Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones, Wireless Over Ear Bluetooth Headphones, 40H Playtime, Hi-Res Audio, Deep Bass, Memory Foam Ear Cups, for Travel, Home Office

This is a review comparing these headphones to the bose quietcomfort 35 ii, and the sony wh-1000xm4.

Now i know what your thinking – how could you ever compare a cheapo $50 pair of headphones to the $300+ big boys in the noise cancelling world like bose and sony? Well these headphones are wireless, bluetooth, active noise cancelling, and promote themselves as comfortable with balanced sound, so in my book all three of these headphones are in the same league.

The criteria is simple – i don’t use lab equipment to measure, i’m not concerned about exact numbers, and i don’t like falling for overblown hype or marketing nonsense. I use my own experience and non-technical knowledge to decide what i like best.

The soundcore headphones:
these headphones are comfortable. Maybe it’s because of the ‘cheaper’ materials, or they are just genuinely made with comfort more in mind, but i can wear these all day with little discomfort. I wear glasses so a little annoyance is unavoidable, but these do a bang up job of not squishing my head, while still making a good seal around my ears to keep sound quality and noise cancelling from bleeding out. I have heard some having issues with durability, but my bose quietcomfort headphones wore out and cracked over time too. Replacements are plentiful and cheap, so it’s a non issue for me.

Comparability and software:
these are what headphones are meant to be. Simple buttons, simple pairing, no proprietary software that i have to download, no nonsense. Just pair and play. They also have a wired mode if i’m editing video or need them to not have any delay. Bluetooth will always have a bit of a delay, but it’s nothing deal breaking, a few milliseconds at most. They do not have multidevice pairing, or absolutely massive bluetooth range (it still works perfectly for me going around my whole house no problem), and there is no eq balancing, other than the bass boost.

Overall sound
i’m not a pro audio engineer or audiophile. If it sounds good, it’s good to me. I like these headphones in normal mode just fine. While the overall sound stage is fairly tight, and it can sometimes feel cramped with complex or intricate songs, i don’t feel overwhelmed in any one way or another. The negative i have here is with their ‘bass boost’s mode. It’s fair to say it does boost the bass, at the cost of literally everything else. It almost makes it sound like every other frequency is underwater when it’s turned on. I keep it off 100% of the time – it’s bad.

Noise cancelling:
here is the meat and potatoes of the review. I bought these for noise cancelling and noise cancelling alone. I was surprised – they are pretty good. My air conditioner dissolves away. Car noises and wind fade to imperceptible levels, and airplane sounds go completely away. The area it falls short in is human speech. I can still hear people without much difference. Not a killer for me, but slightly lacking in that regard. They also do not give me the headache compression feeling that some other noise cancelling can give me.

Comparisons:

comfort – these surprisingly win. The bose quietcomforts are very close, but the headpeice is slightly tighter, leading to overall head pressure discomfort over time. The sonys are even worse, with their high weight and size they can feel heavy over time, and make my ears warm after about 1 hour.

Compatibility and software – these are also the winners! Sony and bose just cannot help themselves when it comes to collecting data and making their customers sign up for bs accounts. I’m not a super privacy nerd either, but when i have to take a photo of my ears (looking at you sony!) just to listen to music, i draw the line. The quietcomforts are better, but the bose app is just another step in between me and my music. Bose at least keeps the physical buttons, which i enjoy because touch controls are still a bit picky in 2020. Sony knows this well, as i fumbled and accidentally turned off my music or changed the volume or song accidentally about a dozen times on their headphones. Physical buttons are arguably uglier, but i value practicality over style in this regard. The sonys also have multidevice pairing, and their bluetooth range is just stupid far, but i don’t usually run a whole football field away from my phone at a time.

Overall sound – sony comes first, followed by bose, and then the soundcores. The sony headphones are very crisp, with a wide sense of space. I genuinely couldnt stop myself from smiling when i first put them on. They induce a sense of awe, and i loved their sound immensely. The bose was slightly worse, and only a touch better than the soundcores. Bose has cleaner bass, and a better sense of staging, especially with singing and high hat sounds. If i were to number them by sound the sonys get a 96, the bose a 85, and the soundcores a 82.

