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THREE STARS - The Honor Choice Earbuds S7 looks more expensive than its $50 price tag suggests - but it's the next AirPods-like earphone that promises Active Noise Cancelling and doesn't deliver. And… what's going on with the sound?
Honor Choice Earbuds S7/ Honor S7 specs and features:
Bluetooth 5.3 with AAC and LDAC codec
IP54 waterproof rating (dust and water proof)
5 - 7,5 hours playtime on a single charge (ANC on/ off)
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 4 times
Has: ANC, app support, multipoint connection, spatial audio
Doesn't have: wireless charging
Comes with USB-C cable, English manual
$45 - Buy on AliExpress
In and underneath this Honor Choice Earbuds S7 review, you will find comparisons of the Honor S7 vs SoundPEATS Air5 Lite, Oppo Enco Air3, and Huawei Freebuds 2 SE.
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Design, comfort and battery life
The Honor S7 has a rather unique egg-like charging box. The case is nice and compact, scratch resistant and has a sturdy case lid.
A single LED-light on the front of the case indicates the remaining case battery. It could be green for quite a while: the case can recharge the earbuds four time fully before needing new power via USB-C.
The earbuds are easy to pick out of the case and just as easy to hang in your ears. The big mound on the earpieces provides a comfortable and snug enough fit.
You may or may not like it, but the shiny metallic-plastic finish definitely draws attention. These look more expensive than they are.
Battery life is good. The Honor S7 provides 7,5 hours of playtime on a single charge. That's the score with Active Noise Cancelling off. It gets around 5 hours per charge with ANC on.
As the earbuds are IP54 waterproof rated, they should withstand dust, sweat and rainfall.
Nicely compact, comfortable, solid battery life.
Controls, connectivity and app support
The Honor S7 controls by pinching the stem. A single-tap triggers play/pause, a double-tap skips a song, and a triple returns a song on either earbud. Holding the stems lets you switch between Active Noise Cancelling on and off.
You can activate volume controls on the earbuds via the Honor AI Space app on iPhone and Android, but only at the cost of the ANC switching.
Unfortunately, the double-taps and triple-taps aren't always easy to trigger. The feedback feels a bit wonky.
Music automatically pauses when you take an earbud out, and resumes playing once you put it back in again. It works well, but you can also turn the function off via the app - that's great.
Standard connectivity is good: the Honor S7 has a reliable Bluetooth connection up to 10 meters away from your device.
Or devices. Like the previous released Honor X5 earbuds, the Honor S7 also has dual-device multipoint connection. You can connect it up to two devices at the same time. Switching between devices works well: pause on one device, play on the other - or automatically when you get a phone call.
The app support is decent
Sadly, there are little options to choose from when changing controls
The Global version of the Honor S7 gets support from the Honor AI Space app for Android and iPhone. Check the availability in your country before you decide to purchase. You also need an account to use the app.
The Honor AI Space app gives a bunch of useful features:
Check the battery on the L and R earphone and the case
Update the firmware
Change the controls (this is very limited, however)
Choose between Default sound, Bass Boost or Vocal boost
Switch to LDAC audio codec (Android only)
(De)activate spatial audio
(De)activate Dynamic EQ
(De)activate wear detection (auto-pausing)
(De)activate dual-device connectivity
Decide whether your ANC setting is saved the next time you turn the earbuds on
Beware: dual-device connectivity only works with the default codec on Android. If you activate the LDAC audio codec on Android, you'll lose the second connection.
With solid app support and multipoint connectivity, the Honor Choice Earbuds S7 has a nice array of features - although controls could be better.
Phone and video calls
The Honor Choice Earbuds S7 is well-suited for phone and video calls.
The microphones of the Honor S7 put your voice through clear, if a bit thin.
It's also on the softer side - although not too soft.
Most background noise is filtered well out of phone calls. Higher tones, like a squeaking door, are still audible.
The earbuds can pick up wind noise, whether you walk indoors or outside.
However: the microphones recognise the wind noise and dampen it quickly.
The earlier released Honor X5 was already a good choice for phone calls, and the Honor S7 continues the trend.
Video and games playback
The Honor S7 plays videos without problems on iPhone and Android phones.
There's a low-latency gaming mode which you can activate from the earbuds when you have the control setup for it in the app. You can't activate it from the app directly.
The gaming mode itself works flawlessly, with great synchronization between the sound effects and the action on your screen, for instance in a demanding game like Call of Duty mobile.
The Spatial audio setting and Dynamic EQ provide an immersive gaming experience, even though they don't give you the best information of where things are happening around you in a game.
ANC QUALITY of the Honor S7
The Active Noise Cancellation of the Honor S7 doesn't impress.
The ANC activates by holding down the stems. After a recognisable sound effect, some middle and higher sounds around you are a bit softer.
The ANC can help to put a background radio further to the background. Unfortunately, that's pretty much it.
That means you still hear everything around you. Conversations are still easy to follow, sudden sounds like laughter, chatter and door slams come through clearly, and even constant sounds aren't filtered.
The sound with ANC on and off differs, with the ANC giving more weight to the lower tones of the music.
Sadly, the ANC mode lets in quite a bit of wind. It's less usable to use it when you're walking, running, or cycling - meaning you'll get a thinner and lighter sound on these moments.
