In an ocean of budget earbuds, Soundpeats has built a safe harbor around balanced sound quality and real noise canceling at surprisingly low prices. The Soundpeats Mini Pro HS are another good example, offering those hallmarks alongside a nimble design and even hi-res streaming for just $60.

While the Soundpeats T3 Wireless may be a better overall value for your money (found for as low as $40), the Mini Pro HS offer a bit more style, as well as an alternative to the AirPods-style stem design. They also throw in some extras like a Game Mode for lower latency playback.

I’m not sure their support for LDAC Bluetooth streaming is a huge gain for most folks. It only works with Android phones, and you may not notice a massive difference in sound quality. Still, the Mini Pro HS carve out some good definition in the treble to go with the thumpy bass. Add in a spot of noise-canceling and accessible controls, and you get a very solid package.

Premium Look, Comfy Fit

• Weight: Earbud: 0.18oz (5g); Case: 1.14oz (27.4g)
• Dust/Water Resistance: Earbuds: IPX5
• Controls: Touch-sensitive Pads

Opening the Mini Pro HS, I was immediately struck by their nimble design that almost approaches premium earbuds. It will be impossible not to compare these to the cheaper Soundpeats T3 I recently reviewed, and I can say straight away that the Mini Pro’s case is a significant step up in both style and resilience.

Frankly, I’m not sure earbud cases can get much smaller than this one, while the gold-flecked, matte exterior keeps away nicks and scuffs much better than the T3’s case. The only detraction I’ll note is the placement of the charging port at the back, which makes charging awkward. It’s not Magic Mouse 2 awkward, but it would have been better placed on the case’s bottom.

The earbuds themselves are a slight step down in style; the housings are small and relatively stylish, but the odd golden Soundpeats logo looks somewhere between a gaming headphones affectation and a misprinted superhero symbol.

Logo aside, the buds look pretty good in your hands and ears, even if they stick out a bit more than I’d like. At a hair under five grams, the Mini Pro HS are light enough to disappear in your ears, and their ergonomic, oval-shaped ear tips make them easy to wear for long listening sessions, too.

Alongside the earbuds, you’ll get two extra pairs of ear tips, a small USB-C to USB-A charging cable, and a micro-sized instruction booklet.

Decked-Out Controls

The first thing that endeared me to the Soundpeats brand was its penchant for loading in all the controls you’ll need, budget pricing be damned. You’ll get all the important stuff here, allowing you to tap your way through volume, playback, calling, active noise canceling (ANC), and voice assistant commands.

But Where’s the App?

While a full slate of controls is always appreciated, an app for deeper settings adjustments would still be nice.

I let it slide in the T3 because they’re just so darn affordable. But as you move up the price scale, the lack of an option for digging deeper into the settings—especially for things like EQ, battery monitoring, or an alternate way to engage sound modes—becomes increasingly notable. It would behoove Soundpeats to look into creating one in the future.

I also think, at this price, folks start to expect auto-pause when you pull an earbud out, which the Mini Pro HS omit as well.

Otherwise, the earbuds offer some helpful extras, including the aforementioned Game Mode, which lowers latency to a decent 70ms, and the ability to use one bud at a time. Of course, the additions of both active noise canceling (ANC) and transparency mode are the biggest gets, relatively rare at this price.

The Mini Pro HS also offer the latest Bluetooth version 5.3, as well as support for hi-res audio files at up to 24bit/96kHz with supported devices via LDAC, though they do leave out the AAC sound codec for optimized sound from iPhones.

An Extra Slice of Noise Canceling

The Soundpeats officially claims the Mini Pro HS suppress ambient noise as low as -40dB for the 1.5kHz frequency. In the real world, I’m not sure that amounts to much, and I didn’t notice a huge difference between these and the cheaper T3. Matching them back-to-back, it did seem as though the Mini Pro HS do a little better in the lower frequencies, especially for overhead fans.

