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Review: Origem HS-3 wireless earbuds – HDR audio for your earholes

Currently available through Indiegogo.

Origem hs-3 wireless earbuds
Image: Origem

Hong Kong-based Origem, a company I have to admit I’d never heard of before they reached out to me to review their HS-3 earbuds, makes audio products. Their rep contacted me via my very cool Twitter account to see if I was interested in checking them out and, after some in-depth research (I went to Amazon for approximately 90 seconds and saw that their other products had decent reviews), I agreed to turn my highly-attuned journalistic eyes and ears to their latest offering.

The rep promised HDR audio, a comfortable fit, and voice controls via the in-line mic, and reader, after a few days of testing, I can happily report that the Origem HS-3s definitely have those things.  

“Hinged hooks,” which describes the mechanism by which the HS-3s stay attached to your head, are a lot more comfortable than they sound. Indeed, the hooks, which go over your ears, are adjustable, resulting in an unexpectedly light feel for the earbuds, which I would not describe as the most compact I’ve ever tested. That’s not to say they’re ungainly or anything, but don’t expect AirPod-level aerodynamicness.

Origem hs-3 wireless earbuds

Image: Origem

The trade-off, of course, is that you won’t drop these in the toilet like you would your AirPods with a sudden movement of your head. Through my testing, they stay firmly in place through activities such as running, saving hot babes from muggings, and performing mouth-to-mouth on feral cats with respiratory issues.

Audio quality with the HS-3s

As far as audio quality is concerned, I didn’t have a ton of experience with HDR products prior to trying these HS-3s, and have to say, I kind of like it. I’ll let someone smarter than I explain what High Dynamic Range means technically, but practically speaking, it makes things sound good.

Whether an audiophile, after taking out his adult retainer, would agree with me that it represents an artists’ original intention in sound-mixing, I do not know. I’d be too busy rollerblading through a police station knocking things over but not getting in trouble to hear him anyway. Point is, it sounds good.

The voice controls are useful as well. Without hitting a button or anything, you can just say things like “play music” and “pause music,” and your content will behave accordingly, which is handy when your hands are occupied massaging the tired feet of the hot lady you saved from the mugging earlier. It’s not a sex thing, you just like to make people happy, it’s fine.

Anyway, their Indiegogo campaign is up and running so, while the Origem HS-3s are already funded and in production, you can score a pretty good deal on these bad boys while reward tiers last. Tell ‘em I sent ya.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

The Good
Cozy fit - lightweight feel
Voice controls surprisingly useful
Quick charging, long battery life
The Bad
HDR audio occasionally brings odd elements to front of mix
No ability to change soundstage options
8
Overall

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Based in NYC, Trevor is a fan of cheeseburgers and the Boston Celtics

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