SoundPeats TrueFree/True Wireless Headphones Review

The SoundPEATS TrueFree are very low-profile truly wireless headphones. They have a very small earbud design and don’t protrude too much out of your ears. They also only come in an all-black design that fits every style but might not be vibrant enough for some. They look fairly good for budget headphones and don’t feel cheap, which is nice.

These in-ears are fairly comfortable, and they also come with four different tip sizes for you to find the best and most comfortable fit. They're also very lightweight, and you barely feel them in your ears. However, the in-ear design may not be for everyone, and some may feel soreness after wearing them for a while. Also, their control scheme forces you to push the headphones deeper inside your ear to register a command, which can be annoying at times.

The controls of the SoundPEATS TrueFree are fairly limited because of their one-button design on each earbud. They're easy to press, but you do need to push the buds further inside your ears, which isn’t comfortable. These headphones have call/music management, and track skipping (backward and forward), but they, unfortunately, don't have volume control. All commands can be done on either of the buds (other than track skipping, left earbud for going backward and right for going forward), and you can also access your device's voice assistant. If you want truly wireless in-ears with easier-to-use and more robust controls, check out the Jabra Elite Active 65t Truly Wireless or the TaoTronics SoundLiberty 79 Truly Wireless.

Like most in-ear headphones, the SoundPEATS TrueFree have great breathability performance. Their small earbuds don’t trap heat under an ear cup and don’t make a noticeable difference in temperature when wearing them. This means you shouldn’t sweat more than usual and are a good option for sports as well.

The SoundPEATS TrueFree are very portable truly wireless in-ears. The very small earbuds can easily fit in small pockets or a bag and are easy to keep on you at all times. Also, they come with a small case that can also easily fit inside pockets.

The SoundPeats True Wireless come with an average case that acts as a charging station for the headphones. Unfortunately, the case is made out of lightweight plastic that feels cheap and there's no lid on the case, meaning the buds are exposed to dust, water, and scratches. The case holds the headphones thanks to a magnetic force, but a small impact can make them pop out, which can damage them.

There's a more expensive variant of these headphones that come with a better case with a lid that protects the headphones. The headphones on this model are called the Q32 but they seem to be the same earbuds. If you want a pair of headphones with a better case that's Qi-enabled for wireless charging, check out the TOZO T10 Truly Wireless or the TOZO T6 Truly Wireless.

The SoundPEATS True Wireless are well-built and are surprisingly solid for budget headphones. Their small design makes them dense enough to survive a few accidental drops without taking too much damage. They're made of plastic but don’t feel as cheap as their thin and lightweight case. These headphones are also rated IPX4 for sweat and splashing water resistance, but we don't currently have a test to accurately measure this.

These headphones have a good fit inside the ears and come with 4 tip sizes. They're stable for physical activity like running and going to the gym. They don't have any stability fins, but they're small enough not to need them. However, if you do want fins, there’s also a model variant with accessories and a bigger battery case. This model is the Q32, and it seems like the earbuds are the same as the TrueFree, but we could not confirm this. Additionally, their truly wireless design also gets rid of a cable that could get hooked on something, which is good.

• SoundPEATS TrueFree headphones
• 4x tip options
• Micro-USB charging cable
• Charging case
• Manual

The SoundPEATS TrueFree have excellent frequency response consistency. Assuming the user can achieve a proper fit and an air-tight seal using the assortment of tips that come with the headphones, then they should be able to get consistent bass and treble delivery every time they use the headphones.

The TrueFree’s bass is good. Their LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 10Hz, and low-bass is overemphasized by about 5dB. This indicates a deep and extended bass with quite a bit of excess thump and rumble. Mid-bass and high-bass are relatively flat and even, but over our target by at least 2dB. Overall, their bass is quite heavy and thumpy, without being too boomy, and they may please fans of bass-heavy genres like EDM and hip-hop due to their excess thump.

The SoundPEATS True Wireless have a great mid-range performance. The overall mid-range response is even and well-balanced, which is important for the clear and accurate reproduction of vocals and instruments. However, mid-mid is recessed by about 3dB around 800Hz. This nudges vocals and leads slightly to the back of the mix by giving more emphasis to bass and treble frequencies.

