Noise launched the Shots XO, the company’s latest wireless earbuds last month in the Noise Shots X series. It features Bluetooth 5.0, aptX support, has touch controls and promises 150 hours of playback time with the 2200mAh case. After using it for a week, here is the review of Noise Shots X5 Pro.
Box Contents
- Noise Shots X5 Pro in Charcoal Grey color
- Different set of ear tips (Small, Medium and Large)
- USB Type-C Cable
- User manual
Design and Build Quality
Starting with the design, the Noise Shots X5 Pro has a unique case that is slightly bigger than most earbuds since it packs a huge battery. Total weight of the case with the earbuds are about 97.6 grams, even though it packs a 2200mAh battery, and the earbuds weigh about 5.4 grams.
Even through the headset it is made of plastic, it has matte finish on the outside and rubber finish on the inside, which is good and doesn’t attract fingerprints. Even the case has smooth rubber matte finish on the outside so it doesn’t attract fingerprints or scratches easily, but dust is visible clearly since it is black in color. On the inside it has a plastic finish. Since the case is a bit large, you can’t carry it in your pocket easily.
The earbuds have LED lights that glow in white and red colors. There are touch controls on both the earbuds that lets you play or pause music, go to previous or next song, launch voice assistant, control volume and also accept or reject calls, but you can’t turn it on. These controls are a bit different from some Noise headsets. Check them out below.
| Function | Left earphone (L) | Right earphone (R) |
| Play/Pause | Single tap | |
| Previous Song | Double tap | |
| Next Song | Double tap | |
| Volume up | Touch and hold | |
| Volume down | Touch and hold | |
| Answer/end call | Single tap | |
| Reject call | Touch and hold for 2 seconds | |
| Voice Assistant | Touch and hold for 4 seconds | |
Since it has in-ear buds, these fit your ears firmly and doesn’t fall off easily during workouts or even when running. I didn’t try it for my runs during lockdown, but I did try it during my workouts for over an hour without any issues. You have to select the correct set of buds to suit your ears so that they are comfortable. It also has a small hooks in rubber so it fits your ears perfectly. Since it comes with IPX7 ratings, it can withstand sweat and light rain.
Audio Quality
Coming to the audio quality, these earbuds offers fairly good audio quality with decent amount of bass. Since it packs 6mm graphene drivers and has aptX codec, you get good audio experience. Volume of the headset is good enough from 60 to 70%, but you might have to increase the volume beyond that if you are in crowded, noisy environment. Prolonged use in high volume might affect your ears, which we don’t recommend. The earbuds offer good amount of noise isolation, thanks to the rubber material on the inside and the tight ear hooks. Overall the audio quality is decent for the price. We did not face any issues in connection or pairing.
The headset has a microphone which is decent in most crowded and noisy environment, similar to most earbuds but it could have been better.
Connectivity, Pairing and voice assistant
The Bluetooth headset supports Bluetooth 5.0, so you can connect it to Android, iOS devices along with MP3 players with Bluetooth support. It pairs to your phone quickly when you remove them from the case. It shows both the left and right earphones, and once you pair the right, the left one automatically connects to it. After the left earphone connects, on the right earphone you hear ‘pairing’ and the LED indication flashes. You just have to select the Shots X5 Pro from the Bluetooth menu on the phone to pair the headphones. You get voice feedback when it enters pairing mode and when it connects successfully.
The headset doesn’t have a companion app, but you can launch Siri on iOS and Google Assistant on Android devices when you touch and hold the right or right earbuds for 4 seconds when no music is playing.
Battery Life
The company promises up to 8 hours of battery life on a single charge, and we managed to get over 7 hours of battery life on a single charge when listening in about 70% volume, which is good. The headset automatically turns off when it’s not in use for about 5 minutes and doesn’t have a power off button, so you have to keep the headset in the case and close it.
The case has 2200mAh battery that promises 18 more charges or additional 30 hours of battery life, so you get a total 150 hours of battery life, which is good. If you have Android phones running Android 8.1 or later, you can see battery life of the Bluetooth headset. It gives audio prompts to charge the headset when the headset has low battery.
Charging the headset takes about 1.5 hours and charging the case from 0 to 100% takes about 2 hours using 5V-1A charger via USB Type-C port, which is covered by a flap. There is also a USB Type-C port that lets you charge other devices like smartwatch, smart band and other small devices since it offers 5V/1A output. There is an LED indicator that glows in orange to shows the battery life in the case.
| LED indicator on the charging case | Battery Percentage |
| Flashes once in 2 seconds | 0 to 25% |
| Flashes twice in 2 seconds | 25% to 50% |
| Flashes thrice in 2 seconds | 50% to 75% |
| Flashes four times in 2 seconds | 75% to 100% |
Conclusion
Priced at Rs. 4999, the Noise Shots X5 Pro is a good Bluetooth headset with good audio quality with Qualcomm aptX support and long battery life as well as IPX7 ratings for water resistance. It is available on Flipkart and gonoise.com in Charcoal Grey and should be available through other online retailers soon.