Treblab X3 Pro review: Great sound quality but not much else

The Treblab X3 Pro earbuds are a little confusing. Should they fight for the title of best wireless earbuds or best running earbuds? On Treblab’s site, these buds are hailed as ‘running earbuds’ but nowhere on the actual box suggests that. The ear hook design means these buds stay pretty sure even when running at pace, and they’re IPX5 rated, so running earbuds isn’t too far of a stretch — but the sound quality on these things suggests otherwise. It’s not often you see running buds with aptX compatibility.

Usually, running earbuds sacrifice sound quality for comfort and waterproofing. These Treblab buds have done the opposite. They’ve sacrificed comfort, usability, and customization for sound quality. Yes, they sound really good for $99 earbuds, but I don’t think most people will get on with them.

Usability is poor, with counterintuitive controls you can’t customize and uncomfortable ear hooks. But for just $99, they could be worth the sacrifice. Find out in this Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review.

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A pair of $99 workout earbuds
• Who is it for? People who need some workout earbuds with good sound quality — and not much else
• What does it cost? $99
• What do we like? The sound quality is good for the price
• What don’t we like? They’re really uncomfortable for long periods, the specs contradict one another, and the touch controls make no sense

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Specs

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Price & availability

The Treblab X3 Pro earbuds are $99 from Amazon U.S. and unavailable in the U.K. at time of writing. It’s unlikely you’ll ever pay $99 for the earbuds due to their seemingly perma-sale of around $50, but the buds’ MSRP is listed as $99, so that price is the caliber I’ll hold them to. Our best overall workout earbuds are the $199 Beats Fit Pro, which have ANC and spatial audio. Another budget pair, the similarly priced JLab Epic Air Sport ANC buds ($99) have wear detection, which the X3 Pro buds lack.

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Design & controls

The touch controls aren’t exactly intuitive. I pressed the left ‘MFB’ (Multi-function button, according to Treblab) and it called the last called number on my phone. After I panickedly canceled the outgoing call, I took it upon myself to scour the user manual for ‘MFB’ instructions. Nowhere in the manual did it suggest that pressing the button would call your last called number, so I was pretty bamboozled.

The control buttons are actually pretty baffling, with only one MFB button on each earbud that is basically designed to do everything at once. That means you’re accidentally pausing when you wanted to increase the volume and skipping songs by mistake often. I wish there was a way to customize the controls.

My main issue with these earbuds is that they’re a pain to put in. I wear glasses, have long hair, and multiple cartilage ear piercings, so I was having to put my hair behind my ears, adjust all my piercings, and take off my glasses just to get these earbuds in. Doing that on the bus or on the street sounds like a hassle that I don’t feel like being a part of. If you have short hair, no piercings, no glasses, then you might be able to master it quicker than me, but I really struggled with the insertion of these earbuds.

I changed the default tip size (medium) to small as after a few hours of listening with medium, my ears started to hurt. I’m a little disappointed that the ear tips come in a tiny plastic ziploc bag instead of an actual box or case like AirPods or even EarFun tips. Due to this bag, there’s no way to tell if the tips are supposed to go on the left or right bud.

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Features & connectivity

There aren’t many features with the X3 Pro earbuds. There’s no Treblab app so no way to customize EQ, change touch controls, or update firmware. This is pretty lacking for a pair of $99 earbuds; alternatives like OnePlus Buds 3 ($99) have a companion app for easy controls. These buds have aptX — more on that in the ‘Audio’ section.

The X3 Pro earbuds connect really easily the first time; all you have to do is take the left bud out of the charging case and it enters pairing mode.

The buds claim to be IPX5 and IPX7 simultaneously — again, I’ve reached out to Treblab for clarification, but have yet to receive a response on this. Obviously you can’t submerge IPX5-rated products in water, but with IPX7 you can, so this is a very important piece of information.

This probably isn’t relevant for most people, but it’s possible to only connect one earbud at a time. I wondered if this was for sharing with another person’s device, but when I tried to connect one earbud to my MacBook Air M2 and one to my iPhone 11, I discovered that these earbuds don’t have simultaneous connection capabilities. Treblab advises that if you only connect one earbud at a time, the battery will last longer. What a surprise, I guess?

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Call quality

I called my boyfriend to test the X3 Pro’s call quality. He reported that there was a pernicious static hissing noise that gradually got worse over the course of the call. He said I sounded a little metallic, but he could understand everything I said, even if he had to try a little harder to hear me.

Overall, the X3 Pros sound mediocre on call. You’ll be understood, but you won’t necessarily sound good.

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Battery

There are contradictory battery life specs on Treblab’s website and user manual. In the user manual, it claims the battery life of the buds is 9 hours, and then 36 hours with the charging case. On the Treblab website, it claims the battery life of the buds is 9 hours, and 135 hours with the charging case. I’ve reached out to Treblab for clarification but have yet to receive a response.

I used these buds for about 5 hours and the battery went down to 50%. Even if the battery life with the charging case is 36 hours rather than 135, that’s still pretty good going. Even more premium earbuds, like AirPods Pro 2 buds, max out at 24 hours.

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Audio quality

I listened to a wide range of genres to test the audio chops of the X3 Pro earbuds. Chappel Roan’s ‘Femininomenon’ is a dancey synth-pop track with a hefty chorus drumbeat, and I was actually really impressed with the sound quality. The sing-along chorus was floor-filling and bassy, and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality.

Next I switched to hip-hop and played ‘Her’ by Megan Thee Stallion. The bass was clear and booming and the percussion wasn’t tinny, as I’ve found with other budget earbuds and other Treblab products.

I was impressed with the X3 Pro earbuds’ performance while playing bassy tracks, so I decided to switch up the genre for the next part of the test. I went for ‘Docket’ by Blondshell ft. Bully, which is a guitar-heavy indie track. The mids were a little muddled in this song and I couldn’t make out different instruments. I wondered if this was a one song issue or a more general ‘indie’ genre issue, so I played ‘Evergreen’ by Soccer Mommy. I’m aware these tracks are reverb-heavy, but with my AirPods Pro 2, the reverb sounds like it’s supposed to be there — not a symptom of muddy midrange.

Despite the muddy midrange in more shoegazey tracks, I was also impressed with the aptX compatibility. I tested this out on my colleague’s Google Pixel 7 and was really impressed with the sound quality. The bass was pumping, vocals crisp and mids distinct without being tinny. The treble did pinch a little, but nothing major.

It’s nice to see aptX on semi-budget earbuds. But as these are predominantly designed to be workout/running earbuds, I needed to test them out during a workout. I wore them on a quick jaunt around town, and they performed pretty well. The noise cancelation isn’t ANC, so you can still hear ambient noise, which makes these earbuds safer for outdoor running.

Treblab X3 Pro earbuds review: Verdict

If you’re in need of some good-sounding earbuds you’re not planning on wearing for a long time — or that often — the X3 Pro earbuds would be a good option. They sound good, have aptX compatibility for those Android users, and are pretty secure even when moving vigorously. However, they’re uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time, even with the smallest size tip, and a pain to actually put in your ears.

The confusing contradictory specs on Treblab’s site don’t fill me with confidence, either — are these IPX5 or IPX7? If they’re IPX5, I can’t submerge these earbuds in water, but with IPX7, I can. Also, if I’m going on vacation for a week, should I take the charging cable? If the battery lasts for the supposed 135 hours, then no. But if the battery lasts for the also supposed 36 hours, then, yes, I would need it. These discrepancies make me unable to trust the efficiency of these buds — and make them more difficult to recommend.

If you can grab these earbuds on sale, then they’d be a decent option. But at full price? I’d skip.