SoundPEATS Life Classic
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Model: SoundPEATS Life Classic
Price: Currently just £19.03 on Amazon UK
Voucher Code: (use at checkout): 6PEUWNDQ
Website: SoundPEATS
Review Reference: RC091
Manufacturer Specification:
1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User Manual: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
3 x Pairs Eartips
YouTube Review:
Introduction
Welcome to the @regancipher review of SoundPEATS' sister product to the Life, and their fifth stem-based in-ear release over the course of the last year, after the H2, Air 3 Pro, Life and Capsule3 Pro.
Whilst I've mentioned previously I feel that SoundPEATS' continuous stream of releases doesn't really help them or their customer base due to the confusion over which model to select, the Life Classic have two very important differentiators over the other 'variation on a theme' aforementioned releases - form factor and price.
In stark contrast to their bulky Opera series, the Life Classic are the answer to QCY's 'youth buds' - yep, they are targeted squarely at those with small ears. They even fit my 11 year old daughter quite comfortably, and at the current price of just over £21, they are a budget bud worthy of consideration alongside the offerings from QCY, Soundcore, Omthing and others as a potential ultra-low-budget bargain. So this review will look at their merits, and determine how they stack up against the competition.
Unboxing - 7/10
The unboxing experience with SoundPEATS has tended to come in two flavours, and this falls into the lower category of the two.
The box shows a model - interestingly a female, given the form factor we talked about in the intro - and on the back the headline features.
SoundPEATS have opted to focus on the AI noise reduction for calls, smart touch controls and 22 hour playtime. I couldn't tell you what is especially smart about the controls - the control scheme is the same as SoundPEATS' other non-ANC buds, which means you DO get an option for cycling back through tracks as well as forwards.
Once inside the box it's the usual fare - the charge case is enclosed inside some protective foam, and the USB-C charge cable and spare tips (S&L to go with the factory fitted M) are housed in a small cardboard box, and are coloured white to match the case and buds. The manual is in seven different languages - five European, plus Chinese and Japanese.
Case - 7/10
The case reminds me a bit of the Edifier W220T case, and others which sport this 'pebble'-style shape, flipping open easily when operating with one hand, with the buds nestling back-to-back in the cockpit with the stems sitting vertical.
In terms of portability, the case scores quite well, but it also presents a minor complaint. Due to the very slim depth, it can be a bit of a squeeze getting your finger to clasp the bud fully when removing them - you have to position your fingers in the middle and pinch from there, which is fine and probably perfectly OK for most users, but for someone with 90 reviews under their belt, it takes a little getting used to. That said, the slim design is perfect for chucking in your trouser or shorts pockets. I even took them out on a bike ride, and they were barely noticeable in my trouser pocket - the astonishingly light footprint of just 32.03g certainly has it's benefits.
The trade-off for portability is often build quality, and the Life Classic are no exception to this unwritten rule. The plastic case feels a little cheap, and this is reflected with some of the compromises SoundPEATS have made, such as the lack of lip to the lid and the poor finishing, in particular to the edges. There's quite a bit of movement to the lid as a result, which can make it look misaligned with the rest of the case, and the glossy white finish probably won't stay glossy for long. On the back, just under the SoundPEATS logo on the hinge, there is a large, unsightly gap, and this just adds to the overall first impression of the case, which I dare say won't be great.
However, once you get past the looks, there's quite a bit to like about it. It does have a friction hinge and hall-switch mode, meaning it will connect to your buds the moment you flip the case open, and can be popped open on the desk whilst you pair for the first time.
The inside also has some design features that add to the operational ability of the case - the inner edge to the lid is molded in the shape of the buds, reducing the likelihood of them rattling around if the magnets come loose. On the outside there's a handy LED located next to the charging port and reset button at the base, which has the very convenient red (<10%), amber (10-50%) green (>50%) 'traffic light'-style scheme to give you some indication of how much battery is remaining in the case itself. The case is capable of three additional recharges, and whilst no quick charge feature is stated, I managed to get it to full in just over an hour.
