Honor Earbuds Open might have just sold me on open-ear design
I consider myself a bit of an audiophile, though not quite to the degree that makes me annoying at parties. I appreciate good sounding music and normally gravitate toward in-ear earbud designs for daily use. Having spent a little time with Honor's Earbuds Open at MWC 2025, I find myself mystified at how it gets so much of the sound right with its open-ear design.
I've spent a good deal of time listening to music and podcasts with Nothing's Ear (open) and though they certainly do the trick when I want to take my dogs for a walk, I rarely find myself impressed by the sound quality. Because the speaker is resting outside the ear canal, they lack the kind of bass precision that I find so easy to come by with in-ear solutions like the OnePlus Buds Pro 3. But not everyone likes having an earbud shoved into the ear canal. Others dislike the isolated nature of sealing the ears off from the outside world with close-ear designs.
Open-ear designs like the Honor Earbuds Open address both of these common complaints, and I'm a bit surprised at how much I dig the sound.
The Honor Earbuds Open strike a balance between sleek aesthetics and practicality. The charging case is slender and pocketable, though slightly larger than what you'd expect from something like the OnePlus Buds Pro 3. It feels solid in hand and features a satisfying magnetic snap when closed—a small but appreciated detail that adds to the overall premium feel. The earbuds themselves showcase a large, reflective touch surface that not only looks modern but also serves as a functional interface for controls.
In terms of color options, the Polar Black variant leans toward subtle minimalism. It's understated to the point of being pretty nondescript, which might appeal to those who prefer their tech to blend in rather than stand out. On the other hand, the Polar Gold version offers more visual contrast, with silver accents on the pogo pins, speaker grille, and touchpad adding a touch of style and flair. I found myself gravitating toward the black model for its clean simplicity, but there's no denying the gold version has a bit more personality.
Honor has made some thoughtful material choices with these earbuds. The housing is predominantly plastic but doesn't feel cheap. Rather, they give off an air of durability in a lightweight solution that prioritizes comfort. The ear hooks are crafted from skin-friendly silicone and feature a noticeably thinner profile compared to the Nothing Ear (open). After wearing these buds for an hour, I was impressed by how easily the materials allowed them to fade into the background.
Honor has incorporated a nitinol memory alloy into the ear hooks as well, which the company says enhances stability during movement. I did my fair share of jumping and bobbing in an effort to get these to slide off my ears to no avail, making them a solid choice for exercise scenarios. It might seem like such a secure fit would become uncomfortable, but I found the earbuds never felt rigid or tight. The weight distribution provided by the weighted tip that rests behind the ear provides just the right amount of counterbalance, making them feel natural and unobtrusive. It also helps that each earbud weighs just 7.9 grams so you hardly know they're there.
The open-ear design also means there's no added pressure on the ear canal, which is a very common complaint with traditional in-ear models. Compared to the Nothing Ear Open, which has a more angular design, these earbuds also feel smoother and more refined against the skin.
At first blush, I was quite impressed by the sonic quality of the Honor Earbuds Open. After a bit of time sampling different styles of music, I've come to realize that they are a bit overhyped in the low-end and low-mid frequency range. This results in a sometimes muddy bass response that had me want to turn down the EQ a bit in the low end department.
Testing them with Lee Burridge's tech house set from Burning Man 2024, I noticed that while the high-end frequencies were crisp and the midrange offered solid definition, the low end felt a bit overhyped. Even turning down the volume resulted in a similar low end smearing that was difficult to ignore once I noticed it.
Switching gears to more melodic tracks, Let It Be by The Beatles and Tame Impala's The Less I Know the Better revealed similar characteristics. The earbuds excelled in delivering clarity and they are unquestionably louder than the Nothing Ear Open, but the bass remained a focal point, almost to a fault.
While this boosted low end might appeal to listeners who crave a bass-heavy signature, I found myself wishing for more balance across the spectrum. That said, I'm impressed by how much low end is possible with the open-ear design from Honor, and the sheer loudness these earbuds bring address one big complaint of mine with open-ear designs.
