Status Between Pro review
One-minute review
What’s important in a pair of in-ear headphones? Connectivity, sure – you want to be able to hook the things up to any device where your music is stored. Audio quality is a big one too – you won’t be able to enjoy them if they sound like a belch fed through a combine harvester. But the most tangible, instantly-obvious factor when using headphones of any shape is their fit and comfort. And the Status Between Pro absolutely excel in this regard.
The Status Between Pro are among the most comfortable of any true wireless earphones we’ve ever used. Though their unusual oblong design at first appears odd, they prove perfectly weighted in the ear, so much so that it’s easy to forget you’re even wearing them.
An unusual shape also has other unexpected benefits – the larger size allows for a more capacious battery, squeezing 12 hours into the the ear buds themselves and a further 36 hours in the charging case for a total of 48 hours playback. It also allows for an easy-to-squeeze physical playback control button on the top of each bud.
Audio quality is strong too, with a warmth to the presentation well suited to all forms of music, being detailed without being harsh, and a smooth bass level that adds some oomph without overwhelming the mids.
A lack of active noise cancellation is a shame, and the charging case can be a bit fiddly to slot the earbuds back into, but given the reasonable pricing, they’re small foibles in what are otherwise among the best true wireless headphones you can buy.
Status Between Pro price and release date
- Priced $169 / £120
- Available from April 2021
Given their performance, the Status Between Pro earphones are well priced, sitting at the $169 / £120 mark (and already seeing promotional discounts from the manufacturer lowering that price further). For comparison, Apple’s regular AirPods start at $159 / £159, so you’re getting a more favorable deal in the UK in currency conversion terms for the Between Pro in this rare instance.
That’s a great price given the audio quality, fit and extra-long battery life, but if you’re on the market for something cheaper, we still like to point you towards the Lypertek PurePlay Z3 (formerly known as the Lypertek Tevi before a name change), which impressed us for value for money at under $100 / £100.
The Status Between Pro true wireless earbuds go on general sale from the start of April, 2021, and can be pre-ordered now.
Design
- Fantastically comfortable and well weighted
- Shape is perfect for the physical control buttons
- Very generous battery life
The Status Between Pro do not look like many other true wireless earbuds. Rather than being bullet-like in shape, or having AirPod-like stems, they’re more like miniature USB thumb drives with buds attached that you pop into your ears. About an inch long and half as wide, they’re two-tone in color – half black, and half silver, with the pillbox-style charging case in black.
With a larger surface area to play with than other true wireless earbud shapes, Status put the shape to good use. As we’ll discuss in greater depth later, there’s just more room for stuff, be that the capacious battery, triple drivers, or two mics per bud.
The design comes into its own in terms of the physical buttons it makes use of too. Small, slightly raised and circular in shape, they sit on the top edge of each earbud. With the squared off edges of the earbud design, they’re easily pressed for playback controls by resting your thumb at their base and pushing down with your forefinger.
There’s none of the inaccuracy associated with tiny-surface touch controls, nor the discomfort of pushing a button that results in the bud being uncomfortably shoved further into your ear. It’s simple and effective.
Play and pause is handled by a single tap of either button, volume up a double tap of the right button, and volume down a double tap on the left. Previous tracks are reached by pressing and holding the left button, next track by pressing and holding the right button the voice assistant of your platform of choice accessed by a triple press. A short press of either side answers a call, pressing and holding rejects a call, and ending a call takes just a single press, too.
In the ear they’re also great – the Between Pro comes with small, medium and large pairs of both silicon eartips and the same range for silicon wings too, letting you tailor the fit to your ear shape and size. Once in, the weight is so well distributed, and the fit and seal so comfortable, that it’s easy to forget they’re even in your ears. They’ll sit happily in your ears for hours without causing annoyance – high-praise for in-ear buds.
The charging case is standard true wireless fare – the earbuds sit inside little recesses, snapping into the holes magnetically and activating their charging connection. Lift the lid and take them out and they’ll connect to your device automatically once a preliminary set up has been carried out, while popping them back in will switch them off and charge from the case’s onboard battery reserves.
You’ll find a USB-C connection for charging the case on its underside, as well as a reset button. It’s not the smallest charging case we’ve seen, nor the biggest, and squeezes a lot of auxiliary battery power for its size.
If there’s one downside, it’s that the shape of the earbuds can be a little cumbersome when removing and replacing them inside the case. There’s not a great place to get a good hold of them when they’re deeply recessed in the charging case, and their J-shaped profile can make them a little fiddly to re-insert into the charging case, especially when on the move.
IPX5 water resistance will see the buds easily handle a splash of rain or a sweaty run – just don’t go dropping them into any puddles.
Audio performance
- Triple driver design (10mm Dynamic Driver + 2x Balanced Armatures)
- Apt-X, AAC, SBC codec support
- Good passive noise cancellation
The Status Between Pro earbuds are among the best-sounding true wireless earbuds we’ve tested. There’s a warmth and complexity to the sound provided here that gives an excellent representation of any track you throw at it, balancing an excellent bass response with detailed mids and highs.