Overall, it isn't a bad case to use. Comparing it to its peers, like the Omthing Airfree Buds they have cut a few corners on the aesthetics, and it lacks the durability of the likes of the QCY T13 - another plastic, glossy white affair, which has stood the test of time a little better than the Life Classic looks like it will, but it's ultra-portable footprint and fuss-free operation will certainly win it some fans.
Ergonomics - 9/10
I've been quite vocal about some of SoundPEATS' recent releases and the difficulty their ergonomics has presented when trying to enjoy the earbuds. However, there never seems to be an issue with their stem-based offerings, and whilst the Life Classic deviate from the cookie-cutter design they used on their previous releases, it still hits the right notes, with a balance of stability and comfort that will appease those with small ears in particular.
The Life Classic are tiny earbuds. They have a stem length of under 30mm, which is probably closer to the stubby-stemmed Realme Buds Air 3S and Omthing Airfree Buds than the awkward 1More Comfobuds series, and their depth is just 21.9mm - one of the slimmest buds I've ever tested. This, couple with the round, 5.5mm nozzle diameter, makes them, on paper at least, one of the snuggest designs around.
On the outer edges there is no SoundPEATS branding this time around. The fully glossy-white design has a small, white LED set into the plastic at the top of the stem, which flashes during pairing and connection, but switches off during usage. What looks like an LED at the bottom is in fact an opening for the voice mic.
Whilst fit is always subjective, in reality, they're even better (for me, at least). SoundPEATS got the dimensions pretty much spot on for those of us with smaller ears, providing a very healthy balance of comfort and stability with surprisingly very decent passive isolation. I am not usually a fan of the invasiveness of in-ear designs, but the Life Classic don't intrude on your ear canals in a way that is remotely noticeable. Comparing them with the similarly-proportioned QCY T13, there are certainly some similarities, but the latter can feel a little stuffy by comparison within time.
On the inside, there are two openings - one being a pressure release cavity to improve acoustic performance, the other an ambient mic to augment call quality.
There is nothing earth-shatteringly revolutionary about the design, and you could certainly argue they have a slightly cheap, generic look to them, but they tick all the boxes when it comes to comfort, stability and longevity - they even fit my 11 year old daughters' ears, so for teenagers and females in particular, the Life Classic are a great choice in this respect.
Audio Quality - 7.5/10 (for the price paid), 6.5/10 (raw score)
SoundPEATS have avoided using the LDAC-ready WUQI chipset this time around, favouring the BT8926B from Bluetrum. Bluetrum aren't really a household name in the SoC world, at least in Bluetooth earbuds, and they tend to be favoured mostly by lesser-known vendors such as Bowie and Himalayan AI, although their 892X series were deployed by Moondrop in their recent Nekocake release.
The chipset is Bluetooth 5.2 ready, and allows for the AAC and SBC codecs, with SoundPEATS using a single 10mm dynamic driver here. On Android, the connection defaulted to AAC, and likewise on Windows. Below I have compared the graphs of the Life Classic, QCY T13 and Capsule3 Pro.
The first thing you notice is that there is a consistency in the tuning between the Capsule3 Pro and Life Classic. SoundPEATS appear to have acknowledged that the Capsule3 Pro sound was well-received, and have tried to replicate that here. The resolution falls some way short of the Capsule3 Pro on this model, but the basic premise of a reasonably balanced sound remains, favouring a little more energy over detail.