Their treble performance is mediocre. Most of the range is underemphasized, and vocals, leads, and cymbals will lack detail and sound veiled. The dip is pretty broad, but the lack of treble doesn't sound as bad as it looks in the graph. Also, some sibilances (S and T sounds) may feel a bit sharp around 10-11KHz.

The imaging is great. The weighted group delay is at 0.09, which is excellent. The GD graph also shows the entire group delay response is below the audibility threshold, suggesting a tight bass reproduction and a transparent treble. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were well-matched in amplitude, frequency, and phase response, which is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our test unit, and yours may perform differently.

The soundstage performance is poor. Since creating a large and speaker-like soundstage is partially dependent on having a speaker-like pinna activation, and in-ear headphones bypass the pinna (the outer ear) and don't interact with it, their soundstage will be perceived to be small and located inside the listener's head. Their closed-back design also means that their soundstage won't feel as open as open-back earbuds like the Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless and the Bose SoundSport Free.

Their isolation performance is above-average. Despite lacking active noise cancelation, the TrueFree passively isolate a good amount of ambient noise. They achieve about 10dB of isolation in the bass range, where engine rumbles sit, which is decent. In the mid-range, important to block out ambient chatter, they achieved isolation of more than 19dB, which is good and useful at the office. In the treble range, responsible for sharp sounds like S and Ts and fan noise, they block 34dB, which is also good. These headphones will be a decent option for blocking noise in daily commutes or at the office. If you want slightly better isolation you can check out the XFYRO xS2; however, the rest of their performance may not be worth the extra cost when compared to the TrueFree.

The leakage performance is excellent. These in-ears practically don't leak, so you don't need to worry about disturbing people around you unless you are blasting your music in a very quiet room. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at 1 foot away averages 25dB SPL and peaks at 33dB SPL, which is noticeably quieter than the noise floor of an average office.

The integrated mic has a poor recording quality. The LFE of 493Hz results in recorded or transmitted speech that is noticeably thin. The HFE of 2.1KHz suggests speech that lacks a lot of detail and presence. This result is worse than most Bluetooth headphones and will make speech recorded sound even more muffled.

The integrated microphone has poor noise handling. In our SpNR test, they achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of about 11dB, indicating they're best suited for quiet environments. However, they'll struggle to separate speech from ambient noise even in moderately loud situations such as a busy street.

The TrueFree offer 3.3 hours of continuous playback on one charge, which isn’t much. Thankfully, they have a standby mode to extend their battery life if you forget to turn them off without putting them in their case. They also automatically turn off and start charging when stored away. The 850mAH case holds about 4 or 5 additional charges for an estimated total of about 15 hours. They can last you for a whole work day if you take breaks here and there to charge the headphones.

If you want longer overall battery life, there's also a model variant with a 2600mAH battery case which gives about 15-20 charges and up to 55 hours of playback. The headphones on this model variance are called the Q32 and they seem to be the same earbuds, but we couldn't confirm this. If you're looking for budget true wireless headphones with a longer continuous battery life, check out the EarFun Free Truly Wireless or the TaoTronics SoundLiberty 92 Truly Wireless.

These headphones don't have a companion app.

The SoundPEATS True Wireless are Bluetooth 5.0 compatible, so you might get better wireless range and connection stability if your source is 5.0 as well. They can only be connected to one device at a time as a stereo headset, but you can use the two buds as mono channels on two different devices; just be sure to connect the left one first. Their pairing procedure seems simple enough, but we had difficulty connecting our left earbud to the right one, which took several tries. You might also experience small audio cuts for no apparent reason during your listening sessions, which can be annoying if it happens often.

The latency of the SoundPEATS TrueFree is too high for watching videos and gaming. It's also higher than most Bluetooth headphones which usually average about 200-220ms of delay. However, some video content apps like YouTube and Netflix offer some sort of compensation so you may not notice the delay as much.

These truly wireless headphones don't have any type of wired connection.

The headphones come with a case that acts as a charging dock as well. The 850mAH case holds 4 to 5 additional charges but doesn’t have any inputs.