The Honor Earbuds Open also offer Active Noise Cancellation, which is an odd feature for open ear designs as they make blocking external sound next to impossible due to their open nature. A long tap and hold on the left bud activates the ANC mode, and while the effect is noticeable, I had to concentrate to pick up on how much noise was being removed. I do not imagine these being good enough for airplane wear based on my short time testing them with loud white noise.
Honor's Earbuds Open also offer more features if you happen to have an Honor phone to pair with them, like the Honor Magic 7 Pro smartphone. AI Translation can be done with the buds, though I was unable to test this out.
The Earbuds Open support Bluetooth 5.2 and are IP54 rated, meaning dust and water ingress protection out of the box. The 58mAh battery on each earbud lasts up to 6 hours without ANC activated and the 480mAh charging case can deliver 22 hours in total.
I did not expect to be impressed by Honor's Earbuds Open, but here we are. I might actually replace my Nothing Ear (open) buds soon enough.
Disclosure: Honor covered Jason Howell's travel and accommodations for MWC 2025, but the company had no influence over the editorial content.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Apple Will Need to Leave Its M&A Comfort Zone to Succeed in AI
By Apple will need to make the biggest acquisition in its history to put an end to its artificial intelligence debacle. Also: Meta rolls out new Oakley smart glasses; Honor prepares a new ultrathin foldable phone; and Apple's annual back-to-school deal gets underway. Last week in Power On: Apple's upgrades to CarPlay, the iPad and Vision Pro outshine its new Liquid Glass interface.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
Android Circuit: Galaxy Z Fold7 Details, Honor Magic V5 Previewed, OnePlus Nord 5 Arrives
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Taking a look back at this week's news and headlines across the Android world, including Galaxy Z Fold7 specs, Pixel 10 Pro features leak, Galaxy S26 benchmarking, OnePlus Nord 5 released, Poco F7 debuts, Honor promises record-breaking Magic V5, and Google Photos' upgrade. Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Android in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Apple news here on Forbes. Galaxy Z Fold's Practical Upgrade Samsung has revealed details of the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold7 on three occasions in the last three weeks, and it may not be done yet. Nevertheless, new details on the specs are coming out alongside the official teasers. One of those regards the cover screen of the foldable and how practical the Fold 7 will be when closed: "This is good news and precisely what Fold users, myself included, have been calling for since rivals OnePlus and Google launched their wider-screened foldable phones. As exciting as that design shift will be, it was expected. I thought Samsung would make this change immediately after the Fold 6 launched last summer." (Forbes). Pixel 10's New Camera Feature Google looks set to make a switch with its macro photography option for the Pixel 10 family by moving the feature from the ultrawide hardware into the telephoto hardware. It's an approach used by other manufacturers, leading to improved close-up images: "Telephoto sensors are typically better, optics-wise, than the ultrawide sensor. Providing a better quality image on macro. Additionally, using the telephoto sensor means you can be further away from the subject, which is great for capturing insects. But it also means that you and the camera won't be blocking the light. Keep in mind that macro photography does need a good bit of light to produce a good image." (Android Headlines). Galaxy S26 Ready To Challenge The iPhone 17 Looking further ahead to next year's Galaxy S26 family, new details have leaked on the potential performance of the Snapdragon Elite 2 chipset earmarked for the South Korean flagship. The numbers match the single-core numbers of Apple's upcoming A19 Pro, and show a significant lead in multi-core performance: "The Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chip is rumored to be fabricated on TSMC's third-generation 3nm process node. Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS) has posted the chip's preliminary CPU performance results on Weibo. The chip's octa-core CPU reportedly scores over 11,000 points in Geekbench 6's multi-core CPU performance test and over 4,000 points in the single-core CPU performance test." (SamMobile). OnePlus Nord 5 Revealed OnePlus has confirmed a launch date of July 8 for the latest Nord phone, the OnePlus Nord 5. Alongside it, OnePlus also revealed the OnePlus CE5 OnePlus Pad Lite, OnePlus Watch 3, and OnePlus Buds 4. As the Nord 5 is squarely in the flagship-killer category, OnePlus will be balancing performance with price, none more so than in the choice of processor. It has stepped back to last year's flagship Snapdragon, which should offer capability while keeping the cost relatively low: "The Nord 5 is the latest in the company's mid-range smartphone line, and is the first Nord to feature a flagship Qualcomm chip — in this case the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3, which was designed for cheaper flagship phones — along with an upgraded cooling system and support for LPDDR5X RAM. That's all we know about the phone's specs, but from the picture we can glean that it'll come in a pale blue finish (officially dubbed 'Dry Ice') and features a dual rear camera." (The Verge). Poco F7 Debuts Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 We already knew that the F7 would ship with 12 GB of memory, presumably backed up by various storage levels and a 6,000 mAh battery. As well as confirming a release date of June 24, Poco has announced the F7 will ship with the leading Snapdragon 8 chipset: "Poco has been drip-feeding us with information about the Poco F7, which will be unveiled on June 24. The brand previously revealed its battery size (7,550 mAh) and charging speed (90W), and yesterday, it gave us our first official look at the smartphone. Today, Poco confirmed that the F7 will be powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 SoC." (GSM Arena). Honor Teases Record Breaking Foldable Honor has confirmed that its next foldable will launch on July 2nd in the Chinese market. Previous Magic V handsets have had an international launch a few months after China, and we'd expect the same to happen here. We're also expecting the push for innovation and records to continue in the V5: "Honor has suggested that its new foldable will depart from the current Magic V3 with a more powerful chipset, PC-level productivity and a design that is thinner than the Oppo Find N5 while also being lighter than the Vivo X Fold5." (Notebook Check). And Finally... Following hints at the new features in Google Photos, a deep dive into the pre-release APKs by the Android Authority team has revealed more about the features. No tools have been removed; they are laid out in a more logical fashion, many of the AI tools are now under Auto, and several new additions are included: "The 'Filters' section is also getting some love. A new 'Sky styles' option lets you choose from dramatic skyline effects like Luminous, Radiant, Vivid, Ember, and more. Google has also made a minor visual tweak to the filter selection tray, making it more intuitive to adjust filter strength." (Android Authority). Android Circuit rounds up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don't forget to follow me so you don't miss any coverage in the future, and of course, read the sister column in Apple Loop! Last week's Android Circuit can be found here, and if you have any news and links you'd like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!
News24
2 days ago
- News24
HONOR tackles deepfakes with on-device detection
Following strong uptake of its AI-powered innovations in South Africa, HONOR has introduced the new HONOR 400 and HONOR 400 Pro. This is a launch that could further entrench the brand's momentum in the local mid-to-premium market. Unveiled at Kyalami Racecourse, the event brought together government and industry voices, including Communications Minister, The Honorable Mr. Solly Malatsi, underscoring the growing alignment between mobile innovation and digital policy. The HONOR 400 & 400 Pro marks a notable shift in normalising access to premium technology. These devices bring high-end features into a more accessible range, including: The first global rollout of Google Cloud's Veo 2 Image-to-Video tool, built directly into the phone's gallery AI Deepfake Detection and on-device call translation to meet the privacy and productivity demands, which can detect whether the participant in a video call is using deepfake technology. HONOR's 50× AI SuperZoom, intelligent editing tools and the incredible 200MP main sensor A 6000mAh silicon-carbon battery, IP-rated build quality and MagicOS 9.0 across the range and a big storage of 12+512G. The HONOR 400 is powered by a Snapdragon, while the 400 Pro introduces Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 performance. Both devices are supported by Android updates and security patches, a rare commitment in this segment. The HONOR 400 Series is launched with a promotional offer: Buyers will receive R8000 worth of additional value in the form of the HONOR Choice Watch 2i, HONOR Choice Earbuds X7 Lite and an HONOR Choice Powerbank 10000mAh until 31 July 2025. Available from Vodacom, MTN, Telkom and Cell C, the HONOR 400 is priced from 12,999 and the HONOR 400 Pro from R17,999. With hardware innovation backed by long-term AI investment, HONOR is further positioning itself as both a product leader and a strategic player in South Africa's mobile economy.
