The Edifier X3 are budget earphones with excellent specifications. Edifier wanted to make cheap earphones with just good enough sound and microphone. But are these wireless earbuds still good enough for daily use? You will find out in this review.
In this article
Pros and cons
These are the advantages and disadvantages of the Edifier X3. So you can see immediately whether the earphones are suitable for you.
| Pros | Cons |
| ✔️Clear sound | ❌ Less bass ❌ Illogical touch control |
Specifications Edifier x3
- Price: $ 25
- Chipset: Qualcomm
- Codec: AptX
- Bluetooth: 5.0
- Range: 10m
- Battery box: 350 mAh
- Earbud battery: 50 mAh
- Cable: micro usb
- Waterproof: IPX5 (protected against dust and water splash)
The specifications are fairly average. The only thing that stands out is that the earbuds are more waterproof than many other earphones in this price.
The packaging says Xemai X3. 'Xemai' is the Chinese name for Edifier. So the same product, but the Chinese version.
Sound from the Edifier X3
Sound quality score: 6.5
The sound is decent. But it does leave something to be desired. Let's start with the latter. The Edifier X3 does not have enough bass. The low notes are there, but they are underrepresented. Your most powerful song is somewhat weakened with these X3 earbuds. And that is of course a shame. If you are really a sound freak, you better go for other earplugs.
A striking plus is that these earplugs come with slightly longer ear tips. That guides the sound into your ear better and you hear less ambient noise.Microphone: can you make good calls with the Edifier X3?
Microphone score: 5
The Edifier X3's microphone is fine for the price. It does its job. You can be understood by your conversation partners and that is the most important thing.
But your voice becomes very shrill. The low tones are cut off with this microphone. Just listen to this fragment that we recorded with the Edifier X3:
Every word from our editor is understandable, yes. But is it good enough for video conferencing? No. Often times, people who are going to use earplugs for business want a better microphone than this.
As often with budget earplugs, these earplugs fail with some wind. So on the bike you hope you don't get a call. Admittedly, there are very few earplugs that pass that test well.
Because the Edifier X3 are built a bit wider, it is more difficult to close the microphone input because it hits part of your ear. So that is positive again.
Calling with the Edifier X3
You can be understood by the person you are calling. Let's put that first. Although not in detail, the words can be distinguished for your conversation partner.
But can you hear yourself too? Not very clear. This is due to the silicone ear tips that really close seamlessly in your ear. It is striking that the ear tips are slightly longer than other ear tips.
The ear tips are positive in our opinion. They are comfortable and conduct the sound very well. But they also do not transmit ambient noise. So you cannot hear yourself well while calling. That is something to keep in mind. Do you want to hear yourself while calling? Then try some foam ear tips from AliExpress.
Fit: What about the Edifier X3?
The Edifier X3 sit deeper in your ear canal than other earplugs. That takes some getting used to, but they quickly sit comfortably. The silicone ear tips are also different from those of many other budget earplugs.
The ear tips of the Edifier X3 are better than the ear tips of, for example, QCY. But not as good as foam ear tips. These are earpieces (attachments) made of foam material and they slowly expand in your ear.
Fit score: 6
Not often have we seen earplugs that seal so well in your ear. The passive noise canceling of this Edifier X3 is very good. But that also means that you hear your own voice less well. And that is inconvenient when calling.
The earplugs are built a bit wider. they do not lean in your ear.
Operation of the earplugs
The operation itself works very well. Not once did it happen to us that when touched, the earbuds did not respond. We sometimes saw that differently with other earplugs. In terms of design, you can clearly feel where you have to press on the Edifier X3. Namely on the flat part. So far everything is fine
Operation: 5
Only the choice of which action is behind which control is bad in our opinion. There are many double controls and other functions cannot be operated with the touch control.
How does the touch control of the Edifier X3 work?
| Links | Right | |
| 1x | Music: pause / play Call: record / hang up |
Music: pause / play Call: record / hang up |
| 2x | Next song / video | Next song / video |
| 3x | Previous song / video | Previous song / video |
If you press left or right twice, you will go to the previous song. With 3x left or right you go to the next song. Edifier has opted to double occupancy positions. At the same time, you cannot adjust the volume with the touch. Edifier could have added much better volume control. This has really not been thought about.
Charging box
The box of the Edifier X3 is small. Very small. And that made us suspect that there would be no more than 250 mAh in the earbuds. But nothing is less true. Edifier has actually managed to put 350 mAh in the charging case . That is quite an achievement! It means that you can charge both earbuds 3.5 times from 0% to 100%. An excellent achievement!
The earplugs are a bit crazy in the box. When you place them in the box, they are, as it were, a bit loose on the protruding metal contact points. Those metal contacts are there to conduct the current into the earplugs. But with the Edifier 3X they are a bit more out of the box. Nothing special, but worth mentioning. Perhaps it actually ensures that the charging function continues to work longer.
Conclusion: are the Edifier X3 any good?
| Score (0-10) | |
| Sound | 6.5 |
| Microphone | 5 |
| Fit | 6 |
| Battery | 6 |
| Control | 5 |
| Stability | 7 |
No, the Edifier X3 are not good and you better look at other brands for this price. Nothing has really convinced us that these earplugs are worth it. The earplugs are pure mediocre.
Some disadvantages: you cannot adjust the volume with the touch controls; the microphone leaves something to be desired; the ear tips go very deep into your ear and the sound has too little bass.
Alternatives
Edifier vs. QCY T4, QCY T5
Overall, QCY earplugs have a little more value as far as we're concerned. For example: QCY has its own app in which you determine which functionality the different buttons and touch controls have.
In our opinion, the sound is slightly better with the QCY T4 and QCY T5. In addition, you can use the equalizer in the app to set the high, mid and low tones yourself.
Others also viewed:
- Check out all our blogs about wireless earbuds
- These are the best earplugs under 50 euros
- Also check out our blog about alternatives to the AirPods
