SOUL Sync Pro review - headphones with a powerful battery and excellent noise isolation

Previously, the SOUL brand was called SOUL by Ludacris - this is the name under which its history began 10 years ago. Then the company wanted to produce "soulful" headphones, in which each listener could find something of their own. Over the years, the goal has not changed, but the market has become different: completely wireless models have filled it.

They form the basis of the current SOUL catalog. We chose Sync Pro to get to know the brand. The headphones look serious, support modern codecs and come with a case containing a 3,000 mAh battery.

Specifications
Appearance and equipment
Control
Connection
Sound and conversation
Autonomy
Outcomes

Specifications

Type of emitters	Dynamic, 6 mm
Earphone weight	4.7 g
Connection	Bluetooth 5.0
Supported codecs	SBC, AAC, aptX
Moisture protection	IPX5
Battery case	3000 mAh

Appearance and equipment

The headphones come in a cardboard box with a magnetic lock that opens like a book. In addition to them and the case, there are three pairs of ear pads (two - silicone and one - foam) and a USB cable for recharging. Some more tips are already on the headphones themselves.

SOUL Sync Pro review - headphones with a powerful battery and excellent noise isolation

The case is amazing. It is large, heavy, its front panel is covered with a metal plate, where the brand logo is engraved. There is a loop on one plastic side for which the case can be attached to some kind of carabiner. On the other, there is a reset button, a USB connector and four LEDs showing the charge level.

The case is closed with a lid made of artificial leather using a magnetic strip. The case itself with such a design is obviously not waterproof.

The headphones lie obliquely inside, and you need to get used to the fact that the right one lies closer to the left side, and the left one, respectively, to the right. It is convenient to get them out: there are all the necessary recesses.

The shape of the headphones is not the most obvious: they have a short stem, and the main body resembles a chubby watering can with an upturned nose. The sound guide is covered with a small grill, something like a meat grinder. The leg is beveled: microphones are hidden behind the grids at the end.

The outer side of the earbuds is complemented by the same metal plate as the case, and the brand logo is also engraved there. True, here is an abbreviated version - from one letter S. This panel is touch-sensitive. There is another hole next to it.

There is a small status LED on the top of the earbuds. It blinks blue when the accessory is connected to a music source and glows white when charging. The gadget is protected from water and sweat according to the IPX5 standard, so you can walk in the rain and play sports with it. But it is not worth washing under the tap.

For all its relatively unusual shape, the headphones go very deep into the ear - with almost the entire body. Due to this (if, of course, you choose the right ear pads), Sync Pro provide phenomenal noise isolation. It seems as if this model has active noise cancellation, although in fact it does not.

The gadget is available in black and white. We got the first one for the test.

Control

The touch pads on the outside of the earbuds recognize two types of gestures: short touches and long presses.

One short touch pauses or restarts playback.

Double short touch includes the next track in the playlist.

Triple short touch launches voice assistant - Siri and Google Assistant are supported.

Long press helps to turn headphones off or on.

During calls short touch you can answer or end the call, and double - reject.

The sensor works quite accurately, it is easy to touch it. Sometimes the panels recognize pressing even on the sidewalls of the case. There were no problems with double and triple touches.

There are no applications for adjusting control and sound.

Connection

The Bluetooth menu displays two separate headphones - SOUL SYNC PRO - L and SOUL SYNC PRO - R. Just connect to one of them, and the signal will go to the other automatically. A successful pairing is indicated by a computerized voice, not very friendly, but clear and informative.

The headphones connect to sources via Bluetooth 5.0 and support AAC codecs (which is important for Apple owners) and aptX (which will delight those with Android on Snapdragon). Both codecs allow you to get sound in a relatively high (for wireless models) quality.

The pairing process is quite simple, and the headphones hold the signal well. But, for example, it is not very convenient to watch streams on Twitch in them: the audio delay relative to the video is noticeable - somewhere in half a second.

A couple of times during the test, it happened that one earphone successfully connected to the smartphone, and the second did not want to. The fix was simple: you had to put both accessories into the case and pull them out again.

The gadget automatically connects to the last device with which it was paired, if that has Bluetooth enabled. But a long press on the button on the case will make Sync Pro forget this smartphone and put the headphones into search mode.

Sound and conversation

For the sound in Sync Pro, 6 mm speakers are responsible. Due to the snug fit and good noise isolation, there is a feeling as if the music starts playing right in the brain, bypassing the ears. Because of this, large-scale compositions like the Crysis soundtrack or "Pirates of the Caribbean" do not seem as epic as they could. But neat minimalistic melodies with some lonely iridescent piano, on the contrary, sound absolutely magical.

The headphones themselves play quite smoothly, with only a slight boost in bass - but very neat, not turning all the music into an artless "tuna-tuna". Rather, the rhythm simply becomes more tangible, lively and engaging in the listening experience.

We were unable to find a genre that the accessory could not cope with at all. This presentation is suitable for extreme metal, and perky pop, and gentle, dramatic ballads. Something with an emphasis on electronics like ATB, Depeche Mode, Tesla Boy, Shpongle and Pet Shop Boys sounded best. Here, a clear rhythm did not interfere, and all the elements of the melody were in their places, without losing details and not drowning out the beautiful high-frequency overflows with vocals and thundering bass. Metallica also played very energetically and powerfully, and Hatfield's voice always remained distinct, not disappearing in the rumble of thick strings and the rumble of drums. Moreover, when changing the codec from aptX to SBC or AAC on Android, the sound became even denser, but lost volume and scale and seemed boring.

In addition to good sound insulation, a deep planting has another plus - you do not need to turn the volume down. During the test, 50-60% was enough for us, even while walking along a busy highway. But there were also some drawbacks: the discomfort from the headphones came quickly enough, literally in a couple of hours. That is, you can, for example, calmly go to the gym, work out there for an hour and return - and your ears will not get tired. But if you look into a store on the way and get stuck there for 30 minutes, then somewhere on the way to the house you will overtake an unpleasant pulling sensation.

The dual microphone feet system using Qualcomm cVc technology ensures good voice transmission. The device picks up the words, not the wind, and the interlocutor hears speech perfectly.

Autonomy

The main feature of SOUL Sync Pro is a complete 3,000 mAh case. It will allow you to fully recharge the headphones as many as 23 times, providing them with up to 150 hours of operation. The headphones themselves on a single charge, according to the manufacturer, will last 6.5 hours. We got about that much - even a little more.

During the test, the case was not even a quarter discharged (each of the four LEDs on the side shows 25% charge), and we listened to the headphones quite often. What's more, the case can be used as a power bank to power smartphones and other devices - you just need a USB-C cable.

Outcomes

SOUL Sync Pro is a model devoid of most of the additional functions that are now commonly added to headphones. The gadget simply plays music, reproduces the speech of the interlocutor and transmits your words to him, without doing anything beyond that. The accessory compensates for the lack of active noise cancellation with luxurious sound insulation. True, you have to pay for it with comfort: not every listener will like such a tight fit.

In terms of sound, everything is good: it is both modern and quite balanced, which allows you to enjoy all genres without losing detail and emotion. The support for the aptX codec is especially encouraging.

And a case with which you can simply forget about recharging your headphones is great. Although, due to such a solid battery, it turned out to be massive, so you can't hide it in a jeans pocket. But in a jacket or backpack, it will fit without problems.