Given my usual preference for a good set of planar magnetic headphones relative to a dynamic driver set, and the overwhelmingly low standards for Bluetooth headphones even in 2022, the Edifier STAX SPIRIT S3 ends up extremely impressive to the point where I am certainly going to use it myself and even purchase it should this review unit have any issues. Just by this definition alone Edifier wins my top Editor's Choice award, so congratulations on getting to market what is a sleeper set others need to know about and try.

There's a lot to like here, although the name is not necessarily one. Indeed, there isn't much STAX about this aside from Edifier owning the company and deciding to make STAX SPIRIT a new product line. Instead, this shares more in common with Audeze that Edifier also has a financial presence in. Audeze had mentioned pre-pandemic how it was working on a closed-back, potentially wireless version of the LCD-1. That hasn't come to fruition yet, but I am glad Edifier worked with Audeze to bring out the STAX SPIRIT S3 to give you a well balanced product in terms of tonality, technicalities, and the actual technology on top of the audio experience. I can't think of a single set of Bluetooth headphones with an 80 hour battery life, and the quick charging on top is delicious icing on this long-lasting cake. There are also two types of pads with Edifier having spent time to get pad profiles for, and this ends up providing a similar sound signature with either of them even though there is still a seal and comfort difference between the two. The app also provides a few interesting EQ presets and a low latency game mode too, but I would want to see some EQ sliders on top.

The basics are spot on too with the foldable hinges and a portable travel case, decent build quality and comfort, lots of sizing and fit options, and physical buttons for everything. The $400 price point is tough to justify for many though, although I maintain the feature set makes it worth it. The Edifier retail channel and customer service has also been generally excellent from my personal experience to date, and I will give them dues for letting STAX be its own thing even after a decade of acquisition. Edifier seems serious about stepping into the more premium marketing segment now, and the S3 is the first of many products to come no doubt. I am certainly excited to see what's next, and will gladly use this in the mean time as it is my current reference set for Bluetooth headphones to compete against.