The Life Classic are a little weaker in the subbass, and marginally stronger in the midbass. That said, whilst the graph shows they track loosely with the QCY T13 around the lower frequencies, the T13 have a fuller, more-rounded texture to basslines, sounding somewhat warmer than the Life Classic. There's a little bloat in the lower mids, which you notice occasionally on bass-heavy interludes, such as the verses in Side to Side by Ariana Grande & Nicky Minaj, and it lacks a little of the smoothness and more natural timbre of the Capsule3 Pro. Vocals generally sound quite prominent - male and female vocals both come to the front and centre quite clearly. Treble extension is satisfactory - there is an adequate amount of punch to kick drums, but like the Capsule3 Pro and Air3 Deluxe HS, the highs roll off quite early. Whilst there's never a danger of the sound bordering on fatiguing, it can leave instruments feeling a little 'blunt' and lacking texture, but this is to be expected at this price point and is a common problem when you're stuck with a single driver and Bluetooth codecs.
The soundstage is much more constrained than the more open, airy QCY T13, and a little less dynamic than the more fluid Capsule3 Pro. Generally, it's an intimate feel with a darker tone, and it plays pretty well with most music styles for general use.
The Life Classic generally deliver a decent enough sound, certainly for the price tag, that balances alignment to their SoundPEATS Classic 'house sound' and manages the constraints of the hardware and software that vendors face when offering a low-budget option to the market.
Call Quality - Indoors - 6.5/10, Outdoors - 6.5/10
Call quality is OK on the Life Classic, falling some way short of SoundPEATS' more premium offerings in terms of both clarity and noise reduction.
Despite claiming AI ENC, noise reduction is quite a bit weaker than the original Life or the impressive six-mic Capsule3 Pro. Outdoors, this can result in crowd noises, and in particular wind, infiltrating your calls and voice notes, although it should be noted that the buds soon readjust for the noisier 'normal' baseline quite quickly, and your voice is elevated to ensure you're still the prominent sound in the scene. In doing this it can leave your voice sounding a little distorted - even so, almost every word can still be made out.
Indoors, it's a similar story. In silence, your voice can sound a little over-processed. There's weight and tone to it, but it has a metallic layer that exposes that it's being transmitted over Bluetooth. Add a concentration of nearby sounds and the buds do struggle a little at first, again before settling down, but with the four walls around you bouncing the sound around a bit faster, not every word is immediately obvious.
Buds at this price tend to struggle with calls, and the Life Classic are no exception. It isn't a disastrous performance by any means, but don't expect miracles.
Connectivity and Other Features - 7.5/10
Connectivity is pretty good, holding firm at around 10m. They support Bluetooth 5.2, and suffered no dropouts on my Mi 11T Pro, iPhone 8 or Pixel 6A.
App support has been scaled back massively on this model - even the selection of presets has been removed. You do have a nine band custom EQ, which is nice, although bear in mind the majority of control you have here is between 20Hz and 2.42kHz, jumping up to a single +6/-6 adjustment at 15.5k. Even so, it allows you to lift the trebles and tweak the mids enough to tailor the sound slightly to your liking. Always nice to have this option, even with a low budget bud.
Controls are very good, which is fortunate because there is no customisation in the app other than disabling single touch. It's the usual SoundPEATS fare of single tap for volume, double tap to play and pause, press and hold to toggle tracks, triple tap left for gaming mode and right for voice assistant. I'm not sure what the 'smart' refers to in their touch controls, but they are responsive and rarely prone to accidental touches.
Latency is very good for videos, with close to lip-synchronisation, and gaming mode improves this further on games. Although it's not perfect for your first person shooters, and falls behind the Air3 Pro - their leader in low latency, for casual gamers it is about what you would expect, teetering at around the 220ms mark. The buds do work in mono mode, but there's no in ear detection, and some of the other features you get in the app - even notation of battery percentages - isn't yet here on the Life Classic.
Battery Life - 7/10
Battery life on the Life Classic is fair, but the overall battery life falls some way short of the budget pretenders to the crown. I got over 5 hours from my first playtime - certainly not a bad return, but with only three additional charges this brings total battery life to 20 hours - almost half of that possible on the QCY T13 and Soundcore Life P2i.
