Soundpeats TrueEngine 3

disclaimer: I have reviewed quite a few Soundpeats/Dudios products along the way and they have several models that fit well in the budget TWS category so when they asked about reviewing the latest release I agreed.   I have no financial interest in Soundpeats, nor have I received any payment beyond the sample TureEngine 3 itself which retails for $45USD .    If you have an interest in Soundpeats, they can be purchased at amazon and may be marketed as either Dudios or SoundPeats depending on the area you reside in.

 

Unboxing / Packaging:

The TrueEngine3 (TE3)  arrived packaged in a slip-cover style box with the image of the ear piece and Soundpeats logo on one side and an image of the earpiece being worn on the reverse.  A few specs (Dual dynamic driver) are listed on the sides, but like most Soundpeats products, they do not get heavily into the driver details etc either on the packaging or in the marketing materials.  Once the slip-cover is removed, the box itself has the earpieces and the case in a plastic tray with the other accessories hiding underneath.   The kit includes a short charging cable,  3 sets of silicone tips, a set of Comply foams, and the manual.

 

 

Build/Fit:

The TE3 uses a 4 piece shell. Starting at the outermost we have the copper shields that act as the touch sensors, followed by a two part black plastic shell that houses the electronics and batteries, and a clear inner shell that houses drivers and contains the nozzles.  A small LED sits over the nozzle on the outer face and blinks to indicate pairing or stays lit to indicate charging (red) or connected (white).    There are 3 holes in the shells, one on the exterior near the top (vent), another vent over the driver on the underside in the clear plastic, and a third at the bottom edge of the outer shell just below the LED that is the microphone.   Two contact pads can be seen on the upper inside shell.     Size is medium but thickness is slightly above average so the TE3 winds up sitting as much on as in the ear., still with a forward raked nozzle on its elevated pedestal base, the TE3 gives good comfort while worn.     Nozzles do have a lip for tip retention and for some reason the provided tips are more effort than usual to exchange so I have no concerns about losing one accidentally.

 

Internals:

Soundpeats is generally tight lipped about the technology inside their products and the TE3 is no different.  It is listed as a dual dynamic driver model with a titanium coated diaphragm on one driver and a composite diaphragm on the other.  The titanium driver is crossed to produce the lower voices while the composite handles the upper-mids and treble range.   In addition to the dual drivers, each earpiece contains a touch sensor, BT receiver board, a 60mAh battery & charging circuit, a microphone and noise cancelling technology.    The case battery is listed at 500mAh, more discussion on this later.

 

Connectivity:

The TE3 supports Bluetooth 5.0 using a Qualcomm 3020 chipset so supports SBC and AptX but not AptX HD or LDAC and while AAC is not listed in the documentation, I was able to get AAC connections on both Android and IOS devices (if forced to use AAC instead of AptX on the Android).    The earpieces automatically go into pairing mode when removed from the case, and will automatically re-pair to the last source used if available when you take them out of the case.   Once connected, I found they did well as long as they were kept within about 25 feet of the source in open space.   Exterior walls did defeat the signal fairly easily but a single layer of interior drywall  did not defeat it so moving around inside the house allowed me to leave the phone on the desk while getting a drink or snack in the next room.

 

Case/Battery:

Marketing material lists battery life as 6.5 hours for the earpieces and 4 charges from the case before needing to plug it in.   I found those numbers a bit optimistic as my use gave more like 5.5 hours on the earpieces and 3 charges from the case but in either event, this is substantially above average and would allow for a very long day of constant use, or use for 2 or 3 days traveling before needing to find a wall outlet.    The case has a USB type-C port at the center rear below the hinge, and a set of 4 indicator LEDs in the interior between the earpiece compartments.  When the case is charging, the LEDs light in sequence from front to rear for each 25% charge with the top most blinking LED indicating the current charge state and that the case is charging.  When fully charged, all four LEDs stay lit solid.   The LEDs will light briefly when the earpieces are added to the case and then turn off while the LED on the earpiece itself will light red while charging in the case.     Earpieces are magnetically held in place and begin charging as soon as connection is established.     The provided cable is extremely short and will leave the case hanging from a standard height wall outlet.   A longer cable might be advantageous here.

