Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Headphone

Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones

 CLICK HERE

 

Is Soundcore Headphones a good brand?

      We saw the relatively new Anker Soundcore Life Q20 headphones, We were really intrigued (they came out in the third quarter of 2019). We felt they may be a good option and at a price about five times less than the big guys because they have a retail price of only $60, a tone of positive ratings on multiple websites, and a recognizable brand.

        Their specifications appeared to indicate that they were on par with everything else available, but their flimsy claim that they could reduce ambient background noise by up to 90% either indicated that they were unusually honest or that their headphones weren't very effective.

    Even while a 90% reduction sounds amazing, it only reduces noise by 10dB, and the qualification "up to" renders any specifications that come after completely worthless.

        It's interesting to note that neither Bose nor Sony anymore make a claim for their noise cancellation, which is impossible to do given that the noise cancellation is often on a curve and more effective at some frequencies than others.

What You Get With the Headphones?

 

        The headphones are packaged in a stylish, straightforward cardboard box to open. Of course, the headphones themselves are within. There are two cables included: a 2.0 USB to USB-micro connector for charging the internal Lithium-ion battery, and a 4” cable with conventional 1/8th stereo connectors at each end. Although it appears that the battery cannot be replaced, by the time you have used up the battery, we anticipate that years will have passed, and replacing the entire set of headphones is more convenient and appropriate than worrying about a replacement battery, which, given the hassle, would likely cost as much as a new set of headphones.

        Several minor issues, No adapters, such as a double-prong aircraft adapter or a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter, were provided. If you're planning to fly, the double-prong airline converter is absolutely necessary but the 1/8" to 1/4" adapter may not be.

        If you need one, getting a 1/8" to 1/4" converter is also very simple (you might have one or more already lying around). Additionally, because they are so cheap, Amazon frequently sells you two or more of them rather than just one.

        The USB charging cable is the subject of the second cord/connector quibble. It finishes with a standard micro-USB connector. While the micro-USB is widespread, it is also becoming less and less useful because the majority of contemporary, high-end items use the USB-C connector. A USB-C connector rather of a micro-USB one would make the product considerably more future-proof.

        A booklet with instructions and some legalese stating that "we are not accountable for anything" were also provided. There were many more pages in the "not responsible for" brochure than in the instruction manual.

        There are symbols and line-drawn images but no text.  Even our 15-year-old daughter, who is intelligent and skilled with electronics, found herself unable to guess what some of the symbols signified. We truly despise this approach to instruction manuals.

        We can only presume that Anker is marketing these headphones to illiterate consumers, but it's quite unlikely that someone who is illiterate would want to purchase noise-canceling headphones and be able to decipher the symbols. Anker, please utilize words the next time for our benefit. (It goes without saying that Anker had no trouble using words rather than images to complete its "We are not responsible for anything" pamphlet.

        A nice rubber drawstring bag with a drawstring closure was also included for the headphones. On the other hand, the bag does offer a tiny bit of protection for the headphones, and because it is amorphous, it takes up less room and can fit into whatever opening you have in your carry-on bag more easily. However, it doesn't offer as much protection as a solid walled case, and it also makes it difficult to carry accessories and other "things" because the bag's top doesn't close completely, posing a risk of small objects falling out.

        In general, we always bring a variety of adapters (1/8" to 1/4" and 1/8" to double pronged for some airline systems) and cables (obviously the USB and audio cables), as well as possibly other accessories and gadgets (a music player, an audio splitter, and other bits and pieces), so we want some secure way of keeping them together with the headphones.

There is a generous 18 month warranty included with the headphones.

Description of Headphones

        The ear cups are oval in shape and slightly deeper and bulkier than Bose, similar to most other over-the-ear headphones. They weigh the same as the QC35 headphones at 9.2 oz and are only slightly heavier (2 oz) than the Bose QC25 headphones. Similar to Bose, they collapse to a flat position for transporting. They appear to be solidly built, lacking any glaring flaws or problems.

        With ear pads composed of "soft protein leather," they are billed as being comfortable to wear. "Protein leather" – what is it? If "fake imitation non-leather material" accurately describes the material, why can't they just state that? To distinguish between left and right, there is a large letter "L" or "R" inside the ear cups.

        Two controls are located on the left ear cup, one for power and the other for noise cancellation. They are both marked. Three controls are located on the right Earcup: volume up, multi-function, and volume down. One of those awful controls that may be used in a variety of ways depending on how long or how briefly you press each button, how many times you tap it, or even if you turn the knob three times counterclockwise before pushing it while standing on one leg with your fingers crossed. I hate having to try and learn such things since I can never remember all the obscure tapping and pushing combinations.

        Two ports are also located on the right ear cup, one for charging the battery through micro-USB and the other for connecting an audio cable if Bluetooth wasn't your preference. The length of the two wires is just right; they are neither absurdly lengthy or short as to cause tangles or inconveniences.

The Uses of Headphones

        With Bluetooth turned on, the lithium-ion battery is said to last for 40 hours of audio listening or 60 hours without it (and using the audio cable instead). Bose guarantees 20 hours with Bluetooth and 30 hours without it, and Sony promises 30 hours when using Bluetooth.

        The battery in the headphones takes up to three hours to charge completely, and you can't use them during that time. This is depressing. However, there is a "fast charge" feature that you can use to get up to four hours of listening from a five minute charge.

