I received the SoundPeats Opera5 from their Kickstarter campaign today. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, I got a bad unit. Thus, I cannot give any kind of review. I can give some kind of off-tiltered impressions.
Basically, the earpieces should be connecting and disconnecting when place in/out of the charging case. This is not happening with the right earpiece. I used some painter's tape and aluminum foil to connect both earpieces to both sides of the charger since they're not interchangeable. The left earpiece was able to connect to the charging case on both sides. The right one, neither side. I have sent to email to SoundPeats and will see what they say. In the past, I have had decent experiences dealing with their customer service; all related to the sound filters (wax and dirt filters on the earpieces).
I will give my experiences with using it for about 15 - 20 minutes, not including the troubleshooting time. It should be noted I have been using SoundPeats TWS since 2017 with 4.1 BT model (SP-Q29-DK-US). I have also used TrueFree, Trueengine 3 and H1. Thus, I have a reasonable idea of what to expect from SoundPeats in their TWS headsets.
I will say I'm not a fan the charging case. One, it has not flat surfaces. It's not a ball shape, but it will never situp unless it's propped up. The quality of it is similar to other models I have used. I'm not a fan of the color to indicate the battery percentage range on the charging case. The color choices are not colorblind-friendly either. I much prefer the four LEDs that the Trueengine and H1 case used. There is a button on the case used to either put in pair mode or reset the earpieces. I'm indifferent to it. At the same time, I think it's not worth having. It wasn't that hard to reset the previous earpieces despite it taking a few steps to complete. Plus, there is an option in the SoundPeats app to reset them, which makes the button for most people redundant. I also think most people by default are used to holding down the earpiece button till it goes into pairing mode. Opening the closing the lid automatically turns on/off the earpieces when in the case. I'm not seeing how useful this is beyond the occasional firmware update. I prefer having the earpiece actually placed in the case being the action to trigger the auto-powering. At this time, there is no way to power on/off the earpieces directly from the earpiece. This will be an issue if one forgets or losses the charging case; I have forgotten the charging case a couple times while rushing out the door. I would much rather ditch the bottom and it's functions, although a bit easier than other models, to have wireless charging. In find having wireless charging more useful, even if I don't use it very often.
The sound is good. A little more bass-heavy compared the H1s. It's been a while since I used the Trueengine 3, but they're probably close to them. I prefer a more reference/neutral sound signature than bass-heavy. I do use Sound ID. The sound did improve when I calibrated it for using the Opera5 instead of the H1. Still a little bass-heavy for my liking, but some tweaking could probably improve it. The general public seems to want bass-heavy headphones which is probably why Soundpeats leaned this way.
I cannot comment on how well the ANC works other than it does. It was quiet when I tried it out, but it did reduce outside noise. There are three settings, ANC on, passthrough, and normal. I have no idea what normally does; I'm guessing it's ANC and passthrough off. I only have one ANC headset with is the Focal Bathys, which, from what I've read/heard/seen, is average. I'm getting the impression these will be similar.
Fit and comfortable, I can see these being very dependent on one's ear shape. I have a feeling for me, if my ears are wet or waxy, I'll have issues keeping them in my ear.
The controls are similar to other Soundpeat models. It works. The usual one, two, or three-tap thing. There is a function tied to a 1.5-second hold to cycle through the ANC. It's a little tricky to use. If not don't right, it changes the volume or goes to the next track.
I'm use to Soundpeat quirks. I don't use the touch inputs often because I can get inconsistent results. I find the SoundPeat sound to be decent. Charging cases work and are easily forgotten about. I don't really have qualms on the earpieces themselves. The charging case on the other hand, I'm do not like it. The few conveniences it offers are not worth what was lost compared to, say, the H1 case.
