ran Summer in E Major – Extended Mix by Chicane for a third time with the H3s with the Adaptive EQ ear test setting and found I had to turn the sound down one notch, as the bass is noticeably fuller, but the overall track was not as clear as with the Air5 Pro+.

For a re-test I created a new EQ for the H3s, with a plus 3 in the Bass and a Plus 5 in the Highs, which seemed more comparable to the Air5 Pro+. However, the bass was still fuller but not as muddy as it was before. Reviewing the Air5 Pro+ helped me create a more balanced sound for the H3s.

Going back to the Air5 Pro+ was very interesting; I paid more attention to fitting them a little more tightly in my ears and found the clarity was instantly there and the bass was also more present, to the point where it felt cleaner and even that little more punchier. I then turned the volume down one notch, so it matched my volume for the H3 I had set and then it was right.

I just picked up an amazing Vocal Reggae, Nu Reggae track from a rewatching of Homicide Life on the Street series, Season 5. The track, ‘Redemption Vibe’ by Clive Darien, Gorden Mulrain, et al sounded blissful. The instruments had great separation from each other, and the vocals were just magical. The vocal harmonies just made me want to play it again.

Worthy of note: when the menu function is changed from the preset ‘Double Device Connection Feature’ to ‘LDAC’ the bass and clarity become more apparent. There is a real depth to the overall presentation.

LDAC is my go-to and only setting, for the best sound quality.

Air5 Pro+ Touch Functions:

The Air5 Pro+ custom key functions are the same as the H3 and can be changed to suit your preference.

I opt for the left earbud for following:

• 1-click: volume up • 2-clicks: volume down • 3-clicks: noise cancelling • Long press 1.5s: Undefined

For the right earbud I opt for the following:

• 1-click: play/pause • 2-clicks: next track • 3-clicks: previous track • Long press 1.5s: Undefined

You also have the following functions to use (neither I use): • Game Mode • Voice Assistant

There is also a button to reset to default.

In the main menu you have other choices:

• Noise cancelling: - Noise cancelling - Adaptive Noise Cancellation (my go to preference) - Indoor Noise Cancellation - Outdoor Noise Cancellation - Traffic Mode • Normal • Transparent - Voice Enhancement  Double Device Connection Feature  LDAC  Game Mode - Standard Transparency  Double Device Connection Feature  LDAC  Game Mode

When you toggle on Double Device Connection Feature and LDAC modes, the app resets itself, so you have to go back into the earbud app and start again.

The Game Mode and Disable Touch can be turned on and off without the app resetting the earbuds.

Overall, the Air5 Pro+ splash page, like the H3 shows a high-resolution picture of the earbuds with an indicator for each earbud and also a small icon for the case and the battery power. All being very handy, to assess earbud connectivity and battery power at a glance.

At the very bottom is a white coloured bar with three icons: Home, Equalizer and About You (person icon)

The person or personal information icon provides the following information:

Personal Centre with the name of the earbuds, your phone number, your gender and your email. You can change the name of the earbuds from the brand number for the earbuds to your own name, like ‘Ant’s Air5 Pro+ .

If you are really into customisation, you can also change the avatar picture or icon from the set panda wearing sunglasses to a picture from your camera or photo album.

Below this are three icons for the user Manual, Contact Us and Online.

There are a lot of user manuals in the same design as the hard copy you get in the box. Funnily enough there was a user guide for the Air5 Pro but not the Air5 Pro+. From what I can see, the manuals are identical expect for the ‘+’ in the name on the front page. However, there were other earbuds with a ‘+’. I guess an update is in due course.

There are five other information sets as well: • Official Web Mail • FAQ • Feedback • About APP • Settings

Official Web Mail and FAQ take you to a webpage. Feedback is in-house on the app and quotes your email address, and the Soundpeats product you are providing feedback for.

The about APP provides information relating About Us, with the Peats Audio app version, the Privacy Agreement, Version Update and Official Website.

The ‘Settings’ area holds information about Accounts and Security (where you can reset the password and delete your Peats Audio app account) and Language (you can change your language preference here). You can also sign out of the app with the blue coloured button at the bottom of this page.

Noise Cancelling Ability:

• Indoors • On the Street • Windy Area • Noisy Room

Call Volume and Sound:

• Indoors: o I found the sound quality adequate but somewhat fuzzy. • On the Street: o Adequate again but not great. • Windy Area: o Just adequate • Noisy Room: o Just adequate. You can hear a fair amount of ambient noise.

