Soundpeats Mini Pro HS ($59.99)
The Soundpeats Mini Pro HS (MPHS) arrived at my home a few weeks ago and it came courtesy of the good people of Soundpeats. This is the last in my string of Sounpeats products that I will have the pleasure of reviewing, unfortunately. I also reviewed the Soundpeats Capsule3 Pro, the Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS, as well as the Sounpeats RunFree Lite. Mahir also reviewed the Soundpeats Opera 5. All sets came away with very good reviews so I can experientially proclaim that Sounpeats is doing great things. I want to thank Ellen and Soundpeats for providing the Mini Pro HS in exchange for a fair and honest review. I have absolutely not been paid or asked or coerced into saying anything. So, I have to say kudos to Soundpeats for believing in their product enough to be rated critically by reviewers. Thank you Soundpeats!
Soundpeats have been around for quite some time and have been extremely busy since their genesis. They release many tws iems each year and from my estimation they get better with each iteration of every tws earphone that they bring to market. One after the other we see new releases which seem to outdo the last release per the series or their respective price points. I have owned many Soundpeats products over the years and it is quite obvious that any set you receive from this company will be ‘close to’ or ‘at’ the “best in class” moniker.
I have been quite surprised by this budget set and all that it offers for such an incredibly low price. The Mini Pro HS has a ton of features and guess what… They actually work very well. With that, let’s take a look at this newest budget Mini Pro HS…
Purchase the Soundpeats Mini Pro HS at Amazon $59.99
MPHS Pros
-Build quality
-Design
-Comfort and fit
-Small & compact, yet also durable
-Features that actually work well
-LDAC codec
-Balanced sound across the mix
-Bass impact
-Nice Midrange
-Treble has good energy
-Reaction to EQ (yes this is a pro)
-Timbre comes across natural
-Price to performance
MPHS Cons
-Treble can be a tad sharp for the treble sensitive
-Fit may not be for everyone
-No other cons at this price
Packaging
The Mini Pro HS or “MPHS” as I will refer to them in this review are not wasteful at all in their packaging. What you get is a smaller cardboard box with a picture of a woman with her head turned to the side and the MPHS in her ears. No facial expression at all. An odd choice for the cover of a tws earphone box but…I’m not judging the box here. Anyways, open the box and you’ll see the case with the MPHS inside. Under the box is the usb-c charging cable as well as three sets of eartips. There is also some reading material that I won’t bore you with. All in all, it is a pretty common packaging.
Eartips
The tips which come with the MPHS are of decent quality. I do like how firm the flanges are on the included ear tips and as you can see from the picture, they have an oval opening and stem. However, I could not get a seal at all with these tips. Thankfully I have a wealth of eartips at my disposal from reviewing so much and so I was able to locate the perfect tips for the MPHS. I actually went with my favorite tips the ‘KBear 07’ large size. Also, another thing which Soundpeats does well is that they add plenty of room to occupy most any 3rd party tips…Bravo!! I cannot begin to explain how annoying it is that most companies give little to no room in the case. About 80% of tws makers provide a very shallow opening for tips to fit in. Again, Bravo Soundpeats!!
Case
The charging case is fantastic on the MPHS. It is the same general size of the previous Soundpeats Mini Pro case, same shape as well but it is a bit more dolled-up and looks much cooler. Friends, if you didn’t know, I judge all cases first on if it can fit inside my little “extra” jeans pocket on the right front side, if you don’t know… every pair of jeans on planet earth has this pocket. If it doesn’t… burn them… Jk Jk.
Anyways, the case is fantastic because it is so small, has great battery life at 28 hrs. in the case, and is well built. This is rare. Thank you Soundpeats! A great charging case. The best thing about this case… The absolute best thing… Is That it has enough room for 3rd party eartips to fit inside and you can still close it…. Woo-hoo! Again, a rarity but should be essential in the designing of a case. I love the look as well as Soundpeats covered the black case in these little speckles or fleck of color which takes it from boring to pretty darn cool really quick. Also, there is a battery light located on the front of the case which tells you how much battery is left. Another win for Soundpeats. Folks, this is a fantastic case. True wireless manufacturers please take note.
