Edifier NeoBuds Pro are a great travel companion with great noise cancellation and good transparency mode, but they fail to deliver the promised high-quality sound.
On paper, Edifier NeoBuds Pro are your ultimate true wireless earbuds for only $130.
They provide excellent active noise cancellation (ANC), which is on par with premium earbuds above $200.
Furthermore, they deliver great call quality, not the clearest, but definitely very reliable phone calls.
However, the NeoBuds Pro are a bit disappointing in sound quality. Especially after testing their cheaper brother, the Edifier W240TN, which I consider one of the best earbuds under $100.
Despite the LDAC and LDHC Bluetooth codecs support, dynamic and BA driver combo, and Hi-Res audio certification, they aren’t up to par with the competition.
So, are they even worth considering? Can you make them better with EQ? What other features do they offer?
Learn more in the review below.
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- Companion app with custom EQ
- Excellent ANC and ambient mode performance
- Great call quality in quiet & noisy places
- Support for LHDC & LDAC audio codecs
- 7 pairs of germ-free ear tips
- Good sound quality…
- … but not up to par with the competition
- Mediocre Bluetooth connection range
- Battery only lasts 4.5h with ANC, with no Qi charging
Sound
Edifier NeoBuds Pro are relatively balanced throughout the bass and mids. Still, the lack of dynamics and strange upper treble make the sound a bit harsh and splashy, even after applying EQ.
Edifier NeoBuds Pro Sound Comparison
Learn how to understand sound comparisons.
It seems like Edifier NeoBuds Pro haven’t escaped the curse of Hi-Res certification, which usually means making treble harsh for no good reason.
This is unfortunate since earbuds pack a duo of a dynamic and balanced armature driver from Knowles. Meaning that the hardware has potential, but they didn’t fully utilize it.
In the end, you might be looking at Edifier W240TN, cheaper TWS earbuds, and get better sound quality.
To try and get the most out of Edifier NeoBuds Pro, I used an LDAC codec with a 96kHz sample rate for my review.
Edifier NeoBuds Pro Frequency Response
Bass: Slightly boosted and relatively well-controlled
Lower frequencies are slightly boosted up to 150Hz and don’t get boomy or muddy.
They have a good sub-bass extension and body thanks to a dedicated dynamic driver. They’re also responsible for making the overall sound slightly warm.
Depending on the EQ tuning, you can squeeze more or fewer details out of the bass. You get the least amount with the “Classic” preset.
Switching to the “Dynamic” mode helps bring out bass guitars. While custom EQ improves the sound even further.
However, the dynamic driver could be more dynamic and faster.
While you might still find some enjoyment when listening to metal, even some cheaper earbuds manage to produce a tighter, more distinct kick than the NeoBuds Pro.
Midrange: Balanced and natural after EQ
Default tuning already performs well, but some instruments (especially electric guitars) are missing some of their bite or are slightly out of tune.
As seen from the frequency graph above, there’s a big hole around 3kHz, which you can boost using the custom EQ.
That helps make the instruments and vocals more clear and natural in tone.
If I have to nitpick, male vocalists sound better than female ones since they aren’t as affected by the shimmery treble.
Treble: Shimmery, harsh, and lacking resolution
Unfortunately, high frequencies are the worst part of the Edifier NeoBuds Pro.
While the lower part of the high spectrum is tuned well (with only some minor adjustments needed in the EQ), the higher one leaves much to be desired.
It adds unnecessary shimmer to everything, causing minor sibilance in vocals, with cymbals producing harsh, poorly textured sizzle.
Furthermore, there’s little resolution in the highs, so don’t expect a very detailed performance.
Playing around with custom EQ helps a little, but the inability to tweak anything above 10kHz means that the sizzled treble is there to stay.
One thing worth noting is a slightly difference in frequency response when enabling ambient sound mode to other modes. On the other hand, the sound doesn’t change when toggling between ANC off or on.
The soundstage is decent in size but less engaging than on Jabra Elite 7 Pro or Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro.
