HONOR Magic EarBuds VS. HONOR Sport Bluetooth Headphones! Deep Dive Comparison!

Hey Guys and Dolls!!

I Hope you're all having a fantastic week? I know it's only Tuesday but Monday is the hardest part so it's all good from here on out!! ?

Last week, @MATT_HONOR_UK Posted a great article about the HONOR Sport Bluetooth earphones...

? Which has inspired me to put them to the test against HONOR's Magic Earbuds in a face off in all things "Headphones"! Thanks Matt! ??

So... First off, let's meet both sets of headphones...

HONOR Sport Bluetooth:

Lightweight, Wireless and Colourful Design with a secure and comfortable fit, boasting an 11 Hour battery Life (upto 10 days Standby) and deep bass tones due to the 11mm Drivers in each earpiece.

HONOR Magic EarBuds:

Elegant and Colourful Design, lightweight and includes a small untitleddailyuntitleddaily shaped charging case, Boasting a Triple Microphone, Active Noise Cancellation setup with upto 3.5 hours playback from one charge (Case capable of 3 full Earbud Charges off on full Case charge).

The Look!

As you can tell from the picture...

Both sets have a very different design style from the other but they are both equally attractive with their bright, eye catching colourways. ?

The HONOR Sport Bluetooth Headphones come in 3 colours:

Red, ? Blue ? and Black ⚫

Whereas the Magic Earbuds are limited to only 2 finishes:

Pearl White ⚪ and Robyn Egg Blue ?

The Sports headphones being more of a Neon/Electric colouring and the Magic Earbuds having a more subtle, Pastel type colouring.

The Feel:

In the ear, The Sports Bluetooth Headphones feel great, it has a pretruding rubber arm the hooks on to your ear making it near impossible for them to accidently fall out of your ear whilst doing any kind of activity...

From first glance I wondered how comfortable these headphones would be due to the rubber arm but to my surprise, once you're wearing them, you can't tell that they're hooked to your ear, they feel really good to wear.

The Magic EarBuds, untitleddailyuntitleddaily right into your ear, for me, I found them to fit perfectly and with a little adjusting, they feel safe and secure...

I tried my hardest to get them to fall out of my ears, even headbanging to some of Slayers Heaviest compositions, The Magic Earbuds held their place firmly inside my ear with Little to no movement! ??

Overall Both sets are Comfortable to wear and have great in ear stability, eliminating the worry of them accidently falling out and ending up in pieces on the floor. ?

(I will add, if you're a fan of wearing your headphones whilst Travelling, Laying down or in Bed, Due to the Sports Bluetooth Headphones Flat Back design, I've found them to be slightly more comfortable to wear them with your ear resting against a pillow or whilst trying to catch some Z's while travelling. ?)

Usability:

Each set connects up to your device quickly and easily, the first time connection with the Sports Headphones takes a long press on the function button to access pairing mode, then once pairing is enabled, the headphones will connect in seconds.

The Magic Earbuds have Auto Pairing so provided your Bluetooth is already enabled on your HONOR Phone, the Earbuds will autoconnect by promoting you to tap "ok".

As you know, The Magic Earbuds has a charging case, which also acts as a carry case, but the Sport Bluetooth Headphones also come equipped with a carry case straight out of the box...

Although it's not a charging case, I does come loaded with a charging cable.

The Sound:

Now to the nitty gritty, the main reason you're reading this...

How do they sound? And which one sounds better? ?

Let's break it up in to 3 Categories:

1. Call Quality ?

2. Microphone Quality ?

3. Audio Playback. ?

Sidenote: for these tests, the Magic Earbuds ANC  feature will be switched both on and off but my comparison will have the ANC off. ?

Call Quality:

The Sports Bluetooth Headphones have a good clear sound whilst on a call, sound is well balanced, even whilst on a group call, the Sport Bluetooth Headphones handles multiple voices very well.

The Magic Earbuds have Crystal Clear the Overall call quality is perfect, loud with strong, balanced audio playback and fantastic EQ.

▪️ ANC On: there's definitely a noticeable difference with ANC Enabled, help with blocking out some of the unwanted outside noise, although, it does pick up unwanted whistling from strong winds (I find this happens on mobile handsets whilst taking calls outside, this is due to microphone sensitivity).

Wind noise is eliminated once the ANC is switched off.

Microphone Quality:

For making calls, the microphones installed to Both sets of headphones are more than capable of producing good call quality, I've had no problems with either set, the Sport Bluetooth Headphones do have a slightly scratchier overall sound when using the microphone...

The Magic Earbuds have a triple microphone set up in each, so the overall sound stabilbilty for the listener is much more balanced and level.

To test them even further, I Tried to record voice recordings straight to my phone to act as a voice over for a video...

