Monoprice, the electronics titan, is another company that has hoped to dip more than a toe into the gaming accessory market. The Horizon ANC Wireless Earphones are broadly something aimed at the general market, though have one or two features that offer a nod toward gamers. Most notably it comes with a low latency mode designed for game-related chat and promises to noise-cancel out potential distractions.

What’s In The Box

The contents keep things fairly simple. Inside you can find the charging case, containing the earbuds themselves, a short 6-inch USB-C charging cable that plugs into the case, and some extra earcups. There are a few different sizes of ear cups inside the bag, so you can experiment as to which provides the ideal fit, and it means not having to fret too much over losing one. (Just make sure you know where the spares are!)

The whole thing is packed well and I used the original box and packing to carry it for some time, as I didn’t want the pretty case ruined by rolling about in my bag. Fortunately, the case has proved to be pretty hardy, so my worries were unfounded.

Aesthetics And Build Quality

With the Horizons’ falling somewhere into the moderately priced range of devices, the aesthetics do shine for the budget. They have a sleek, minimalist design, right down to the charging case. The case’s slightly satin finish is relatively uninterrupted across the surface, aside from the charging light and a lowkey logo.

The earbuds themselves are similarly stylish, with a glossy plastic finish and silver accents. None of the parts seem excessively fragile for what they are, and the only flaw I could find was a small rough edge in the mic area on one earphone though this would escape my notice in normal use.

The case appears delicate but proves to be more durable than it looks. It has survived bouncing around in a laptop bag on trips back and forth, being slid around a desk, and having its lid snapped open and closed constantly without any blemish on its finish. Zero scratches as of yet, and it doesn’t appear to be a magnet for fingerprint stains like some case surfaces can be.

Specs and Special Features

• Bluetooth® 5.2 TrueWireless™ (TWS) Earphones

• Qualcomm® QCC3040 Bluetooth chipset with Adaptive aptX™ audio codec

• 13mm drivers

• Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation

• Gaming Low Latency Mode

• Qualcomm® cVc™ 8.0 Echo Cancelling and Noise Suppression

• IPx5 waterproof rating

• Charging case with USB‑C® quick charging

• Touch controls

Monoprice is clearly keen to stress the added features that come with the Horizon ANCs. One of the earphones’ selling points is the active noise canceling, and how that benefits the overall listening experience. It is certainly noticeable when these earphones are used. Even in crowded areas, the sound from them comes across clearly. Sitting in a noisy coffee shop listening to a video was no struggle.
The mic is apparently assisted by the same technology, but this was less evident, as using it to chat generated quite a lot of background noise, though my voice came across clearly and was understandable over it. The earphones boast low latency, which seems to be true, as there was no issue getting my voice across, and very little delay.

The Bluetooth 5.2 connection experience is one of the better ones I have run into as wireless earphones go. The set connected very easily, reconnects immediately upon being switched on, and has never dropped out. Occasionally there were wobbles and distortion when used with my laptop, but this seemed to be down to the laptop’s stutters, and not the earphones themselves. I didn’t lose connection any time I didn’t want to, and never had one earphone working and the other on standby, something I’ve found to be a recurring issue in a lot of earphones in the price range.

What It Could Have Done Better

I wasn’t initially sure if this was clumsiness on my part or a design issue, but I found the touch-control volume function a little temperamental. It’s a nice feature in theory. Touching the right earbud raises the volume and touching the left lowers it. I did find it hard to find the right way to activate it and felt like I was setting it off unintentionally more often than I was when I was trying to.

The mic is perfectly usable, latency seemed low, but despite the noise canceling function it still seemed to pick up a lot of background static, something that might grate a bit on anyone you were hoping to chat with.

Verdict

My overall experience with the Horizon ANC Headphones was a positive one, and they’re currently what I reach for when I want to listen to music on the go. They’re portable, comfortable to wear, they connect with ease, and they don’t need constant charging. I do tend to use the device’s volume controls, however, and I’ll switch to a headset with a mic nearer my face if I’m wanting to talk to someone.
From my experience of them, they’re not necessarily something I’d want to use to jump in a discord chat for a massive session, but if I wanted to play something by myself, listen to music, or watch a video, these are my go-to.

Monoprice Horizon ANC Wireless Earphones can be purchased via the Monoprice website.