Furthermore, the imaging is accurate, with good instrument separation. Although, again, not as engaging due to the lack of detail that would make you focus more on the sounds around you.
In conclusion, Edifier NeoBuds Pro have an unfortunate treble shimmer issue that makes the sound unnecessarily bright.
Hopefully, the Edifier team can address this in their upcoming headphone releases. Especially since their cheaper Edifier W240TN sound more enjoyable.
Comfort & Fit
Edifier NeoBuds Pro are lightweight and sit comfortably in your ears. But use them only for casual listening or light workouts as they might fall out during fast head movements.
You have nothing to worry about in terms of comfort. They adopt a similar shape to the Apple AirPods Pro.
To achieve an optimal fit, earbuds come with a total of 7 pairs of silicone ear tips (XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL).
Bean-shaped upper housing sits comfortably in your pinna without pressuring against your ears (like some massive earbuds tend to do, like JBL Reflect Mini NC).
The elongated stem part doesn’t touch your ear, so you don’t even notice it’s there. Apart from housing the mic at the end of it (more on that later), it’s also touch-sensitive.
Touch gestures require a gentle touch to register, so you never feel like you’re pushing the earbuds deeper into the ear canal.
Furthermore, the NeoBuds Pro provide a reasonably stable fit but only for casual listening situations.
Earbuds stay in place during home listening and some outdoor walking. On the other hand, they might start losing their grip if you run or perform intense exercises.
Durability
Edifier NeoBuds Pro have a good build quality made of mostly plastic and a metal plate on top of the charging case. Also, earbuds can survive sweating but not full water submersion.
The overall build quality of Edifier NeoBuds Pro matches their asking price of $130. It isn’t quite premium yet, despite the charging case having some metal parts.
But let’s first talk about earbuds. They’re all plastic, with matte black (or white) housing and silver plate covering the stem.
Despite appearing almost like the case’s exterior, the stem’s plate isn’t made of metal.
Earbuds are glued together from 3 different parts that shouldn’t break open with regular use. Those seams and the mesh covering the drivers and microphones can also withstand some liquids.
Mostly sweat and light rain, to be exact, since the NeoBuds Pro offer an IP54 rating. That means you shouldn’t worry about internal damage if caught in the rain. However, don’t shower with these.
Also, they’re rated 5 out of 6 for dust resistance. That means that anything but the finest dust won’t find its way into the housing.
Moving to the charging case, it’s slightly larger than usual but still pocketable.
Edifier provides a little pouch to store it inside to avoid getting scratched. However, it doesn’t protect against drops.
Apart from the brushed aluminum accent plate on the lid, the rest of the case is made of plastic.
It’s decently sturdy, but the lid feels and sounds rather thin. And with a plastic hinge, you should take extra care to open and close the lid more gently.
Battery
Edifier NeoBuds Pro have a mediocre battery life of just above 4.5 hours on a single charge and another 15 hours inside the case (with ANC). While they support fast charging, you can’t charge them wirelessly.
Edifier NeoBuds Pro Battery Comparison
The flagship Edifier NeoBuds Pro don’t have exactly groundbreaking battery life. If you leave the active noise cancellation off, you should expect around 6 hours of music playback.
On the other hand, when testing them with ANC enabled at 50% volume, I got:
- 4 hours and 37 minutes on a single charge
That’s slightly less than the 5 hours advertised and comparable to cheaper earbuds like EarFun Free Pro 2.
If you plan to take occasional music listening breaks by putting earbuds back in the case, 4.5 hours should be more than enough.
However, if you plan to take a long outdoor walk without the case, you might end up with dead earbuds, which can be a bit frustrating.
The charging case holds an extra 15 hours (when using ANC) or 18 hours (without using ANC) and have fast charging support via USB-C:
- In a 10-minute charge, you get an hour’s worth of juice
On the flip side, the case lacks Qi wireless charging.
Features
Edifier NeoBuds Pro come with the Edifier Connect app, which lets you access numerous features and customizations. Plus, you get a reliable mic performance in all environments.
