Wyze Buds Pro review: A fake AirPods contender but has imperfections

The Wyze Buds Pro is a low-cost pair of wireless earbuds that carries unique traits. Announced alongside its fitness-centric and less expensive sibling, the $43 Wyze Buds, this version is a decent attempt at offering active noise cancellation and dynamic sound for under $90.

Wyze’s adaptive EQ performs much better than you would expect for the price. ANC won’t match what some of the best noise-cancelling earbuds deliver, but it’s serviceable for minimizing external sounds. The company also did a nice job with construction to protect the buds from moisture exposure and spills to the ground. At the same time, the Buds Pro struggles with several fundamentals, including battery life, connectivity, and controls. 

Keep reading our Wyze Buds Pro review to find out the full details on these budget buds.

Wyze Buds Pro review: Price and availability

You can purchase the Wyze Buds Pro for $84 (plus shipping) directly from Wyze or for just under $90 at Amazon. Available only in black, they come bundled with a wireless charging case, charging cable, quick start guide, and three sets of different sized ear tips.

These buds come in at a lower price point than popular mid-tier selections, including the Beats Studio Buds ($149) and Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 ($149). They are also much less expensive than category leaders such as the AirPods Pro ($249) and Sony WF-1000XM4 ($279). Other models to consider within the Buds Pro’s price range are the Anker Soundcore Life P3 ($79) and Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro ($130), which are $99.99 at Best Buy at the time of publishing.

For all of the latest wireless ANC headphone sales, bookmark our best headphones deals page.

Wyze Buds Pro review: Design and comfort

If we’re going based on looks alone, then the Wyze Buds Pro easily fall into the Fake AirPods category. However, this model is better built and look more attractive than the AirPods. Sturdy plastic makes up the entire frame and is solid enough to withstand the daily abuse you’ll put these buds through. IPX4 water resistance means you get the same protection as the AirPods Pro.

The charging case resembles the AirPods Pro case, except it’s lighter, comes in black, and employs USB-C charging. It easily slides into your jeans’ pockets and can be tossed in a backpack or gym bag. Strong magnets keep the lid shut tight and the buds locked into their charging slots.

Comfort is moderate. Wearing the buds for 2-hour stretches throughout the day didn’t cause any fatigue; they rested pleasantly on the concha and didn’t apply unwanted pressure. Even at a slightly heavier weight than the AirPods Pro (1.6 ounces), they felt light as a feather on my ears.

An in-ear design with installed tips ensures the Buds Pro has a secure fit. Technically, you can use these for working out, thanks to the IPX4 rating and tight seal created by the silicone tips. Do I recommend it? No. Slippage often occurs when the tips are in contact with sweat or water.

Wyze Buds Pro review: Controls and digital assistant

Wyze gives you a full suite of media controls that can be enabled through single tap, multi-tap, and touch-and-hold gestures. These functions include playback, call management, volume, digital assistance, and listening mode activation. I always appreciate when an audio brand can program this much functionality into a pair of buds, but I appreciate responsive touch sensors even more, which the Buds Pro doesn’t provide.

The earbud design isn’t the smartest because it doesn’t provide enough coverage for the sensors to recognize your whole finger. Taps didn’t always register, and triple taps were often confused for whatever function was assigned to double taps. I also found it odd that the single-tap gesture wasn't actually assigned to provide any playback control right out of the box.

At least on-ear detection works like a charm, auto-pausing content when removing the buds and resuming playback when placing them back on your ears.

The Buds Pro are compatible with Siri, Google Assistant, and Bixby, and have built-in Alexa for voice activation. Download the Alexa app and you can fire up the feature by saying the “Alexa” wake word. Voice activation isn’t available for the other three assistants, and that’s fine since they work extremely well on their own. Wyze’s three voice-isolating mics demonstrate great speech recognition and pick up every word spoken.  

Wyze Buds Pro review: Sound quality

Like Apple's AirPods Pro, the Wyze buds use a form of adaptive EQ that automatically adjusts the frequency response based on what you’re listening to. Realistically, I would have preferred a customizable EQ with some presets, especially since it offers a more personalized listening experience. The feature works well on most tracks in my listening session, but the app does offer a Bass Booster mode should you feel the need to increase the low end performance.

I really didn't need it for most tracks I listened to, and the booming bass on hip-hop bangers like Kendrick Lamar’s “DNA” sent a shock wave to my eardrums. The rest of the frequency range was well balanced, giving the rapper’s high-pitched vocals room to breathe over the rumbling bass production. Keeping my playlist bass heavy, I switched over to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” and instantly nodded my head to the bassline, which sounded clean and more prominent than on my AirPods Pro.