Noise cancelling – sony once again wins, but this time the bose and soundcores are tied. I genuinely could not tell the difference between the bose and soundcores when my eyes were closed as far as noise cancelling was concered. The sonys i could though. They do a significant better job with human voices, especially crowds like in restaurants or outside. They are still audible, but pass the point where i cannot understand what people are saying – the bose and soundcores fail this test.

The overall:
comparing these headphones is an excercise in diminishing returns. For $50 the soundcores cover about 90% of what the $300 bose quietcomforts offer, and about 85% of what the $350 sony wh-1000xm4 offer. To me, that remaining 10% and 15% does not justify the additional $250 and $300 price tag. Now maybe you’re the kind of person who absolutely has to have the best noise cancelling, or can’t live without the absolute cream of the crop perfect soundscape – and in those instances the features may justify the cost. But chances are if you’re debating on these headphones you are just the average joe consumer like me, in which case these headphones will cover everything you need without bogging you down in unnecessary features or quality thay will go unnoticed in 99% of the population. I genuinely like these headphones, and will continue to lovingly give them daily abuse until they fail me. After all, i could buy and break five of these before i reached the price of one pair of sonys.

Tl:dr give them a chance, you’ll more than likely find their value apparent.

First off, this is not a comparison between the anker soundcore q20s and any product from bose or sony.. That is an unfair comparison as they are not even in the same ball park.. I know that most people want to get an understanding of how comparable they are to those but if you aren’t willing to spend the money on those, you aren’t going to get near what they offer..

That being said, for this price range these are the best hands down.. One hit ko.. I’ll list all the features separately so they are easy to find and read about.

Active noise cancellation:
let me get some things out of the way, i work at a gas plant in a landfill as it and data reporting.. My job is noisy sometimes.. I hear a constant hum from the motors in the plant right outside my door all day long.. I also travel a lot from the various plants we run.. While anc is on these headphones won’t block out immediate talking next to me or sudden loud noises, but they do block out the noise from the plant.. That is without the music.. I do need to point out that the talking is trying to talk over motors so it’s louder than your average office space. When the music is on and running, it adds a whole separate layer to the cancellation as i can no longer hear anything else..

Sound:
i don’t typically have music up loud, most i’ve turned them up to is 50% because i’ve been rough on my ear drums since i was a kid playing drums at a young age.. As i’ve gotten older i’ve been more prone to try and protect my ears.. That being said, the sound quality is very nice with or without anc engaged.. I find it’s way more enjoyable with anc on due to everything else being tuned out.. Some headphones will warp the sound when anc is turned on, these do not.. The sound is as impressive with the feature on as it is off.. This is incredible.. I listen to a range of music from rap and hip-hop to metal and hard rock and they all sound clear and precise in these headphones..

They do have a bass-up feature that increases the bass a little more.. This works well without muddying the sound quality too much.. I imagine if you increase the volume too much it might diminish but from my listening around the 50% max it’s been outstanding.. Bass gains can be a real hit and miss for me as some lose sound quality.. With these that’s not the case..

Quality:
the headphones feel amazing.. They have a nice weight to them (which is not for everyone). I personally like a little weight to my equipment.. It is sturdy and feels solid.. I was afraid of it feeling a little too plastic like but they really don’t.. Now they aren’t as nice as your $200-$300 headphone, but again, their price range they are amazing quality.. The ear cups are very comfortable and soft memory foam.. I was actually surprised that my ears don’t get as hot as normal.. They will overtime due to the design.. It’s impossible to get around since it traps heat, but these seem like they don’t get as warm as fast.. Also the ear cups feel amazing.. I’ve literally worn them all day yesterday and felt no ear fatigue or strain.. This is a solid!