        A series of tones are audible when the headphones are turned on, followed by a voice that announces the battery level and another series of tones.

        With its button, you can activate or deactivate the noise cancellation. When the noise-cancelling feature is turned on, a green light illuminates, and a voice says "Noise Cancelling" or "Off" (if it is turned off again).

        The headphones can no longer be turned on or off after you plug in the audio wire, although you can do so for the noise cancelling. This suggests, in my opinion, that the main on/off button has something to do with the Bluetooth connection. Plugging in the headphones turns them off if they were already on. The noise cancellation is turned off when the headphones are unplugged, however if you only want noise cancellation and not audio, you can put it back on.

        Your voice won't be transmitted back to the phone through the cable because it is only a three wire sleeve/ring/tip stereo connector and not a four wire sleeve/ring/ring/tip connector with an audio input line, but you can probably still listen to phone calls through the headphones if there is no Bluetooth.

Connection via Bluetooth

        The Bluetooth connection on the headphones is the most recent 5.0 version, yet it still has all the same quirks as earlier versions. Turning off your headphones is the first step in pairing a new device with them. Yes, it's not quite obvious. Then you switch them back on, but you continue to hold down the On button for a while afterward until a new set of tones plays and the power light begins to flash blue. You can now connect using your phone or another Bluetooth device without having to enter a Passcode at that moment.

        The headphones will no longer automatically connect to the first device if you afterwards connect to another phone or device; you will need to fix it.

        The Bluetooth connection allows you to make and receive phone calls, manage various features of your phone or music player, and use the built-in microphone in the right headphone ear cup to converse in addition to listening.

        Your voice doesn't sound great to the person on the other end of the line. This is expected given that your mouth is directing your sound away from the microphone on an ear cup above and behind your mouth instead of towards it.

Sound Performance

        As we've previously said, when purchasing noise-canceling headphones, the most important attribute you look for is superior noise cancellation. Secondarily, there is sound quality. Purchase a second set of conventional headphones with good sound quality if you want to listen to music in a quieter setting and avoid using your noise-canceling headphones for that purpose.

        With these headphones and a wired connection, the sound quality fluctuated greatly depending on whether noise cancellation was turned on or off. The higher frequencies are significantly more accentuated while the noise cancellation is on, and muffled when it is off. Although we didn't much care for the sound on either option, we preferred it with noise cancellation on.

        Turning on a bass enhancement feature is only one of the many different ways you can get the multi-purpose triple control on the right ear cup to accomplish. Turn it on if you enjoy artificial bass; otherwise, the effect isn't really noticeable. But perhaps leave it alone if you prefer to hear music played as it is. Although we often prefer to keep all tone adjustments at their default positions, we thought the sound would sound a little bit better with the bass boost turned on — perhaps it makes up for inadequate speaker frequency response. Only when noise cancellation is enabled does the bass enhancement function.

        According to Anker, the headphones' frequency response ranges from 16 Hz to 40 kHz. However, they make no mention of the dB ranges in which this frequency response occurs, rendering the assertion useless. Although we doubt we would notice anyhow given our ageing and increasingly frequency-limited ears, we did not perceive an expanded frequency response.

        But most importantly, we didn't think the sound was crisp, inviting, or interesting. When trying out a new set of headphones, we sometimes find ourselves staying up late to listen to music that is so captivating and compelling that it demands more time spent listening than is necessary to test or evaluate the headphones. Again, we found ourselves listening to more music than necessary in this instance, but not with the Anker headphones. We had to force ourselves back to the Anker after listening to the comparison headphones for a longer period of time.

 

        While there wasn't a huge difference in sound quality when we compared them to a set of Bose QC25s, the Anker set is probably just fine by the standards of noise-canceling headphones. The difference between the Anker Soundcore Q20 and a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones was much more noticeable when we next compared them. As we previously stated, in a busy setting, use noise-canceling headphones; in a calm environment, use conventional headphones.

        There are buttons for volume control as well. When listened to through a wired connection, they don't appear to do anything. The level should always be controlled by the player, and you should always wear headphones with no attenuation (i.e., maximum volume).

Cancelling Noise

        Companies nowadays have utterly lost their minds when it comes to noise cancellation, using gibberish terms like "various sound profiles" and "digital settings." As we have always said, the only noise cancelling setting you should ever use is high. We will never condone a circumstance in which it would be preferable for background noise to overpower the music you are attempting to listen to. All of these additional choices are nothing more than gimmicks used in marketing campaigns to defend the unreasonably inflated cost of the headphones.

        The Anker headphones, thankfully, include a straightforward on/off switch for noise cancellation instead of any unnecessary artificial options. Although there is some background hiss, it is not particularly worse than on other headphones, and of course, you only notice the background noise in really quiet environments, where you would not want the noise cancelling anyway.

 

Conclusion

        The Anker headphones are excellent and affordable. They are simple to use when used as wired headphones, and they are not nearly as difficult to use when used as Bluetooth headphones as some of the other versions on the market.

        Since they are not extremely complicated, there is no need for the extra absurdity and complexity of a second app, which is why they don't come with a companion app for your phone. They have great noise cancellation with a straightforward on/off switch that performs almost as well as headsets from Bose and Sony that cost between the mid $200s and $400.