Anyone who has looked at my profile or read my previous reviews will know that I'm a big fan of bluetooth headphones - both full sized and iems. I've had the opportunity to try out quite a few and an comfortable in saying that there's now quite a few inexpensive models on the market now that can compete with the more expensive models on the market now. In my opinion, the Soundpeats P2 definitely fall into this camp.
I have a policy when reviewing the less expensive headphones out there. I don't think it's generally fair to compare them with the more expensive models and when awarding marks out of ten I do like to take their price into account.
The Soundpeats P2 is a very unassuming pair of TWS earbuds - it's fair to say that they kinda look pretty generic and unimpressive all in all. Completely black in colour, they give off the impression that most muggers would let you keep them and just be happy taking your wallet. Well that would be their loss as these are bloody excellent. They're unashamedly plastic in construction, very light and unfortunately, like many other wireless IEM's, slippery and sometimes difficult to get out of the case if you have dry fingers.
Manufacturers specifications (nicked from their website):
Core Specs
Bluetooth Chip: Airoha AB1562A
Waterproof Level: IPX5
Bluetooth: 5.1
Audio Codec: SBC, AAC, MP3
Working Range: 33 feet(10m)
Technology: BT5.0, HSP, HFP, A2DP, AVRCP
Battery
Battery Capacity: 370mAH (Case)
Battery Capacity:55*2mAH(Earbuds)
Charging Time: 2 hours
Standby Time: 150 hours
Playtime Time: ANC ON 7.5 hours, ANC OFF 10 hours
Package
Product Dimensions:0.8 * 0.84 * 1.03 inches
Item Weight:1.72 ounces
Shipping Weight: 4.19 ounces
What is in the Box
1 x SOUNDPEATS T2 Wireless Earbuds
1 x Charging Cable
1 x Charging Case
6 x Interchangeable Ear Tips
1 x User Manual
The T2’s feature Bluetooth - 5.1. Whilst this doesn't appear to directly affect the sound quality the rock solid connection definitely helps with the stability of the sound and they have a decent range (easily passing the upstairs bathroom test).
The charging case is a rather neat affair. Pretty much as small as that found on the Airpods, it offers around 3 full charges. It uses USB Type C (which is always welcome) and charged pretty quickly. I really liked the way Soundpeats have configured their LED indicators to externally show that each earbud is charging properly as well as the overall charge level of the case itself. I really liked the magnetic lid as well. Easy to open and features a subtle two-stage element when opening and closing.
The T2’s offer pretty much every feature you really need in a pair of wireless headphones - including volume control on the buds themselves. What they don’t have are features like in-ear detection, touch to hear (I think this is unique to Sony) or wireless charging. This has helped to keep the cost of the unit down without sacrificing anything too important.
The touch controls work pretty well but unfortunately there’s no app so therefore no way to change the controls (or disable the controls for use in bed). With this in mind, they’re not going to replace the Tronsmart Apollo’s for bedtime use). Interestingly there’s no facility to go back a track but you can still skip forward so it’s not the end of the world. As with many other wireless headphones, the volume steps are a little too coarse for fine tuning which is a shame (not sure if this is a limitation of Bluetooth but the Sony WH1000XM2’s (and probably XM3 and XM4 models too) offer much finer control over the volume. One touch I really do like is that when you pause the music it’s a two-step process - in other words the volume dips down before completely going silent - so there’s no sudden silence.
Up front it has to be said that, although these headphones sound really good, they’re not what I would call hi-fi - the very top-end is curtailed and the bass, although slightly boosted, tends to lack a degree of detail although this slight bass boost does help reduce the need for an air-tight seal - they remind me somewhat of the Apple Airpods Pro in this respect in that you don’t have to get that ‘bunged up’ seal in order to get a nice full sound out of the units.
One thing I really liked about these headphones is that default to ‘Normal’ mode when first powered up. Long pressing for about 1.5 seconds on the left hand bud cycles through the three available modes - Normal, Pass-Through Sound and ANC on. There is a very small amount of additional ‘line-noise’ when using the ANC but all in all, it doesn't particularly have an effect on the sound quality.
Speaking of sound quality. The Soundpeats T2 sounds pretty good for their asking price. They go loud. Although there is a definite ‘V’ shape to the sound, it’s not as pronounced as that found on the Tronsmart Apollo’s. There was a degree of ‘hardness’ to the upper mids when they’re pushed too hard but at normal listening levels this effectively disappeared and the overall sound character remained fairly flat.
The SoundPEATS real ace up their sleeve though is their active noise cancelling which is actually remarkably good - very VERY close to the Sony WF1000XM3's. That's one hell of a compliment because the Sony's are amongst the very best ANC TWS earbuds out there at the moment. I tried them out on a trip to my local supermarket and found that the ANC does a very good job of eliminating excessive outside noise. Whilst it could still be heard (just like with all other ANC headphones I’ve tried), once the music started playing - even at low levels - the outside noises effectively vanished. One problem I did experience though was a considerable amount of wind noise with the ANC on. Many ANC headphones suffer with this problem - so the Soundpeats aren’t on their own here.
The audio pass through works extremely effectively but the end result can't really be described as 'natural sounding'. Outside sounds come through pretty clearly but both amplifier and compressed. Don't get me wrong, it serves its purpose but Sony and Apple's definitely do it better. To be honest, it's actually not a feature I use all that often.
There's no doubt in my mind that the technology that Sony, Apple, Bose and Sennheiser employed in their leading edge products from the last couple of years have now filtered down into the budget market. I'm a big user of wireless headphones - both iem and full sized. Whilst I recognise that from a technical perspective, the sound quality of wireless will always play second fiddle to their wired counterparts. For me, the differences and both fairly subtle and certainly tolerable. Whilst I can still appreciate the purer sound quality from a really good player coupled with a set of really good wired headphones (Sony NW A55 Walkman and Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10's for example) - for much of my music listening I tend to veer towards wireless simply for the convenience.
In conclusion. I'm really impressed with these headphones. They offer better active noise cancellation and have a flatter sound profile than the Apollo Bold's, are a fraction of the price of the Sony WF1000XM3’s and yet offer a comparable degree of noise cancelling, almost match the Lypertek Tevi’s with regard to the earbud battery life and offer a really good balance of sound quality and value for money. Highly recommended for their price.