Honor is going strong as an independent brand, quickly restoring its positions from before the split in more and more markets and segments. The last device we had for a review is the Earbuds Choice X – TWS wearable device with a much richer feature set than the price suggests.
After spending several weeks with the white couple we got, we’re ready to share our impressions of what’s great and could be improved upon.
The design and packaging of these earbuds is pretty simple – a rectangular case, two buds with short stems, and a small USB-A to USB-C cable are in the box. The case is flat at the top and bottom so that it can stand upright. The hinge is not very tight and opens easily, the bus is still sturdy enough so we have little to worry about in terms of durability.
The buds are standard in-ear headphones that slide smoothly into the case, thanks to the magic of the magnets.
There’s a USB-C port at the bottom, as well as a circular button for pairing. The case has an LED light that flashes when the device is ready to connect and indicates the battery charge level.
Honor has equipped the Choice Earbuds X case with a 500mAh cell, while each gem has a 40mAh battery. The tops are IPX4 water resistant, which basically means sweat and light rain are covered. There are touch sensing areas on the side for controlling the phone.
Honor has a dedicated app for further adjustments of its audio wearables, but Choice X support is not yet enabled. We assume they will come into play once actual market availability arrives in the EU.
So we resorted to a simple Bluetooth connection, which was blazingly fast. Automatic connection when taking the Choice X buds out of the case was also instant hassle-free throughout the duration of our tests.
Unfortunately, the only area where the Choice X’s cheaper price shines through is sound quality. They contain a large 12mm biodiaphragm dynamic driver, but we have no clarification on what the bio part should mean in this context.
The fact remains that music sounds flat with low bass and limited definition of higher frequency tones. Things got a little better when we turned the volume down to below 70%, but it still wasn’t worth writing home. If they get official app support and equalizers, we might have a little more control over the sound, but clearly the potential is limited, so we wouldn’t be holding our breath.
A much more crucial solution that will be provided by the app’s official support is the dual-microphone array that works with “neural network algorithms for intelligent filtering of ambient noise”.
This cannot be turned on or off, which means random ambient sound is played through the earpiece in the user’s ear: talking on the radio in the taxi, yelling at the kids at home or just the garbage truck out on the street.
The two microphones are also not very aligned, so a phone conversation can only be flawless if the stars are well aligned: there is no surrounding noise, the buds are positioned correctly in the ear, and there are no other people in the room.
One thing we liked about Choice X is their convenience. Weighing just 4.3 grams, they stay in the ear even in difficult conditions. A member of our team here at GSMArena took them for a six hour ride (yes, really) and they didn’t require any adjustments for the whole.
The test also confirmed that Honor’s advertised six-hour battery life on a single charge (28 hours total) is true. The Choice X went from full to flat in exactly 360 minutes at 70% volume.
There is also a game mode, which lowers latency to 125ms at the expense of battery life, but even that is a bit high for most dynamic titles.
The touch-sensing areas on the side are pretty standard – double tap to play and pause music and answer / hang up calls. The game mode is activated with a three-second long press on both buds at the same time, while a single tap does nothing.
A two-second long press on the right earbud skips to the next song, and two seconds on the left earbud skips back to the beginning of the song. In theory, it should play the previous song as well, but in practice it doesn’t work: the long press lasts two seconds, but if the track has passed the 00:02 mark, it rewinds. This means that the user should be extremely quick to play the previous song at the very beginning of the current one, which is more frustrating than convenient.
We have to commend Honor for designing these easy-to-pair wireless earbuds. Battery life is impressive, the buds are comfortable and ergonomic with a nice overall design.
Availability is also limited right now, but users in a handful of countries can purchase Choice X for € 50.
Unfortunately their audio quality is far from impressive, so they are far from a universal recommendation. If you’re picky about this, it’s probably best to spend your hard-earned cash elsewhere. However, more casual listeners should be perfectly happy with the latest version of Honor.
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