Like most true wireless earbuds, most features are stacked inside their companion apps.
By themselves, earbuds can use touch controls, toggle between ANC and ambient sound mode, and lets you enable Game Mode.
The Edifier Connect app offers firmware updating, extra ANC mode, and the ability to adjust the ambient mode intensity. More on that under the noise cancelling category.
Custom EQ
The app offers you 4 frequency bands where you can select the exact frequency and how wide of an area you want to tweak.
However, the spectrum is limited to 20-10.000Hz, meaning you can’t adjust the high-treble response. Which is unfortunate since some of the sound issues lay there.
Control customization
You can customize what a double and triple tap gesture will do. You can assign different commands for each earbud.
I don’t know why Edifier decided to turn off the one-tap gesture.
Microphone Quality
Edifier NeoBuds Pro get close to the best TWS earbuds on the market regarding call quality.
Edifier NeoBuds Pro Microphone Test
While your voice could use more clarity, it’s completely free of distortion and fully understandable.
Even in a noisy environment, mics maintain your voice as distortion-free as possible, which is something not many earbuds can do.
Noise Isolation
Edifier NeoBuds Pro have an average passive noise isolation strength, with most ambient sounds slightly dampened. You can fully mask the noise by playing music.
Earbuds have a relatively gentle seal, so they aren’t the best for passively isolating outside noise. Sounds like traffic are slightly dampened, so you can still hear much of what’s happening around you.
You can completely mask the external sounds from your daily commute by playing music at moderate volumes.
Noise Cancelling
Edifier NeoBuds Pro have an excellent active noise cancellation performance, surpassing even the best offers on the market in many areas. However, ambient sound mode produces a loud hiss.
Edifier NeoBuds Pro Active Noise Cancelling Test
If the cheaper Edifier W240TN impressed me with their ANC performance, the NeoBuds Pro go slightly further.
After testing them with cabin noise, earbuds completely erase the low-frequency hum. Even Sony WF-1000XM4, more expensive earbuds, pass through a tiny amount of rumble.
However, where Sony’s edge out is in the high frequencies. Listening to traffic noise, Edifiers sound slightly shimmery.
Nonetheless, these will serve you well if you commute or travel a lot.
Inside the app, you can select low or high noise cancellation. The “low” setting passes through slightly more background noise.
That could be useful when you want to block low-end hum but also hear important announcements when traveling.
How about ambient sound mode?
That is another area where the NeoBuds Pro edge Sony’s, capturing ambient noise more clearly and slightly louder.
Furthermore, you can hear some bass notes, too, which helps make human voices sound natural. The app also offers you to adjust the intensity of the surrounding noise.
However, they set the ambient noise amplification dial to 11/10.
The noise floor is quite audible, and in a quiet room, you can hear squeaky noises as if you’re searching for a radio station on an old receiver.
Nonetheless, you can only hear that when someplace quiet. When using the feature outdoors, it shouldn’t bother you.
Bluetooth
Edifier NeoBuds Pro have a mediocre indoor connection but offer high-quality codecs and no visible lag when enjoying video or gaming content.
When earbuds and your transmitting device are close, you shouldn’t experience any connection issues or drop-offs.
That said, the connection range is mediocre compared to all the other TWS earbuds I’ve tested.
Using an older Bluetooth 5.0 shouldn’t be a problem. It’s more likely that the antennas aren’t very strong.
- In my indoor test, earbuds started stuttering after trying to pass the second brick wall at around 35 feet (or 10.6 meters) in range.
That is one of the lowest scores from these types of testing. However, this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker if you don’t plan to walk around the house without a phone.
Also, while Edifier NeoBuds Pro support mono mode, they lack multipoint support for connecting them to 2 devices simultaneously.
How to pair Edifier NeoBuds Pro?
- Earbuds start pairing as soon as you pull them out of the charging case.
- To pair them to another device, you open the case with earbuds inside and hold the button case’s button for 3 seconds. You have initiated a pairing process when the LED in front of the case starts flashing.
