Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Review: Affordable ANC Headphones

Last updated on 2022-09-19
By Yvonne

Anker Soundcore Live Q30 Headphones Review: A Great Value! For 20 hours, we tested the headphones.

Anker Soundcore Life Q30

We like this

Amazing EQ options
High quality build
Battery life of the future
Amazing price

The Things We Hate

Feels heavy after prolonged use
Sound profile with a heavy bass.
There are no fancy features or extra controls

These headphones are budget-friendly, but they have great sound, build quality and long battery life.

This article explains.

Design
Comfort
Durability and build quality
Tone Quality and Noise Cancelling
Battery life
The Codecs and Connectivity
Software, controls, and extras
Prices
Monoprice SonicSolace Headphones vs. Anker Soundcore Live Q30
Final Verdict
Specifications

The Anker Soundcore Live Q30 Headphones were purchased by us to test them. Continue reading to see our complete product review.

If you are looking to cut costs and save money, the Anker Soundcore Q30 Bluetooth headphones will be your best choice. It makes perfect sense. Anker is the parent company of Soundcore and has a reputation for making high-quality chargers, power blocks, and batteries at a reasonable price.

Although I have tried a lot of Soundcore headphones, the Liberty wireless earbuds were my favorite. Although the Q30s were my first experience with the brand's over-ear headphones, I had high expectations because of Soundcore Liberty Air. Here's what the Life Q30s feel like after just a few days.

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Design: Very interesting and definitely noticeable

Life Q30 headphones have a unique look, something that isn't common for budget headphones. These headphones look great, even though they are made of high-quality materials. I like a simple design, which is low profile, but doesn't make me stand out. This is why Beats headphones are so bulky and loud. The Life Q30s are a step up from Beats headphones with their round earcups, glossy logo and shiny gold accents. While it's not my preferred style, I do see why they appeal to some.

The headbands are shaped at an angle and cover the arms connecting the headband to earcups. This gives them a floating, flexible, and modular appearance that's quite different from most headphones. They still look classy, thanks to the combination of a soft, luxurious faux leather and a glossy plastic. They are a well-balanced pair of headphones, thanks to their unique design and subtle color scheme.

Related Reading: OnePlus Buds Z Review: Bangin’ Budget Buds

Comfort: For a short time, easy to wear

The Life Q30s are extremely comfortable because of how soft the earcup material is. The soft faux leather covering the headband and earpads is soft and breathable. These pads have a soft, memory foam interior that is comfortable but not enough to create the perfect seal.

The pads are more flattened than premium headphones because there's not a lot of padding. This is not a bad thing, but it's something that you will notice if the headphones are worn for long periods of time.

These pads are made of a soft, memory foam that is comfortable and not too dense to create a seal around your head.

Comfort is also affected by the headphones' weight. These headphones weigh in at 9 ounces. After a few hours, they will start to feel heavy on the head. This is not a problem as most people will be comfortable with these headphones. However, if you are a heavy user, or want them to stay on your head for extended listening sessions, they may become heavier.

For the price, it is impressive in terms of durability and build quality

The Life Q30s are well below $100 and should feel less expensive than they actually do. The build quality is solid. The softness and foam quality of this leather have been tested, however the cup's soft plastic exterior feels great in my hand. Fold-in slots on the arms holding the cups feel more smooth and give off a stronger click when they are folded in.

This junction point is of high quality, making the headphones feel very premium. It will also last a lot. The headband's outside is reinforced by a thick plate of metal. This is a great design feature. The headband can be a source of structural failure for headphones and this shell provides plenty of support. They don't have an IP rating so they shouldn't be worn in rainy conditions. However, the overall build quality is excellent and gives you confidence in their durability.

This junction point is of high quality, making the headphones really feel premium. It will also last a lot.

Sound quality and noise cancellation: The bass is heavy with strong customization

These headphones are great in sound quality. However, they don't offer much detail for their price. It has a frequency range of 16Hz-40kHz. This is more than what the human natural hearing range contains (20Hz-20kHz). It will provide tons of support and performance across all frequencies.

Although the 16 ohms are a bit low for headphones over-ear, I think that the volume and depth provided by these headphones is excellent, particularly if the EQ is adjusted.

In practice, I think the standard sound spectrum sounds very bassy—something very akin to the Beats by Dre sound quality—and unfortunately, this EQ profile tends to sound muddy and overblown on budget-friendly headphones like this. Listening to podcasts or radio programs, the bassiness is more evident. The Anker Soundcore app offers a lot of options for equalization, which I will discuss later.