Like the T3, they struggle with higher frequency noises like the click of keys, voices, dogs barking, etc. As noted in my T3 review, you can get a lot better noise suppression across the board from older premium options like the often sale-priced Jabra Elite 85t, or even Soundcore’s Anker Space A40, which retail at just $100. Step up to something like the AirPods Pro (gen 2) or Bose QC2, and get blown away by the utter silence—and the price difference.

At this budget, it’s still something of a marvel to get any noise canceling at all. Using the Mini Pro HS for my daily dog walk proved helpful in securing some peace and quiet. With both feedforward and feedback microphones, you can hear the Mini Pro HS’ noise canceling engage, and it’s satisfying when the noise drifts into the background. Add a little music and you’ll get decent relief from neighborhood noises like the din of the city around you and cars passing by on the street, as well as household chaos.

Not for nothing, this is also the kind of noise canceling that lets you stay somewhat aurally aware in busier locales.

Similar to the ANC, the Mini Pro HS’ transparency mode is not on par with flagships, sounding a bit more muted than you’ll get from pricier models. It does its primary job, helping heighten the sounds around you to keep more aware of traffic and other potential dangers, but keeping a conversation with the earbuds in can prove difficult.

Good Sound, Crystal Calls

• Driver: 10mm dynamic driver
• Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz
• Bluetooth Version: 5.3
• Bluetooth Profiles: A2DP/AVRCP/HFP/HSP
• Bluetooth Codecs: LDAC, SBC

It wasn’t long ago that cheap, fully wireless earbuds could barely stay connected to your phone, let alone offer a balanced, detailed sound signature. Times have changed, and brands like Soundpeats are proving you can get good, accessible sound at a great price—without blowing your eardrums out with bombastic bass.

While the Mini Pro HS lead with a bass-forward sound signature, it’s generally tempered with poise up top, including a warm and present midrange and some surprising sparkle in the treble. The sound offered isn’t going to knock your socks off, especially when compared to leaders like Apple’s latest AirPods Pro and Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3, but it does compete well with some earbuds that cost a fair bit more.

There are some lovely moments to explore with these earbuds, which will only improve if you have a phone that supports their LDAC codec. Acoustic guitars buzz with golden glow, cymbals offer some powdery sustain, and crunchy synths are carved out with textural pizazz.

The sharper detail up top comes with some trade-offs; lighter instruments can sometimes be a bit too brittle and forward for my taste, and the same goes for especially shouty podcast voices. The bass occasionally gets a little boomy too, which is why I’d love to have access to an EQ. But, especially for entry-level buds, the Mini Pro HS deliver a satisfying sound experience.

The earbuds also impressed with great call quality. Calls on my end sounded clear, and while they may not have the wind-buffering skills of flagship buds, friends said they had no clue I was using earbuds during regular calls.

Soundpeats Mini Pro HS Mic Sample: Quiet Room

Soundpeats Mini Pro HS Mic Sample: Noisy Room

Ample Battery Life

• Earbud Battery Capacity: 45mAH
• Case Capacity: 300mAH
• Earbuds Playback Time SBC: 7.5-8 hours SBC (No ANC); 6-6.5 hours SBC (ANC)
• Earbuds Playback Time LDAC: 5+ hours (No ANC), 4+ hours LDAC (ANC)
• Case Recharges: Pp to 28 hours total (2.5 charges in case)
• Earbuds Charging Time: 1.5 hours
• Case Charging Time: 1.5 hours

You’d be forgiven if you find yourself a bit confused when reading the battery playback time of any wireless earbuds, but especially the Soundpeats Mini Pro HS. You’ll need to account for both the earbuds and the charging case, of course, but the earbuds’ playback time also depends on whether you’re using ANC or not, as well as whether you’ve engaged LDAC.

For most folks, you can expect at least six hours of playback with ANC engaged, and up to eight hours without it. You’ll get a fair bit less than that using the LDAC codec, but it’s there when you need it if you want to raise your streaming quality.

Should You Buy the Soundpeats Mini Pro HS?

The Mini Pro HS are another solid budget option from Soundpeats. For around $60 or less, they deliver good sound quality, a seriously comfy design that looks more premium than it costs, and of course the golden goose (or geese?), both noise canceling and transparency modes.