Forget AirPods Pro 3, these premium buds sound fantastic and look so much classier

Status Audio Pro X: Two-minute review

American audio company Status Audio was hurt by the curse of poor timing with the release of its next-gen premium earbuds and challengers to our best earbuds buying guide. That’s because less than two months after the firm unveiled the Pro X, Apple finally released its latest buds, the AirPods Pro 3, which slightly undercut the underdogs’ latest release in terms of price.

I don’t think Status needs to worry much about competition from Apple, though, because the product distinguishes itself in a few key areas (and, of course, actually works equally as well for Android users).

For one, the Status Pro X has three audio drivers per bud, one more than the AirPods Pro and two more than most earbuds I test. This trio works together to deliver well-defined and high-quality audio that sounds fantastic, making these some of the best earbuds you can try.

The earbuds also look as good as they sound, with the ellipsoid design language carried between the buds and the case to make them look some of the classiest buds I've seen. It's not all for show either as I found the fit reliable.

Status has nailed more of the basics with solid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), handy touch controls and wireless charging in the case.

The main let-down for me was the battery life, which basically scraped five hours if you've got ANC turned on. That's pretty poor when you look at averages on the market, even for high-end buds, and rules them out for certain use cases.

In fact, the overall feature set is a little bit anemic, and there are a few common perks that aren't available on the Pro X. It's clear that the emphasis here is on the audio quality and design, not the handy extras that often justify a higher price.

That's the one department where the AirPods Pro 3 cleanly beat the Status Pro X; don't expect any live translation or heart rate tracking here. But Status has Apple beat in the two other main areas, and that's good enough for me.

Status Audio Pro X review: Price and release date

• Released in 'batches' every few months from July 2025
• Costs $299 / £272 / AU$470
• Pricier than big-name rivals

The first thing to know about the Pro X is that they’re not cheap gadgets; these are pricey buds that bump elbows with some top-notch rivals.

The official retail price for the Status Audio Pro X is $299 / £272 / AU$470, though it’s worth noting that you can pre-order them for $249 / £226 / AU$384. When I say ‘pre-order’, I don’t mean that the buds aren’t out, but (at the time of writing at least) Status is selling them in waves, with one every couple of months. For the purpose of this review I’m taking the RRP as the real price of the buds though.

That price means the buds cost more than the new AirPods Pro 3, which go for $249 / £219 / AU$429 and roughly match the option that tops our best earbuds list, the Technics EAH-AZ100, which go for $299 / £259 / AU$478.

In other words, I went into this review expecting great things.

One more thing: the Pro X's predecessor, the excellent Status Between 3ANC, cost $249 (approx. £249 / AU$399).

Status Audio Pro X review: Specs

Status Audio Pro X review: Features

• Poor battery life
• Decent noise cancellation
• Fewer features than rivals

According to Status Audio, the Pro X will last for 8 hours of listening time, with the charging case extending it to 24 hours in total. That figure must be for listening with ANC turned off, because when it was enabled, I got a far shorter listening time: roughly four and a half to five hours. That’s not exactly a competitive stat as it falls below average by a considerable way.

A better feature is the noise cancellation which, while not best-in-class, was solid enough to plaster over annoying background noises. The Ambient mode is one of the better examples of pass-through sound I’ve used, with surrounding sounds fed into your headphones without sounding amplified at all.

You can toggle between these modes using the Status Hub app which also lets you customize the touch controls, choose between one of five equalizer presets (plus a custom mode with an eight-band EQ for the audiophiles), find the buds if you’ve lost them (with location tracking and audio cues), set up multi-point connection and toggle whether your voice is hidden by the ANC when you talk in the phone. Hidden in the app’s settings is a Dynamic EQ mode which boosts bass and treble when the volume is low – it’s turned off by default though.

There are a few features which you may expect at this price point that you’re not getting, including surround-sound audio (see 'spatial audio'), toggle-able wearer detection, fit tests or the ability to change codec or music stream bitrate. The slender feature set is something we’ve knocked past Status buds for and while there are more here (the Between 3ANC didn’t let you change touch controls, for example, and GPS buds tracking is a great tool), I’d still like to see a little more to justify the price.

In terms of connection specs, the Pro X supports SBC, AAC and LDAC, at 24-bit/96 kHz. In my testing I didn’t have any connection issues between the buds and my phone.

