The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 are decent sounding headphones, but with a price jump up from their predecessors, they’re not entirely competitive for value any more.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Adjustable ANC | Lower level ANC is unimpressive |
| 36 hour battery life | No stated bud battery life – which is what really matters |
| Inbuilt RGB lighting | Who needs RGB lighting on a headphones case? |
Score: 2.5/5
Ethical disclaimer: The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 used for this review were sent to me by Edifier for the purposes of this review. They’ve been in my ears – bit tricky to review them without that step – and I don’t expect that Edifier will be asking for them back, because, well, hygiene is a concern here. In any case, this has no effect on my review, and Edifier has no oversight into what’s been written here. Which is as it should be.
For more on ART’s ethics policy, see here.
In this review
Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 Specifications
Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 Design
Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 Installation
Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 Performance
Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 Battery
Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 Conclusion
Design
Back when I reviewed the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 headphones, I commented that they were at least trying something different compared to the regular look-as-much-as-possible-like-AirPods design styles used by most lower-cost headphones manufacturers.
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3… don’t change that, because the design style of both the buds and their battery case is not markedly different from their predecessors. I never reviewed the OG NeoBuds Pro, so it’s entirely feasible that Edifier found a style it liked and stuck to it all this time.
What all of this means in practical terms is that they come in a somewhat rounded rectangular case that opens from the front with a front charging light that allows for RGB customisation because… they do. Is it vital to anyone that they can make the light change colours from its stock white?
Probably not.
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 come in either black or starlight (white) finishes, with the buds inside matching the colour of the case. In my case Edifier sent me the black models, and like their predecessors, they’ve somewhat got the look of cheap sci-fi movie props to them. I can kind of imagine them being the communications medium of choice for the kind of dodgy late-night sci-fi show that populated TV airtime back in the 1990s, essentially, with relatively prominent stalks in front of rubber tipped buds.
In the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3’s box you’ll find a selection of sized tips, though I’ve only needed to use the default ones that were already installed on them. Edifier also supplies a very short USB-C to USB-A charging cable and a soft carry bag in the box too. That feels just slightly redundant to me, given that the charging case is… a case, but maybe I’m missing some key use scenario where a tiny drawstring bag is a plus here.
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 have IP54 water protection, which is good to see, though this was also the same for the older and considerably more affordable NeoBuds Pro 2 headphones.
IP54 will see you through a decent quantity of sweating – it’s done so for my testing while I’ve been reviewing them – but means that they’re not swim suitable, and probably won’t survive being dropped into water either.
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Edifier MR3 Review: Good Value, but not especially loud
Installation
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 are Bluetooth 5.4 compatible, a nice specification jump up from the Bluetooth 5.2 spec of the Pro 2 models. Like most wireless buds, out of the box they’ll start looking to pair with nearby devices automatically.
If they’ve already been paired to a device, you can initiate Bluetooth pairing with the small button on the case. Because I was testing out the black model, it was a black button that’s slightly harder to see – all very Disaster Area, really – but at least it’s a physical button, as distinct from those sets that want long presses on surface areas instead.
You can just pair and use the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 headphones this way, but if you do, you’re missing out on a slew of features. To get the most out of the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3, you’ll need Edifier’s audio app for Android and iOS – and you’ll need to make sure you get the correct audio app.
Back when I reviewed the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2, that was the Edifier Connect App, which worked, but annoyed me because it was about one quarter control app, three quarters a web interface to Edifier’s online store. Not an uncommon play, but not a welcome one either.
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 don’t use the Edifier Connect app.
They use the Edifier Connex app instead, but both are still available, and depending on the device you’re using your app store might surface the wrong one, leaving you wondering why the app won’t actually see the buds that you’ve already paired.
No prizes for guessing what happened to me first time out.
Both apps can coexist, and pleasingly, Edifier seems to have learned its lessons when it comes to spruiking extra products, because the Edifier Connex app is far more focused on just tweaking the sound and usage of the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 headphones instead.
This includes modifying the RGB lighting on the case for… reasons that still elude me… as well as equalisation settings, touch control settings and which HD audio codec (if any) you wish to use. By default the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 are aware of when they’re placed in your ears, pausing when removed, but you can adjust this within the app as well.
Performance
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 came to market at a sub-$200 price point, and that meant that I reviewed them as a properly “budget” set of headphones.
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 however, retail in Australia at $249.95, and that puts them distinctly up in the price tiers. That’s quite literally AirPods-level money, albeit only the standard AirPods 4; if you want the ANC-capable set they’re just a tad more pricey again, though they’re in the same pricing ballpark.
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As such, my expectations for what the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 might manage were higher. If you’re going to charge more for headphones, they absolutely need to provide better sound.
