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We’d suspect you already have your favourite earbuds, daily driving them until within an inch of their useful life. At which point you’ll probably splash out for the same ones, again and again. Or at least ungraded versions.
You know, once you stick some AirPods in your ears, that’s pretty much your life decision made. Similarly, run some Google Pixel Buds and you can show your love for the Android Army. Most will then just stick with what they know and love.
Perhaps you are of a different mindset though, happy to switch and swap as you see fit, dipping in and out of various earbuds depending on your mood. It’s something we tend to do fairly occasionally, having enjoyed the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrids, the GravaStar Sirius Pro buds and the stupidly expensive, stunning sounding Audeze Euclids as alternatives to our Google Pixel and Sony WF-1000XM4 buds. Seriously, Sony need to up their game in the naming stakes.
But for all those, if you’ve got the cash to spare and are looking for a high-end set of buds for music listening or Game Pass play via either your laptop or mobile, we highly recommend you grab a set of the Status Between 3ANC buds. We’re even tempted to stick that HIGHLY IN CAPS. Oh, we have.
A name you may not have heard of previously, Status have created the Between 3ANC wireless earbuds. And whilst they look brilliant from the off, it’s that ANC part of the name which really comes to the fore. Active Noise Cancellation from the gods, anyone? It really is that good.
Whether it’s been on a plane, a train or an automobile, we’ve sat with the Status Between 3ANC buds in our ears across pretty much all forms of transport. And once plugged into our lugholes, there’s not been a skip, a jump, or a lack of immersion at any point. The clue may be in that name, but the Between 3ANC buds are flawless in terms of sound isolation – both incoming and outgoing. The active noise cancellation that they provide is – to our ears – second to none, whilst a simple flick through to Transparency mode ensures it’s still simple enough to keep in the real-world game when needed. Just expect folk to be waving limbs at you as they attempt to gain your attention, because there isn’t a chance in hell you’ll be hearing their screams.
They are crystal clear too, can get as loud as you will ever need and ensure that it’s super easy to switch off from the outside world, listening to music, playing Game Pass games for your life. Perhaps much of that is due to the rather unique design that Status employ, but fitment is king in terms of a set of buds. We’ve found these to be extremely comfortable in use for hours at a time.
But let us back up a little and explain why the Between 3ANC wireless earbuds are so good. Yes, that audio certainly helps, and those ANC moments are utterly glorious. But for us, the retro-futuristic visual look that is also in place allows these to really stand out.
The buds themselves make the most of a silicon tip – interchangeable with various sizes in the box – sticking to a secondary, larger silicon covered ‘wing’, again in multiple sizes. The combination of these allows for total dominance when in-ear, securely fitting without any hint of movement. And whilst we’ve mostly been using the Between 3ANC buds for Game Pass gaming, we’ve also grabbed at them for workouts, mostly when on the indoor bike. Sweat and head movement rarely ever provides issue, with IPX-5 water resistance in place.
Housing 10mm drivers, about as many mics as you could imagine – SIX per bud – the external design of the Between 3ANCs is just as good as how the inners feel. Looking slightly like someone has slapped a pair of buds to a small USB memory stick, the bone and silver colourway ensures that you’ll want to be seen wearing these out and about. It’s certainly a bold choice in design ideas, but it’s one that works extremely well, setting the 3ANC buds clear of the rest of the market.
On the external side of things are individual buttons on both the left and right buds. These physical buttons work a variety of functions, with a short tap of either toggling between the 38db’s of Active Noise Cancelling and that of Transparency mode. It’s this which we have found ourselves using the most, but a double tap then also actions your voice assistant of choice. A triple push delivering a battery status.
But there are also touch sensitive controls on each bud, and these are an absolute joy to use. Granted, they take a tiny bit to get used to, but holding that right touch control sees volume increased, whilst keeping a finger depressed on the left takes it down a notch or two. A quick tap on either side will play and pause any tunes whilst double tapping either answers a call or skips music tracks – forward on the right, back on the left. The touch sensitive pad seems to be of a perfect size too as rarely is an action missed. Perhaps some of that is down to the size of the bud itself, slightly larger than others that we’ve used.
Those buds also come complete with a couple of red and blue LEDs which come to life as you open the case and get hands on.
Ah, that case. A pill-box shaped design that is longer than it is tall, it’s a supremely well-rounded, highly pocketable piece of kit. It feels great to touch too and whilst we think it’s just plastic with a metal hinge, it comes across with a slight ceramic-y type external feel. It springs open with ease, fitting the buds in magnetically without any worry. The buds themselves slot in facing one another too, and so ensuring you’re putting the right one in the correct place is never even a consideration.
A trio of lights on the front of the case signify battery levels and we’ve found this to be extremely good. In fact, that battery life has been uber impressive with Status promising some eight hours of constant use with ANC mode on (our preferred way of working) and twelve hours off. We don’t loop videos and constantly play audio in order to haul companies over the rocks for incorrect battery hour promises, but if anything, we think we’ve had MORE out of the Between 3ANCs than what has been promised.
And as you’d suspect, a USB-C port ensures that when that case does begin to run out of juice and our audio worries come to the fore, a quick charge through a standard cable or via the likes of the Excitrus 100w Magnetic Wireless Power Bank has kept us going. What’s more, wireless charging between that Power Bank and the Between 3ANC case forgoes the need for any cable too!
It’s safe to say that we’ve been super impressed with the Status Between 3ANC wireless earbuds. It’s been their brilliance which has seen us ditch our much loved EPOS GTW 270’s, possibly for good.
But nothing is perfect and whilst the Status Between 3ANC buds come close, there is a little drop off. That drop off comes – quite literally – in terms of the connection. Whilst multiple devices can be connected to the Between 3ANC at any one time, getting that initial landing can occasionally be tricky. It seems as if both the right and left buds need to connect separately once out of the case, but on rare occasions this has refused to happen. We’ve been left with just one bud working, with a placement back in the case, closing before opening and reinserting into our ears, being the best work around.
It’s far from a disaster and there are most certainly worse things in the world to be worrying about, but it’s more a slight annoyance at how a set of great buds just come up a teeny bit short. Would we still buy them with the knowledge of that issue? Yes, it’s a fifteen second workaround that only arises every now and then. But it’s one we would prefer to not have to make.
We’ve also got slight long-term concerns about the case. The Status Between 3ANC comes in two colourways, each with matching buds inside – a dark Onyx and a pale Bone. We’ve been using the Bone variant for a solid month for this review and even though we take particular care over our tech, there are signs that this may struggle to stay clean, looking as-new over multiple months. We’d certainly not consider pocketing the case with a set of keys or some loose coins for instance. But then, maybe that’s why our trousers were made with multiple pockets.
On the whole though, Status have nailed it with the Between 3ANC wireless earbuds. Whether it has been for gaming on the go, working in the coffee shop, looking for isolation on transport or just kicking back on an evening with music in tow, it’s been the Status Between 3ANC buds that we have consistently grabbed for. Aside from the odd connection issue, these are our new favourite buds, expecting them to keep us rolling via Cloud Gaming and Game Pass going forward.
You’d do well to get the Status Between 3ANC buds on your wishlist.
Huge thanks go out to Status for providing us with the Between 3ANC Wireless Earbuds for review. Grab yourself a set right now from Status direct.