 

Controls:

The TE3 uses touch sensitive panels on the earpieces so one does not have to push the earpiece into the ear as contact is enough to trigger the panels.   Tapping the left and right earpiece share some functions while others are one earpiece or the other.  As an example a double touch on either earpiece will play or pause your music or answer a call. A single touch either increases or decreases volume depending on which ear you touch.   The system looks a bit complex when looking at the documentation below but is actually quite straight forward in practice once you get used to it.    The touch controls have good sensitivity and I didn’t find myself having to repeatedly tap the earpieces to get the desired result like I have with some other models.    They are much improved over early touch sensitive models I tried in that regard.

 

Call Quality:

Both earpieces are mic’d for better pickup, and while some environmental noise is picked up, it did an admirable job of eliminating some noise that other models have not be able to remove as effectively.    I did   find the mic was a bit sensitive to wind though and it does lessen call quality when used outdoors in high winds to a degree that may frustrate the person on the other end of the line.     Overall, this is not unexpected and Soundpeats/Dudios have the phone part of the TWS down pretty well at this stage.

 

Sound:

 

Bass:

Sub-bass has a fairly notable boost and interestingly the combination of circuitry, cross-over, and driver limit that boost to 150Hz or so and below with the mid-bass dropping back and showing no signs of that same boost.   Sub-bass is a touch loose but does not bloom enough to take over the mid-bass and will please those looking for a big thump.  Extension is good with no discernible roll-off before reaching the high 20Hz range.   Bass is tighter than the delivery seen on some of the previous Soundpeats models with a bit more mid-bass texture and detail.  Mild mid-bass bleed is present but does not interfere  with the mids.    I find the TE3 to sound a bit like a tuned up Shuttle and I prefer the signature of the Shuttle to the other Dudios/Soundpeats models I have reviewed to date so this is a good thing.

 

Mids:

Lower mids sit on the same plane with the mid bass with little bleed or bloom to obstruct and good clarity   Male vocals are slightly thinner  and more distant than I’d like them and well behind their female counterparts due to an upper-mid push.   The lower mids and true mids lack enough energy to sound natural and need some EQ.  I found that adding a bit of a bump centered at 850Hz with about a +4dB push and a fairly wide bell dipping to 600Hz and reaching up to about 1kHz gave the best balance of pushing male vocals back forward and adding enough energy to strings to help liven them up a bit.

 

Treble:

Lower treble is pushed forward at about 3kHz and then falls back off almost as quickly with a 2nd push forward at 10kHz before rolling off above that.   The drop in the true treble range keeps the TE3 from getting too harsh but also again takes away a little energy it could use for cymbals as they come off flat and unrealistic.  Snare rattle fares a bit better as it has good edge and detail. Treble is fairly polite and avoids getting overly fatiguing but lacks a bit of extension and detail.

 

Soundstage / Imaging:

Soundstage is average at best as should probably be expected from a closed back in-ear with a fairly small resonance chamber.   The TE3 has more width than depth with a little height thrown into the mix.   Seating the orchestra is an odd experience as some instruments are exactly where they are expected and others overlap or are mis-positioned due to stage dimensions.  Imaging is somewhat hampered by this as well as positions in space are more general than pin-point and movement around center stage is harder to track than those on the periphery.    Layering is good within expectations as it does compress some as tracks get more complex.

 

Thoughts / Conclusion:

These consumer grade TWS models are improving with each generation and while I don’t think the TrueEngine3 is quite there yet, it is getting close.   Many will find that for the $45 asking price, the TE3 offers good comfort for long wear, great battery life so they aren’t fiddling with having to recharge often, good enough call quality to use as a phone when needed, and good enough sound quality (with a few EQ tweaks).      These would make a good pair of TWS for camping, hiking, maybe even that canoe trip although not waterproof as they provide enough sound quality to enjoy listening and are priced inexpensively enough that if lost or damaged one isn’t out a fortune in the process.    I like the TrueEngine3 and with each generation improving, I’ll be interested in what the TruEngine 4 has to offer next.