Build / Design / Internals / Fit
Build
For the price of $60 you should expect a nice build anymore. The way the market is churning out some nice sets it seems build quality has been on the rise. The evidence is in my ears as I write this review. The MPHS has a solid build using dense and quality plastic that feels sturdy and simply feels well made when in hand.
Design
I really like the design theme with the Mini HS as they are compact and not too bulbous and big. So many tws iems need to be huge to accommodate all of the innards, like the battery, the chipset, drivers, etc. Not the MPHS. This set is actually pretty small and look good in the ear as they don’t stick out super far past the ear like some true wireless. I have sets in my possession which give off a very “Frankenstein” vibe, like two big bolts out the sides of my head. The MPHS keep all of that tech “somehow” within just a couple small cavities and do so in a very stylish way. Let’s put it this way, I don’t mind going out and about with the MPHS in my ears. I actually quite enjoy rummaging around Walmart while jamming out to my tunes wearing the MPHS. Nice job Soundpeats!
Above: Sounpeats promotional images
Internals
Soundpeats chose to use a 10 mm Dynamic Driver within the MPHS which is pretty large for such a small Earbud. As far as the SOC Chipset, the MPHS seem to adopt the same chipset as the Soundpeats Capsule 3 pro as they went with a quality SOC, the WUQI WQ7033AR. More on that later. Obviously Soundpeats managed to cram a lot more inside a very small earphone and I can honestly say that I’m impressed.
Fit
This is a very subjective area and the fit that I have using the MPHS may not be the same for you (the reader). As for myself, the MPHS fit wonderfully. They are small, compact and they quite literally sit perfectly in my ear. It seems that Soundpeats went to great lengths to provide a very ergonomic design and as far as my own findings I would say they succeeded.
Features
Note: Many features are the same for the Soundpeats Capsule 3 pro and so I have borrowed some of my words from that review to explain the Mini Pro HS.
SOC Chipset / Audio Codecs
Soundpeats decided to use the WUQI-WQ7033AR SOC Chipset inside of the MPHS. This is a fine chip which carries LDAC, AAC (for Apple users) and SBC Codecs. The MPHS can reach up to 990 kbs on LDAC which is as good as it gets for the most part. The MPHS can also replay at 24bit/96khz as well which is fantastic to see at $59. There was a time when LDAC was unheard of in any true wireless and was thought to be impossible to actually implement for various reasons. However, now we have it in $59 earbuds and the implementation is perfect from what I can gather listening on the Mini Pro HS.
Hybrid ANC
The MPHS do have a very well-done Hybrid ANC which is promoted to attenuate up to 40 dBs. I can concur that the ANC is very well done. Now, I did have to update the firmware to achieve this ANC so I’m hoping that future sets will ship with this update intact. Anyways, the ANC really does a nice job of covering over sounds like the drone of an air conditioner. In fact, I am in my office right now with an AC running and I cannot hear it even slightly. Higher pitched sounds are simply dampened a bit, but they are not blocked out. Really any sound that is a low drone, the hum of an engine and very likely plane engines will be almost fully canceled with only the faintest of hum in the background. For $69 I am very impressed.
In fact, I’m so impressed that I am almost positive that the ANC is one of the best that Soundpeats have produced thus far. At the very least Soundpeats really took things to another level since the previous iteration, the Mini Pro. The MPHS actually uses a total of six mics and both feedback & feed-forward tech to cancel out and attenuate as much noise as possible. There is also a wind noise reduction tech which seems to work. Once a seal has been achieved and the ANC turned on the MPHS do a very good job of canceling out the environment around you. Of course, there is no ANC anywhere that perfectly attenuates all sound.
Transparency Mode (Pass-through)
The MPHS also comes equipped with a transparency mode which does an extremely good job. It comes across naturally to the ear and works better than I expected. You can toggle the ANC, Transparency mode, and Normal mode by simply holding down the left earpiece touch surface for a couple seconds. I find this feature very helpful when you need to be aware of your surroundings.
Using the pass-through in my office was perfect as it is a smaller space and I think it is incredible how far Pass-through mode has come in the last few years. Soundpeats takes this tech a step past what I’ve used in other tws iems.
