Soundcore Anker Life Q30

Excellent budget headphones. Noise cancelling effective. Battery life excellent.

Gente, estou apaixonada!
O fone é lindo, vem numa caixa linda, tudo muito bem feito, material top. Chegou quase um mês antes do previsto e super bem embalado e seguro.

O som é incrível também, e o isolamento de ruído, uau!!! Tem uma obra muito próxima da minha casa e quando coloco ele, não ouço nadaaa da obra.

Recomendo muito.

These headphones are really fabulous. At nearly a fifth the cost of Bose or Beats, the Soundcore over-ear bluetooth headphone is worth every penny. The audio is good enough for me, and the noise cancellation is excellent. It’s super easy to switch back and forth when in use, and the headphones are lightweight and comfortable. I also appreciate the built-in microphone. I mainly use the headphones for podcasts, but it’s great that I can seamlessly take a call in the middle of an episode. Works nice with Zoom too on my phone.

Sure, my ears get a little warm in them, but I expect that’s true with any over-ear headphone. I’ve seen reviews about other customers having their headset crack at some point. Mine seem great thus far, but even if they do crack down the road, one could buy three of these things and still spend less money than the big name brands. So, at this time anyway, I’m very happy with my investment.

The Soundcore Life Q30 headphones are a great value for the money and are absolutely worth purchasing at this price. I’ll start with the good (which far outweigh the cons, especially for the money).

THE GOOD:
Sound is clear and rich, though it requires some tweaking in the Soundcore app. Changing your EQ settings is a slight annoyance since you need to open the app to do it, but short of having preset buttons or some complicated gesture, the app is the only option Anker has so I’ll let it slide. The noise cancellation is excellent and features three different profiles for different settings: transport (for public transportation and planes), indoor (for office and coffee shop environments) and outdoor (for ambient noise in “quieter city spaces”). I usually keep mine on “transport” mode because it cuts out white noise from fans (a godsend while cooking!) while still letting me hear enough to know if someone is trying to get my attention. The NC settings also allow you to use “normal” mode (no noise cancellation, though it remains pretty quite due to the good seal of the headphones) and “transparent” mode which amplifies outside noise so you can be aware of your surroundings or hold a conversation.

As far as the physical hardware goes, the buttons are GREAT: they’re clicky and responsive. I appreciate the lack of reliance on touch-based “clicks” and gestures. There is one touch control I will comment on below. Otherwise, the headphones are pretty comfortable, do not get too hot, and seal well around the ears. The articulating cups move smoothly, though I would have preferred if they could be rotated in both directions. As-is, the headphones only allow you to rotate the cups towards your body when wearing them around your neck. The battery life is fantastic: I’ve only charged them once in over a month of owning them, though it should be noted that I usually use other headphones during my workday.

The built-in microphone is quite good based on feedback from people I have had phone calls with. Additionally, the Bluetooth Multipoint connection is extremely handy: it’s allowed me to switch from listening to music on my computer to taking a phone call and switch from using my phone to streaming on an iPad with ease. The bluetooth range is great because I can walk pretty much anywhere in my house while leaving my device behind.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD (but still not bad!):

My main problem with these headphones is the fit: when you dial them in they’re pretty comfortable, but I have trouble getting them to fit right in the first place. No matter what you do their own weight will cause them to slowly slip which requires you to readjust the headband on a similar basis. I have a pretty big head yet I have almost no need to adjust these from their tightest position. These headphones are also quite prone to slipping if you bend over, so they do not lend themselves well to repetitive tasks which require bending over: working out and doing deadlifts, gardening, etc. While the material on the earcups is plasticky, fake leather, they do not get too hot which is a plus.

The headphones have their bulk, but should not be too difficult to travel with especially if you do not mind hanging them from your neck. The fit hanging them from your neck is not the greatest, but it works. The included case is also pretty bulky, but does work to give you piece of mind when throwing these in a backpack or larger bag.

I have not yet used these headphones in wired mode, but it should be noted that noise cancellation and EQ do not work in wired mode. Apparently the Q35 headphones address this, but I saw many reviews claiming other features did not work as well as they do on the Q30.

My last (minor) gripe is activating “transparent” mode with the right ear cup: transparent mode is very loud. It doesn’t just let sound “pass through”, it actively amplifies outside noise. This can be pretty jarring when you accidentally activate transparent mode through the touch control on the right ear cup, especially because it’s accompanied by a loud voice saying “TRANSPARENT”. The voice announcing what mode you are using is distracting, annoying, and unnecessary. I also wish the touch control was something you held, switching to transparent mode while you are touching the ear cup then going back to noise cancelling when you release, but it is only a toggle. I feel that Anker could have allowed this feature to be tweaked in the Soundcore app, but there is no option to do so.

All-in-all, these are great headphones for the $70-80 range and I doubt they can be beat. If you want a pair of over-the-ear headphones for the office or home, it will be hard to find a better value.