ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Status Pro X earbuds are available for preorder on the official site for $249.
- These earbuds produce some of the best audio I’ve ever heard.
- You have to insert them just right to get the best fit.
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I’ve tested so many headphones and earbuds these days that it’s getting harder and harder to tell them apart. But I’ve never tested a pair quite like the Status X Pro earbuds. These earbuds set the bar pretty high.
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If you’ve not heard of Status, it might be because they’ve only been around for about nine years (not long at all in the ever-evolving world of audio tech). When I first received the Status Pro X, I didn’t think much of it. I hadn’t unboxed them yet, but could see the form factor on the box and wasn’t immediately impressed.
Little did I know.
My experience
Let’s cut to the chase: the Status Pro X earbuds are freaking fantastic. In fact, they sound so good, I didn’t want to stop listening. They had a clarity I’ve not heard in earbuds at this price range, and the soundstage was amazing. On top of that, I found the earbuds to have an elegant design. That’s a big change to my favorite earbuds, the Denon PearL Pro, which are big and rather clunky. As for the Pixel Buds Pro, they just look silly compared to the Status Pro X.
To my great surprise, if I were to compare the Status Pro X to the Denon PearL Pro earbuds (which cost nearly twice as much as the Status Pro X), the Status Pro X actually wins. The reason for this is that the Status Pro X earbuds beat them in the highs. Both earbuds have fantastic, dynamic bass, but the Status Pro X enjoys some seriously crystal highs.
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In fact, the Status Pro X earbuds are absolutely delightful from the low end to the mid range. That is a feat not many earbuds can match. Often, a pair of earbuds will win out in certain frequencies but lose in others.
Yes, you can always tweak the sound of most earbuds with an associated app, but I tend to judge earbuds by how they sound out of the box (and then tweak them as needed).
The Status Pro X enjoys magnificent sound, without having to install an app (Thank you, Status). That, my friends, makes a huge difference, especially for those who either don’t want to have to deal with EQ or those who don’t know what EQ is.
How do these earbuds achieve this feat? Multiple drivers. Most earbuds stick with a single driver design, but the Status Pro X uses multiple: a dynamic driver for lows and dual Knowles drivers for mids and highs. The multi-driver setup makes that incredible separation of sound and smooth detail possible.
During my entire testing time with the Status Pro X earbuds, I didn’t download an app or make any changes to the sound, and still I enjoyed a warmth and agility I’ve never heard from a mid-range pair of earbuds. If I didn’t know the prices of these ($249 on the official site), I would have sworn these cost at least twice the price. Impressive.
Now, I did attempt to enable Android’s LDAC codec for 990/kbps/090/kbps, but found the connection dropped too much, so I switched it back to best effort. I also had HD audio enabled. Both of these features are only available from within the Developer Options.
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Even without the higher quality LDAC setting, these earbuds easily bested every pair of earbuds I have at my disposal. Every song and genre I threw at the Status Pro X earbuds sounded gloriously alive. From Rush, Leprous, Purity Ring, Spiritbox, Cocteau Twins, Gary Numan, and many more — they all came alive through these.
The fit is where things aren’t quite as fantastic. To get a good seal with these earbuds, you have to pull your ear up as you insert them and make sure you’re using the right size tips. The Status Pro X won’t give you a solid feel if you just jam them into your ears without intention. But when you get them properly seated, you’re in for a lot of dancing and smiles.
ZDNET’s buying advice
You are not going to find a better-sounding pair of earbuds at this price. These are, hands down, the best pair of earbuds I’ve tested at this price point. Heck, the Status Pro X earbuds are better than every pair of earbuds I’ve tested or used (from the cheap to the expensive and everything in between).
These earbuds sound so good that I would dare any other company to send me earbuds that they believe can dethrone the Status Pro X earbuds as my top recommendation of 2025.
Just buy these and forget about those trashy earbuds you’ve been using for years.
Status Pro X earbuds tech specs
- Triple driver setup (dual Knowles balanced armature drivers and one 12″ dynamic driver)
- -52db active noise canceling
- AI speech enhancement
- Bluetooth 5.3
- IP55 water resistance
- 3 beam-forming mics
- 8-hour battery life from a single charge (with a total of 24 hours using the charging case)
- Optical wearing sensor
- 24-bit/96 kHz audio over Bluetooth
- LDAC support for audio up to 990 kbps
- Both touch and physical button control