Game Mode (Low Latency)
I was glad that Soundpeats added a game mode to the MPHS’s repertoire. Game mode is simply another way of saying low latency mode. Truthfully, I really haven’t had any lip-syncing or lag issues. Videos always seem to be spot on and even more so with game mode turned on. The toughest thing for tws to get right are games and more specifically first-person shooter type games which have plenty of action going on. The MPHS fares pretty well as I didn’t find gunshots to be too far off at all, even in the commotion of a battle scene. Soundpeats advertises the game mode to lag at as low as 70 MS, which if true, it is humanly impossible to notice any of that lag. Simply tap three times in the left earpiece and game mode will become engaged.
Soundpeats App
The Soundpeats app (I use Android) has come a long way. Thankfully Soundpeats realizes how important a good app can be for us consumers. The app is one of the better ones out there and provides the MPHS with many options to either tweak the sound or configure the MPHS. You can upgrade firmware through the app (don’t forget to do this right away). There is also a 10-band equalizer which is very effective at switching up the sound to your liking. Personally, I don’t use eq for reviews, but I did play around and the MPHS does very well in reaction to EQ. Soundpeats also offers 9 preset EQ settings as well as the custom user EQ. One huge plus is the fact that whatever setting you choose it will save on the buds themselves. You can also toggle between ANC, Transparency mode and Normal mode as well as toggle on or off game mode. Finally, you can check the battery status of each Earbud. It isn’t the most in depth app, but it is exactly what we need. Very nice.
Battery Life
Battery life is better than I expected, especially using the LDAC codec. Without LDAC you can get around 7.5 to 8 hrs. (advertised at 8 hrs.), which is very impressive. When toggling on the ANC as well as using LDAC you will get an impressive 4.3 hours of usage. Like I stated earlier you do get an extra 28 hrs. of battery life using the case so this really shouldn’t be a problem for anyone to get a mostly full day out of the MPHS.
Again, if you were to be listening on SBC codec (up to 328 kbps) you could get roughly around 7.5 to 8 hrs. of time. However, almost all Android phones anymore come equipped with LDAC which most likely means that you will be using the tech for the finest quality music. Apple users will be able to use the AAC codec associated with the Apple ecosystem as well.
Call Quality
Call Quality isn’t bad at all. This is another area where Soundpeats have stepped up their game. Of course, it isn’t perfect, but my voice comes across pretty naturally and without a ton of miscellaneous fuzz to the sound and I don’t come across tinny or tizzy either. The call quality is certainly an improvement over the original Mini Pro. I don’t think call quality is a highlight but it also isn’t a detriment, it works.
Touch controls
Soundpeats did what I wish all tws manufacturers would do and that is make all controls available using touch or push-button commands. You have complete control of music playback as well as full volume control, voice assistant and ANC/Transparency controls. The touch surface is very snappy to react albeit a bit sensitive. You may have a couple ghost taps every now and again. Personally, I like push button controls but as far as the implementation of the touch controls on the MPHS, I have no complaints.
Waterproofing
The Mini Pro HS is rated at an IPX5 waterproof rating. This means that the MPHS can withstand water shot from a spray nozzle from a distance of 3 meters away. That would be rather odd if you found yourself in this position but hey, Soundpeats has you covered. Seriously though an IPX5 Rating means that yes, they can withstand water from a spray nozzle for up to 15 minutes from all directions as well as being sweatproof. However, this does not mean this set is waterproof. Basically, you can be jogging in the rain and not have to worry.
Quick Sound Impressions
Note: I want to quickly make mention that I do not use EQ when reviewing tws iems. I may occasionally clue the reader in to how well a set reacts to EQ, but I want this to be an almost right out of the box review. I have a hard time not including what this set can sound like with some addition or subtraction of dBs at specific spots in the frequency. For the MPHS I used the “Soundpeats Classic” preset which is what is used out-the-box. Also, I listen using either UAPP or Poweramp using all stored music.
The sound…
The Mini Pro HS has more of a V-shaped to a possible U-shaped sound that comes across as warm and natural to my ears. There is certainly an emphasis in the mid-bass while the sub-bass has a slight roll off. Not over emphasized either but a nice thump down low. The midrange comes across clean and resolute with decent note weight for male and female vocals. The treble region sees a rise in the lower treble with good energy and then there is a roll-off around 9k with a nice dissent through the highest if highs. All in all, the sound is very pleasing and can only improve with the EQ. Please note that the MPHS reacts very well to any EQ I tweaked them with, which is a huge plus. Eq’ing didn’t bring upon mass amounts of distortion at all. I did not use EQ for any of the sound testing.