Functionality:
a feature that isn’t talked about a lot with these is the awesome ability to connect to not just one but two devices simultaneously.. Now a note on that: you cannot listen to two devices at the same time.. What is going on is i’m able to connect to my computer and listen to music on it while being connect to my phone at the same time.. When someone calls me and i answer, it swaps input to my iphone and stops playing the music in my ears.. Once the call is finished, it swaps back to my computer and i resume listening.. This is an amazing feature that i use daily!

Battery:
the battery is very nice.. When i received my unit the first thing i did was pair it to my devices (of course) and started checking it out.. I received them with 60% battery.. I used them the rest of that day at work for a couple of hours.. Then when i left, used them a little more at the house and watched half of a movie on them before going to bed.. They were still at 60%.. The box says that they last 40 hours and that is accurate.. If you don’t use the bass-up technology you can squeeze even more.. And to not use the anc it goes up higher.. 40 hours for battery life though is incredible for this price range.. I cannot complain!

Packaging:
the packaging was very nice and well put together.. It came with a charge cable and 3.5mm aux cable (which is great for my nintendo switch when i fly).. While i would have loved to seen a usb-c type adapter (as would many others) that is still an expensive change to make and would probably bump the price up out of the $60 range.. I understand from a manufacturing point the reasoning to possibly go with a micro-usb.. It would be nice for c, but it is what it is.. That doesn’t change how well this thing is made and works.. The only gripe i have and it’s a minor thing is the case they come with.. Well, you can’t call it a case cause it’s just a bag.. Now, it’s a very nice bag, but i throws these buys in a backpack with a laptop and ipad and switch (in a hardcase) and so a bag doesn’t really protect your headphones.. Luckily i had a nice hard case from a cheap pair of headphone i received a few years ago (the case was the nicest part) and they fit perfectly.. So if you don’t have one buy a hard case for them..

Overall:
overall, for the price these are the best hands down.. You really cannot beat their anc and sound quality for this price.. I will definitely buy these again and probably buy my wife some so she’ll stop stealing mine.. If it was out of 10, i’d give this product a 9/10 simply due to no hard shell case..

I’ll be quite honest that i first bought these when trying to find one of the cheapest reputable noise cancelling headphones that i planned to use exclusively for mowing. I have a 3 acre lawn and spend hours mowing each week and the regular headphones just had to be jacked up too loud to hear over the drone so i finally jumped on these.

These headphones have been nothing short of great for me. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of people griping about options that may be missing and no app support and yada yada yada but the truth is, these offer a large amount of bang for the buck. Noise cancelling and great, but not perfect when comparing to bose headphones (shocker, right?) ears do start to sweat a little after an hour or so but that’s not extremely surprising either. Plenty loud, especially if you turn off the noise cancelling. Perhaps this is par for the course, but i was slightly disappointed at how much bass you lose when you turn on the noise cancelling. They actually shocked me at how much bass they have when comparing to other headphones 4 times their price. I wouldn’t go as far as to call them boomy but they do have a good punch.

At the end of the day, i’ve liked these headphones so much that i’ve had to keep moving them between the garage and the house as i use them to watch movies late at night when i don’t wanna wake the rest of the family up.

They are a great budget friendly pair of noise cancelling headphones with a great battery life. I’d buy again!