While the adaptive EQ adjusts to contemporary music genres well, it felt a bit lost on orchestral recordings. I thought the frequency ranges were raised too high on jazz recordings. The double bass on John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme, Pt. 1 – Acknowledgement” was overly aggressive and the hi-hats were tinnier than I would have liked. 

Wyze Buds Pro review: Active noise cancellation

According to Wyze, the Buds Pro reduces noise by up to 40dB, which is fine for blocking out most low and midrange frequencies. I couldn’t hear my wife’s Zoom calls or Amazon delivery trucks entering the driveway during office hours. Using the Buds Pro on a mini-road trip was also gratifying since it kept the AC and car engine rumble quiet. 

High frequency noises are audible, but don’t seem to bother me as much as they do on other wireless ANC earbuds I've heard. Hearing my baby boy cry over his favorite rattle, or crowd noise from supporters at a 5K run were noticeable. Wind noise was able to find its way in and disrupt the listening soundscape.

The Buds Pro’s Transparency Mode is pretty strong and worth enabling when you want to gain greater awareness of surroundings. When walking outside, I always had the feature enabled to help me to stay aware of my surroundings, cyclists and traffic. More rewarding was the ability to hold conversations with the missus and convey my coffee order to baristas without having to pause music or take off the buds.

Wyze Buds Pro review: App and special features

It isn’t mentioned on the product page or the packaging box, but the Buds Pro are compatible with the Wyze mobile app available on iOS and Android. Sadly, it offers very few perks outside of toggle controls for select settings (e.g., Bass Booster, Auto Pause), control customization and voice assistant, along with ANC/Transparency Mode selection. Firmware updates and battery level indicators for the buds and charging case round out the app.

The latest software update available doesn’t add any new features. Furthermore, you’ll want to monitor the battery levels after performing this update because the results can be wacky at times. On a few occasions, the app wouldn’t show the charging case’s power percentage, which was odd since it was fully charged.

Whether these buds have any interconnectivity with other Wyze products is unknown.

Wyze Buds Pro review: Battery life and charging case

Battery life is disappointing on the Buds Pro. A full charge gets you 4.5 hours of ANC playtime, which is equivalent to what the AirPods Pro offers. Turning off the feature extends listening time to 6 hours. Other budget rivals like the Soundcore Life P3 (6 to 7 hours) and Edifier TWS NBQ (6 to 8 hours) eclipse the Buds Pro in battery life, as well as premium competitors like the WF-1000XM4 (8 to 12 hours). I got about a day and a half of use before recharging.

The charging case isn’t any more impressive, holding between 18 to 24 hours, depending how you use the buds. By comparison, the AirPods Pro case holds 24 hours, and that’s with ANC factored into the equation. You’re looking at about 3 to 4 additional charges. A quick charge can generate up to 1 hour of listening time when tossing the buds in the case for 15 minutes.

Wyze Buds Pro review: Call quality and connectivity

As a calling headset, the Buds Pro offers mixed results. You’ll want to be indoors or make calls in quiet settings to hear voices at the other end of the line clearly. My wife noticed a huge difference in performance when taking our conversation from the front porch to the office; it was difficult hearing her due to background interference (e.g., motorbikes, wind). 

Equipped with Bluetooth 5.0, the buds maintain a strong connection during calls and streaming sessions. Range is shorter than advertised, peaking at 25 feet before dropout occurs. Wyze also claims that the Buds Pro supports Google Fast Pair, but I didn't ever see the GFP pop-up card show up on my Android device screen to perform one-touch pairing.

Auto-connect was hit or miss. The buds often favored iOS/macOS devices; pairing to my MacBook Pro and my wife’s iPhone 12 was seamless. My Google Pixel 3XL and Samsung Galaxy Note S20 didn’t receive the same treatment and required selecting the buds from the available devices list to pair.

However, there was a bigger issue I encountered during testing. There were times when the right earbud would not turn on after pairing the Buds Pro to devices. Why? I have no clue. All I know is leaving both buds in the charging case for about two hours and taking them out seemed to fix the problem.

Wyze Buds Pro review: Verdict

To get quality audio and effective noise neutralization at the price makes the Wyze Buds Pro a bit of a bargain. Wyze’s adaptive EQ works well with contemporary music choices to deliver a vibrant, clean sound, while ANC is serviceable for shushing common distractions. The durable, water-resistant design should also offer peace of mind.

Unfortunately, the Buds Pro miss the mark in several key areas, hindering the user experience with their unreliable touch controls that can make them frustrating to use. Battery life is on a par with the AirPods and satisfactory, but the intermittent connectivity and control issues make them an occasionally tricky and frustratingly unreliable performer.