Honor Earbuds Open might have just sold me on open-ear design

Yahoo

05-03-2025

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.