Status Pro X reviewed: a challenger worth trying

Tired of the same old stemmed earphones and want to see something different? The Status Pro X stands out and delivers great sound. It’s not all perfect, but they’re a new favourite.

There’s a phrase we start a lot of earphone reviews with lately — there’s no shortage of earphones out there — because it’s true. Earphone makers you know are producing lots of gear, some of it excellent and others less so. But most of them are designed to look the same, with specific styles most people know.

Stemmed earphones like the AirPods are the norm, as are buds that skip stems, providing a small button, circle, or tear drop for your ears, while open-ear styles wrap around the ear and provide an earbud or earphone that sits in your ear, as well. You might even find some jewellery-inspired offerings from the likes of Bose these days, as well.

But what about earphones designed to be different?

American earphone specialist Status Audio has been trying something different for a few years. Founded in New York City, it offers a pair of earbuds that not only offers a unique look, but also a unique take on the sound, thanks to the use of three drivers, largely focused on audiophiles who really love their sound.

In its latest pair, the Pro X, Status Audio might be close to nailing the formula, offering a pair that’s not only smart, but offers solid sound, too.

Design and features

Designed a little bit differently, the Status Pro X looks to appeal to folks who don’t want another thin stemmed-style of earbuds, or even one of the more compact teardrop buds.

These are rather different.

Instead of either of those, Status opts for a rectangular stem that almost looks like a severely shortened Bluetooth mic, or even a small product tag hanging out of your ear. It is decidedly different and entirely unique, though not out of kilter from the other Status earphone offerings we’ve seen before.

It’s not just a difference in design that makes the Status Pro X different from other earbuds. While most of the earphones we see come with a single driver, the Status Pro X uses three per ear, made up of a 12mm dynamic driver and two balanced armature drivers provided by Knowles, a specialist component maker for microphones and speakers, making this suitably focused.

The result is three drivers designed for seriously solid sound, the 12mm driver being an upgrade from the 10mm of the previous model and focused on the entire range including some solid bass, while the two Knowles balanced armature drivers cover mids and highs.

It’s a threesome for folks who love their sound, as Status opts for more drivers for better sound.

In-use

While the choice of drivers makes the Status Pro X very clever, its approach to controls is a little yesteryear by comparison.

Modern high-end earbuds may opt for touch controls, but Status is staying old school with taps and touches in an approach that’s entirely normal for earphones under $300, but less so for those over it.

Tap one to pause and play on either side. Tap twice on the left to go back a track and twice on the right to go forward. Hold down the earbud block of a stem to switch transparency and noise cancellation modes. It’s all pretty easy, and there’s even an app to help you along.

Comfort-wise, the Status Pro X is nice in the ear and doesn’t take a whole lot of twisting or prying to make it work. Simply choose your tip size, insert, and you’re more or less sorted.

There are less parts to the design you need to change compared to their predecessor, making them both uniquely designed and easier to wear, plus stable, as well.

One thing you will get that’s nice and modern is an optical wear sensor, so when you take a bud out, the music stops. Conversely when you throw them back in after a day of not wearing them, yesterday’s music kicks in where you last left it. That’s handy.

Performance

Music is what most people will be using the Pro X for, so it’s time we tackle that.

As usual, that’s handled with listening to the Pickr Sound Test, a set of tracks you can listen to for yourself, kicking off with electronic. In the first couple of tracks from the likes of Tycho and Daft Punk, the three driver system with a nice and comfortable sound that’s a little on the warm side, offering nice highs and mids, and some good punchy bass.

There’s great detail here and an excellent sound stage, delivering a performance not unlike a great loudspeaker, made for your ears.

It was much the same in pop and soul: a nice punch without too much oomph from the lows. Not so much a hefty sound, but a good strong warm sound with plenty of detail. The bass doesn’t kick too hard, and the tonality is clear.

Take the bass in FKA Twigs’ earthy “Two Weeks”, where the guttural bass wasn’t ear-splitting, but rather slightly soft and yet also polished. It’s a pronounced sound that still comes off as nice and comfortable, as was the low warble from Muse’s “Madness”.

Most tracks delivered much the same, with plenty of detail and a sense of accuracy throughout. The star tracks were from the likes of David Bowie, The Beatles, Paul Simon, and then jazz, such as pieces from Dave Brubeck, Ray Brown, and Miles Davis, each rich and detailed, allowing you to hear each piece of music as if played the way it was meant to.