This is thanks to the triple driver configuration that Status has used here, a rarity in true wireless buds. A 10mm dynamic driver takes care of bass frequencies, while two balanced armatures in each bud work the mids and highs. It allows for thumping bass (even sub bass) without smothering the other elements of the sound, letting shimmering sounds sit alongside the low-end kick. They’re not as flat, or reference sounding as the audiophile marketing would suggest – they’re a bit too warm for that – but they’re open, inviting and very pleasant.
Kicking off with some classic electronica, Giorgio Moroder’s Chase beats with an urgency perfectly fitting of the Status Between Pro’s sound signature. The thick synth bass drives through, but without overpowering the lead synth lines, while the swirling flanging sounds remain distinct from the occasional percussive interruptions.
Moving onto something a bit scuzzier, Shame’s Alphabet, from latest album Drunk Tank Pink, punches like a fuzzed up fist, its distorted wall of sound rumbling away and showing the earbuds excellent command of demanding bass and punctuating high-end guitars.
The detailed separation between lows and highs is even better displayed with old-school hip hop anthem Protect Ya Neck from Wu-Tang Clan. The sub-bass sample hums rhythmically, with Method Man’s flow sitting at the front with a powerful presence.
The buds handle more delicate tunes with aplomb too – Claude Debussy’s Rêverie, as played by Alaine Planes on 2007’s Estampes, Pour le Piano (Piano Works), is a wonderful example of the broad soundstage here – listen carefully and you can pick out the faintest of birdsong sitting underneath the opening piano lines.
There’s also solid codec support across the key formats, including AptX, AAC, SBC.
At this price point, it’s hard to expect noise cancellation being included. But the buds crank up to a good volume, and the seal fits well, so in many cases you won’t have any trouble with the real world slipping inside your audio sanctuary. We'd happily pay a tad more to have active noise cancellation in a future model – the battery capacity here seems to leave some headroom to support it.
Note that, should you desire, you can use each bud individually too, should you want to leave one ear free for your surroundings.
Battery life and connectivity
- 48 hour battery life (12 in buds, 36 in case)
- Bluetooth 5.2, plus four separate mics
- Almost too fast when connecting
With slightly larger buds and a reasonably sized charging case, the Status Between Pro offers a respectable total of 48 hours playback from a single charge. That breaks down to 12 hours in the buds and 36 housed in the case – with that 12 hour onboard battery life in particular among the best we’ve ever seen. It’s a great tally, though we’d have appreciated a clearer way of identifying remaining battery life in the charging case, as its single blue flashing LED is a bit cryptic at a glance.
We were also very impressed with the mics present on the Status Between Pro. Each bud houses two separate mics, one each along the base and top edges of the buds. Even outside with considerable ambient noise, our call recipients were able to hear our conversations clearly – something that few true wireless earbuds consistently manage.
Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity provides a consistent and stable connection to every device we’ve tried the Status Between Pro earbuds with, which managed to deliver a strong connection when even connecting to a host device a few rooms and walls away. Likewise, there’s no noticeable lag when watching videos or playing games.
One minor complaint we’d like to see addressed in a future firmware update would be to make the headphones perhaps a second or too less eager to connect to a device – you can hear the built in connection manager announcing it’s connected to your device before you’ve had a chance to put them in your ear, which can lead to a few seconds of confusion while you’re left to check that it actually has indeed reconnected to your handset, laptop or other previous source of your choosing.
There's also no app or EQ here. But we were pleased with the out-of-the-box presentation, and are happy to avoid clogging our phones up with yet another app when connectivity is consistent anyway.
Should I buy the Status Between Pro?
Buy them if…
You value comfort above all else: It’s easy to forget that the Status Between Pro are even in your ears at times, they’re that comfortable. You can wear them for hours without them becoming annoying.
You enjoy a detailed, warm sound: The Status Between Pro are beautifully balanced, with a bass that envelopes without overwhelming, detailed highs and clear mids.
You're after earbuds with strong battery life: At 12 hours playback from the buds themselves, the Status Between Pro are class leading – and the 48 hours playback of the overall combined battery length when including the charging case too is also among the best we've seen.
Don’t Buy them if…
You want active noise cancellation: It’s not to be expected at this price point, but we’d like to see future models of the Between Status Pro support active noise cancellation. Thankfully, the fit and seal offer good passive noise cancellation.
You’re a butter fingers: The unique shape of the Status Between Pro means that they can be a little bit fiddly to fit into their charging case, especially when on the move.
You’re after buds that look like AirPods: We’re a fan of the usability that the thumb-drive styling of the Between Pro offers up, but they may not be to everyone’s taste.
- Best true wireless earbuds: the competition the Status Between Pro face
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