What Bluetooth Codecs Do They Use?
Edifier NeoBuds Pro support standard SBC and high-quality LDAC and LHDC Bluetooth codecs.
To enable LDAC, you must first allow it inside the Bluetooth menu and later select it inside the app. Here’s how you do it:
On the other hand, while LDAC is available on all Android phones, you can only find LHDC on mostly Chinese smartphone brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Redmi.
Is There Any Audio Lag?
There’s no audio lag, regardless of the content you’re consuming.
Enabling Game mode further minimizes the latency down to 80 milliseconds, making sure you’re never too late to hear the opponent coming around the corner.
Should You Get Edifier NeoBuds Pro?
While I consider Edifier W240TN as one of the best true wireless earbuds under $100, I have a hard time praising the NeoBuds Pro.
If you seek excellent active noise cancelling performance that can rival the best, with equally good transparency mode, these earbuds might be a good pick.
On the flip side, if you expect high-quality and high-Res sound, you should look elsewhere. While you can make their sound relatively balanced, the treble shimmer is simply too dominant.
How do Edifier NeoBuds Pro compare to the competition?
- NeoBuds Pro offer a much more effective active noise cancellation than the competition.
- They offer LDAC and LHDC audio codecs, whereas most competitors only have SBC and AAC.
- Earbuds achieve very low audio latency thanks to Gaming mode, which isn’t available on all earbuds.
- They’re equally as comfy and stable as most of their competitors.
- Their sound is decent, but some competitors offer better dynamics and more controlled performance.
- NeoBuds Pro have a worse listening time than most of their ANC alternatives.
Edifier NeoBuds Pro Alternatives
Edifier W240TN
While there’s a $50 difference, the cheaper W240TN offers similarly performing features with a more enjoyable sound signature.
Likewise, you get the low-latency Game mode and a slightly stronger indoor connection of 40 feet. They’re built more robustly and have a marginally higher IP55 rating.
Moreover, the battery life is longer at 6+ hours per charge. However, they only support the SBC Bluetooth codec.
Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro
While initially costing $170, they regularly sell for around $130, which makes them a suitable alternative.
They have a more luxurious design, Qi wireless charging support, a more reliable Bluetooth range, and slightly longer battery life.
Also, they have a cleaner, bigger sound with a similar dynamic/BA combo. However, their active noise cancellation isn’t as good as the NeoBuds Pro.
1MORE ComfoBuds Mini
ComfoBuds Mini are slightly more balanced-sounding earbuds with not as harsh audio quality. They’re small and non-protruding, making them comfy and stable.
Furthermore, they have a slightly longer battery life and better Bluetooth 5.2 connection range.
On the other hand, their ANC and ambient sound mode fall far behind the NeoBuds Pro.
What’s in the Box?
- Edifier NeoBuds Pro true wireless earbuds
- Charging case
- 7 pairs of silicone ear tips (XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL)
- USB-A to USB-C charging cable
- Carrying pouch
- User guide
Specifications
| Type: | True wireless |
| Connection: | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Back design: | Closed-back |
| Drivers: | Dynamic & balanced armature (Knowles) |
| Frequency range: | 20-40.000Hz |
| Impedance: | 24 Ohm |
| Weight: | 0.19 ounces (5.3 grams) per bud |
| Mic & Controls: | Yes |
| Water resistance: | IP54 |
| Battery life: | 5h + 15h in case |
| Charging time: | Quick charge – USB-C |
| Active noise cancelling: | Yes, hybrid |
| Bluetooth codecs: | SBC, AAC, LDAC, LDHC |
| Wireless range: | 35 feet (10.6 meters) |
| Microphone: | 6 noise reduction mics |
From a childhood fascination with sound, Peter’s passion has evolved into a relentless pursuit of the finest headphones. He’s an audio expert with over 5 years of experience in testing both audiophile and consumer-grade headphones. Quote: “After many years, I can confidently tell which headphones are good and which are terrible.” Find his honest opinion in his reviews.
