BUILD QUALITY & DESIGN
Presented in a cool grey charging case with a hinged magnetic lid, SoundPEATS’ Sonic headphones look and feel like quality.
The earbuds themselves are finished with the same smooth grey tones, emblazoned with the SoundPEATS logo on each side. What ruins it a little bit from a visual perspective is the LEDs on each bud. They highlight the logo, shining orange when they’re charging, and white when they’re connected. Considering how slick the rest of the package is, the bright, shining logo just seems cheap and tacky.
Beyond that, they fit snugly in the ear right out of the box. There are three pairs of changeable tips in total, but I expect the ones that come factory fitted will suit most people. Besides the blatantly obvious LED logos, they’re actually much lower profile than Edifier‘s TWS1 Pro we reviewed recently. The TWS1 jut out of the ear, which is especially obvious with the white model. It’s a little bit Chobits to say the least.
FEATURES & FUNCTIONALITY
The SoundPEATS‘s Sonic boasts 35 hours of battery life in total. Fully charging the case takes about 1.5 hours with the included USB Type-C cable, and offers two full recharges on the earbuds themselves, which apparently provide about fifteen hours of listening time. Honestly, I didn’t put this to the test – as tempting as it was to listen to Finland’s Eurovision entry for an entire day. But I’ve used them for an entire week on only a single charge to the case, so the battery life seems more than adequate.
The audio quality itself is pretty average on the whole. There’s a solid bass layer but above that, mid and high ranges get muddled together. It does the job, but this is one area where the SoundPEATS Sonic set doesn’t really equal the Edifier TWS1. Considering that they’re around the same price range with only a £5 difference between them, that might be a crippling blow.
It’s easy to skip tracks and answer calls using the touch controls on either side, and you can operate them in single or paired mode. They’re ideal for talking on the phone without having to carry it around like some sort of neanderthal.
VALUE FOR MONEY
This is actually a pretty easy one, because we can use Edifier‘s TWS1 Pro as a direct comparison. SoundPEATS’ Sonic set is currently available from Amazon for £42.99. The TWS1 Pro is £49.99, but you can’t get them directly from Amazon – you’ll have to shop around smaller sites to find a pair. The TWS1 Pro’s sound quality is considerably better than the Sonic’s, and I’d honestly recommend them over these if you don’t mind looking like an android.
There is one caveat, though – at time of writing, SoundPEATS’ earbuds currently have an £8 voucher available if you purchase through Amazon, which makes them over £10 cheaper in total. Definitely something to bear in mind if you’re minding those pennies.
SOUNDPEATS SONIC OVERALL THOUGHTS
If you’re on the lookout for a quality, cheap set of wireless earbuds, you could do a lot worse than the Sonics. They have a lot of premium features, great connectivity, and generous battery life. In terms of sound quality itself, you could do a lot better for just a little more cash, so it’s really just down to what you care about most. The quality isn’t bad, but it is noticeably worse than the TWS1 Pro, for example.
Check out more of our hardware reviews HERE.