soundcore Life Q30 by Anker, Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones with Multiple Modes, Hi-Res Sound, Custom EQ via App, 50H Playtime, Comfortable Fit, Bluetooth, Multipoint Connection

When I first received these I would have easily given them 5 stars. But after using them for a few months I've realized they only seemed amazing because I was coming from the $28 BT earbuds I was using daily. Now that I've had time to REALLY put them through the paces they're a lot more "meh" than I would have initially thought.The noise cancellation is mediocre at best as I've heard FAR better NC than this. There's still a TON of noise that gets through that should be silenced in full NC mode. The second setting is OK if you WANT to hear things around you better, but the 3rd setting is so laughably useless because it AMPLIFIES all the background noise so it's stupidly louder than if you weren't wearing the headphones at all. If you're buying these for noise cancellation stop right now and go look at some Bose. You'll pay a lot more, but they're worth it if NC is what you're chasing.Then when it comes to sound quality of course they blew my cheap BT earbuds out of the water, but after I took a minute to dig out my Sennheiser studio headphones that I rarely use because I don't want to deal with wires in 2025, I realized these sound poor in comparison. Not bad, but far from audiophile. The frequency response of these must look like a slide going down towards the high end because the bass is OK but the highs are way too weak to even hint at being "audiophile" quality. It sounds like you're listening to a nice stereo that's in the other room when it comes to clarity. Seriously you rap fans need to stop glazing crap headphones because they have half decent bass. The more I listened to music with them the more disappointed I became.But the biggest issue I have is how tight they are. I only wear a 7 1/2 hat. I'm dead center of what's "average" for an adult male. If I wear these for longer than an hour while working it starts to give me a headache because it feels like my head is in a vice. That's great if you're working out but horrible if you're sitting at a desk all day. Another issue I have is I'll randomly get the "connected" chime while I'm using them when they never disconnected. Something I've never experienced with 4 other BT headphones on my PC. Not a big deal but an annoying bug nonetheless. Then the earpads I have zero doubt will be shredded within a year. The material covering them is way too thin an cheap. For this price range they should be using a quality vinyl or PV fake leather. Not this tissue thin vinyl. Again, not terrible, but not ideal.But don't think it's all bad. I'm nitpicking here so anyone reading knows what to truly expect. Where they DO shine is battery life. These last stupidly long which has been really nice when my previous earbuds were lucky to last 4hrs. You can go DAYS without recharging them. Not to mention I'm looking at these compared to REAL headphones so I'm going to be extra picky but I'll be fair overall.Value = 4/5 They are pretty affordable, but it feels like they cheaped out by not giving you a measly $4 3.5mm cable for $90 headphones. I'd also like to see more money put into the earpads. Edit: now with a 20% coupon they're a strong buy.Sound quality/frequency response = 3/5 Great if you only listen to rap music, garbage if you're an audiophile. But acceptable for the price.Build quality = 3/5 Good on the plastics, but the earpads themselves are already getting creases that tells me they're going to crack soon and I'll be buying replacements. Probably won't effect you if you use them once in a while, but if you're the kind of person that doesn't leave the house without your headphones these are going to look shabby.Noise cancellation = 3/5 It works, but I've heard far better and the 3rd setting is completely unusable. For the price it's acceptable as there's far better out there, but often for far more money.Comfort = 2/5 Headache unless you have a child's head. My wife likes them though. This is the frustration that got me to pull up the sale and write a review. I wish I could figure out a way to stretch them out or something.Battery life = 7/5 This is my review, I make up the ratings rules.I almost want to give these a 4/5 because for the price they're actually pretty competent headphones and by no means feel like cheap crap. But at the same time I'm literally wearing them right now and I'm already getting a headache. If you took that part out they'd be an easy 4 stars all day, but it's hard to think of the good stuff when a product literally hurts you.>>>Five Star Edit: Anker contacted me over this review which I felt wasn't even that negative to begin with. The offered me a full refund while never once mentioning anything about changing my review. THAT'S customer service that should be rewarded. If a customer isn't happy then see what it takes to make them happy. They never once asked how long I'd had them or tried to walk me through a help file that would never solve the issues like too many companies do today. They just wanted to make it RIGHT.I miss companies that stand behind their products. I've bought at least a dozen Anker products over the years between headphones, BT speakers, multiple USB power bricks and wall warts, and battery packs. They make excellent battery packs and I think mine is at least 10yrs old and still kicking like a tank. 😜 This just makes me want to look to Anker first when I'm looking at gadget accessories and why I chose these headphones in the first place. I finally found one of their products I didn't love and Anker STILL did me right. Thank You Anker. This is how you run a company.

