Stem, hard plastic shell, and no rubber tip. The shape is straight-up AirPods, and that is the intention. The difference lies in the price tag. Here, you get a 13 mm driver with a triple magnet, Bluetooth 6.0, LDAC, nine hours of playtime, and IPX5, for under 400 kronor.
The question, of course, is what you are forced to give up to reach that price point. Let’s find out!
Soundpeats Air6 or Air6 HS?
Soundpeats sells two products with almost exactly the same name. Air6 and Air6 HS are not the same earbuds. Air6 is a sealing model with active noise cancellation, six microphones, and IP54. Air6 HS, which we are testing now, is the version without tips, and it lacks noise cancellation entirely, has two microphones per earbud, and IPX5.
Design and Fit
A shell in glossy ABS plastic, 4 grams per earbud, and a matte case in roughly the same format as the AirPods case. Nothing feels particularly premium, but nothing creaks or has any play either. The lid snaps shut properly, a small LED on the front shows battery status in green, yellow, or red, and USB-C is located at the bottom. A USB-C cable is included in the box. Nothing else, and nothing else is needed, as there are no tips to change sizes for.
The fit, however, is better than I expected. For the type of earbud they are, they sit very well. The earbud rests in the concha instead of being pressed into the ear canal, and despite being hard and completely without a soft contact surface, they can be worn for hours without irritation. The stem also provides something to hold onto when removing them.
IPX5 means they can handle sweat and light rain.
What “semi-in-ear” actually means
Soundpeats calls the format semi-in-ear. Simply put, it means the earbud rests in the ear without a tip sealing against the ear canal.
A standard in-ear has a silicone tip that seals against the ear canal. This seal does three things: it shuts out the surroundings, keeps the sound inside the ear, and gives the driver a closed volume to push against, which is the prerequisite for getting real bass out of a small driver unit. It is also the seal that makes active noise cancellation meaningful.
If you want even more air in your ear, Soundpeats makes a pair of clip-on earbuds themselves, UU2, which clip onto the ear and leave the ear canal completely free. They cost a bit more and are more comfortable, but Air6 HS sits closer to the ear canal and therefore provides more pressure in the sound.
Sound
The bass is there, and that is the first thing that surprises. Earbuds without tips usually sound thin and flat, but these do not. There is body in the kick drum; electronic and hip-hop get the weight they need, and the upper bass provides warmth to guitars and voices as well. For this design, it is clearly above expectations.
However, the details in the bass are not what they could be. It is more full than tight, and when several instruments work in the lower register simultaneously, they get smeared together. A good sealing earbud in the same price range provides a faster and more defined bass.
The midrange and treble are the real weaknesses. It sounds muffled, almost as if the sound is being played through something covering it. Voices and instruments are there, but the final details do not come through. Complex soundscapes become muddy, and you lose separation.
There is no lack of volume. They play very loud, significantly louder than most people need. The catch is that the sound quality doesn’t hold up all the way. Somewhere around 70 to 80 percent of the maximum volume, it starts to fall apart; it becomes harsh and muddy, and the bass loses its shape. In practice, this matters less, because even at that level, it’s louder than I want to listen to for any length of time.
That being said: comparing these to expensive earbuds would be unfair. They are a pair of unsealed budget earbuds for around 400 kronor. Compared to what else is available in that price range, and compared to what this form factor usually delivers, the Air6 HS sounds perfectly fine. They aren’t earbuds you put on for serious listening, but for podcasts, audiobooks, the workday, and background music, they do exactly what they’re supposed to.
App, EQ, and Features
The app features a manual eight-band equalizer, a bunch of preset profiles, a hearing test that builds a customized profile, spatial audio options in Music and Movie modes, gaming mode, multipoint on or off, LDAC on or off, custom gestures for each ear, and a function to play an audio signal in the earbuds if you’ve lost them. Firmware updates are also handled from here.
Then there is Dynamic EQ, and it requires an explanation. If you turn it on, the sound becomes fuller and the bass deeper, and it is in this mode that the earbuds sound best. The catch is that the manual equalizer simultaneously locks completely. You either get the best baseline sound without the ability to adjust anything, or you get eight bands to play with and a thinner baseline sound.
Spatial audio is available in two modes, and we left both turned off. The bass drops noticeably, and the sound becomes harsher. It also requires LDAC to be turned off.
The touch surface covers the entire body of the earbud and works well. A single tap adjusts the volume, a double tap plays and pauses, and holding down changes tracks; everything can be remapped in the app.
Connection is via Bluetooth 6.0, with the codecs being SBC, AAC, and LDAC. AptX is completely missing.
And as usual with cheaper earbuds, LDAC and multipoint cannot be run simultaneously. If you turn on multipoint, LDAC disappears. And as mentioned, spatial audio also requires LDAC to be turned off.
Calls
Two microphones per earbud, so four in total, with noise filtering that Soundpeats calls AI ENC. In quieter environments, the voice is OK, but it sounds a bit processed and thin. Outdoors, traffic and light wind are filtered out reasonably well, until it starts blowing properly, at which point you are heard very poorly.
It’s sufficient for video meetings and for answering the phone while on the go. If you need to be in an important call in the middle of the city, there are better alternatives, but then you’re also in a completely different price range.
Battery and Charging
Soundpeats promises nine hours in the earbuds and 45 hours in total with the case. In our test, using AAC and the volume at approximately 50-60%, we landed at just over eight hours.
And as usual, if you turn on LDAC, you lose a lot of battery life; with LDAC on, we ended up with about 5-6 hours instead.
Ten minutes in the case provides around three hours of playback, and a full charge of the earbuds takes about 45 minutes. Wireless charging is missing; it’s USB-C all the way.
Conclusion
Soundpeats Air6 HS are a pair of semi-in-ear earbuds for those who want the AirPods shape without the AirPods price, and who still want them to sound decent. In that regard, they succeed.
What is good is genuinely good. They sit unexpectedly stable and comfortable for being hard and unsealed, and can be worn in the ears for the entire workday. The bass is truly there, which is far from a given with this design. The battery life with AAC is excellent and aligns well with what is promised. LDAC and Bluetooth 6.0 in this price range are a bonus few competitors offer.
What pulls them down is the upper half of the sound. The midrange and treble sound muffled, and the details that distinguish a good pair of earbuds from an acceptable pair are missing. The bass is present but not particularly defined. If you turn on LDAC, you pay for it with a significant portion of the battery life.
Then there is the price. If you buy directly from Soundpeats, they cost 380 kronor; from Amazon slightly more. At 400 kronor, it’s unfair to compare the Air6 HS to earbuds that cost five times as much, and if you want better sound in the budget class, you should look at a sealing pair such as EarFun Air Pro 4 instead, with noise cancellation included.
Soundpeats sent review units for this test. Senders of material have no editorial influence on our tests; we always write independently with you, the readers and consumers, in focus.
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