For most, 32 hours and beyond is perhaps 'spec sheet top trumps', but even so, without a documented quick charge feature, it may impose restrictions for some users. Certainly worth taking note of.
Comparison - QCY T13, Soundcore P2i, Omthing Airfree Buds
Comparing them to others at around this price:
Sometimes it is difficult to know what to say in reviews when a vendor has released so many products in quick succession. Thankfully, the Life Classic have a very clear raison d'etre, and this should be noted by potential buyers when deciding on the right earbud for them.
Firstly, if you have troubles with getting silicone tips to stay in your ears, then the Life Classic may be for you. Designed for those with narrower ear canals, they fit extremely well in your ears, offering stability and comfort. I tested these on my daughter, and they are the ONLY earbuds she's been able to get to fit so far. So for females and teenagers in particular, that's the primary area of differentiation.
Secondly - the price. Most of SoundPEATS releases are at around the £30-40 mark. This is some way cheaper at £21 including the current voucher code at the top of the review. If you're really stuck on a budget, and aren't fussed with hi res codecs, the Life Classic could be the one for you.
The Life Classic compare favourably with other low budget buds, and for us Europeans, are a little more widely available than offerings from QCY, for example. I tend to prefer the Capsule3 Pro over this model quite a bit, so if you can save a little more then by all means do, but if you can't, you won't be let down by the Life Classic.
Price Weighted Score: 85%
Raw Score: 74%
SoundPEATS Review Inventory:
SoundPEATS Opera05
SoundPEATS Capsule3 Pro
SoundPEATS Mini Pro HS
SoundPEATS Air3 Deluxe HS
SoundPEATS Air3 Pro
SoundPEATS Mini Pro
SoundPEATS H2
SoundPEATS T3
SoundPEATS Mini
SoundPEATS Air3
SoundPEATS TrueAir2+
SoundPEATS TrueAir 2
SoundPEATS H1
SoundPEATS T2
SoundPEATS Sonic
About SoundPEATS:
SoundPEATS seem to have become an overnight sensation, wiping up a large portion of budget TWS earbud market share with a business model that has served them (and Anker before them) exceptionally well - good distribution channels (via Amazon), good support, a catchy name and product that performs well at a very competitive price point. In reality, they have been around a long time - whilst Shenzhen SoundSOUL IT Co LTD is a different trading name to Ginto E-Commerce, they share the same business address (including room number) as them - you may know their brand name better as Dudios. With Dudios not sounding quite so cool as Soundpeats, maybe the brand transition has been instrumental in their success, but having been around since 2010 and patents in Bluetooth tech stretching back to 2015, they are not the plucky upstarts that some may think - they know their stuff, have a great network of contacts, and now a very solid brand in Europe, and deservedly so.
The thing that sets SoundPEATS apart from other vendors, and makes them my favourite budget earbud vendor, is that they are completely transparent over their components. Whether they use Realtek, Qualcomm or Airoha chips in their buds, they are totally open about it, and as a reviewer this really helps, because whilst I have, and do, dismantle buds to check the way that certain things have been implemented (such as the power management, mems mics, etc) and I really don't like having to do it with every set of earbuds, because they then become unusable.
