It isn’t always easy to find the right pair of earbuds for your ears since you can’t exactly go to a store and try a bunch on to know how they sound or feel (at least, in most cases you can’t). Then there are the many reasons why you’d be looking for earbuds and the many scenarios that some shine better than others. Thankfully, you have sources like this to help narrow things down a little and that is what we’ll do in regards to the new Status Between 3ANC Triple-Driver True Wireless Headphones.
These buds are targeted at those looking for a wide range of sound thanks to their triple-driver design. Each bud features two balanced armature drivers and one dynamic driver. Each takes on the task of a specific set of frequencies. This typically allows you to hear more in what you are listening to, and in this case, the Between 3ANC buds seem to be doing just that.
This also allows them to be paired well with high-res music sources, like FLAC files (and similar), or HD streaming sources like Tidal or Qobuz. This means that once again, we found ourselves spending a lot of time scrolling through some of our favorite tracks to pair with these (and we have quite the collection thanks to sources like HDtracks and other great outlets).
In addition to this, this model does offer a certain degree of ANC (active noise cancelation) and a decent amount of EQ configuration.
They also come with a very unique design. Which isn’t always easy to accomplish being that there are so many lookalikes out there. This allows them to stand out a little vs blend in, and in some cases, can be seen as a bit of a fashion statement (if you care about that kind of thing).
The design of these buds (outside of the stem) do absolutely nothing when it comes to how they fit, but when it comes to the stem, it means everything. There is no inserting them at an odd angle and twisting them all about. They simply slip right into your ear at a natural angle and hold right in place.
They come with three pairs of tips (one already installed on the buds) as well as three pairs of wings (one already installed on the buds). This not only helps them to maintain a tight fit but to also keep them from falling out (many other models suffer from not being able to stay in your ears).
From our use of the buds thus far, they have provided a solid fit, helping to trap in all of those frequencies. While also remaining in the ears even when working out. We haven’t found ourselves constantly playing with them to maintain a solid grip in our ears (and that is a great thing).
They don’t come with much water-resistance, so you won’t be taking them in the water, but they are good for the average sweat. Making them ok for situations like a visit to the gym, while not so much a jog in the rain. With that, they are just IPX-5 rated, giving them a basic layer of resistance.
Performance
I’ve already pointed out that their triple-driver design helps them go a long way when it comes to hearing everything in a track. We have thrown a lot of music at these and so far everything has sounded pretty good. I wouldn’t use the word audiophile, but they are meant for those looking for quality sound.
The highs are crisp, allowing for certain instruments to really shine. The lows are very noticable and help give some proper energy to tracks. The body (mids) are a little average but designed well enough to appreciate them. Without a doubt, this is one of the highest selling points of this model.
When it comes to ANC (active noise cancelation), there is a noticable effect that allows you to cancel out some of the audio around you. This is thanks to the 6 built-in microphones that listen to your environment and attempt to cancel it all out. It isn’t the best performance we have seen with ANC, but it still accomplishes enough to matter. That being said, there are still certain groups of frequencies that make their way into your ears without much resistance.
You have the option of downloading Status’ app on either Android or iOS devices. This allows you to dig a little deeper into the experience by giving you three profiles to pick from, as well as an EQ for manual adjustment. Allowing you to dial them in to your personal hearing preferences.
In addition to this, you can also control the ambient mode or ANC, switching between them or turning them both off and going all natural.
We didn’t find ourselves making much use of the app, since in the end, we wound up liking the default profile the best. It has a good EQ spread and offers a good soundstage compared to the other two options. While also not leaving much desire to manually adjust anything. Of course, this doesn’t meant we won’t find something to listen to where we’d prefer to adjust the range a little. But for the most part, the default profile does a great job.
It isn’t required to have the app on your phone and you can go without ever using it. This is because (like most modern buds), there are physical controls that allow you to control every feature. Including a physical button on each bud that allows you to bounce between ANC and ambient mode, check battery status, trigger the digital assistant of your phone, or manually turn them on or off.
The outer surface of the buds are also touch-sensitive for most of your basic controls. This includes play/pause, skipping tracks, adjusting the volume, or answering calls. This is done by simply tapping or holding the outside section of the buds.
Phone call audio for other party is just ok but nothing remarkable. The built-in mics are also there so you can talk to your digital assistant (as just mentioned) as well as talk on the phone. You can hear the other party pretty well, but your audio to them is just ok, as you can see in the following sample clip.
That being said, as long as the other party can hear you, it isn’t like you need a studio microphone to talk to them. It’s just that for this price, we’d expect a little better call quality both ways.
To wrap things up, like most wireless buds, these do come with a wireless charging case. The battery life of the buds will get you 8-12 hours depending on if ANC is enabled or not. While the case keeps them charged while not using them, giving you many additional hours of usage before having to charging everything back up. Meaning these could last you days before having to worry about that.
The case charges everything at once using a standard USB-C cable and also offers built-in wireless charging. So if you have a wireless charger, you can simply place the case on there with the buds inside and everything will charge without having to connect anything.
Our Conclusion
At this price point, they are clearly trying to compete with models like the Apple AirPod Pro. I can’t say for sure they are accomplishing this. The frequency range (5Hz – 25kHz) is pretty good with this model and it offers a lot of modern specs, such as wireless charging. But, call quality could be better (mic-wise), as well as ANC. There is also the obvious lack of spatial sound, but usually when you have this feature, you take a hit on range. So we don’t usually score too hard on this unless the headphones were designed specifically for spatial performance.
Design, weight, comfort, and range, are the top selling points of this model. We feel the price is a little high for everything else, which does take from the score a little. It is a competitive market with a lot of options to choose from and a lot of heavy hitters at the same price or less.
They literally just released this month and appear to still be making their way to retailers. So they aren’t available at store options like Amazon just yet. Although they are bound to get there as the companies other products are already there. Status is a smaller company with only a few other products (for now), but we look forward to future releases from this company as they have a lot of potential.
Additional Images:
Specifications:
- Driver Design:
- 1x 10MM Dynamic
- 2x Balanced Armature
- Frequency Range: 5Hz – 25kHz
- Bluetooth: 5.2
- ANC: Yes
- Microphones: x6 (for calls and ANC)
- Water-resistance: IPX-5
- Charging/Travel Case: Yes
- Charging:
- USB-C cable
- Wireless (NFC)
- Battery Life:
- Up to 8 hours with ANC enabled
- Up to 12 hours with ANC disabled
Co-Authors: Jeffrey B.
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