In tests compared to the H3s I found the following:

Outside Ambient Noise:

• Transparent lets in about 85-90% of ambient noise, due to the earbud tips seal in the ear canal. The sound is like a low-resolution audio recording (artificial – not a natural sound). • Normal mode sounds as if you are in a tunnel and lets in about 80% of outside noise. • Noise cancelling lets in about 70-75% of overall outside noise.

Sitting next to a room fan (moving fan head test):

• Transparent lets in 85-90% of wind noise and again, sound like a low-resolution audio recording (artificial – not a natural sound). • Normal mode removes about 10-15% of wind noise. • Noise cancelling removes about 50% of wind noise.

All-in-all this is an area that could do with a lot more work. Again, the sound quality of the drivers carries these earbuds through these tests, as did the H3s. However, more enhanced technology is required, to get it fully up to the standard of say a Sony earbud.

When I am at Southern Cross train station and put in the Sony earbuds and the ANC kicks in; you can hear and feel the noise isolation: it is very solid, like a wall blocking everything outside your ears.

When the drivers of the trains sound their horns before taking off on their next journey the Sony’s take the bite out of the horn so you don’t jump.

In direct comparison to the Soundpeats H3, I think the body of the H3s goes a long way with blocking noise from entering the ear canal, as the body of these earbuds fits the shape of the inner ear, even with just a silicon tip, albeit a much larger ear tip.

The ear tips for the Air5 Pro+ with the outer silicon and inner dense foam should in theory give you a seal in the ear canal with the silicon and added sound deadening with the dense foam inner tube, which would also keep the sound produced by the earbuds inside the ear canal a bit better than just silicon.

It is possible you would get better sound isolation with the Air5 Pro+ by using different tips, but I think the small oval shape of the body of the earbud defeats some of the potential noise isolation / cancellation, letting in much more outside noise into the ear canal.

This is real science here, where the H3s IEM design language really assists the overall sound reproduction keeping the music in the ear and the ambient sound of the world around you outside.

The Air5 Pro+ does not do any of this as well as the H3s.

Perhaps a hybrid of both earbud designs may be worth considering? – An IEM fitted ear-shape design with a stem for added battery and even some added function on the stem itself?

Battery Test:

Here, there are a multitude of settings in the Peats Audio app:

• Noise Cancelling: o Double Device Connection Feature o LDAC o Game Mode • Normal: o Double Device Connection Feature o LDAC o Game Mode • Transparent o Voice Enhancement  Double Device Connection Feature  LDAC  Game Mode o Standard Transparency  Double Device Connection Feature  LDAC  Game Mode

However, for real world use I would only use the following settings for maximum sound quality:

• Noise cancelling o Adaptive Noise Cancellation • LDAC

As such, I tested the battery for these setting on 28/12/2025 starting at 12.09 p.m.

At 3 p.m. the right earbud expired and the left earbud expired at 3.09 p.m., thus giving 2 hours and 51 minutes for the right earbud and 3 hours for the left earbud.

As with the H3s, the Soundpeats team informed me the right earbud acts as the master earbud and the left is the slave, with regards to connectivity, causing the right earbud to use a bit more power.

In my book, the battery life is not good enough for ‘reasonable extended use’, beyond the 1-2 hour train trip to work or back.

5 hours or more would be my target figure, to define good battery life on a wireless earbud or IEM. Anything less is really not good enough or just adequate.

I used the earbuds today when I was oiling the back deck and stairs, so I used them somewhat longer than I would normally, but these earbuds make you want to use them for an extended time, as they sound so good!

I can honestly say that the longer I used these earbuds, the more I like them. Spotify threw up a new track for a current female folk genre style artiste, which then played into other similar female artistes.

I love Suzanne Vega and it was reminiscent of that.

So, I had a great time oiling the deck and had the opportunity of testing out the ANC in the outside ambient noise. Traffic passes on the main road about 25-30 metres from where I was and I can say that the ANC and the quality of the music rendered by the Air5 Pro+ completely involved me in the music and the movement of my paint brush. The sound of traffic was contained reasonably well but it was from a distance.

The ANC and sound quality, like the H3s make it comparable to top tier products like Sony, except the sound quality of the Soundpeats products is far better than the Sony and Sony has much better ANC. This is a bit of a trade-off. My preference lies in sound quality over better ANC but, and a big but here: The Soundpeats Air5 Pro+ and the H3 would sound so much clearer and cleaner with better ANC.

It is also an awful shame that the battery life is so short on both the Air5 Pro+ and the H3.