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Socials: Biolink
Model: SoundPEATS Life Classic
Price: Currently just £19.03 on Amazon UK
Voucher Code: (use at checkout): 6PEUWNDQ
Website: SoundPEATS
Review Reference: RC091
Manufacturer Specification:
- Brand: SoundPEATS
- Model: Life Classic
- Driver: 10mm Dynamic Driver
- Chipset: Bluetrum BT8926B
- Mic: 4 mics with AI ENC
- ANC: No
- Codecs: AAC, SBC
- App Support: Yes (de-featured)
- Volume Control: Yes
- Gaming Mode: Yes
- Earbud Weight: 3.15g
- Earbud Dimensions: 28.5mm stem length, depth approx. 22.8mm
- Gross Case & Buds Weight: 32.03g
- Case Dimensions: 60mm (width) x 45.8mm (height) x 21.9mm (depth)
- Case Charge Capacity: 300mAh
- Quick Charge: No
- Wireless Charging: No
- Single Use Playtime: Up to 6 hours
- Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 22 hours
- Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
- Bluetooth Protocols: HFP 1.7/ A2DP 1.3/ AVRCP 1.5
- Water Resistance: Not stated
1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User Manual: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
3 x Pairs Eartips
YouTube Review:
Introduction
Welcome to the @regancipher review of SoundPEATS' sister product to the Life, and their fifth stem-based in-ear release over the course of the last year, after the H2, Air 3 Pro, Life and Capsule3 Pro.
Whilst I've mentioned previously I feel that SoundPEATS' continuous stream of releases doesn't really help them or their customer base due to the confusion over which model to select, the Life Classic have two very important differentiators over the other 'variation on a theme' aforementioned releases - form factor and price.
In stark contrast to their bulky Opera series, the Life Classic are the answer to QCY's 'youth buds' - yep, they are targeted squarely at those with small ears. They even fit my 11 year old daughter quite comfortably, and at the current price of just over £21, they are a budget bud worthy of consideration alongside the offerings from QCY, Soundcore, Omthing and others as a potential ultra-low-budget bargain. So this review will look at their merits, and determine how they stack up against the competition.
Unboxing - 7/10
The unboxing experience with SoundPEATS has tended to come in two flavours, and this falls into the lower category of the two.
The box shows a model - interestingly a female, given the form factor we talked about in the intro - and on the back the headline features.
SoundPEATS have opted to focus on the AI noise reduction for calls, smart touch controls and 22 hour playtime. I couldn't tell you what is especially smart about the controls - the control scheme is the same as SoundPEATS' other non-ANC buds, which means you DO get an option for cycling back through tracks as well as forwards.
Once inside the box it's the usual fare - the charge case is enclosed inside some protective foam, and the USB-C charge cable and spare tips (S&L to go with the factory fitted M) are housed in a small cardboard box, and are coloured white to match the case and buds. The manual is in seven different languages - five European, plus Chinese and Japanese.
Case - 7/10
The case reminds me a bit of the Edifier W220T case, and others which sport this 'pebble'-style shape, flipping open easily when operating with one hand, with the buds nestling back-to-back in the cockpit with the stems sitting vertical.
In terms of portability, the case scores quite well, but it also presents a minor complaint. Due to the very slim depth, it can be a bit of a squeeze getting your finger to clasp the bud fully when removing them - you have to position your fingers in the middle and pinch from there, which is fine and probably perfectly OK for most users, but for someone with 90 reviews under their belt, it takes a little getting used to. That said, the slim design is perfect for chucking in your trouser or shorts pockets. I even took them out on a bike ride, and they were barely noticeable in my trouser pocket - the astonishingly light footprint of just 32.03g certainly has it's benefits.
The trade-off for portability is often build quality, and the Life Classic are no exception to this unwritten rule. The plastic case feels a little cheap, and this is reflected with some of the compromises SoundPEATS have made, such as the lack of lip to the lid and the poor finishing, in particular to the edges. There's quite a bit of movement to the lid as a result, which can make it look misaligned with the rest of the case, and the glossy white finish probably won't stay glossy for long. On the back, just under the SoundPEATS logo on the hinge, there is a large, unsightly gap, and this just adds to the overall first impression of the case, which I dare say won't be great.
However, once you get past the looks, there's quite a bit to like about it. It does have a friction hinge and hall-switch mode, meaning it will connect to your buds the moment you flip the case open, and can be popped open on the desk whilst you pair for the first time.
