I love it when a pair of earbuds I’ve liked gets a noticeable upgrade across many areas. Back in 2023, I reviewed the Status Audio Between 3ANC earbuds and thought they were cool, but not quite enough to replace my trusted Apple AirPods Pro earbuds. It’s now 2025, and Status Audio has not been resting on its past status (pun intended). They’ve just released their Pro X Wireless Earbuds (a much better name than Between ANC), and it’s garnering a lot of buzz in the audio world for good reasons. What is different or improved, and should you care?
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $299.00
Where to buy: Amazon
What is it?
The Status Pro X earbuds are the latest in Status’s line of squarish-looking earbuds. These earbuds do not look like they would be comfortable, but looks can be deceiving. The Pro X earbuds are quite comfortable to wear for extended periods.
The Pro X earbuds and case are smaller than their predecessor, the Between ANC buds. However, the hybrid speaker setup has been upgraded. The dynamic speaker has been enlarged from 10mm to 12mm in diameter, and Knowles has upgraded the two balanced armature speakers (Knowles knows armatures).
The Status app has been upgraded to include the Pro X and can adjust its many features.
What’s included?
- Pro X earbuds
- Case
- Eartips x 3 sizes
- charging cable
Tech specs
- 12mm Dynamic speaker
- Knowles balanced armatures x2
- Case
- IP55 water & dust resistance
- Optical Wearing Sensor
- Call speech enhancement
- ANC
- 8 hrs playback per charge
Design and features
I’ve always been a fan of hybrid earbuds. Hybrid means that the earbuds contain both dynamic and armature speakers. The dynamic speakers hidden inside the Pro X earbuds look like a tiny version of a regular speaker found in headphones and bookshelf speakers. Armature speakers are a whole ‘nuther animal. These really small speakers are taken from the hearing aid industry. I’ll get into the specifics later in the review.
When unboxing, the first thing I noticed was the FitWings, those soft silicone wraps that help the earbuds fit securely. They’re gone—not necessary anymore. It’s one less thing to worry about, and the Pro X earbuds fit great without them.
Status provides three sizes of silicone ear tips: Small, Medium, and Large. It’s essential to have the correctly sized ear tips, or the bass will be weak.
The square shape of the Pro X earbuds shows outside the ear. Comfort comes from the ergonomically shaped part that sits inside the ear. There are two button placements on each earbud. The top portion houses a single physical button that toggles (single click) between Active Noise Canceling (ANC) and Ambient mode (which allows hearing all background noise). Ambient mode is also called Transparency mode. Double-clicking the button opens voice assistance, such as Siri or Google Assistant. I’m not a fan of either, so no double-clicking for me. Note that the physicals button can not be customized.
What can be customized is what Status calls the “Capacitive Touch Surface”. It’s the metal exterior part of the Pro X earbud. Touch (or Tap) settings are already set when first used, but the Status app (iOS and Android) allows for almost infinite customization. Whie I could use the touch features, it takes a while to get comfortable with a touch vs. a tap. I sometimes had issues: sometimes a function would work when I touched it, and sometimes nothing would happen when I tapped. Sometimes, touching is too sensitive. A few times, my finger or hand would brush past the touch area, and the music would pause. When given a choice, I prefer physical buttons.
One surprising feature is what Status calls “Voiceloom”. Voiceloom uses AI speech enhancement (along with three mics per earbud) to filter out background noise — so only your voice comes through—and it works! You would be surprised how many earbuds sound awful to other people—no matter the cost. My brother (and earbud talk tester) says my voice comes through quite well. He said I sounded as good as when I called him on my Apple AirPods Pro earphones. That’s high praise.
Another plus for calls is “Sidetone”. This feature uses the mics to let you hear your own voice during calls. This helps you avoid talking too loudly during calls. We old-timers remember this feature on landline phones. Why every earbud doesn’t do this is a mystery to me.
Active noise canceling (ANC) is quite good, but not as good as Apple AirPods Pro earbuds. Then again, I’m not sure anyone’s ANC is as good as Apple’s. Ambient Mode is amazing. I can hear everything around me, and my hearing ain’t good. For workouts and weather incidents, the Pro Xs have an IP55 rating—dust and water resistance—however, not total submersion.
Status has done a great job with their app. Aside from the settings already mentioned, the app also shows the battery life for both the earbuds and the case. If an earbud is misplaced, the app can find it by having the earbud emit a loud sound. Note that Bluetooth is required for this to work.
The app has five preset equalizer (EQ) settings and one custom setting. Usually, I prefer one of my custom prefs, but I like the “Status Signature” setting enough to leave it. It gives me enough bass without overtaking the middle and higher frequencies. With a nod to Goldilocks, I call it the Mama setting—not too bassy and not too bright—just right.
Status hasn’t neglected those who prefer accuracy above all else. There are two settings for audiophiles. “Status Audiophile” (duh) sounds similar to the Signature setting, but a bit brighter. The “Knowles Preferred” setting is an actual audiophile setting. It’s accurate to a fault. While I appreciate this EQ, it’s too bright and sparkly-sounding for my aging ears. YMMV. The other two settings are voice-centric. “Podcast” is for streaming talk. It’s suitable for news also. “Vocal Enhancement” is good for folk and pop music.
Bluetooth 5.3 showcases some of the latest and best audio improvements in wireless listening. The Pro X earbuds support both hi-res (24-bit/96 kHz audio, surpassing CD quality) and LDAC, which streams wireless audio at up to 990 kbps. Here’s the rub: I don’t care. Bluetooth has advanced so much that listening to wireless (lossy) audio over my Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max sounds excellent to me. How music is mixed and mastered is way more important than the codec used to transmit the audio. It doesn’t matter if Apple won’t use the same hi-res streaming that Android brags about. ‘Nuff said.
What does matter are the speakers’ Status uses in the Pro X earbuds. They use a hybrid setup with two balanced-armature speakers per earbud and a single 12mm dynamic speaker. In the Pro X, the dynamic speaker is tuned to deliver deep bass (like a subwoofer). The armatures are tuned for middle and high frequencies, revealing musical detail that otherwise might be missing. Status has done a great job of covering the audio spectrum with this hybrid combination.
I get the bass I want without it becoming muddy-sounding. Bassheads may not be pleased. The Knowles armatures are tuned so that there’s no brittleness to higher notes. As a fan of classic rock, I like the ability to bring up the bass (a weak point in 60s-70s music) while keeping it clean. Also, I can listen to my favorite 80s New Romantic music, with its thundering synth bottom end that can distort lesser earphones. Ultravox and Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark never sounded better!
Final thoughts
The Status Pro X earbuds are not cheap. Three hundred bucks is a lot for earbuds. However, one can spend much, much more to only achieve a similar sound. Their previous Between 3ANC earbuds are really good, but as I said, Status has improved every aspect of this design. The Pro X packs more into a smaller, more petite body and case while upping the build quality and sound. What those improvements are worth to you is something only you can determine.
What I like about the Status Audio Pro X Wireless Earbuds
- Well made
- Great, detailed, and balanced audio
- Comfortable
- Sounds better than other, more expensive earphones
What needs to be improved?
- Expensive
- Hard to open the case with one hand
Price: $299.00
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Status. Status did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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