I’ve had these headphones since end of december 2019, gotten for flight over the holidays. Tried out both bose noice cancelling headphones at local brick & mortar store, but the price caused me to pause. On to amazon where i found these, better price, would arrive before my flight, sounded like a deal worth a shot after reading everything about them what did i have to lose with amazon’s return policy & anker’s reputation for quality.
I’ve had great chargers, other electronic items by anker with great results. They arrived on time well packaged, impressive from the start, but sound quality sealed the deal.
Back to anker headphones, i love them! The sound quality is amazing, when i have anc on i can’t hear anything but music, the outside noise is indeed cancelled. Even on my really bad flight (another story) a guy wanted to test them against his b newest headphones, so we switched for a test. He said he wish he had known about ankers quality & price, they were impressive not that he would give up the b set, but would definitely buy them as a spare or an extra pair to use for other activities, he couldn’t believe the price. He went straight to amazon asked me if the pair he chose were the same as mine, they were & he ordered them. That kind of confirmed i have a great pair of anc headphones & didn’t pay $$ for them,
they pair easily and are comfortable – until i’ve worn for hours then my shades/glasses are indented in my skull, time for a break, but that’s after hours of wearing-enjoying great sounding music 4-6 hrs & battery is still strong, time fly by.
There are only 2 minor suggestions for anker regarding these headphones 1) add to soundcore app please (after thought i don’t know if it’s needed unless to customize equalizer) the volume can be controlled on the headphones. 2) the headband could use a slight redesign. Wearing them while working out, doing lawn work or inside cleaning, cooking, always moving about (excellent bt range btw), the top of headband pulls my hair as the headband is adjustable it tends to slide a wee bit & my hair gets pulled so i have to adjust them & keep going, i’ve no idea how they could do this it’s something i noticed when trying out my son’s. He bought a cheap pair of jbl headphones for lawn mowing, they do fit a little better but don’t compare to ankers sound quality, imho would love jbl type fit on anker life q20 hybrid anc headphones!
Taking phone calls while wearing headphones works great, i asked how did i sound, fine he said, then we laughed when i told him i was listening to music on my ankers when he called & i took the call while wearing my headphones. Neither of us had any problems with quality of call. Volume is easy to find & adjust the multifunction button is easy to use for music or calls.
They come with the charging cable, though i wish more companies included the wall plug in,i don’t always have a spare just ling around, ok so i never have a spare just laying about. Also the aux cable is included though i haven’t used that feature yet. A drawstring pouch to put them in, which was good as i didn’t have a case to put them in for my flight & no time to get one. Instructions are well written anker products are always first class
love these headphones, the anc & overall sound quality at this price point is a gift that keeps on giving. The quality of this model looks & sounds like the much higher price headphones, maybe better than some. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy for a gift as they come gift wrap ready or a gift of music for me.
Overall ankers entry into the headphone, earbud market is welcomed. I wouldn’t hesitate to try them out if you’re looking for headphones with anc fantastic sound, that doesn’t break the budget to tears, give them a listen i think you’re going to love them.
Simply put my anker life q20 anc headphones are fantastic in quality and sound. I’m not an audiophile but i can’t find a thing disappointing in these, not quality or sound. I like a variety of music & i hear good bass, mid tones & treble, vocal it’s all there. As said for everything including quality these headphones deliver at a price that doesn’t break the bank & with ankers outstanding customer service is amazing. I can honestly say anker soundcore is definitely impressive, just as their charging cables, & other electronic devices that was my first introduction to anker products. I’m sure i’ll look at their bluetooth speakers soon.
Sorry for overly long review, there’s so many outstanding elements that i feel are important for customers to know when spending your money,i try to offer as much info i’ve experienced as possible, i’ve relied on amazon customer reviews when making a purchase, they’re brutally honest good or bad & i appreciate that.
I’ve had & used these headphones since late 22nd december, tonight is 25 july enough time to really evaluate them, they’ve exceeded my expectations, i would definitely recommend, most of all i would buy them again.
Thanks if you did read this long review, good intentions to help others as they shop.

Update 12 august a friend of mine used my ankers while visiting. He called back he had received his very own anker life q 20 headphones. That says a lot about the sound & quality whilst respecting the customers wallet, he was so happy with his new headphones & that i recommended ankers.

Thanks again to amazon shoppers, amazon & anker

I’m absolutely in love with these headphones! I’ve always had a problem turning up my earbuds way too loud, so after a couple headphone volume notifications, i thought i’d be time to try over ear headphones for the noise cancelling abilities. And these are perfect!
• the audio quality is really great! I got shivers the first time i used them, even without nc turned on.
• the noise canceling works. I have to walk over a freeway bridge on the way to work- the nc reduced the roar of passing trucks to a soft whooshing.
• the pairing is seamless and the connection is very strong! After pairing them initially, they automatically pair back to my phone when turned on. As for connectivity, they stay connected even divided from my phone by three floors.
• so far, the battery life is incredible. They came mostly charged, and are still reading as fully charged several uses later, even using nc.
Overall, i’m beyond satisfied with these headphones, especially for under $100! I’ll definitely be getting another pair if these break, but they show no signs of being easily breakable.

