Honor Sport Pro Review
A unique model that does not conform to the standard, but is still stunning.
With phone manufacturers slowly eliminating the headphone jack, hardware manufacturers from around the world are continually hunting down various opportunities to get in on the big change. Bluetooth earphones and headphones are becoming more and more polished, and most recently, the ‘truly wireless’ earbud-style Bluetooth earphones have been making waves in the market. In this post, we will review Honor’s newest Bluetooth earbuds – the Honor Sport Pro and help you decide if they’re worth the money.
Design And Ergonomics
At first glance, the earbuds appear pretty similar to Huawei’s FreeLace buds. However, some key design differences set the Sport Pro apart. Honor reports that designing the Sport Pro Bluetooth earbuds took a lot of work, and it shows. These buds don’t feature the standard design – the Sport Pro earbuds have an AirPod-like design, but with a silicone fitting on top.
There are several silicone tips of various sizes and shapes included in the box. Switching tips can be quite the hassle since the snug fit makes them difficult to remove and fit. Once you fit them properly, though, they are very comfortable. The snug fit prevents the earphones from popping out of your ears during a workout.
You need to put them on and twist counterclockwise for the best results. Not everyone prefers this design over the standard one; however, the design is much less stressful on the ear, since the earphones do not need to be inserted deep into your ear canal to achieve a secure hold. One downside with the design is that the earphones don’t isolate the ambient noise as well as the traditional design.
The cables aren’t unnecessarily long, which makes the earphones comfortable to wear. They also don’t get in your way if you’re exercising and you will barely notice them. The cord boasts the ideal length, and the quality much better than the average wireless earphones. The cable is braided, just like Huawei FreeLace, which is always a welcome design feature. The braids prevent them from tangling and make the earphones more durable.
The IPX5 rating only adds to the durability – making the earphones splash- and sweat-proof. The IPX5 rating has become an industry standard for wireless audio products. Another cool feature the Honor Sport Pro borrows from the Huawei’s FreeLace is the button controls. The way the earphones charge is similar, too. The buttons are placed on the right, which makes for easy reach. The buttons have unique textures, which makes it easier to distinguish the volume buttons from the active key.
Pulling off the top of the button module reveals a USB-C connector, which can be plugged into a USB-C charger (or your phone) directly. You can also use the included USB-C to USB-A dongle and with any standard USB-A charging adapter to charge these earphones. One of the features you cannot miss is the magnetic snap feature. The feature is not new by any means – snapping the earbuds together will pause the current tack and turn off the earphones. Splitting them will restart and reconnect them to your phone, and resume playback.
The problem with this design is that if you throw them in your bag or pocket, they are bound to split some point, causing them to connect to your phone and start playing. It can get particularly annoying if you take a call and realize that you can’t hear anything because the call’s audio is unexpectedly being routed to the earphones. The Honor Sport Pro helps circumvent this issue by providing a manual switch-off option. Holding down the ‘active’ button on the earphones will cause them to switch off, and they will not connect to your phone unexpectedly.
Sound Quality
The Honor Sport Pro wireless earphones boast sound quality that rivals more expensive pairs of buds in the same size. The 13mm drivers do an excellent job of handling the bass. The bass is too powerful and sometimes muffles the vocals. Turning up the volume will lead to slight distortions in the highs and vocals. Overall though, the bass is super pronounced, and the music sounds balanced.
The overall sound quality is comparable to more expensive buds such as the OnePlus Bullet Wireless 2. The only drawback with the Sport Pro earphones is the overpowering bass. However, if you like bass-heavy EDM, you will love the Sport Pros! Since ear shapes vary from person-to-person, the buds will fit differently to different people. To ensure that you have the right experience with these earphones, make sure you use the right Silicone tips for your ears.
Battery Life and Charging
The audio quality is not the only strong suit of the Honor Sport Pro – the battery life is another area where they shine. The company claims that the Sport Pro earphones have a whopping 18-hour music playback time. Although the earphones don’t last that long on a single charge, you can easily get at least 12-14 hours of playback out of them before it’ll need to be charged.
And if you are a heavy user, you will love the fast charging feature. Charging the earphones for just 5 minutes will get your 4 hours of music playback. The fact that you can charge them using your smartphone or your laptop as long as they support a USB-C connector is a huge plus.
Verdict
The Honor Sport Pro is an excellent choice for all kinds of users. The earphones are priced aggressively, and you will get a good deal considering the set of features that these buds offer. The Sport Pro earphones make Huawei’s FreeLace earphones seem overpriced. The battery life is solid, and the sound quality is excellent. The bass is over-powered, but people who love to listen to bass-heavy music will surely get a kick out of it.
The build quality is excellent, and these look like they will last a long while. There’s noticeable distortion at higher volumes. The noise isolation isn’t the best, either. Overall though, it is easy to recommend the Honor Sport Pro wireless earphones.
