The SoundPeats Engine4 brings LDAC support to the table, but is the codec even worth it when the earbuds are missing any kind of noise cancellation? The Engine4 actually delivers a few “premium” features, but from a performance standpoint, I mostly found myself steeped in a melting pot of “meh.”
SoundPeats Engine4
The SoundPEATS Engine4 might offer decent enough sound quality, but the lack of features means they lack behind earbuds in the same price range.
- Brand
- SoundPEATS
- Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Dimensions (earbuds)
- 1 x 0.75 x 0.75in (25.4 x 19.05 x 19.05mm)
- Earbuds battery life
- Up to 12.5 hours/single charge
- Charging case battery life
- Up to 43 hours/single charge
- Dimensions (charging case)
- 2.5 x 1.75 x 1in (63.5 x 44.45 x 25.4mm)
Pros
- Defiant mid-range and tight bass
- Awesome battery life
- LDAC support
- Bluetooth multipoint works well
Cons
- No noise cancelling
- No quick-charging
- Finicky touch controls
- Poor call quality
Design, Fit, and Comfort: Some Good and Some Bad
SoundPeats may not have the globe-spanning acclaim of brands like Apple or Sony, but from a cosmetic point of view, the Engine4 does its best to capture the look and feel of a flagship set of wireless buds. Let’s look a bit closer, shall we?
From an engineering standpoint, SoundPeats ditches a closed-driver architecture in favor of a vented system. This leaves the main driver assembly open to a bit of air circulation, which helps to let in ambient sound while you’re listening to music or taking a phone call. Normally such a design choice would draw more attention because open or closed architecture not only affects sound quality, but noise cancellation, too. But seeing as the Engine4 has no active noise canceling, we won’t worry about that.
Starting from the back of the bud, the rear section is wrapped in a textured plastic casing, which gives way to a glossy touch-point that’s just the right size for a fingertip. The plastic gives way to a gray section that houses the magnetic contact points for the charging case, and this quadrant dips into the bud’s driver-diaphragm.
The Engine4 comes packaged with a glossy USB-C charging case that matches the black half of the buds. A USB-C to USB-A cable can be found in the box, too, along with user manuals and an extra set of silicone ear tips.
Touch commands are pretty straightforward, if not a little unique: A single tap to the left bud lowers the volume, while the right one raises it; two taps to either bud will play/pause media and answer calls; three taps to the left bud will put the Engine4 into Game Mode, while three taps to the right will call up your phone, tablet, or laptop’s voice assistant. Rounding things out is the long-press command, which goes back one track on the left bud and skips to the next track with the right.
As far as fit goes, the Engine4 felt good in my ears, although not quite as cozy as my AirPods Pro 2. Jostling my head around was enough to dislodge the buds slightly, and with no official IP rating, I don’t think I’d chance these at the gym or in the rain.
One thing I can say for sure, though, is to be prepared to do battle with the touch-points on occasion. With volume commands mapped as single taps, I can’t tell you how many times I went to adjust one of the buds for comfort only to accidentally raise or lower the volume. There were also a number of times where I would continuously tap the sensors, only for nothing to happen or the wrong action to occur altogether. It seems you have to be quick and precise with your tapping, which I nailed most of the time, but when I wasn’t fast enough, the Engine4 made sure I knew I failed at the basics.
Connectivity and Bluetooth Multipoint: For Once, Multipoint Works!
The SoundPeats Engine4 can be paired to phones, tablets, and computers, and thanks to Bluetooth multipoint (more on that in a minute), you can have the earbuds connected to two different devices simultaneously.
I found the pairing process to be relatively straightforward. There’s a small pairing button on the bottom of the charging case. With the top of the case opened and the earbuds placed inside, press and hold the button to put the buds into pairing mode, then head into the Bluetooth settings of your host device to connect them.
Call me a curmudgeon, but I was 75% sure that Bluetooth multipoint wouldn’t work, but I was proven wrong. I had the Engine4 connected to my iPhone and MacBook Pro at the same time, and cross-functionality worked pretty well. If I was listening to audio on my phone, I would have to pause it and then start playing whatever media I wanted to hear on my computer (and vice versa), and it worked without a hitch every time. I can’t say for sure if multipoint will be this seamless from one user to the next, but it was reassuring to see it perform flawlessly on my end.
Sound Quality: Better Than Expected
I am so very spoiled by my AirPods Pro 2, and a major devotee to any audio product that includes active noise cancellation. Going into my review of the Engine4, I was admittedly apprehensive about what it would sound like to hear some of my favorite tracks playing through ANC-free earbuds.
Post-testing, I’ve run the Engine4 through several different music genres and a podcast or two, and I must say I’m thoroughly impressed. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been too upset if the sound quality wasn’t very good, considering the lower price. But it’s nice to be wowed once in a while, and that’s exactly what the Engine4 did.
On the tech end, each bud rocks a 10mm woofer and a 6mm tweeter, a design that SoundPeats says should provide “deep bass, clear treble, and crisp mids.” And based on my listening experience, I can get behind the SoundPeats promise. The Engine4 deliver a punchy and well-balanced sound that particularly shines when listening to pop and rock tracks. In terms of the former, the vocalist is oftentimes the main draw of the artist, and the Engine4 does a great job at spotlighting singers and orators. While I wouldn’t exactly say the sound staging is next-level, if you close your eyes, the buds do make you feel like the singer is front and center.