The inside also has some design features that add to the operational ability of the case - the inner edge to the lid is molded in the shape of the buds, reducing the likelihood of them rattling around if the magnets come loose. On the outside there's a handy LED located next to the charging port and reset button at the base, which has the very convenient red (<10%), amber (10-50%) green (>50%) 'traffic light'-style scheme to give you some indication of how much battery is remaining in the case itself. The case is capable of three additional recharges, and whilst no quick charge feature is stated, I managed to get it to full in just over an hour.
Overall, it isn't a bad case to use. Comparing it to its peers, like the Omthing Airfree Buds they have cut a few corners on the aesthetics, and it lacks the durability of the likes of the QCY T13 - another plastic, glossy white affair, which has stood the test of time a little better than the Life Classic looks like it will, but it's ultra-portable footprint and fuss-free operation will certainly win it some fans.
Ergonomics - 9/10
I've been quite vocal about some of SoundPEATS' recent releases and the difficulty their ergonomics has presented when trying to enjoy the earbuds. However, there never seems to be an issue with their stem-based offerings, and whilst the Life Classic deviate from the cookie-cutter design they used on their previous releases, it still hits the right notes, with a balance of stability and comfort that will appease those with small ears in particular.
The Life Classic are tiny earbuds. They have a stem length of under 30mm, which is probably closer to the stubby-stemmed Realme Buds Air 3S and Omthing Airfree Buds than the awkward 1More Comfobuds series, and their depth is just 21.9mm - one of the slimmest buds I've ever tested. This, couple with the round, 5.5mm nozzle diameter, makes them, on paper at least, one of the snuggest designs around.
On the outer edges there is no SoundPEATS branding this time around. The fully glossy-white design has a small, white LED set into the plastic at the top of the stem, which flashes during pairing and connection, but switches off during usage. What looks like an LED at the bottom is in fact an opening for the voice mic.
Whilst fit is always subjective, in reality, they're even better (for me, at least). SoundPEATS got the dimensions pretty much spot on for those of us with smaller ears, providing a very healthy balance of comfort and stability with surprisingly very decent passive isolation. I am not usually a fan of the invasiveness of in-ear designs, but the Life Classic don't intrude on your ear canals in a way that is remotely noticeable. Comparing them with the similarly-proportioned QCY T13, there are certainly some similarities, but the latter can feel a little stuffy by comparison within time.
On the inside, there are two openings - one being a pressure release cavity to improve acoustic performance, the other an ambient mic to augment call quality.
There is nothing earth-shatteringly revolutionary about the design, and you could certainly argue they have a slightly cheap, generic look to them, but they tick all the boxes when it comes to comfort, stability and longevity - they even fit my 11 year old daughters' ears, so for teenagers and females in particular, the Life Classic are a great choice in this respect.
Audio Quality - 7.5/10 (for the price paid), 6.5/10 (raw score)
SoundPEATS have avoided using the LDAC-ready WUQI chipset this time around, favouring the BT8926B from Bluetrum. Bluetrum aren't really a household name in the SoC world, at least in Bluetooth earbuds, and they tend to be favoured mostly by lesser-known vendors such as Bowie and Himalayan AI, although their 892X series were deployed by Moondrop in their recent Nekocake release.
The chipset is Bluetooth 5.2 ready, and allows for the AAC and SBC codecs, with SoundPEATS using a single 10mm dynamic driver here. On Android, the connection defaulted to AAC, and likewise on Windows. Below I have compared the graphs of the Life Classic, QCY T13 and Capsule3 Pro.
The first thing you notice is that there is a consistency in the tuning between the Capsule3 Pro and Life Classic. SoundPEATS appear to have acknowledged that the Capsule3 Pro sound was well-received, and have tried to replicate that here. The resolution falls some way short of the Capsule3 Pro on this model, but the basic premise of a reasonably balanced sound remains, favouring a little more energy over detail.