I do a lot of air travel and always need a good pair of noise canceling headphones. I’ve used all the high end brands over the years (beats, bose, sony, etc). My most recent pair of sony’s finally died, so i figured i’d order a more affordable pair of headphones to try. Was curious to see if there was any noticeable difference. I have several anker portable chargers and have been happy with that brand, so after looking at reviews, i decided to buy their noise canceling headphones. I could not be happier with them. The sound quality and noise canceling is excellent. Battery charge is excellent. I used them nonstop on a flight from atlanta to munich germany with no issues (8-9 hours of constant use) and they still had plenty of juice left. Very durable, well built. Do not seem cheap or ‘janky.’ if you took off the anker logo and put on ‘beats, bose or sony,’ you would not notice a difference in quality, at 1/6 the price!

I highly recommend these head phones, and will probably purchase a second set as a backup.

My wife has been wanting a set of ‘over the ear’ headphones, since she’s gotten 5 piecerings in her ear, and can’t use earbuds. I spent a week looking at reviews and videos for every single popular headphone out there.
I was asked to get a set of beats headphones for her birthday, but after reading more of those, i refuse to participate in that scam. I found these in the ‘similar to beats’ article, which is why u mentioned the former. I saw the price point of $50 and thought they would just be a piece of plastic with trashy quality, but i’ve never been more wrong.
These are amazing. They fit my big head really well. The swiveled headphones will tailor themselves to where your ears set and you no longer have to be uncomfortable. The sound blew me away in an instant. I use 3 songs to test quality 1) katy parry – dark horse (bass boosted) 2) wilderness – explosions in the sky (balance) 3) david guetta – titanium (overall quality and reverb)
they took roughly 15 minutes to charge, from out of the box, with a fast charger. I’ve been using them all day and still no ‘low battery’ chime has come up. No complaints of from wearing them all day either, i think they’re well balanced. Most of the weight sets in the headphones instead of the bridge.
I would say these are my second favorite headphones i’ve owned and used, just behind my set of bose headphones. If you’re looking at getting headphones as a gift for someone, get these and not some overpriced and underdeveloped piece of junk. I truly feel these will last as long as you properly take care of them.

I’ll come back and update if issues develop. (20220704)
don’t think any longer, just buy these ones!
20220910
i’m really still shocked at quality vs price.
Battery life is super long. I think i used them 2 days in a row, without charging, and at the end of the day, i finally heard ‘battery medium’.
The range is amazing. I hoped up to my phone and left it on charge. I mowed my yard (1.6 acres) and it did not cut out, even in the furthest corner of my yard.
Yesterday, i wore them ,while cutting copper pipe to plumb my house. I could barely hear my reciprocating saw. Once again, phone on charge. Still connected through my basement and outside my house while working. If these ever go bad for some reason, ill buy the upgraded series to compare. But this company has recieved my business for life, as long as they keep this work up!

First off, i’m just a regular user, not an audiophile. I would love a set of bose, but i don’t have the bankroll for that. I decided to try these headphones, and boy, am i glad i did!

I’ll address the noise cancelling aspect first. I recently spent several weeks in the icu with a loved one, and i would put these on at night while sleeping in a recliner. They immediately removed all the background noise like pumps, beeps, people, and the like. I didn’t hear anything! Yet if a doctor or nurse called my name, i heard them immediately.

I don’t know what techno sorcery anker used, but it works. Granted, if an iv alarm kept getting louder, you could hear it some, but they’re designed to be obnoxiously loud in an icu. Almost all the other noises were gone completely.