To take a quote from Bladerunner (the original movie): “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.”

To you, Soundpeats:

I encourage you, as I did in my review of the H3, to extend the battery life to a minimum of 5 hours for all ANC setting, especially adaptive noise cancellation with LDAC.

People want the maximum noise cancellation and the best sound / music quality, and I am sure this is the setting most people would use for this product.

Final Thoughts:

The Soundpeats Air5 Pro+ are sonically an excellent earbud, full stop.

The Peats Audio app is also excellent and allows you to EQ the earbuds to your sonic signature preference.

They have a sublime balance of being not too heavy and not too light – they are just right. They have a way of engaging you in the music, that is pleasing and easy, which is what you really want.

If I were to sum up the sound signature; I would say with a bit of EQ - a very lovely balanced, liquid flowing sound signature that keeps getting better, with the ability to play all genres.

I found by playing more tracks that the soundstage often appeared to expand a fair bit outside of the earbuds, which in all honesty surprised me. It made me smile, as the music made me turn my head to the left or right, to see where it was coming from.

This is an example or sign of an excellent earbud or headphone.

If I were to score the Soundpeats Air5 Pro+, after being somewhat more thorough, I would give them a 90 out of 100.

Because I am focusing on two key elements: ANC and battery life, I would say this; these two elements go hand-in-glove and have a symbiotic relationship and require Soundpeats to inject that much more effort / R&D into powering these earbuds for maximum sound quality.

The ANC quality is not quite there yet, not to the Sony standard.

The hardware is there, with the speaker implementation and for that you cannot fault these earbuds but please, please develop the things that power and enhance the experience of these fine speakers – ANC and battery life.

Last Word:

I thought I would add a few final thoughts on the earbuds experience of the Air5 Pro+.

I love, love the lightness of the Air5 Pro+ earbuds, how they sit so light and comfortably in the ear and produce this amazing sound, that a $2K AUD set of headphones do.

Soundpeats Air5 Pro+ are what I would consider ‘audiophile’ earbuds; in that you can instinctively feel where the energy of the product has been developed and aimed: sound quality.

Soundpeats seem to do this so easily, which confuses me why bigger more experienced companies like Sony cannot compare in this area.

I kept the H3s, accepting their shortcomings of also short battery life, because the sound quality was so good.

I would do the same for the Air5 Pro+, as they really bring the music, which is what it is really about.

For now, I will settle for this level of sound quality, as it is worth it, and be limited by the battery and ANC.

This is a great time for these products and this technology, because Soundpeats are nearly there and I believe they will get there.

Therefore, I am looking forward to these improvements being implemented by Soundpeats, to bring them level with the features of any flagship earbuds or IEMs and then Soundpeats would steal the march on them all, with ‘simple’ sound quality.

This has been another Ant review, the last for 2025.

I hope you have enjoyed reading it, as much as I have had in compiling it.

Update: 2-Feb-2026:

Today I received a message from Product Review regarding several aspects of Soundpeats earbuds, including Call sound outdoors.

I decided to create call sound matrix, a table in a Word document for all the earbuds and headphones I am going to test, as there will be several more to come soon.

For the Soundpeats Cove Pro, to my surprise, they came out best when compared to the Sennheiser HDB 630 headphones, Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds, and Soundpeats H3 and Air5 Pro earbuds.

I called my own phone number and left test messages in my call message bank.

Here are my comments regarding call testing in different settings for the Soundpeats Air5 Pro+:

- Caller's Voice: Excellent Useable. A bit fuzzy. - In Office: Good. sounded a bit electronic. - Fan-wind test (level 3 fan speed): very, very slight whoosh sound. - Outside traffic ambient sounds: Slight whooshing sound of cars passing by. - Computer plane tone (YouTube video): Nil noise. - Computer Restaurant ambient sound (YouTube video): Useable. A bit fuzzy sounding. Can only hear a slight background sound.

Here is the reply from Icy, Soundpeats Public Relation Specialist, with regards to the Air5 Pro+:

SOUNDPEATS Air5 Pro+

Sweat Resistance: IPX5

Wireless Charging: Not supported. Fast charging — 10 minutes provides about 2 hours of playback.

Outdoor Call Quality: Triple-mic design per earbud with SOUND+ call noise-reduction technology for stronger voice pickup and wind-noise control outdoors.

Back to me:

If you have any other questions or tests you would like conducted (within normal and reasonable use) please contact Product Review and I can see what I can do.