The Status Pro X are lovely earphones for sure.

Noise cancellation

While the sound is rich and stunning, the noise cancellation could be improved slightly. It’s definitely better than the Between 3ANC, the previous pair from Status we checked out, but it’s not quite on the same level as what either Apple or Bose delivers.

Aircraft will be fine, and quiet-ish environments will be quieter, but walking in the city, sitting on a train, or just generally strolling by a road will see some sounds quelled, but also have plenty come in.

The noise cancellation isn’t the best, but it’s also not bad. We’d rate it as probably on par with 2023 releases, but not quite where the premium is this year.

Battery

The effort on battery life isn’t bad, but also isn’t spectacular, providing a maximum of 24 hours in the case, but roughly 8 hours per charge. The case can be recharged using either wired USB-C or wireless Qi chargers, so recharging is pretty easy to do.

We’re hopeful for more battery life, because while a set of 8 hours per charge isn’t bad, the fact that there are only two more full charges in the box is less spectacular. It’s certainly doable, though.

Value

The value is where things get a little sticky, because while $470 isn’t a terrible price to pay for the quality of sound on offer, the entire package doesn’t match the price.

You get great sound in a cool design, but spatial is missing, the noise cancellation needs work, and the battery is lower than where we’d expect it.

Audiophiles are definitely being considered here, and they may not care about those last three points. The problem is the competition has, which makes the $469 price point a little less on point.

What needs work?

Those points are difficult to ignore, as well.

Noise cancellation has hit a new level of awesome lately between the Apple AirPods Pro 3 and the Bose QC Ultra 2nd-gen, both of which are like sealing yourself in a bubble of your own sound.

We’re not suggesting that Status’ take on ANC is bad — it’s not, and manages to be better than the Between3 ANC from last time — but is it worth the price being targeted? Not really.

The omission of spatial is a minor issue, and one we doubt audiophiles will have a problem with, but again, it’s in the competition. All three of those prior models offer it in some form, with Bose clearly giving the most platform-agnostic approach which works on every device.

And the battery life could be improved, squeezing a little more juice out of the case and earphones.

The control could also be improved slightly, as we found they weren’t always reliable.

Some moments you’d find yourself tapping to pause to no avail, only to pull the earphones from your ears and have the pause actually work. It could be teething issues or just a slight delay, because we had that a few times, too.

What we love

While there are definitely things that could be better, the Status Pro X are a dramatic improvement on the previous generation, the Between 3ANC, which kept the same design and focus on a three-driver piece of hardware, but didn’t feel nearly this refined.

Easily one of the better pairs of the year, the sound is up there while the design is different.

An easier way of explaining just how enamoured this reviewer is of these headphones is this:

I have a stack of earbuds to review ahead of the holiday season, and a choice of pretty much anything to grab at the moment. I am going out of my way to listen to the Status Pro X. They’re a lovely pair of earbuds.

Status Pro X vs the competition

Of course, they are a lovely pair of earbuds with solid competition, and that’s partly what makes recommending the Status Pro X more complex.

The sound is excellent, with the three-driver approach delivering a huge win for Status. It’s simply lovely.

But so, too, is the sound from Bose’s excellent QuietComfort Ultra 2nd-gen, from Technics’ beautifully clear AZ100, and even from the lovely Apple AirPods Pro 3. All three are at the top of the game this year and hard to argue against.

Status has certainly delivered something different, though, and if you’re looking for something different and genuinely lovely, they’re worth a look.

Final thoughts (TLDR)

The Status Pro X are a surprise hit from a brand you’ve probably never heard of, and it’s exciting to see. Not just another earbud clone — of which so many are — the Status Pro X stand out positively, both in design and sound.

There’s a richness here, and they invite you to re-listen to your music, to hear what three nicely tuned drivers can do per ear, and to see how the equaliser settings can play the sound a little bit differently, as well.

You won’t find the fun of head-tracked spatial, and the noise cancellation isn’t as up there as the best of Bose and Apple. But it may not matter.

Like the Technics AZ100, the Status Pro X are built for people who love their sound.

With the launch of the Pro X, Status cements itself a challenger worth trying. If you want to stand out with quality sound, these earphones are ace.