To address the sound side of things, i would put on nature sounds or rain storms at night to relax, and they sounded just like they should. I also listen to a wide range of techno, house, and trance, and these phones get the job done. At mid volume, you can hear every effect, just like if you’re there. Bass is there plenty!

Comfort was awesome. I have a big head, and many headphones are uncomfortable because they’re too small. These fit over the ear with room to spare. The cups are a soft foam covered with what feels like real leather. The headpiece also has a soft foam piece under it. They stayed put while sleeping in a recliner, so bonus points. If you have a small head, these might be too much size wise.

I had been using these for months almost every day, at home and on the go. I would recommend getting a hard clam shell case if you’re always throwing your headphones in a bag or case, but these are surprisingly rugged. They have very strong swivel hinges, and fold fairly flat.

Battery life is awesome, easily twenty hours on a charge. Noise cancelling usually causes a fair drain on a charge, but i leave it on all the time because they sound better to me, and i don’t notice a difference in charge life. I charge these on my anker 4 slot usb charger, and they’re usually done in a couple of hours.

Support from anker is awesome. I noticed cracks on each side above the swivels, and they were out of the 90 day period for amazon’s support, so amazon sent me a link to anker’s team and a copy of my sale’s receipt. Anker’s tech support was a breeze to deal with. Sent them a picture of each side’s cracks, and they sent me a new set of headphones. That’s customer service!

I am really happy with my purchase. To get a set of sound cancelling headphones that works great, sounds great, and has awesome support at this price point is a no-brainer. Go buy a pair now!

I saw these on a today’s deal sale, and like a drug addict that likes hopscotch, i busted out the chalk sidewalk and started researching.

Everyone loves these headphones. Your mom will love these headphones. They are not $300 bose anc headphones. (anc stands for always be closing. Sit down. Coffee is for closers.) but they are 80-90% as good as bose active noise cancelling headphones at 1/5 the cost. You’ll need to ask your kid or younger brother to help with that algebra, but let’s just say x = incredible value.

Apparently soundcore is an anker company. This isn’t obvious in some of the reviews you will undoubtedly read while on the toilet. But it’s anker made. Who hasn’t had great experience with anker stuff? Your purchase history here on amazon already has 14 anker purchases. This won’t be your first or your last anker purchase. Aside from making you feel dumb with your friends because no one can agree how to pronounce the ‘a’ in anker, their products are solid performers at a good price.

And that’s how i’d describe these headphones – like a really nice honda amongst acura, lexus, etc. Or a really good tv dinner where they get the cheese right. These soundcores are not beautiful. They won’t help you get the girl (or the guy. Or the cute non-binary person you saw wednesday). But they absolutely will make you feel glad you bought them.

They are solid in the hand, if a little cheap feeling – but only next to high end headphones. They aren’t flimsy by any stretch (do not try to stretch them). The plastic is thick and has a matte finish. The headband adjustment is solid – easy to move and stays in place once set. Comfort is excellent. The earphone cushions are buttery soft (and not all greasy like butter. That would be gross. Butter on your ears sucks.) the soft ear cushions make a great seal on your ears and don’t hurt after wearing for hours, even with glasses.

Some reviewes mention that these headphones can get a little sweaty. That does not mean the headphones themselves. These headphones produce almost zero perspiration themselves. But they may make your head/ears/ear area sweat. Because of the great seal made by the cushions, and due to the material being all natural vinyl or something, it can make things a little warm after an hour. But if you’re sitting at the bus stop in this humid heat, your ears are gonna sweat. At least these headphones will protect your ears from the loud noises of the bus and the other people at the bus stop who won’t stop talking about sammy and why he took off. You don’t need to hear that story again. Poor sammy.

The anc (not the chain of movie theaters) is good. For headphones at this price, the noise cancelling is excellent. So i guess that means the noise cancelling is excellent. At this price. These aren’t high end bose, dum-dum. These will remove a lot of exterior sound like a droning fan, dogs barking, a baby crying, a spouse asking you to do something, a police officer telling you that you can’t lie here, a drive through operator asking you want you want over and over and over.

