In our dynamic world, we increasingly seek relaxation and peace. Therefore, headphones have become an integral part of our lives ─ whether at home or on noisy streets, we can always grab earbuds that will immerse us in our favorite music. The market offers a plethora of headphones for every budget with various functions. Today, we will review a new gadget at an affordable price ─ the Honor Earbuds X6 ─ and evaluate its sound quality.
Honor is known for its range of electronics, including smartphones, laptops, and smartwatches. One cannot overlook its audio niche. The company offers devices in various price segments ─ our model is budget-friendly (starting at $30). However, does cheap always mean poor quality?
Honor Earbuds X6 specifications
- Type: earbuds
- Frequency response: 20-20000 Hz
- Connection interface: Bluetooth 5.3
- Working time: 9 hours (40 hours with charging case – according to the manufacturer)
- Charging time: 10 minutes of charging – 3 hours of listening to music, full charge – approximately one hour
- Sensors: 10 mm dynamic sensor
- Controls: double-tap to answer/end a call, play/pause audio or skip to a new song, activate voice assistant; press and hold to reject incoming calls
- Noise cancellation: ENC AI noise cancellation during calls
- Protection certificate: IP54 (body)
- Rechargeable battery: 510 mAh
- Weight: body 33 g, each earbud weighs 3.8 g
Read also: HONOR Magic6 Lite Smartphone Review: Too Many Drawbacks
Design and ergonomics
In the box, you will find Honor Earbuds X6 and a charging cable – nothing else. The headphones are available in two colors – white and purple.
I’ll start with the exterior of the charging case. It has a square shape with rounded edges, pleasant to the touch, lightweight, and glossy, yet not slippery in hand. I’ve never dropped the case so far, but it’s always better to purchase a cover since over time, noticeable scratches will appear on the white plastic anyway.
On the front of the case, there’s a large inscription (the HONOR logo), below which is a colored indicator showing the battery level. At the bottom, there is a charging port.
As for the earbuds, their design reminds me of the Apple AirPods, but I like it. Each earbud is lightweight (less than 4 g) and fits well in the ear.
Read also: Honor 90 Review: “Flagship Killer” with a 200 MP Camera
Connection and control
Wireless earbuds can be connected in two ways: simply through Bluetooth settings or via the respective mobile application. I made the initial connection of the Earbuds X6 via Bluetooth ─ it couldn’t be easier. You enter the Bluetooth settings, turn on this option, open the case lid of the earbuds, and hold your fingers on the touch-sensitive areas of both earbuds (the indicator will flash white) and wait for the system to find the device. In the list of available devices, you select Honor Earbuds X6, and that’s it. Simple? Well, yes, certainly. I’ll add that if you have an Honor smartphone, it should automatically recognize the earbuds when you open the case lid.
The second option is a bit more complicated, but I assure you, nothing is impossible: we install the AI Space app, press “Add device,” select our model, and that’s it. In my case, I had to fiddle a bit – first connect via Bluetooth, and only then did the app “see” my earbuds, and everything started working. It’s worth noting that AI Space is compatible with both Android and iOS. I recommend installing it because you’ll have the opportunity to customize the earbuds.
Controlling the Honor Earbuds X6 is very simple:
- Double tap on the touch area ─ answer/end a call, play/pause audio, or skip to the next song, activate voice assistant
- Press and hold ─ decline incoming calls.
The earbuds feature the latest Bluetooth 5.3, so there were no connection issues.
Read also: Honor Choice Earbuds X review: Inexpensive TWS with good battery
Application
AI Space allows users to customize both sound effects and gesture controls. You can choose the option that suits you best (select a combination that switches tracks, launches the next track, starts the AI Voice app, or keeps the default play/pause music option), and there are no other functions for long presses ─ you can disable this option or leave it for call rejection or call end. And as you can see, localization is not always accurate.
In the app, you can see the battery level of the case and each earbud. There’s also a useful feature: “find earbuds” – the earbuds start emitting an audible signal.
There’s also an equalizer mode where you can choose one of 4 modes – classic, bass boost, warm, and treble boost (i.e., voice).
In summary, the app is not complicated and doesn’t have advanced functions, but the average user will definitely be satisfied.
Read also: HONOR Magic5 Pro review: Like Huawei, but with Google services
Honor Earbuds X6 sound
Listening to music on these earbuds is enjoyable; the sound is clear, nice, and vibrant. This is thanks to the 10-millimeter titanium-coated dynamic driver and the independent HiFi5 DSP decoder. However, I can’t say that I liked everything in the default configuration. The current equalizer modes probably didn’t improve the situation much – they slightly enhanced the desired tones, but not by much.
A similar ambiguous situation occurred with calls – if I called via messenger, everything was fine, but when I talked to someone on the phone, the quality noticeably dropped.
Regarding voice – I didn’t have any problems listening to messages. However, when I recorded them, I noticed that they sounded artificial, lacking bass and clarity.
How do the earbuds handle noise in noisy environments? The manufacturer assures that the earbuds have “AI Noise Reduction for Clear Call” function during calls. It does work, but only in moderately noisy environments. However, for example, in a university or a store, people’s voices were very distracting to me, I simply had to speak louder. These are open-back earbuds, so they usually don’t offer any sound isolation.
Read also: HONOR Magic5 Lite Review: Nice Mid-range Device
Battery and operating time
The earbuds have batteries of 41 mAh each, and the case has 510 mAh. The manufacturer promises up to 9 hours of work on a single charge and up to 40 hours with the charging case. During my tests, I confirmed these figures; the earbuds are indeed very long-lasting. A 10-minute charge is enough for 3 hours of music playback – that’s cool too.
Numbers themselves can be uninteresting, so I’ll say that I used the earbuds for five days, commuting to the university, and on weekends, I watched several episodes of my favorite series – all this with about 30% battery charge remaining.
Conclusions
The Honor Earbuds X6 are good, affordable in-ear headphones that will serve you well for a long time. They have a minimalist design, are lightweight, and comfortable to wear. There’s also the AI Space app, which doesn’t significantly improve sound quality, only slightly boosting high or low frequencies. Overall, the sound is decent, maybe not the best, but at this price, it’s perfectly acceptable.
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