Bass Region
The bass region has a nice boost within the mid-bass which provides some good thumps and slam for genres which cater to such a tuning. I noticed with ANC turned on there is the slightest bit more of an encroachment into the midrange. Not that it isn’t still a nice sounding set but just a pinch more closed in. The bass hits with good authority with a nicely round and robust rumble down low. Note definition is very good for a true wireless in this price point. I don’t hear anything hollow or soft but instead I hear good density to bass drops, bass guitars and kick drums. Bassheads will be left wanting for some more (just EQ) but everyone else should appreciate the cleanliness of the bass region.
It’s not the largest in quantity that I’ve heard which by my estimate is actually a good thing. It keeps the low-end and the midrange clean. Still there is enough of an emphasis to add beef to a song like “Home Sweet Highway“ by Ashley Mcbryde yet reserved enough to keep instrumentation clean and resolute for a tws under $75. The sub-bass has plenty of haptic and tactile vibration and rumble while not overpowering the mid-bass.
Midrange
The midrange comes across more naturally than not as well as more forward than most V-shaped sets. Notes in this region are nice and crispy with clean outlines. Males’ vocals aren’t the thickest in note weight, but they are clean as the mid-bass doesn’t really encroach in a terrible way. You don’t get that thick warmth but instead what you will hear is a tonally nice and resolute lower midrange. Females do have a hint of shimmer and and sparkle as the pinna gain is just enough to add levity to female voices. The transient behavior in the midrange is pretty nice and lends the MPHS to have nice separation and even a more detailed midrange than I expected. The Mids are not too recessed and have good energy with nice presence. With a little EQ I notice that I can almost perfect the midrange to my preference. Not bad at all.
“Any Love“ by Dermot Kennedy shows off his gritty brogue with good note weight. His voice has a nice grit to it on the MPHS with a solid attack and a smoother inflection to his voice. Gabrielle Aplin‘s song “Mariana Trench“ really highlights her voice and for a true wireless the MPHS actually has little glimmers of shimmer yet never overdone. Her voice also has decent body to it and the emotion of her vocals is not lost on the MPHS.
I don’t hear any sibilance like I did in the original Mini Pro, and I don’t hear that grainy and veiled midrange like before either. For the most part note definition is much better, and I can probably attribute that to better drivers, better tuning and very likely LDAC. The Mids are mostly smooth and easy listening without anything piercing or glaring in the upper mids. I would call the MPHS a non-offensive type of sound with good energy and a more clean and clear delivery.
Treble
I love that Soundpeats covered the whole of the spectrum very well on the MPHS. The treble region has good lift to it with some nice luster and vivacity up top. The MPHS has pretty nice extension for a tws in this price point. For instance, secondary harmonics of a cymbal crash have a nice “chisk” to it without that sheened out splash which we hear so often. I find the treble to have good details as well as the resolution in this area, especially if you are listening using LDAC and some good high-quality files. The truth is, the tuning is very well accomplished for a tech which can be difficult to tune in the first place.
Attack bite is on the snappy side with good texture to notes in this area. I notice a nice speed to the treble activity that is present as percussion sounds snappy with good pacing & timing. All together it’s not bad at all. I love that Soundpeats added a nice emphasis to the treble without going overboard with a nicely rendered downward slope. I hear good info past 8k, and I don’t hear anything piercing to the ear. The only issue would be for those who are treble sensitive as the MPHS can be a bit sharp on some tracks, but for me… I don’t think so. The treble region adds quite a lot to the whole mix as it adds some air and room to breathe. I think this is needed as the Capsule 3Pro which I reviewed earlier was slightly lacking in this regard. Thankfully Soundpeats nailed it on the Mini Pro HS.