The Magic Earbuds achieved fantastic results, with little, if any background noise being picked up whilst recording, capturing deep vocal tones with an even Balance of Low and Mid tones, there does seem to be a loss of high tones when recording but then again, even some of the best professional microphones on the market can sometimes miss out on crisp high tones so it's fully expected from a product that isn't specifically for recoding vocal audio...

Unfortunately, I haven't had any luck using the Sport Bluetooth Headphones to capture any type of recording, whether it's direct vocal or ambient sounds, the Sports Headphones Microphone doesn't work in that way.

▪️ ANC On: when Noise Cancellation is on, the microphones try to block outside noise, but whilst recording, the outside noise will ultimately be picked up in the recording, so it's best to leave it switched off in cases like this.

Audio Playback:

Sport Bluetooth Headphones: 

The overall sound is simply quality! Picking up on all tone ranges, from Deep Bass to Clear highs and Punchy mid tones, which helps reproduce an all round, true to life sound. 

Video playback is strong and there is zero latency between the Devices Display and the headphones playback, even at the longest range.

Only set backs are they could be a bit louder when at full volume and some type of microphone integration to allow for vocal voice over recordings would be nice.

Magic EarBuds: 

They have an incredible overall sound, very well balanced throughout, Stunning high tones, over strong, clear mid tones underlayed with Thunderous, Hard hitting bass! They capture top quality vocal audio recordings and handle all types of audio playbackwith ease.

They seem to be a louder overall compared to the Sports Bluetooth Headphones but volume really is personal preference, I like it LOUD as a lot of people do, but there are many others out there that like to listen at a quieter volume so this may not be an issue for you ?).

There is some latency on video playback, but only when you've stepped too far away from the device and the Earbuds have to reconnect and the battery life is maximum of 3.5hrs off one charge (granted with the charging case you can achieve up to 9 hours playback, but that does involve having to stop listening to charge the earbuds, which isnt continuous playback)...

3.5hrs is very little compared to the Sports Bluetooth Headphones 11hrs playback time (and 11 hours is bang on too, I've tested this out around 5 times now and they do last through intense listening session! ? ??).

▪️ Noise Cancellation just adds to the already fantastic sound by blocking out some unwanted outside noise, creating an interruption free listening experience, unless of course somebody decides to call your mobile... ??

Overall Thoughts!

HONOR Sport Bluetooth Headphones:

These are an excellent choice of headphone, they sound great, can handle audio and video playback extremely well with no lag or latency and sound great whilst taking a call!

I love the look of these headphones, the colour pops and with help from the adjustable neck wire, they're always going to be really easy find!

The Cons, As mentioned before are that they could be louder overall and they're are lacking in voice recording capabilities.

HONOR Magic Earbuds:

The All Rounder!!

They look Stylish and Classy, have 2 Gorgeous Colourways, they sound amazing with crystal clear audio during calls and audio playback alongside producing an excellent recording of voices for voice overs for videos etc.

Packed with some incredible extras like Intuitive Touch Controls, the aforementioned ANC, The ability to record vocal clips for playback or video voice overs, integration with the AI Life App and they can even act as a Camera Snapshot Trigger!

For me, these headphones are my Daily Drivers! I can't leave the house without them! They're super easy to use, the features help in many everyday situations and they just seem to be an asset to my day!

The only issues I have are that the battery life could be better and its quite easy to misplace them (especially when you have a 2 year old son who has an obsession with them ??) so some kind of "Find My Magic Earbuds" feature would be an incredibly nice touch! Other than that, I love them!

You can purchase Either of these products, right now from the HiHonor Store...

Sport Bluetooth Headphones:

https://m.hihonor.com/unitedkingdom/product/honor-bluetooth-sports-earphone

Magic Earbuds:

https://m.hihonor.com/unitedkingdom/product/honor-magic-earbuds

If you'd like to find anything else out about these products, be sure to check out my previous posts, including Unboxings and First impressions!!

▫️HONOR Sport Bluetooth Headphones Unboxing and first Impressions:
https://community.hihonor.com/uk/topicdetail/?topicId=21521

▫️HONOR Magic Earbuds Unboxing/First Look:
https://community.hihonor.com/uk/topicdetail/?topicId=19593

▫️Marbles666 Reviews the HONOR Magic Earbuds!
https://community.hihonor.com/uk/topicdetail/?topicId=20011

▫️[Tips & Tricks] HONOR Magic Earbuds and... Photography?
https://community.hihonor.com/uk/topicdetail/?topicId=20599

Thanks for taking a look at my deep dive comparison of the HONOR Sport Bluetooth Headphones *. The HONOR Magic Earbuds!

Let me know your favourite set of headphones in the comments!

I'll catch you in the next one!

Marbles666 ??