Because of the wind noise and the longer battery duration, it's better to turn the ANC off. Happily, you can select whether the earbuds have ANC on or off by default from the app.
After the SoundPEATS Air4, SoundPEATS Air5, the Xiaomi Buds 5 and QCY AilyBuds Pro, this is the next pair of affordable half-in-ears that promises ANC, but doesn't deliver.
Sound quality of Honor S7
It's hard to get a finger behind the sound part of the Honor Choice Earbuds S7, as there are some strange variables at play here.
Wireless earbuds should sound the same on different systems. Strangely, there are noticeable differences in the Honor S7.
The sound is clearer on iPhone. Mid-tones and lower treble are more forward. Middle and higher vocals have more presence and it's easier to pick up details on your left and right. However - the sound also feels lacking in the lows. There's little bass next to the minimal mid-bass kick. At its worst, music feels too light and lacks substance.
The sound is warmer on Android. Treble is toned down earlier, while lower mid-tones are more prominent. Darker electronics and instruments and lower male voices feel fuller, and give the overall sound a warmer - even darker vibe. Here, the sound can even feel a bit caved-in in some scenarios.
It's therefore recommended to activate the Dynamic EQ from the app. It's unclear what the Dynamic EQ does precisely, but it improves the sound on both systems.
Switched it on? The iPhone gets more body in the lows; Android becomes open and clearer. The sound output on the two platforms grows to each other - although the gist of the differences is still there.
The Dynamic EQ adapts to surrounding noise as well. Somehow, it can sound clear and sparkly one moment, recessed and dull the next. It's impossible to say what causes it to be so all-over-the-place.
Features or complications?
The Spatial Surround Sound setting throws in even more variables. Several blues and jazz tracks in my test time lost nuances because of it - making it harder to pick up details like the plucking of strings.
Yet: the Spatial audio is a neat addition: it does put music more around you and can make it more engaging.
Oh, and get this: ANC changes the sound too. Music is fuller when you turn it on.
What doesn't change, however, is the limitation of the bass. The mid-bass has a quick slam, but lacks in weight. Don't expect bass thumps or deep sub-bass rumbles anytime soon. See the alternatives to see which competitors perform better.
The bass doesn't increase by choosing the Bass boost equalizer from the app - that just boosts the lower mid-tones. The Vocal boost equalizer can help to open the treble more on Android.
The high-res LDAC Audio codec you can activate on Android, adds a more iPhone-like detail to the mids and treble, but as you'll lose multipoint connection and about 2 hours of the battery life, it's questionable whether this is worth it.
The Honor Choice Earbuds S7 is all over the place when it comes to sound variations. It can sound great at times, but it can also sound mediocre. While not bad, there are alternatives with a more consistent and better performance.
—> These are the best sounding wireless earbuds from $25 to $100
Honor S7 alternatives
Honor S7 vs SoundPEATS Air5
At around 80 dollars, the SoundPEATS Air5 is a more expensive pair of half-in-ears with unimpressive ANC. Both earbuds have comparably call quality as well. The SoundPEATS has easier controls, while the Honor has longer playtime per charge.
Both models have some oddities in the sound. The sound on the Air5 can change but is ultimately manageable when you open the Sound page in the app, while the sound character of the Honor S7 is hard to track due to different app features at play.
In general, the Air5 is more consistent and immersive, with more air in the higher frequencies, a tighter bass and more spatial details.
$80 - See price on Amazon US, on your Amazon country or AliExpress
Honor S7 vs Huawei Freebuds 2 SE
The Huawei Freebuds 2 SE remained my recommendation over the successor Huawei Freebuds 3 SE.
That's because the Freebuds 3 SE has a more slippery fit and costs more. Besides, it doesn't have multipoint connection, the feature it really needed.
The Freebuds 2 SE doesn't have multipoint, but costs around $40, and plays around 9 hours on a single charge! It has clear calls and sounds great - better than the Honor S7, with a more balanced tonality, fuller lower-mids, and more consistency. The Honor S7 can sound good - the Freebuds 2 SE just sound great.
$40 - See price on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
Honor S7 vs Oppo Enco Air3
At the same price or even cheaper than the Honor S7, the 2023's Oppo Enco Air3 gives the newcomer a run for its money.
The Oppo lacks ANC, but doesn't miss it compared to Honors weak offering. The Oppo Air3 does offer multipoint connection, clear calls, controls well and has a safer, more secure fit than the Honor. Battery life is the same on both models, but can be two hours longer on the Honor when you turn ANC off.
The Enco Air3 impresses with its more powerful, thicker mid-bass. The sound is fuller, and feels more like a pair of earphones with rubber-tips than the often much thinner Honor S7 - even though the Honor can sound as good sometimes… dependent on the many variables.
$40 - $60 on your Amazon country or AliExpress
Verdict: Honor S7
The Honor Choice Earbuds S7 seems impressive on paper. Multipoint connection! Active Noise Cancelling! App support! Spatial audio! Dynamic EQ!
But with near-useless ANC and a sound that differs every time you listen to them, you get little out of it in reality. Earbud manufacturers need to learn that adding features isn't the same as making user-friendly earbuds.
THREE STARS - Worth considering
Buy Honor S7/ Check lowest price
Buy on AliExpress
I bought the Honor S7 myself to test and review. My reviews are 100% independent and non-commercial - read about it here.
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