Delivers what was promised: good sound, good fit, lightweight, and the noise cancellation works well enough.I find this is just like about all of my other 5 Soundcore devices (VR P10, P20i, Q20i, Sport X20, Sleep A20) - mostly over delivering for the price I paid. Not fully comparable to high-end products, but sound-wise I usually can't tell the difference anyway. These give me the sound I like for the music I listen to (mostly punk, hard rock, synth pop, and ebm).Battery life so far is stellar - after an office day with about 5-6 hours of listening to music the battery usually comes down by 10%.The fit is surprisingly good on my 3xl head ( long-oval, ~24in circ.). They don't cause any inconvenience with my glasses, and neither with my relatively large ears. I wear the headphones for 8-9 hours straight once or twice a week when I have to go to the office and need to reduce my sensory load. Usually I listen to music, but sometimes just having the NC reducing the environmental sounds to a very low level gun is more soothing.However, I wish the NC would do a better job filtering out voices, too. But given that I got them for $64 I don't really count that as a huge negative.The only actual issue I had was a weird one: the pivoting joint on the left side (the fork-like end of the headband) reap. It's axle was squeaking whenever I moved certain muscles in my face - mainly when eating. That was a really annoying audible trigger for me.But I found a simple fix: a tiny drop of lubricant (like mineral oil from an electric shaver) right at the squeaking axle immediately resolved this.The carrying case is a nice touch, very handy when taking them with me to the office or in travels.

I have been using these headphones for half a year or so (No longer use them, gotten new headphones). These are my first Soundcore headphones. I must say that these are amazing headphones. I am an audiophile; I love high quality audio and a lot of bass.After a while of using these headphones, these are great for the price. They are almost good as the $100 Headphones in my opinion. The sound quality is decent, it is a little deep but good bass. There is little leakage unless sound is 70%+. The bass is good, and I do enjoy it, but I also enjoy heavier bass, not too overwhelming though. But with modifications and changes from the app makes it a little better.- SOUND QUALITY -Audiophile perspective and my opinion - 3.3 Stars but 4.3 Stars with Equalizer App -I am not too much of an audiophile such as spending thousands on audio equipment, but I do spend some hundreds. The audio quality on these headphones is good, although it's not much balanced, a bit deeper sound and more bass (Which I do like the more bass sometimes but prefer more sound and more lighter/clear sound) although the bass is a little bit much for some people, sometimes bit much for me too, but you can decrease the bass through the app. It doesn't really get much loud which is somewhat good, but I prefer a higher volume when I'm listening to music, so I keep the volume above 60%. The sound quality is clear and rich, but it's not really crisp in my opinion only a little bit. Spatial audio is good, not as good as Sony's though. Versatility is decent, you can listen to all kinds of songs and hear most of the sound and instruments, but it's better with the equalizer app. The sound quality on wired mode is a bit better as it's sounder and crisper to it, which is nice but not a lot of difference.The app is amazing, I can choose what type of sound effect I want, and it sounds great. I like using Acoustics and Bass Up effects and I recommend if anyone wants to try that, Bass reducer is also good if you want to have more sound instead of bass. I can also create a custom profile or change ANC to my liking. The app makes it way better and becomes enjoyable.Overall, the sound quality is good just need to be lighter and more balanced in my opinion and should be amazing.- HYBRID ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION -The Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) is amazing. It blocks a lot of noise especially on the plane. I could barely hear people talking and I did hear some kids making a lot of noise, but that ANC did block a good portion of it. ANC is decent outside and going to public places. I use the ANC a lot especially during trips. The Headphones also have touch controls at the right side of the headphones where you can switch between ANC, Normal, or Transparency Modes which is amazing. Instead of pressing buttons, all I have to do is touch the right side of my headphones with my palm and it switches easily.The transparency mode is decent in my opinion. You can hear some static a little in the background but works great. I can hear my surroundings and listen to music at the same time. However, I prefer taking off the headphones when it comes to talking with someone.- ACCESSORIES -These headphones also come with a fabric case and a small pouch. Which is cool since I do travel sometimes, and these are helpful to carry stuff. The small pouch comes with a USB-C charging cable and a 3.5mm jack cable which is great if I run out of battery and used wired mode. Wired mode has also slightly better sound quality.- QUALITY -The build quality is great. It has metal for the headband and feels very comfortable. It is a little bulky in my opinion although it's not really that big of a deal. Unlike some headphones, I do sweat with constant use, but these headphones didn't make me sweat for a long time. These feel great, high quality and I don't feel like these are going to fall off. It lasts long and is durable as long as you don't constantly drop them or anything. These are good for working out since these don't fall off easily and is comfortable.- BATTERY LIFE -The battery life is amazing! The battery lasted a day or two with constant use with ANC on and almost lasted a week with little to no use. I used these a lot and the battery lasts long so I can use these for hours, especially on a long flights or trips.- NEGATIVES -Now for the cons. There is a small issue when connecting to these headphones, sometimes there is a delay and sound doesn't work, so I do have to refresh an app or reconnect my headphones.The built-in microphone on the headphones is not very good, it does work fine, however, the sound quality is not very clear, and the sound does become deep. Sometimes people can barely hear you during calls, but decent in using Google Assistant or Siri.- CONCLUSION -Overall, these headphones are excellent. Good sound quality, ANC, battery, etc. Amazing features on the app and great for the price. There are some cons, but mostly just small and not that big of a deal. These headphones are worth using and I recommend it. But if you want better sound quality, I prefer other brands like Sony or Sennheiser.