SoundPEATS Air5 Pro

The SoundPEATS Air5 Pro delivers 99th percentile sound, 97th percentile ANC, and 98th percentile mic quality at a budget price. You get aptX Lossless, LDAC, and Snapdragon Sound, plus 37 hours of total battery. At USD 36 to USD 40 in the US, these are a steal, though the music tuning is the weakest link. If you need great calls and solid ANC without spending flagship money, these are the ones to beat.

Let's talk about what those percentile numbers actually mean. Sound quality in the 99th percentile means these are among the absolute best we've tested in this category, not just for the price. The 10mm dynamic driver handles bass with authority, and the codec support is genuinely impressive. aptX Lossless and LDAC both mean you're getting high-bitrate wireless audio, assuming your phone supports them. Snapdragon Sound ties it together for Android users, and there's AAC for iPhone folks plus LC3 for newer Bluetooth devices. The catch is that codec support only matters if your source device plays along, and the music score of 70.2 suggests the tuning isn't quite as refined as the hardware would suggest.

ANC is rated up to 55dB, which is a big number. In practice, adaptive hybrid ANC means the earbuds sample the environment and adjust on the fly. That's the kind of feature you'd expect from Sony or Bose, and our data puts these in the 97th percentile for noise cancelling. The six-mic array with CVC 8.0 also does heavy lifting for calls, landing in the 98th percentile for mic quality. Battery life is solid but not spectacular: 7.5 hours in the buds and 37 hours total with the case. The 10-minute quick charge giving you 2 hours is genuinely useful for travel. Connectivity sits in the 95th percentile thanks to Bluetooth 5.4 and multipoint, so switching between a laptop and phone is painless.

Against the Nothing Buds 2, the SoundPEATS Air5 Pro wins on codec support and ANC depth. The Nothing Buds 2 has a more distinctive design and arguably better app integration, but the Air5 Pro's 55dB ANC claim and Snapdragon Sound put it ahead for pure audio tech. The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro is the premium option here, with better build quality and tighter ecosystem integration if you're in the Samsung world, but you're paying a lot more for that privilege.

The Soundcore P31i and JLab Jbuds Pods are the budget alternatives, and they're fine for what they are, but they don't touch the Air5 Pro on sound or ANC. The EarFun Air Pro 4 is probably the closest rival, with similar ANC ambitions and a comparable price in some regions. The trade-off is that the EarFun has a slightly more balanced tuning out of the box, while the SoundPEATS leans on its codec support to make up for a music score that's merely okay.

Here's where things get interesting. In the US, you're looking at USD 36 to USD 40 across two listings, which is frankly absurd for this feature set. The lower end of that range is the better deal, and Amazon.com is where you'll find it. For context, the Nothing Buds 2 and Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro both cost significantly more and don't necessarily beat these on raw specs. The EarFun Air Pro 4 is a closer competitor on price, but the SoundPEATS has the edge on codec support and ANC depth.

In Europe, the spread is wider: EUR 56 to EUR 80 across four listings in Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. That EUR 24 gap means you should shop around before buying. The lower end of that range is a steal, while the higher end starts to bump against more established brands. If you're paying EUR 80, the value proposition gets shakier, but at EUR 56 these are hard to argue with.

The SoundPEATS Air5 Pro is one of those earbuds that makes you wonder why you'd spend three times as much on a flagship from the big names. You get Snapdragon Sound, aptX Lossless, LDAC, adaptive hybrid ANC rated up to 55dB, and a six-mic setup for calls. That's a spec sheet that reads like a $200 product, not something in the budget tier. And our database backs it up: sound quality lands in the 99th percentile, mic quality in the 98th, and ANC in the 97th. Those are best-in-class numbers, full stop.

Who's this for? Gamers on a budget, travelers who want solid noise cancelling without the flagship markup, and anyone who cares about codec support. The gaming score of 81.8 out of 100 is the strongest use case here, with budget coming in at 80.3 and travel at 77.2. Music is the weakest area at 70.2, which is a bit ironic given all those fancy codecs, but we'll get into that.

What makes these interesting is the mismatch between price and performance. The percentile rankings put these near the top of the charts across the board, yet the price sits in budget territory. That's rare. Usually you trade something, but here the trade-offs are more about fit and tuning than raw capability.

If you're a music-first listener who cares about neutral tuning and doesn't need ANC or call quality, these might not be your best bet. The music score of 70.2 is the weakest area, and while the codec support is impressive, it can't fix a tuning that doesn't quite nail the midrange. You'd be better off looking at something like the EarFun Air Pro 4 or spending more on a dedicated music-focused pair.

Also, if comfort is your top priority, the 72nd percentile comfort score means these might not be the best fit for marathon listening sessions. People with smaller ears or those sensitive to in-ear pressure should try before they buy or look at alternatives with a better comfort track record. And if you're deep in the Apple ecosystem, the lack of seamless iCloud pairing means AirPods might still be the smoother choice despite the higher price.

If you're a gamer or someone who takes a lot of calls, the Air5 Pro is an easy recommendation. The gaming score of 81.8 and the 98th percentile mic quality mean these punch way above their price. The low-latency Bluetooth 5.4 connection helps here too, and the multipoint support means you can keep them paired to your phone and PC simultaneously.

For music purists, it's a bit more complicated. The 70.2 music score suggests the tuning isn't as refined as the hardware would suggest, even with LDAC and aptX Lossless in play. If you're mostly listening to music and don't care about ANC or calls, you might be happier with something tuned more neutrally. But for the price, especially at the lower end of the US range, these are a fantastic all-rounder.