The Life Classic are a little weaker in the subbass, and marginally stronger in the midbass. That said, whilst the graph shows they track loosely with the QCY T13 around the lower frequencies, the T13 have a fuller, more-rounded texture to basslines, sounding somewhat warmer than the Life Classic. There's a little bloat in the lower mids, which you notice occasionally on bass-heavy interludes, such as the verses in Side to Side by Ariana Grande & Nicky Minaj, and it lacks a little of the smoothness and more natural timbre of the Capsule3 Pro. Vocals generally sound quite prominent - male and female vocals both come to the front and centre quite clearly. Treble extension is satisfactory - there is an adequate amount of punch to kick drums, but like the Capsule3 Pro and Air3 Deluxe HS, the highs roll off quite early. Whilst there's never a danger of the sound bordering on fatiguing, it can leave instruments feeling a little 'blunt' and lacking texture, but this is to be expected at this price point and is a common problem when you're stuck with a single driver and Bluetooth codecs.
The soundstage is much more constrained than the more open, airy QCY T13, and a little less dynamic than the more fluid Capsule3 Pro. Generally, it's an intimate feel with a darker tone, and it plays pretty well with most music styles for general use.
The Life Classic generally deliver a decent enough sound, certainly for the price tag, that balances alignment to their SoundPEATS Classic 'house sound' and manages the constraints of the hardware and software that vendors face when offering a low-budget option to the market.
Call Quality - Indoors - 6.5/10, Outdoors - 6.5/10
Call quality is OK on the Life Classic, falling some way short of SoundPEATS' more premium offerings in terms of both clarity and noise reduction.
Despite claiming AI ENC, noise reduction is quite a bit weaker than the original Life or the impressive six-mic Capsule3 Pro. Outdoors, this can result in crowd noises, and in particular wind, infiltrating your calls and voice notes, although it should be noted that the buds soon readjust for the noisier 'normal' baseline quite quickly, and your voice is elevated to ensure you're still the prominent sound in the scene. In doing this it can leave your voice sounding a little distorted - even so, almost every word can still be made out.
Indoors, it's a similar story. In silence, your voice can sound a little over-processed. There's weight and tone to it, but it has a metallic layer that exposes that it's being transmitted over Bluetooth. Add a concentration of nearby sounds and the buds do struggle a little at first, again before settling down, but with the four walls around you bouncing the sound around a bit faster, not every word is immediately obvious.
Buds at this price tend to struggle with calls, and the Life Classic are no exception. It isn't a disastrous performance by any means, but don't expect miracles.
Connectivity and Other Features - 7.5/10
Connectivity is pretty good, holding firm at around 10m. They support Bluetooth 5.2, and suffered no dropouts on my Mi 11T Pro, iPhone 8 or Pixel 6A.
App support has been scaled back massively on this model - even the selection of presets has been removed. You do have a nine band custom EQ, which is nice, although bear in mind the majority of control you have here is between 20Hz and 2.42kHz, jumping up to a single +6/-6 adjustment at 15.5k. Even so, it allows you to lift the trebles and tweak the mids enough to tailor the sound slightly to your liking. Always nice to have this option, even with a low budget bud.
Controls are very good, which is fortunate because there is no customisation in the app other than disabling single touch. It's the usual SoundPEATS fare of single tap for volume, double tap to play and pause, press and hold to toggle tracks, triple tap left for gaming mode and right for voice assistant. I'm not sure what the 'smart' refers to in their touch controls, but they are responsive and rarely prone to accidental touches.
Latency is very good for videos, with close to lip-synchronisation, and gaming mode improves this further on games. Although it's not perfect for your first person shooters, and falls behind the Air3 Pro - their leader in low latency, for casual gamers it is about what you would expect, teetering at around the 220ms mark. The buds do work in mono mode, but there's no in ear detection, and some of the other features you get in the app - even notation of battery percentages - isn't yet here on the Life Classic.