Technicalities
Soundstage
When discussing soundstage, it is important to remember we are talking about a set of true wireless. The tech normally lends itself to slightly smaller stage sizes as well as a little more congested of a stage. As far as the MPHS goes, the stage is about average in width, maybe a hair above average while the height is also a bit above average. Instruments are pretty well spread out as I hear everything just past my ears. As far as depth is concerned, I do hear some difference in where vocals are placed and say… drums. There is obvious depth to the sound. Now, again this is a tws so it isn’t some cavern or coliseum, but it sounds like a decent sized room. Not too intimate. The sound isn’t overly cramped. In all honesty, the soundstage is better than I thought it would be.
Separation / Imaging
The MPHS does a pretty nice job at separating from left to right as well as front to back. I’d say it does what it is supposed to do. We have to remember that this is a V-shaped true wireless and so it isn’t made to be ultra fine-tuned in its technical approach. That said, I still think the MPHS is better than I would have thought. The imaging toes the same line. There is an obvious delineation between instruments and vocals and from left to right. The only issue arises in congested tracks which have a lot going on in them. All things considered I’d say that Soundpeats did a nice job here.
Details
Again, the MPHS wasn’t tuned to be a detail marvel or a detail king. It is tuned for fun and done so in a clean way. Yes, the bass is emphasized which kind of covers some of the finer minutiae (micro-details) within a track. However, resolution is good enough that you won’t be missing much of anything. Truth is, I wouldn’t want them to switch up a thing. I wouldn’t want to miss out on the emotion of a song or the musicality just to be able to hear the napkin scrape on a table two rows back in my favorite live track. It’s a give and take but all in all I hear nice macro-details and even some micro-details. Nice job!
Is it worth the asking price?
This is an easy recommendation. I feel like I am saying this for every Soundpeats review I complete. Absolutely the Mini Pro HS is worth every penny. If you ask me, when considering the feature set, the build, the case and the sound and then looking at the price tag… This is a steal in my opinion. Who else is selling a $59 tws iem which has this good of ANC, Transparency mode, Call Quality, great app and also… the Mini Pro HS sounds good. I’ll save you the research… Not many.
This isn’t a sales pitch; this isn’t a hype and I make no monetary gain whatsoever from this review. However, I have been in this hobby long enough to know a good deal and something which is good for those who don’t have $300 burning a hole in their pocket. Also, for whatever reason Soundpeats seems to be on the forefront of value per performance.
Ratings (0-10)
*All Ratings are given per the price point as well as the style of earphone. In this case I am rating the Mini Pro HS against the field of similarly priced tws iems. Keep in mind that a “5.0” is exactly average. These scores are collected only against the other sets in the price point, so it isn’t crazy to see some higher scores. This basically is my subjective scores in a price to performance against the rest of the similarly priced market. I feel this is the best way to gauge a set.
Aesthetic
Build- 9.0
Design- 9.0
Features- 9.5
Feature function- 10.0
Overall Rating- 9.4 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Sound Rating
Timbre/Tonality- 9.0
Bass- 8.9
Midrange- 9.4
Treble- 8.9
Technicalities- 8.7
P2P- 10.0 (Price to Performance)
Overall Rating- 9.1 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Conclusion
Well, that will do It for my full review of the Soundpeats Mini Pro HS. I do believe that the MPHS generally sits atop the $50 to $75 price point for its all-around abilities. Just a good all-around product. If you are in the market for a feature-rich tws iem which has a good build, small in stature that sounds really good against the market, I’d say you should at least take a look at the Mini Pro HS. Also, please don’t just stop at this one review, please take a look at other perspectives and other thoughts about the Mini Pro HS. We are all different as what I enjoy may be a world apart from the next person. So do yourself a favor and read, listen to, or watch other reviews and I do hope you make the right decision for you. Also, I hope my time with this set helps you. Every word I write is my own experiential and honest thoughts, yet again, the next review you read may be different.
Thank You
I also want to once again thank Ellen and the good people of Soundpeats for their kindness and support. They lent out this unit and believed in their product enough to subject it to the scrutiny of a reviewer. I have no skin in this game other than a joy for reviewing. Nobody asked me to say anything kind about their product as always, I only accept no strings attached review samples. So, it does say a lot about a company and their product at least to a small degree. So, kudos to Soundpeats and to anyone who purchases the Mini Pro HS. I also need to thank you all for reading and I do hope that this review has helped. Thank you and please stay safe and take good care.