Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: open-ear workout buds with long battery life
Soundcore isn’t a trendsetter brand, but its running earbuds and noise-cancelling headphones are popular, thanks to the company's approach of undercutting the competition in price while offering just as many (if not more) features as those.
The Soundcore Aerofit Pro is the company’s first open-ear buds that join the ranks of many similar buds already available on the market. The competition is strong and includes excellent models such as the Cleer Arc II Sport and the Shokz OpenFit.
Interestingly, the Aerofit Pro is a slight departure from Soundcore's business model due to the higher-than-usual asking price of the open-ear buds. As such, we must compare it more closely with the aforementioned competitors to see if it's worth the price. Does it? Let's find out!
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: price and availbility
The Soundcore AeroFit Pro (￡150/ $170/ approx. AU$ 258) in Dynamic Black and White is available to buy now at Amazon, Soundcore UK and Soundcore US. AU price and availability TBC.
Additional colourways, including the Aqua Blue and Electric Purple, will be available for pre-sale in January 2024. The Aerofit (￡99.99/ $129.99) will be available for pre-sale starting February 2024.
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: specifications
Driver unit: 16.2mm dynamic driver
Maximum volume: 89dB
Connectivity: Bluetooth v5.3, Bluetooth multipoint
Battery life: up to 14 hours
Quick charge: yes, 10min charge = 5.5 hours of power
Chargin case: can recharge both earbuds over three times
Wear detection: n/a
Water rating: IPX5 (charging case isn't waterproof)
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: design and build quality
The Soundcore Aerofit Pro are open-ear headphones, meaning they don't slot into the ear canal like 'traditional' in-ear buds. Instead, you hook them around the ear to allow ambient noise (e.g. traffic sound) to enter your ears. This is an excellent feature for urban runners and other athletes who need to know what's happening around them.
The buds' arms have a comfortable silicone cover and nicely slot around the ear. The earbuds' body is made of plastic, which helps keep the weight to a minimum. The faceplate has a lovely design that's not easy to see; you must rotate the Aerofit Pro in the light to catch this effect.
Soundcore made the design modular, which is an interesting touch. The buds themselves are similar to Shokz's Openfit, but Soundcore also added the possibility of attaching them to a semi-rigid neckband, turning them into what looks like bone-conduction headphones. The Aerofit Pro is admittedly heavier in this mode.
The buds have one push button at the top, with which you can perform the usual commands, such as turning the Aerofit Pro on and off, increasing volume, etc. I found the tiny button hard to locate when I ran, and I had to keep pressing it until the Aerofit Pro understood what I wanted it to do.
Interestingly, the AeroFit Pro offers a lower ingress protection rating (IPX5), while the AeroFit offers an IPX7 water and sweat resistance rating with Soundcore's proprietary SweatGuard technology.
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: features and battery life
The Soundcore Aerofit Pro have oversized 16.2 mm titanium-coated dome drivers (14mm in the non-Pro Aerofit), which is understandable for buds that sit outside your ears. You need larger, more powerful drivers to deliver the sound further with open-ears, unlike in-ears, which sit closer to the eardrums and have better passive noise cancellation.
Android users can take advantage of LDAC decoding for a 'rich and detailed' audio experience, something I couldn't test, as I'm currently using an iPhone. What I could test was the 360 Spatial Audio, which is supposed to follow your head's movement keeping you at the centre of entertainment.
This is a tricky sensation to achieve for open-ear headphones. The experience can only be so immersive due to the lack of passive noise cancellation, which is the case here. Even though the Soundcore Aerofit Pro has a relatively high sound output, it does let in some sound, which spoils the Spatial Audio effect.
The Soundcore AeroFit Pro offers 14 hours of playtime on the buds and 46 hours of total playtime with the charging case. This is impressive, even though you must listen to audio at 50% volume maximum for the buds to last that long. However, you get 10 hours even if blast the buds at full volume – commendable!
Plus, a 10-minute charge adds up to 5.5 hours for the AeroFit Pro.
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: performance
I was happy with the fit and sound output of the Soundcore Aerofit Pro. I used it for my seafront runs, and the noise cancellation was surprisingly strong, mainly due to the size of the buds. As a matter of fact, I found them almost too good for filtering out noise, which might sound like praise, but it isn't.
Open-ear headphones should let in sound so you are more aware of your surroundings. If they block directional sound, you end up not hearing the traffic around nor the audio being played in the buds. It's a bit of a stuck-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place situation.
Even more strangely, especially for Soundcore headphones, the Aerofit Pro feels somewhat lacklustre in the bass department. Souncore's audio products are famous for their bassy sound; not sure what happened there.
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: sustainability
There is no evidence that the Soundcore Aerofit Pro is sustainably made. The brand's sustainability page only mentions packaging, not plastics or other components used to create the headphones. It would be nice to see more effort on this front, especially considering the lifecycle of tech products.
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: verdict
The Soundcore Aerefit Pro are decent open-ear headphones. They don't sound amazing (although they aren't bad, either), and they aren't the best when it comes to allowing you to hear what's happening around you.
None of this would be a huge issue if the Aerofit Pro were cheaper than the competition, but it isn't. Other headphones, like Cleer Audio's Arc II Sport, sound better, while others – notably, the Shokz Openfit – are more comfortable to wear.
Where does this leave the Soundcore Aerofit Pro? Well, not in the best position. However, I'm pretty sure we'll see decent discounts on the buds soon enough, and once the price drops, Soundcore's first open-ear buds might be worth considering.
Soundcore Aerofit Pro review: also consider
You'll find plenty of sporty noise-cancelling headphones on the market today, including two excellent alternatives I mentioned throughout this Soundcore Aerofit Pro review (Steer Arc II Sport and Shokz OpenFit). Other than those, there are two other headphones I'd recommend.
Jabra went out of its way to create the Elite 8 Active, one of the best workout-ready TWS earbuds today. These ultra-rugged yet compact buds sound pretty good, thanks to Dolby Audio, and have adaptive ANC and wind-neutralising HearThrough. And since it was launched a few months ago, you can get them for a similar price the Aerofit Pro sells for. Read my full Jabra Elite 8 Active review.
The Beats Studio Buds Plus are amazingly versatile wireless earbuds with beautifully rounded sound, elevated ANC performance, added Transparency mode, a new chip/acoustic platform, longer battery life and a premium build. Beats improved all areas that needed tweaking and left the rest unchanged. A brilliant piece of engineering overall. Read my full Beats Studio Buds Plus review.