Honor Earbuds 2 Lite review: a trusted alternative to AirPods

The appearance of AirPods Pro has some special features. Whether you are using Android or iPhone, these small earbuds are very stylish. If you want to adopt this style without spending too much money, then you may have come to the right place. Honor Earbuds 2 Lite shares many of the same features as Apple’s premium true wireless earbuds, but let’s see how they combined in our Honor Earbuds 2 Lite review.

Who should buy Honor Earbuds 2 Lite?

• Huawei smartphone users You can enjoy smooth integration and the best application support.
• commuter Use a suitable Android phone to enjoy noise reduction and IP rating.
• Fitness enthusiast Will benefit from IPX4 sweat resistance and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity.

You can also take a look: Getting Started Guide for Headphones

Honor’s plastic earplugs have a sleek white shell, aptly called Glacier White. The case has a rounded edge and a classic flip design. If you want to keep your gadgets in secret, you can also get them in Midnight Black. Either way, it is easy to appreciate the simple honor logo and clean overall appearance.

Honor Earbuds 2 Lite also comes bundled with three sets of silicone earplugs. I had some troubles out of the box and ended up mixing and matching a large tip with a medium tip. If you are used to oversized earbuds, you may need to buy third-party earbuds because these earbuds are very small.

In the short listening process, Honor Earbuds 2 Lite is both beautiful and light-as the name suggests. Unfortunately, the longer you listen, the more uncomfortable they are. There are no wingtips to distribute the pressure, so the earplugs are just tucked in your ear canal. You may have different experiences, but I find that anything over an hour will give me a headache.

You can also take a look: The best true wireless workout earbuds

In terms of functions, Honor Earbuds 2 Lite supports binaural mono playback. When you insert or remove earplugs, you can also get automatic play and pause functions, but this is not the most accurate. When I simply adjust the position of the earbuds, they often record touches, which can cause unexpected pauses or even cycle ANC modes. You can fine-tune all these controls in the app, but it should be smoother than it is.

A case for a better case

Honor’s Earbuds 2 Lite protective case is easy to put in your pocket, and the smooth surface treatment does not have much trouble for daily wear and tear. Earplugs are not very expensive, which means that the charging case uses a simple method. There is an LED indicator on the front to indicate battery status and pairing mode. On the right, you will notice a button for pairing and factory reset.

However, this case is not all good news. I found that the hinge is too loose and it often closes when I try to keep it open. It is difficult to use with one hand, even if I try to do something as simple as pairing earplugs. If you try to stand it up when you open it, the case will tip over, but you must open it to pair. If you put it on either side, the built-in magnet will force the lid to close. There is no easy way to handle this case with one hand.

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) most effectively targets low-frequency sounds, while passive isolation is usually used for high-frequency noise. Honor’s Earbuds 2 Lite handles sound well across the entire spectrum. It attenuates mid and high frequencies at an amazing price.

You can also take a look: The best noise-canceling true wireless earbuds

This summer is very hot, the capital is very hot, but Honor earplugs can easily cut my noisy air conditioner into a comfortable hum. Passive isolation is more dependent on your health, which is not a good thing in my case. If you can find the right earbud combination, it should reduce background conversations and make them sound a sixth louder. Those who want to hear background sounds can turn on the Awareness mode, which is essentially a pass-through function.

After opening the charging case, many Bluetooth earbuds will automatically enter the pairing mode. Honor Earbuds 2 Lite skips this method and instead requires you to open the lid and press the side button for a few seconds. After completing the initial pairing process, the earbuds will automatically reconnect in the future.

As for the codec, Honor supports AAC and SBC, which should be no problem for most users. Many people insist on using compressed audio, so you shouldn’t lose too much in terms of sound quality. Honor also has a low-latency game mode, which works well in my tests.

You can also take a look: Bluetooth codec 101

Do you need a companion app?

If you already have a Huawei device, you do not need to download the application separately. All you have to do is click on the settings gear in the menu of the paired Bluetooth device.

