Review of the Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro Bluetooth speaker

Honor is expanding its range of Bluetooth speakers through the Honor Choice ecosystem, offering products from other manufacturers under its brand. We recently reviewed the compact model Honor Choice Portable Bluetooth Speaker (MusicBox M1), and today we’ll turn our attention to a mid-size cylindrical Bluetooth speaker.

The Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro promises to be competitive even at a slightly below-average price. It attracts attention with its design, two highly sensitive speakers with neodymium magnets and passive radiators at the ends, as well as the ability to operate autonomously for up to 12 hours thanks to a 5200 mAh battery. A plus is the built-in microphone for voice calls and the presence of backlight. The overall impression of the device is very encouraging, but the deciding factor will be its performance in real-world use.

Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro comes in a white cardboard box, with a picture of the speaker and the main characteristics on the cover. The inside of the device is protected with cardboard inserts for secure fixation.

The Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro includes a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, which is 1 meter long, which allows you to actively use it, and not just leave it “just in case.”

There are orange, white and black variants of the Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro. This time we chose the brightest and most original.

The Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro has a removable lanyard for easy carrying, which can be attached to your wrist, hung on a tree branch or backpack. The buttons on the sidebar are highlighted, and we will look at them in more detail in the corresponding section. Next to the buttons are a USB Type-C port for charging and an LED indicator.

Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro has a classic shape and standard dimensions. This is a cylinder with a base diameter of 72 mm and a height of 210 mm. The side surfaces are covered with a mesh, behind which there are speakers: broadband with a power of 20 W and high-frequency with a power of 10 W.

At the ends of the Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro there are passive radiators, as well as two metal elements with different purposes.

One is designed as a base and slightly raises the column above the surface on which it is installed vertically. Well, in the second there is a backlight.

The illumination ring is small and, frankly, does not look particularly impressive. However, it shines softly, smoothly changing colors with some rotation effect, which gives the device some originality.

The rest of the column is designed very laconically. Apart from the lighting, the only decorative elements are a small “Honor Choice” nameplate on the side panel.

Small silicone feet on the side surface help to place the speaker horizontally, thanks to them it will not roll away during operation.

The playback control keys are on top — it’s convenient to press them, although you have to hold the device.

When you turn it on for the first time, the speaker automatically goes into pairing mode, but you can also activate it using the Bluetooth logo button on the side panel. Next, the connection is made in the standard way through the menu of a smartphone or other sound source.

Using the Bluetooth Tweaker utility, a complete list of supported codecs and their modes was obtained. There are two codecs in the list — SBC and AAC. For SBC, the Bitpool parameter is limited to a value of 49, but the recommended High Quality profile assumes a value of 51, which allows the codec to work almost at its maximum capabilities and provide high quality sound. As for AAC, its maximum bitrate is set at a high level, which allows you to use it to its fullest. Most devices will use a bitrate of around 256 Kbps, which is quite enough for compact portable speakers.

The manufacturer has provided the ability to create a stereo pair — there is a special button on the side panel for this. However, multipoint is not supported. But you can connect up to a hundred Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro to one device — although this feature may seem redundant, it is still available.

The Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro has IP67 protection, which means it can withstand not only splashes, but also short-term immersion in water. This makes it an ideal companion for nature, the beach or the pool. It is also compatible with the Honor AI Space app, where you can check the battery level, change the device name and get basic information about the device. But the most interesting aspect is the equalizer, which allows you to choose from three sound presets: general, with an emphasis on low or high frequencies.

All controls are concentrated on the side surface of the Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro and are available both when the device is placed vertically or horizontally.

The playback and volume control keys protrude noticeably above the surface of the case, so they are easy to find by touch. They press very easily and with a pleasant click.

But the keys on the side panel are pressed with a force much higher than average and far from being the most intelligible click — this causes a little discomfort, but you definitely can’t be afraid of accidental presses.

The application has sections dedicated to management, but they lack settings. Instead, it simply lists the functions of each button. This is useful because it is not always obvious what each button does. For example, the microphone button also controls the backlight.

Full instructions are also available in the application, and in Russian, which is nice. There you can also check if there is a firmware update available.

Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro has a built-in 5200 mAh battery that can power the speaker for up to 12 hours, according to the manufacturer. However, the actual autonomy is highly dependent on the selected sound volume. At low volume, you can achieve the stated 12 hours, but with normal use it is more realistic to focus on 8-9 hours of operation. This is still a fairly decent time and provides comfortable use. It takes approximately 1.5 hours to fully charge a discharged battery.

To evaluate the frequency response of microphones in Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro, we use a specially prepared room and a monitor speaker system that reproduces a sweep tone. Previously, we obtain a frequency response graph using a calibrated measuring microphone, taking into account the unevenness of the speakers' sound. This data is then used to create a correction profile that compensates for the acoustics. Next, the signal is recorded using a microphone built into the speaker, and the resulting graph is adjusted taking into account the previously created profile. Thus, we obtain the final frequency response of the microphone under test.

The Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro microphone emphasizes the main frequencies, but limits the high-frequency range, which can make the voice sound boomier and partially deprive it of intelligibility. However, it can also mitigate problems with hissing sounds. This setting is quite suitable for voice communication, but long conversations in hands-free mode using a portable speaker are not recommended. Despite this, for short conversations or exchanging a few phrases, the Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro is quite suitable. Testing its operation in a noisy room may not be very informative, since using a speakerphone in such conditions may not be effective.

Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro is equipped with two speakers — full-range and high-frequency, as well as two passive radiators, which allows you to expand the capabilities of reproducing low frequencies. While this portable speaker isn't the loudest in its class, its claimed SPL of up to 79 dBA at 2 meters is enough to fill an average room or for outdoor use. The sound of the speaker is pleasant and universal — the bass is present without a pronounced accent, which makes the sound more universal, and the mid-range is well read. High frequencies are present without characteristic defects, which is important for ensuring pleasant sound.

The difference in sound when the speaker is placed horizontally and vertically is minimal; here you should be guided solely by ease of use.

Thanks to the passive radiators, the speaker's low-frequency range remains clear, although it can sound slightly boomy. This can be seen in the cumulative spectrum attenuation graph, which shows that hum is at a minimum level. Compared to some budget acoustics with a bass reflex, the humming effect is much less.

The equalizer presets do live up to their names, but their effect leaves much to be desired. They make gross changes to the sound, disrupting the tonal balance and making it less pleasant. As a result, presets can worsen rather than improve the sound.

When placing a speaker vertically with horizontal sound dispersion, there are predictably no problems — even if the speaker is thoroughly turned away from the listener, only a small part of the high-frequency range will be “lost.”

But when placing the speaker horizontally, you should make sure that its front panel is directed towards the listener; pointing passive radiators at him is not a good idea.

Finally, let’s compare the frequency response graphs of the speaker under test and several of the best and most popular products from other manufacturers. As you can easily see, Honor Choice Portable Speaker Pro looks very confident against their background.

This attractive speaker has several interesting features, from a microphone for voice communication to a small ring of lighting. Of course, there are some shortcomings: the controls could be more convenient and the equalizer more useful. However, it costs less than flagship models from other manufacturers, and the sound quality is almost as good as them. The only thing it lacks a little is bright bass, which is not important for everyone. Overall, the device turned out to be very good, and the choice of Honor in this case justified itself.