Honor Choice Earbuds X5 review: good sound quality, reliable battery life

Honor recently launched Choice Earbuds X5 in India, the company’s latest truly wireless stereo (TWS) earphones that support active noise cancellation (ANC). The wireless earphones are said to offer up to 9 hours of playback time with ANC turned off, or a total of 35 hours with the charging case, while the earphones are IP54 dust- and water-resistant. I’ve been using the Honor Choice Earbuds X5 for a few weeks now, and here are my thoughts on these wireless headphones.

Honor Choice Earbuds X5 review: Design and features

Choice Earbuds X5 comes in a single white color, and the charging box adopts a round design, which is almost suitable for vertical TWS earphones. While the casing looks similar to its predecessor, the company has changed the position of the earphones so that the stems are next to each other and the earbuds are on opposite sides. I could easily open and close the case with one finger, and the earphones stayed securely in place while charging.

The Choice Earbuds X5 are very light thanks to their all-plastic design. It weighs 4.6 grams alone (each earphone) and 50 grams with the charging case. There’s a sound hole on the back of the headset, and the microphone is located between the charging contacts at the base of the stem. They don’t have dedicated sensors to detect when you take them out of your ears, so the music will continue playing until you use the pause gesture.

Honor Choice Earbuds X5 are available in a single white color

The earbuds and charging case have smooth surfaces that attract dust and smudges, and the latter has an LED indicator light on the outside to let you know when the earbuds need to be charged. There’s a USB Type-C port on the bottom, and the headphones come with three earbuds in the box. While headphone fit can be highly subjective, I found these headphones to be fairly comfortable to wear for about an hour without much fatigue.

Honor Choice Earbuds X5 review: Apps and specs

If you have an Android smartphone, you can download Honor’s AI Space app, which allows you to pair the headphones and control various settings and features. The app requires you to register with your phone number, there is no way to bypass the login process and just use the app. The AI ​​Space app allows you to pair the headphones with your smartphone or tablet – the headphones automatically enter pairing mode the first time, or you can tap and hold on the touch panel on either headset to start the pairing process.

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Once you pair the earphones, you can choose from three equalizer presets (more on that in the next section) that affect the audio output on the Honor Choice Earbuds X5. You can also tweak the click controls on the headset, offering single- and double-click options, as well as support for long-press shortcuts. The touch sensor’s placement is higher on the stem, which means you won’t accidentally trigger it when you take the headphones out of your ears.

Honor Choice Earbuds X5 can be controlled via Android app

The touch controls on the Honor Choice Earbuds X5 are finicky, and I found myself repeatedly tapping the small area on top of the stem to pause music or switch tracks. You can answer or end a call with a double tap, and you can use the same gestures to control playback, or summon Google Assistant/Bixby. A three-tap gesture lets you switch to a previous device or enable low-latency gaming mode.

But it’s worth noting that if you have an iPhone, you can’t access any of these features. You can still pair the headphones and access basic sound modes on iOS, but you can’t change the equalizer mode, modify the touch controls, or download and install firmware updates.

Honor Choice Earbuds X5 review: Performance and battery life

According to the company, the TWS earphones feature 10mm dynamic drivers and support up to 30dB ANC. They also feature ambient noise cancellation (ENC) during calls. They have an IP54 rating and are said to offer up to 9 hours of playback time on a single charge.

Honor Choice Earbuds X5 TWS headphones are lightweight and comfortable

The Honor Choice Earbuds X5 feature three equalizer modes: Bass Boost, Default, and Treble Boost. The default mode provides clear audio playback when listening to most music genres, but you can tell that there’s an emphasis on bass at the expense of some detail. The company doesn’t offer a graphic equalizer, which means you’re limited to these three presets.

When I listened to Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F, I found myself switching into treble boost mode. 90: Three. James Levine’s Poco Allegretto and similar recordings with a lot of detail. You’ll also want to use this preset on tracks like Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain or Birdy & RHODES’ Let It All Go so that the vocals aren’t affected.

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The mids are a little muddy due to the bass, and the vocals sound a little distant on some tracks, but these TWS headphones definitely punch above their weight, especially in these genres. I have no complaints about the headset’s handling of Poets of the Fall’s “Carnival of Rust,” but it couldn’t handle The Killers’ “Your Side of Town,” which is a pretty busy track.

If you listen to a lot of bass-heavy tracks, the Honor Choice Earbuds X5 pack a lot of punch even on their default settings. Clean Bandit & Topic’s Drive (feat. Wes Nelson) sounds great, as does Dua Lipa’s Physical and Kylie Minogue’s Padam Padam. The headphones also handle SHAED and Zayn’s Trampoline well, with just the right amount of detail and reverb.

Honor Choice Earbuds X5 have up to 7 hours of battery life

The ANC mode on the Honor Choice Earbuds X5 preserves the low-frequency rumble and sounds of home appliances like vacuum cleaners and air conditioners. Although it can’t handle the treble, it can “muff” it a little, which is completely acceptable for TWS headphones in this price range.

Honor says the Choice Earbuds X5 support SBC and AAC codecs, which means you can use them with a variety of devices – I was able to use the wireless earbuds with an Android smartphone, iPad, iPhone, and even an Apple Watch. When ANC is turned on, the battery life is about 5 and a half hours; when ANC is turned off, the battery life is about 7 hours.

judgment

If you want to buy a pair of wireless earphones priced under Rs. At $2,000, the Honor Choice Earbuds X5 are a solid option worth considering. The TWS earphones are currently priced at Rs. 1,999 and offers decent sound quality in this price segment, as well as entry-level ANC support. It’s compact, lightweight, and offers reliable battery life. The addition of SBC and AAC codecs means they will work well on iOS and Android smartphones.

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One major drawback is the lack of an official app on iOS – while you can still pair the headphones with an iPhone or iPad, you can’t configure any settings without using an Android smartphone. While there are a variety of touch control options available, the limited surface means you may need to touch the earbuds repeatedly in some situations.

While there’s no multipoint support, you can quickly switch between the current and previous devices with a single gesture – the same feature is available on other budget TWS headphones in this price range. This headset competes with the OnePlus Nord Buds 2R and Anker Soundcore R50i – these don’t offer ANC support, so if you’re looking for a pair of headphones with noise-canceling features, it’s worth considering the Boult Z40 Ultra and Boat Airdopes Flex 454 in India Prices are similar.