Although the 16 ohms in impedance are quite low for headphones with over-ear design, I think they provide adequate volume and depth, particularly if the EQ is adjusted. Active noise cancellation is available and it works well for headphones this expensive. You can choose from a range of levels for noise cancellation, from a more severe level for traveling or softer for work. You can also choose to have the headphones transparent so that you are more alert of what's going on around you when out in public.

The port allows you to attach the 3.5mm aux cord and connect these headphones to the sound source directly, bypassing Bluetooth. It is important to know that although this will work fine with ANC turned off, the audio quality through the aux cables will drop significantly. This makes it a bad use scenario.

Battery life: Amazing

Anker Soundcore headphones' battery life is something I have always loved. It's not surprising, considering the quality of Anker's battery-based products. You can listen for up to 40 hours on one charge of the Life Q30s, with active noise cancelling.

Anker Soundcore claims that you will get 60 hours of music if you turn off ANC. Even the best Bluetooth headphones can only provide 35 hours listening time, so it's quite impressive that Anker Soundcore offers almost twice the value for the same price.

You can listen for 40 hours on one charge with the Life Q30s. This includes active noise cancelling. Anker Soundcore claims that you will get 60 hours listening time if you turn off ANC.

In practice these numbers seem slightly optimistic. I couldn't drain my headphones even after a couple of workdays of intense use. However, I did manage to listen for 35 hours with the ANC turned on. This headphones is far superior to any on the market. Anker Soundcore claims that it can provide up to four hours of music on just a 5-minute charge thanks to its USB-C fast charging port. This is undoubtedly one of the most notable features.

The Codecs and Connectivity: Modern Bluetooth is a basic audio protocol.

Bluetooth 5.0 provides the Life Q30 with a lot of stability, even when used across multiple Bluetooth devices. The headphones have a range of 15 meters and can be used through walls or around corners. You'll have very little connection problems with the latest Bluetooth protocol. Additionally, multiple sources can be connected to this device.

NFC is also available, so compatible Android phones can be quickly paired by simply tapping their right earcup. You can connect headphones to an audio source via a headset jack as well, however, this will reduce volume and fullness.

The Bluetooth codecs are the only thing that the Life Q30s lack in functionality. AAC, SBC are the most lossy, basic Bluetooth compression formats. Although it would be nice to have Qualcomm aptX technology here, to better transmit high-def audio files over Bluetooth, this is not a major deal-breaker. Anker Soundcore has included 'High-Res' audio, which is a polishing software used on the headphones themselves to try to boost the Bluetooth-transmitted audio back to its pre-compressed quality. It's not a perfect product, but it has the same connectivity and technology as the majority of entry-level products.

Software, controls, and extras: Everything you need to know about the product

The majority of Bluetooth headphones that are consumer-oriented and higher-end have an abundance of additional features. Life Q30s offer all of the usual buttons (ANC activation and volume adjustment), but don't have many extra bells and whistles. There are no touch controls or buttons to activate the voice assistant. The headphones do come with an aux cable and a nice hardshell zipper case for transport, though the case is pretty big—not ideal for someone trying to conserve bag space.

The accompanying app is where the Life Q30s excel. This app allows you to update the software, check the battery and adjust the EQ profile. The sound quality of these headphones is not great, so it's a good idea to experiment with the EQ settings. Soundcore offers a multitude of settings on its accompanying mobile app. These options range from Rock and Acoustic, Hip-Hop, and even a flat frequency response. The app will show you the EQ curve for each preset when you choose one. This is a fantastic way to see what sound profiles you prefer and not. You can also dial in the level of ANC and use sleep mode to create calming ambient sounds for your bedtime.

The price is quite impressive considering the quality of this offering

The Life Q30 headphones are priced at around $80 as of the writing. This is a great price for what they provide. These headphones aren't the most expensive, but they come close. ANC headphones are usually priced at $50. The $30 extra will get you a decent build and design as well as easy control over the EQ settings through an app. With the included battery, it's easy to see why $80 feels like a good investment.

Monoprice SonicSolace Headphones vs. Anker Soundcore Live Q30

Anker Soundcore may be a budget-friendly company, but it is not a true budget product. Monoprice is a more affordable brand but their quality of build is usually excellent. Monoprice's SonicSolace headphones feel sturdy, but they are heavier than Life Q30s. Both headphones look great and feel fantastic. The Life Q30s have the edge in sound quality and customization options. The SonicSolace headphones are half as expensive.

Anker Soundcore Live Q30 headphones are a recommendation I can trust. These headphones are amazing regardless of their price. They are a great choice for anyone looking for Bluetooth headphones that cost less than $100, but still feel premium. These headphones are worth the price alone.