Review of good yoga headphones UGREEN HiTune T3

UGREEN HiTune T3 is an ambitious product that brings active noise cancelling tech below $40 but forgets to nail the basics.

Active noise cancellation below $40? UGREEN is bringing otherwise premium features into a dirt-cheap territory. But at what cost?

On paper, the HiTune T3 should’ve cost more. Earbuds offer ANC, ambient sound mode, and Bluetooth 5.2 connection.

They’re built quite decently and come in a neat packaging with 4 pairs of ear tips.

However, UGREEN focused on features and forgot to master the sound. More on that later.

But hey, you can get them for around $40 which is super cheap. Are they worth getting if you’re on a tight budget?

Learn all the strengths and weaknesses in the full review below.

Sound

Star Rating 2.5 Average

Earbuds have an enormous bass boost that goes into the midrange, making the overall sound quality excessively muddy. Fortunately, the overall smoothness saves them from being unbearable to listen.

UGREEN HiTune T3 could be a fantastic budget product, but the sound tuning was probably too rushed. What you end up with are uneven frequency response and too much bass.

Bass: Too much quantity and extension

Lots of people like loud, punchy bass. That’s why UGREEN tuned the HiTune T3 to sound just like that.

However, you can make the bass boost the right way and the wrong way. Unfortunately, with HiTune T3, you get the latter.

The biggest mistake is that the boost extends too far in the lower mids. Consequently, it makes them muddy and lacking in definition.

Furthermore, the bass has little control, so you can’t properly enjoy fast-paced genres with lots of drumming and double pedal kicks.

I sometimes get headaches if the bass is too strong. Well, the UGREEN HiTune T3 gives me headaches after longer listening sessions.

Of course, lots of people love deep, loud bass, so if that’s you, you’ll probably enjoy the tuning.

Midrange: Good but buried under the bass and warmth

The midrange generally doesn’t deviate too much from what I consider natural or at least natural enough.

Vocals, especially male ones, are good, albeit not very textured. Don’t expect to hear small nuances in music with these.

Moreover, the instruments sound good, as well. Not the most detailed, but you can’t expect that at this price range.

However, since the bass is too loud, it masks the mids and makes them sound overly recessed.

You have to bring up the volume a bit to hear the vocals and instruments more clearly. Sadly, that also brings up the bass.

Treble: Boosted at wrong frequencies

The HiTune T3 have two major peaks, around 7kHz and 16kHz. Otherwise, the sound very much lacks a higher end.

There’s no airiness, and the cymbals, while nice and shimmery, barely peeking out from the mix. A treble boost around 10kHz and above would resolve some issues with the sound quality.

Still, higher frequencies are relatively smooth and don’t cause sibilance.

The soundstage is on the smaller side, and the imaging struggles to place sounds between the left/right and the center channel.

It feels like UGREEN took the sound signature of the previously reviewed EarFun Air S and made their tuning slightly worse.

That’s a shame since these earbuds could be an absolute banger. Reducing the bass would let the sound breathe while balancing the treble would add air and some resolution. Maybe next time.

Nevertheless, people who enjoy heavy bass will surely love these. Due to their balanced midrange and inoffensive treble, they’re still okay to listen to if you don’t have anything else.

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 4.0 Great

UGREEN HiTune T3 have a housing with a smooth finish that fits comfortably in your ears. Stability is great, too, but only for light workouts.

Earbuds adopt a familiar oval shape for the housing, which fits naturally inside your outer ear.

Since the housing is perfectly smooth, it doesn’t poke into the skin. Moreover, the size is just right, so it doesn’t create any pressure points that would start hurting after a while.

Another good thing is that the HiTune T3 also offer a stable fit. At least for regular use and light workouts.

Earbuds will endure outdoor walking easily, and the seal doesn’t break even if you smile. Smiling causes you to move your ears a bit, pushing the earbuds out. Thankfully, not in this case.

On the other hand, vigorous head shakes will make your earbuds to fly off your head.

Durability

Star Rating 2.5 Average

Despite neat packaging, the build quality of the product feels only decent. On top of that, earbuds lack an IP rating, making them a questionable choice for exercising.

While UGREEN wanted to cram inside the HiTune T3 as many features as possible, they forgot to include water resistance as well.

Granted, that doesn’t mean they’ll stop working if you get them sweaty. Plenty of earbuds that lack protection can work fine under moist conditions.

However, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen, so you’ll have to keep that in mind when using UGREEN HiTune T3 for exercising.

Moving to the build quality itself, it’s okay. The earbuds are relatively sturdy with no significant weak points.

The glossy plastic isn’t very flattering, making the earbuds look cheaper than they actually are.

A similar story continues with the charging case. It doesn’t scream confidence, it feels cheap, and it might crack quite easily when accidentally met with the hard ground.

Overall, the build quality is okay for the price, but you should be careful not to toss the case around too much.

Battery

Star Rating 4.0 Great

The battery life of around 7 hours with ANC enabled puts the HiTune T3 in the slightly above-average category. You get another 17 hours from the case, which lacks wireless charging.

ANC earbuds usually don’t last the longest in terms of battery life. The noise reduction chips consume a lot of energy, so it’s nice that even budget products can boast a respectable playtime.

In the case of UGREEN HiTune T3:

You get 7 hours and 16 minutes on a single charge (ANC on).

Another 17 hours of juice is stored in the charging case, which supports fast charging.

The case will add an extra hour of battery life in a 10-minute charge.

The buds themselves need 1.5 hours to charge from 0-100%.

Unfortunately, there’s no Qi wireless charging.

Features

Star Rating 3.0 Good

Earbuds have some features you don’t expect from a budget product yet lack some features that are becoming normal in budget products.

The most notable features UGREEN HiTune T3 bring to the table are active noise cancelling and transparency mode. That’s a rarity under $40.

However, there’s where things stop. There’s no multipoint, Qi wireless charging, no extra Bluetooth codecs, and EQ presets.

You get a wide selection of command gestures that are pretty easy to learn. Earbuds give you audio feedback when using the controls, so you know how many times you tapped them.

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 2.5 Average

Passive noise isolation is about average, only slightly reducing the surrounding sounds due to a fairly light seal.

Some earbuds are quite aggressive when sealing your ear canal, creating unpleasant pressure in the process. UGREEN HiTune T3 wireless earbuds aren’t like that.

They sit gently inside, ensuring excellent comfort but also not-so-strong passive isolation.

The HiTune T3 are pretty comparable to the EarFun Air S in isolation, meaning that unless you play music, you can still hear most of the ambient sound.

Noise Cancelling

Star Rating 2.5 Average

ANC works but doesn’t do much. It works best against lower frequencies, but even they aren’t fully canceled out.

While seeing ANC in such a budget product is commendable, you should always keep your expectations at bay.

The active noise cancellation on the UGREEN HiTune T3 is a mixed bag. It works and can audibly reduce unwanted external noise but leaves a large portion of it intact.

Most noticeably, the bass. You can still distinctly hear the low-end hum, which is the most annoying part during commute or travel.

How is the ambient sound mode?

Earbuds are much better when doing the opposite and boost the surrounding sounds. Although, since the passive isolation isn’t the strongest, earbuds don’t have to do much to amplify the ambiance.

In general, you can hear the person next to you quite well and only slightly quieter compared to not using the earbuds.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 2.5 Average

The Bluetooth range is only average, and there’s a minor audio delay even when using YouTube mobile app.

Looking at the specs, UGREEN HiTune T3 use Bluetooth 5.2, which for the price, is pretty impressive.

However, a newer Bluetooth version doesn’t mean a better connection range. In the case of the HiTune T3, it’s about average.

The earbuds played fine for around 45 feet and completely stopped playing when reaching the second brick wall.

An okay range on its own, but I’ve seen better from other budget products. At least you get a stable connection without random audio stutters to speak about.

How is pairing?

For the first time, you simply have to put earbuds out of the case, and they initiate the pairing mode.

To pair them to some other device, you have to place them in the case, close and open the lid again, and hold the button near a charging port for 3 seconds.

These earbuds don’t support multipoint connection, but they will work in mono mode to save some battery.

What Bluetooth Codecs Do They Use?

UGREEN HiTune T3 support SBC and AAC, which covers Android and iOS users. Since they’re a budget product, they wouldn’t benefit from higher-end Bluetooth codecs like aptX.

Is There an Audio Lag?

There’s a small but noticeable delay between audio and video. It isn’t terrible, and you can get used to it if you aren’t looking directly into people’s mouths.

Strangely, the delay is also present in the YouTube app, which usually syncs the audio over Bluetooth quite well. Unfortunately, there’s no gaming mode to reduce the latency.