Guitars, keyboards, and synths get plenty of attention, too. From heavy metal to shoegaze, the Engine4 delivers the goods, especially when it comes to the mids. If cheaper earbuds are going to fall flat, it’s easy to sacrifice those middle-child frequencies, but I never found that to be the case. And the bass is just great. Like, really great, and without any adjustments. SoundPeats uses “deep” to describe the bass, and while I can’t totally agree, I’d like to go with my own adjective: precise. From one form of music to the next, the low-end kicks hard, but never overwhelms.
That’s the thing with the Engine4: From an audio-only standpoint, the achieved sound staging is never completely engulfing, but the earbuds do a solid job at squeezing as much detail out of whatever mixes you’re tossing at it.
Call Quality: Not So Great
I think that overall call quality is probably the worst part of the Engine4. SoundPeats claims there’s “noise reduction” taking place throughout a conversation, but you could have fooled me. First off, I was not a fan of how much I could hear my own voice during the conversation. I wasn’t even being amplified by some kind of Transparency feature, but no matter how much I raised the actual call volume, I was never quieter than the person I was talking to.
My test caller said I sounded crisp and clear. On my end, though, the other person’s voice was buried by choppy compression, and certain environmental sounds (like birds chirping) would bleed through the mix. And unfortunately, there’s not much to be done about any of this, as the SoundPeats app (I cover this below) has nothing in the way of call settings.
Battery Life: Lots of Charge, But Nothing Quick
According to SoundPeats, the Engine4 should be able to last for 12.5 hours on a single charge, with an additional 43 hours of listening provided by a fully-charged case. While I can’t confirm if that 12.5 figure is entirely accurate, what I can attest to is how well the buds hang onto battery life. Other than popping them in and out of the case for a periodic re-juicing, neither the earbuds nor the case ever ran out of power in the week or so I was testing them.
That being said, there’s no quick charging, and that’s a big letdown considering the Engine4 comes with a USB-C cable. But when you’re missing battery-draining tech like active noise canceling, I guess it’s not as big a deal to not have quick charging.
When using an iPhone and MacBook, both devices will give you a readout of how much battery life is remaining between both buds, and you can check the battery level in the SoundPeats app. There’s also an LED indicator on the bottom of the case that tells you how much charge it’s hanging onto. Red means less than 10% battery remaining, yellow means 10% to 49%, and green is 50% up to a full charge.
Using the SoundPeats App: It’s Not Necessary
The SoundPeats app (available for iPhone/iPad and Android) is your main portal to firmware updates, a settings dashboard, and a few different customizations for the Engine4. If you don’t already own a SoundPeats product, you’ll want to tap “Register” to create a free account. Be aware that when SoundPeats sends you a confirmation email with a code you’re supposed to type into the app, the bulk of the message will be in a different language, but you can find the numeric code in the first text block.
When you launch the app, it will immediately start searching for a SoundPeats product, so make sure your Engine4 are out of the case or sitting in the clamshell with the top open. Once the buds are detected, they’ll automatically be added.
There’s not a ton of stuff going on in the SoundPeats app. The home screen will show you the battery level of each bud, but not the charging case. For settings and customizations, tap the Customized button in the bottom left-hand corner (the three vertical lines icon). Here you’ll be able to adjust the volume of the Engine4, mess around with audio presets and a custom equalizer, and toggle on and off a few features, including “Game Mode” and “Dual Device Connection” (Bluetooth multipoint).
If you plan on having the SoundPeats Engine4 paired to more than one Bluetooth device at a time, you’ll want to have “Dual Device Connection” enabled.
As far as audio presets go, “Bass Boost” was the only selection I thought made a nice difference for the tracks I tested. The setting rounded out the bass and punched it up a bit in the mix, which sounded awesome for rock and R&B tunes. There are eight other options to choose from (including the default “SoundPeats Classic”), but I didn’t think any of them sounded very good, with “Treble Enhancement” being the worst of the bunch. The preset strips the Engine4 of all bass, resulting in a flat and tinny mix. If you’re feeling fancy, you can give the “Custom Equalizer” a try, although I didn’t notice much change in my audio when moving around the various frequency adjusters.
I also ran the Engine4 through the “Adaptive EQ” test, which plays several different chirps and chimes across a wide frequency spectrum. Once you hear the sound, you tap a button that made me giggle (it says “I hear voices,” but there are no actual voices… just beeps and boops). The test was over in a couple of minutes, after which you’ll be shown a “scientific” breakdown of how your ears performed. Frankly, I thought the Engine4 sounded worse with the calibration. It pulled most of the bass out of the mix…and that was kind of it.
So yeah, the SoundPeats app. It’s okay, but you certainly don’t need it except for firmware updates.
Should You Buy the SoundPeats Engine4?
The SoundPeats Engine4 may be alright for some folks, but my general consensus is you’re better off saving your money for a better set of wireless buds and/or a different brand (at any price) altogether. While there’s definitely some stuff I liked about the Engine4 (such as successful Bluetooth multipoint and overall sound quality), it’s hard to make up for a lack of ANC, especially when promising LDAC listening to audiophiles. The call quality is totally lackluster, too, and there’s nothing in the app that helps to improve this.
SoundPeats Engine4
The SoundPEATS Engine4 might offer decent enough sound quality, but the lack of features means they lack behind earbuds in the same price range.
- Brand
- SoundPEATS
- Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Dimensions (earbuds)
- 1 x 0.75 x 0.75in (25.4 x 19.05 x 19.05mm)
- Earbuds battery life
- Up to 12.5 hours/single charge
- Charging case battery life
- Up to 43 hours/single charge
- Dimensions (charging case)
- 2.5 x 1.75 x 1in (63.5 x 44.45 x 25.4mm)