Battery Life - 7/10
Battery life on the Life Classic is fair, but the overall battery life falls some way short of the budget pretenders to the crown. I got over 5 hours from my first playtime - certainly not a bad return, but with only three additional charges this brings total battery life to 20 hours - almost half of that possible on the QCY T13 and Soundcore Life P2i.
For most, 32 hours and beyond is perhaps 'spec sheet top trumps', but even so, without a documented quick charge feature, it may impose restrictions for some users. Certainly worth taking note of.
Comparison - QCY T13, Soundcore P2i, Omthing Airfree Buds
Comparing them to others at around this price:
- The fit and ergonomics are a little better than the QCY T13, and much better than the Soundcore Life P2i.
- Build quality is about the same on the P2i and Life Classic, marginally better on the T13.
- Call quality is similar on the P2i and Life Classic, a little more muffled (although arguably better noise reduction) on the T13.
- Audio is smoother on the Life Classic than the v-shaped P2i, but the T13 boast a richer, warmer sound with a more open soundstage.
- Battery life is better on both T13 and P2i.
- The Life Classic, P2i and T13 are all better in every way than the Omthing Airfree Buds!
Sometimes it is difficult to know what to say in reviews when a vendor has released so many products in quick succession. Thankfully, the Life Classic have a very clear raison d'etre, and this should be noted by potential buyers when deciding on the right earbud for them.
Firstly, if you have troubles with getting silicone tips to stay in your ears, then the Life Classic may be for you. Designed for those with narrower ear canals, they fit extremely well in your ears, offering stability and comfort. I tested these on my daughter, and they are the ONLY earbuds she's been able to get to fit so far. So for females and teenagers in particular, that's the primary area of differentiation.
Secondly - the price. Most of SoundPEATS releases are at around the £30-40 mark. This is some way cheaper at £21 including the current voucher code at the top of the review. If you're really stuck on a budget, and aren't fussed with hi res codecs, the Life Classic could be the one for you.
The Life Classic compare favourably with other low budget buds, and for us Europeans, are a little more widely available than offerings from QCY, for example. I tend to prefer the Capsule3 Pro over this model quite a bit, so if you can save a little more then by all means do, but if you can't, you won't be let down by the Life Classic.
Price Weighted Score: 85%
Raw Score: 74%
SoundPEATS Review Inventory:
SoundPEATS Opera05
SoundPEATS Capsule3 Pro
SoundPEATS Mini Pro HS
SoundPEATS Air3 Deluxe HS
SoundPEATS Air3 Pro
SoundPEATS Mini Pro
SoundPEATS H2
SoundPEATS T3
SoundPEATS Mini
SoundPEATS Air3
SoundPEATS TrueAir2+
SoundPEATS TrueAir 2
SoundPEATS H1
SoundPEATS T2
SoundPEATS Sonic
About SoundPEATS:
SoundPEATS seem to have become an overnight sensation, wiping up a large portion of budget TWS earbud market share with a business model that has served them (and Anker before them) exceptionally well - good distribution channels (via Amazon), good support, a catchy name and product that performs well at a very competitive price point. In reality, they have been around a long time - whilst Shenzhen SoundSOUL IT Co LTD is a different trading name to Ginto E-Commerce, they share the same business address (including room number) as them - you may know their brand name better as Dudios. With Dudios not sounding quite so cool as Soundpeats, maybe the brand transition has been instrumental in their success, but having been around since 2010 and patents in Bluetooth tech stretching back to 2015, they are not the plucky upstarts that some may think - they know their stuff, have a great network of contacts, and now a very solid brand in Europe, and deservedly so.
The thing that sets SoundPEATS apart from other vendors, and makes them my favourite budget earbud vendor, is that they are completely transparent over their components. Whether they use Realtek, Qualcomm or Airoha chips in their buds, they are totally open about it, and as a reviewer this really helps, because whilst I have, and do, dismantle buds to check the way that certain things have been implemented (such as the power management, mems mics, etc) and I really don't like having to do it with every set of earbuds, because they then become unusable.