Sound presentation on the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 is decent, and somewhat better and more nuanced than the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2, but they still left me just a little wanting given that jump up in price. There’s support for Spatial Audio on board, but its tracking is sometimes laggy, and the modes within tended to present a rather hollowed out sound.
This is naturally relative; I’m not expecting best-in-class performance at this price, but switching between the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 and the AirPods 4 (which are slightly cheaper), the difference in audio presentation was immediately evident, and not in Edifier’s favour.
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3’s ace in the hole here could be active noise cancellation, with a wide array of noise cancellation choices, from adaptive through high and medium tolerance modes, plus an ambient sound passthrough mode or wind reduction mode.
That’s a lot of flexibility, but it’s somewhat let down by the fact that the only mode that made a significant difference in my testing was the high ANC mode. Medium does block out some noise, but the ambient sound mode really just feels like a dialled-down ANC version rather than a passthrough mode if you’re expecting solid conversation possibilities.
Like their predecessors, the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 use touch controls built into each bud with support for double and triple tap actions.
Like their predecessors, and like every other set that uses this, I hate it, because I always end up feeling like I’m thumping the buds into my ear canals when all I want to do is pause a track or skip to the next one.
Microphone pickup on the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 is decent enough, though callers did note that they could very much tell I was either on Bluetooth headphones or speaker mode, with a distinct level of reverberation in audio quality.
Certainly clear enough to hear as long as there’s no other Bluetooth interference, but not particularly high grade.
Battery
When I reviewed the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2, my biggest single complaint was around battery life, with the claim of 4 hours not being met, and often falling to near half that level. As such, my expectations for the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 weren’t all that high.
Edifier has some high hopes for the battery life stating that they’re good for around 36 hours of playback with ANC off, or 24 hours with ANC on.
I’ve never understood why you’d buy ANC-enabled headphones and then not predominantly use them with ANC enabled, but in any case, that’s a huge upgrade from 4 hours, right?
Not quite.
Edifier is being sneaky here, because that’s undeniably the power figure as a total that you can get from the headphones and their charging case as a total. Edifier does not in any way specify the actual battery endurance of the buds for playback beyond noting that a 15 minute charge should give you 3 hours of playtime. It’s not specified if that’s ANC playback, but it’s a pretty sure bet that it’s not.
While plenty of headphone manufacturers do list out total battery life based on recharging headphones, it’s truly disappointing for Edifier not to be upfront about how long they expect headphones to last, as that’s a simple comparative measure to help you assess whether a headset is worth buying or not. 24 hours is a decent enough figure, but it’s a very different picture if I have to recharge them 24 times because they only last an hour or if I have to recharge them 3 times because they last 8 hours each time!
Of course, battery estimates are just that – estimates – so I got to testing to see what kind of battery life I could get from the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3.
So what is the actual battery life like?
Testing with audio playback gave me a rough figure of 3 to 3.5 hours of typical playback, though of course that can vary depending on volume and precise playback characteristics; as noted I predominantly use ANC headphones with ANC on, so you could expect more if you weren’t doing so.
That is somewhat better at least than the Edifier Neo Buds Pro 2 managed, though of course I still don’t have a claim figure to compare that against. It’s still on the slightly lower side for buds that are priced at this level; not massively beneath them but not exceptional either.
The other challenge I found with the Edifier Neo Buds Pro 3 – or at least with the pair supplied to me for review – is that they tend to discharge at uneven rates, with the left bud discharging ever so slightly faster than the right most of the time.
The difference is only around 1-2% in my tests, but it was noticeable that I could rarely take the buds out of the case and expect them to discharge evenly. That’s more of a concern for long-term usage, because if one bud’s battery is actually degrading faster than the other, at some point you’ll end up with a dead set of headphones before you really ought to.
Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3: Alex’s Verdict
Edifier’s biggest pitch – or at least its best one – is that it’s an affordable audio brand.
Affordable usually does involve some compromises in quality, but that’s typically balanced against price.
While I had some issues with the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 headphones back when I reviewed them, that was balanced against their asking price and the inclusion of ANC at that price level.
The issue with the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 is that at $249.95, it’s entirely feasible to get ANC on some bigger-brand headphones without too much fuss. Edifier has jumped up in price tiers here, but it’s not quite bringing a markedly better experience along for the ride.
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 headphones certainly aren’t terrible, but at full price they’re hard to justify. If Edifier had kept to a roughly similar price bracket as their predecessors they’d be a much better option. As it is, I’d wait to see them on sale before buying.
Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2: Pricing and availability
The Edifier NeoBuds Pro 3 retail in Australia for $249.95.
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