Other Android users need to get the Huawei AI Life app to get customization options and firmware updates. Apple users are completely unlucky because there is no iOS version of the AI ​​Life app. If you plan to pair Earbuds 2 Lite with iPhone, you must use the default settings.

While downloading AI Life, I encountered some regional issues-the version listed in the Google Play store is severely outdated. Although there is no problem with my Huawei P30, I cannot use any and all functions of Galaxy S10e. It turns out that you need to use the QR code provided by Honor Earbuds 2 Lite or Huawei’s application library to download the correct version of the application. This is of course because Huawei is actually banned from the Play Store.

You can also take a look: Headphone updates are limited to certain phones-a cheap move by smartphone manufacturers

If you are lucky enough to launch and run the application, you can control the ANC settings and the double-click option of any earbud. The default settings for both earbuds are play and pause, so it is worth changing at least one. Personally, I set the right ear to rewind because I like to listen to songs again until I get tired of them.

You can adjust the long press setting, but it only applies to noise reduction. I found that Earbuds 2 Lite does not register my commands very often, which is too common for cheap products with touch controls.

How does the AI ​​Life app use your data?

Huawei is good at finding itself in the hot water of various countries-we have documented this extensively. However, the AI ​​Life app provides one of the more transparent terms of service (ToS) we have seen for some time.This is not necessarily a OK ToS, but at least Huawei explained it in easy-to-understand language.

The key is that Huawei keeps some of your data for six years. It also tracks your router, IP address, location, personal information and biometrics. On the bright side, if you delete your account, Huawei will delete most of the data. If you want to opt-out or request your data, you must contact Huawei’s legal department in the UK. However, if you choose to opt out, it will be difficult for you to access many features.

If these are Honor earbuds, why are we talking about so much Huawei? Well, they are Honor earplugs, but the app is still a Huawei product. It’s a bit like discovering some impressive brand names that make your favorite generic Costco products. Honor and Huawei did separate a while ago, but when the app stayed the same, the earbuds went a bit.

Honor claims that it can play for 10 hours on a single charge, in which case it can play for an additional 22 hours. We conducted the usual 75dB constant output test and found that the earbuds achieved 7 hours and 29 minutes of playback. However, they do support fast charging, because charging for 10 minutes can charge up to 4 hours.

Honor Earbuds 2 Lite usually follows our house curve (pink), which is a good thing. They will be truly different only when you reach the 10KHz mark, which is no fuss. Honor’s earbuds have a slightly emphasized bass range and a relatively quiet midrange, but that’s the extent of the difference. There is a bit of auditory masking here and there, but all instruments are usually clear enough.

Listening to BadBadNotGood’s “In Your Eyes”, I can easily pick out the jazz bass and string parts. Neither instrument can conceal Charlotte Day Wilson’s voice, although electric guitars occasionally conceal her voice.

Can the microphone stand up to competition?

If you only need a microphone for voice calls occasionally, Honor Earbuds 2 Lite will serve you. It has a digital filter to combat noise, and it is particularly effective at low decibels. However, greater wind will cause the earbuds to filter out everything-even you. Listen to our test below:

If you have a Huawei phone, Honor Earbuds 2 Lite is worth a try. The earplug connection and integration is very seamless, and the price is reasonable. Due to the workarounds required by the AI ​​Life application, non-Huawei Android users may not find that much value. You may also want to keep Huawei’s current legal status in mind. Apple users who try to imitate AirPods Pro for cheap products can find value here, but only if they can give up the customization options.

You can also take a look: The best AirPods alternative

Although we like to think of ANC and frequency response as reasons to buy these earbuds, you must also understand if they are available near you. You can currently purchase Honor Earbuds 2 Lite in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Finland. If you prefer to skip Honor’s website, you can go to Ali Express or Amazon UK, although in some cases this may make shipping difficult.

The cost of Nothing’s Ear 1 is about the same as Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro. If you don’t mind medium ANC, it is a good choice. It has a similar stem design with excellent comfort and stable frequency response. Nothing Ear 1 can also work normally on Android and iOS.