• Features score: 3/5

Status Audio Pro X review: Design

• Classy look for bud and case
• Handy touch controls
• Case supports wireless charging

The Status Audio Pro X are some of the more refined earbuds I’ve tested this year in terms of design. They’re stem-toting buds, although ‘stem’ feels like an odd choice of word for the ellipsoid pillars standing tall from the earbuds.

Despite the size of the stems, which made me worry about the reliability of the ear fit, the Pro X stayed in my ears without any shifting or issues. The touch controls worked well and were easy to use, thanks to the size of the sensor area so you don’t need any precision to pause or skip your music.

The buds have an IP55 rating against dust ingress and jets of water, so don’t submerge them in puddles or sinks if you want them to keep working.

Now onto the case; it’s a small oblong box that weighs about 48g (according to my kitchen scales, though I couldn’t find an official figure from Status Audio). It’s not too huge a case although I did notice it in my trouser pocket. I like how it shares obvious design DNA with the earbuds, though I do feel Status missed a trick by not copying the buds’ two-tone shading.

In a neat addition, the case supports wireless charging, so you don’t need to rely on its USB-C port if you don’t want to.

Something I need to mention is that, during testing, one of the earbud charging connectors in the case stopped working. I wrote this off as an anomalous error and Status were quick to replace the test unit with another one – which didn’t break – but I feel compelled to mention the issue after I discovered a Reddit post in which people shared stories of the same issue happening, albeit in past Status buds.

• Design score: 4/5

Status Audio Pro X review: Sound quality

• 12mm driver + dual balanced armature drivers
• Equalizer plus loads of presets
• Max volume should be higher

Status is putting all its eggs in the ‘sound quality’ basket with the Pro X. The buds have not one, not two but three drivers: a 12mm dynamic driver and two Knowles balanced armature drivers, with the triumvirate designed to individually hit bass, middle and treble respectively.

This gambit pays off: the Pro X sound fantastic and you won’t find much better on the market in the wireless realm. By default the sound profile is neutral, but the aforementioned app presets let you pull oodles of treble or bass out of your tunes – once you work out what each means, due to the lack of a guide (take a guess which has more bass: Status Signature, Status Audiophile or Knowles Preferred? That’s right, there’s no way of knowing – and that’s the only information you’re given). Whatever your taste, you’ll be able to cater your listening to it.

Treble is distinct and sparkling, while bass is well-defined and mids remain clear and strong. The quality is high, and you can hear the inflection in vocals and the squeak of fingers on a guitar string. There isn’t as defined a soundstage as on some other high-end buds though, beyond the natural separation that you can perceive when the quality of lines is higher.

The Pro X don’t go quite as loud as I would’ve liked either; a few times when I was listening outdoors they didn’t reach the volume or oomph I’d have liked to combat noisy situations, despite the decent noise cancellation.

• Sound quality: 4.5/5

Status Audio Pro X review: Value

• Let's be clear, these are pricey buds
• …but you can save money with pre-order

It’s always hard to defend the value proposition of top-end buds. After all, premium tech simply doesn’t give you value for money; you can buy decent buds for a third of the price that don’t drop the quality by a third – and the gains sonically here are absolutely worthy if you value them, but they're incremental.

So Status goes a long way to justifying the Pro X’s price with the high-quality audio and premium design, but the question of whether they’re great value for money would be a lot easier to answer if the feature set was more fleshed out.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Status Audio Pro X?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Status Audio Pro X review: Also consider

AirPods Pro 3
Apple's latest undercut Status in price a little and have a much more impressive feature set, but don't have the same audio hardware (or impressive looks).

Technics EAH-AZ100
These slightly more affordable earbuds sound great and are small and comfortable to wear, even if they don't have the audio specs of the Status.

See our full Technics EAH-AZ100 review

How I tested the Status Audio Pro X

• Tested for one month
• Tested at home, in the office and on walks

As I mentioned earlier in this review, I tested two review samples of the Status Pro X due to one breaking, and it means the total testing period for the buds exceeded a month, longer than we usually give buds.

I paired the buds with my Android phone and used apps like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, YouTube and WhatsApp for various types of testing. I listened at home, on various types of public transport and on walks around my neighborhood.

I've been reviewing gadgets at TechRadar since early 2019 and have tested many different earbuds in that time.

• First reviewed in September 2025

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