Haylou GT3 True Wireless Earbuds Review: Comfort over fit
Retail price: $24.99
DISCLAIMER: HAYLOU SENT US A REVIEW UNIT OF THE GT3 TRUE WIRELESS EARBUDS BUT ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE OUR OWN
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees and support our channel by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
The Haylou GT3 true wireless earbuds come packed with features for a low $24.99 price point. One month later, how did the features and functions hold up? Let’s take a closer look.
Out of the Box
The Haylou GT3 comes in simple and cohesive packaging with a charging case weighing in at 33.3 g and each earpiece weighing in at 3.8 g respectively. Included in the box are three sets of ear tips for adjustable sizing and a USB-C charging cable. Compared to most wireless headphones, the case is a pretty standard size with a length just shy of 3 in, width of 1.5 in and height of 1.25 in. It also features an LED light to indicate battery level. The GT3 uses Bluetooth 5.0 allowing for up to 10M (32.8 FT) range, 7.2 mm dynamic coil and DSP smart noise reduction for better call quality. The earpiece also has touch controls and is rated for IPX4 for water resistance.
Battery Life
My opinion on battery life shifted the more I used the GT3 earbuds. Battery life started out pretty decent for the first two weeks but became spotty afterwards. I suspect this may be a result of the smaller body size thus housing a smaller battery in the allotted space. The earbuds would last for about an hour and 20 minutes to start but dipped gradually over my testing period. As of this review, I was only able to get 45 minutes of playtime, sometimes even less with the same media consumption routines. Maintaining the charging capacity also varied drastically on each earpiece as well. I frequently had to check both earbuds to ensure they were fully charged. Furthermore, the GT3 emits a loud ring indicator sound when the battery is low which is great in theory, but frustrating that I had to frequently charge these earbuds thus hearing that notification often. Once the charging case is fully charged, the GT3 cradle will flash three LED lights indicating a full charge and will flash every time users open the lid. This is a nice feature to have and is an addition to allow a quick understanding of where the battery life is, but unfortunately I was unable to get over the poor battery life.
The Haylou GT3 falls just short of being one of the best fitting and comfortable earbuds.
Comfort Over Fit
As an audiophile, I’m always looking for the perfect fitting set of headphones or earphones for my ears. The Haylou GT3 falls just short of being one of the best fitting and comfortable earbuds. As mentioned earlier, the GT3 earbuds are smaller than other true wireless earbuds I’ve used before and although the battery life is poor, the smaller sized earbuds allow for a more conformed fit in my ears. They sit on the concha of the ear while only the ear tip goes into the canal. The problem with most earbuds is the ear tips are big and you are forced to stick them into the canal which can sometimes create an uncomfortable fit. The GT3 sits just outside of the canal and rests on the ears, allowing users to wear them comfortably for long periods of time if battery life permits. The only drawback here is that the GT3 buds are not quite snug enough for sports and exercise. I tried them out while exercising and playing basketball and although they’re IPX4 rated for sweat resistance, they are also resistant to staying in your ear. I struggled to wear them with movement and no matter how much I tried to push them into my ear canal, they kept slipping out. If you’re looking for a casual pair of earbuds to wear at the office or working from home, these are great for long durations of time but if you’re looking to exercise with them, I am unfortunately not able to recommend them. This is a unique case of comfort over fit.
Functions
There are a number of features available on the GT3. Haylou uses Bluetooth 5.0 in these earbuds allowing for a seamless and long-range connection. Despite a quick and straightforward initial setup, I did run into a few issues connecting my phone. On several occasions, my phone would connect to one earpiece over the other after I unsuccessfully tried to put them in the charging case and remove them once more. Although there were a few of these hiccups with connectivity, it only occurred a small handful of times during my month-long testing period.
In terms of touch controls, the GT3 was very responsive to answering calls, playing and pausing tracks and even activating voice assistant. My biggest issue here was that the touch controls were too responsive. Whenever I adjusted an earpiece, I would end up activating some kind of touch control due to its location on the bud. Because controls can be managed on both ears, anytime I adjusted one side, my podcast or music would pause or skip. This was a huge nuisance for me, especially when using them for exercise.
Finally, although Haylou created these earbuds with IPX4 water resistance, I simply don’t see the real advantage of this because of the poor fit. While fit is subjective, functionality is not. These can probably survive an accidental drop into a sink or puddle but don’t expect them to function too well in a wet commute or water sport.
Sound Quality
Haylou GT3 has a 7.2 mm polymer diaphragm, SBC audio decoding and master-slave switch to switch between mono and stereo mode quickly. The sound quality on these seems pretty average for a wireless pair of earbuds. They sound better than cheap corded pairs but are not as good as other true wireless earbuds out there. To be honest, to the general user out there, they’d probably sound pretty on par with the original AirPods. As for phone calls, the call quality is solid thanks to the DSP smart noise reduction. I haven’t had a problem with call audio quality even while driving. Considering the price here, the GT3 gets the job done.
The Verdict
Whilte the Haylou GT3 tries to pack everything into these earphones for a fraction of the price of its competitors, it falls short on some essential features needed such as battery and sound quality. Sometimes going back and nearly perfecting the basics goes a long way over an abundance of specs. A long lasting and terrific sounding pair of earbuds will always have a place above a decent set with a bunch of features. At this price point though, they’re still hard to pass up as there are much worse options that don’t have any of what Haylou offers with the GT3. If you’re looking to try out a pair of wireless earbuds for the first time without damaging your wallet, these will work for everyday casual use. Just don’t expect them to outperform and blow you away.
Related
Martin
Always in tune with the beat, audiophile doesn’t even begin to describe Martin’s intense passion for music. Whether it be in the front row of an Anderson .Paak show or popping to a Lizzo track in the back of a coffee shop, this Mechanical Engineer is meticulous with what goes through his earlobes simply because he knows exactly what it takes to make a quality headset.