The new Honor Earbuds 3 Pro have a lot to offer. For one thing, it's the world's first coaxial dual driver design with an 11mm dynamic driver and a piezoelectric ceramic tweeter (the individual driver units are built concentrically, the tweeter inside the driver). Then there's the AirPods Pro-but-for-Android angle: let's face it, the design is a proven winner. Quick iOS-style pairing with your Android phone? An open goal.
And at $199 (about $178 / £238 / AU$367), with four different noise-canceling profiles, a separate environmental awareness feature, an intuitive app, simultaneous device pairing, and one more USP than Apple could achieve in any set. headphones so far, they're cold winners, right?
Except that the latest promised (and much-hyped) global feature is nowhere to be found. And Honor has confirmed to TechRadar that its latest headphones won't be compatible with the UK and EU after all.
Analysis: Your headphones still can't tell you're hot
The one feature that Honor hasn't really beaten Apple to in a set of true wireless earphones is the ability to record and monitor the user's temperature.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar after we were unable to find the feature and requested comment, an Honor spokesperson said: "Since its inception, Honor has always strategically focused on innovation, quality products and services, and is committed to the development of technology that empowers people all over the world.In each market that Honor operates in, Honor strictly complies with local laws and regulations.In view of these factors, the introduction of features and products to the markets will also vary according to market requirements.
Therefore, Honor Earbuds 3 Pro will not have a temperature sensor in the UK and European markets."
Disappointing. Upon receiving my pair, I happily unboxed the Earbuds 3 Pro, hoping I could take my temperature by triple-tapping the earbud as promised. The ability to track continuous measurement over time and trigger an "abnormal temperature alert" has also been widely reported (and eagerly awaited by me). But none of it was there as I patiently tapped each earbud and navigated the well-designed, intuitive app.
So why the quick Honor change? Well, the company previously claimed that its AI temperature algorithm has an 80% chance of getting an error of ±0,3 degrees Celsius or less in a lab setting; however, the actual margin of error may vary by person and environment, and as a tribute to Honor, the company has always stated that the product should not be used for medical purposes.
Above all, when Honor happily announced to the press that its temperature-monitoring sensors would definitely be included in successors to the Honor Earbuds 2 Lite, it prefaced the announcement with the fact that the technology had yet to receive regulatory approval.
It remains to be seen if Honor's temperature monitoring technology will be available in other markets; after all, surely the hardware design is in the making. But do we need such a feature when your fitness tracker can offer it? Maybe not, but that doesn't make it less desirable for those of us who practically live with headphones in our ears but choose not to wear a watch...