I haven’t tried these on a plane yet. But i will. If i say i’ll come back and update this review after using them on a plane, that would feel disengenuous, because we both know that’s not going to happen. I feel like there is a modicum of trust and intimacy established at this point, and i don’t want to harm that. So let’s just agree to disagree, ok? I bet these will be great on a plane.

Sound is really really good. I won’t say excellent because you might like artificially enhanced beats-like bass response, and if you do, trying to explain what ‘subjective’ means will take too long. I’m kidding. If you really like a bunch of bass, that doesn’t mean you are stupid. I don’t think calling someone stupid is ok. You just have terrible taste and judgment and probably only give 40% effort at everything.

These sound clear and crisp. Bass response is good without being overbearing. (for those who really like heavy bass, that has nothing to do with bears).

Sound is great. Really great. Way better than those earbuds you’ve been using that start to feel uncomfortable after 45 minutes. Go on, take the plunge. I promise you will happy with your purchase and grateful to me and then we can be friends. You will love these headphones. Later, you will learn to love me.

I can tell you are losing interest. I know that look. I’ll wrap this up. Buy these headphones. You won’t be disappointed. Get a cheap hard case. I found one on amazon for around $9. Now you have noise cancelling g headphones that sound great, fit great, last a very long time on a single charge, and you’ll invest way under $100 all in. You will be the envy of your friends. Or at least your friends’ ears.

I’ve had bose nc headphones, i’ve had sony, i’ve had cheap brands. These are the best especially at only $60. I’m going to buy a second pair for work.

I bought these for watching tv at night. They paired instantly with my firestick. Took maybe 10 seconds. The sound is crisp and clear and the volume is great.
When i put them on, i could barely hear my fan in the background and that was an instant wow factor.
Then when i turned on the tv, i was just blown away. I couldn’t hear the fan anymore and the sound from the tv/firestick was fantastic but they’re also really really soft and comfortable.
I value comfort over sound and nc and these are more comfy than my astro a40s & a50s (gaming headphones).
So far the only ‘complaint’ if i had to think of one is that there isn’t a mute on the headphones (or maybe there is and i haven’t found it yet). There is a volume up and down which is great. But not mute. Not really a big deal. Seriously for $60 you won’t find a better pair. I’d take these over my bose nc headphones that were $300 any day!
This is not a paid review,. I’m not a bot, i’m don’t work for the company etc, honestly i don’t even know what brand this is without looking at the package.. It’s just an honest review. Good job! Buy then, you’ll love them.

Wow. I am rarely this blown away by consumer-grade peripherals, but i feel very compelled to write a glowing review of these headphones.

I do a lot of audio work, and cans are ubiquitous. I have some wired sennies that i love behind the mixer, a couple wired audio technicas that have stood the test of time in the broadcast studio, and a pair of nice sony bt cans with anc, so i will be comparing these ankers to the sony model wh-1000mx3.

Without question, anker has come further, faster, than a lot of peripheral manufacturers. The attention to detail in their products is exceptional, and downright attractive. The build quality is great, the packaging is great, the functionality is great, the ergonomics are great. My experience with their hubs is what leaned me toward their headphones.

After a bad experience with in-ear phones on an airplane, i decided i really needed some over-the-ear headphones for flying, but i didn’t want to carry around a $300 pair of cans that i only use a couple dozen times a year. I looked on amazon, saw the reviews, read the single-star complaints, and plunked down a whopping $60 (sixty bucks?!?! Are you kidding?) figuring they couldn’t sound that awful and would be perfect for the task.

Let me assure you: these are the perfect headphones for flying.

I like the idea that if they get lost or stolen, they’re easily replaceable. I love how well they fit (with a caveat, below), and they look great. Most of all, holy cow do they sound great!

Pairing the first time was a little bit of a process, but that’s to be expected the first time you play with a new toy. After that, i put on my go-to sound check song (‘sacrilege,’ by mentallo and the fixer), cranked the volume way up, and listened.

I have no idea what the thd or frequency range on these are, but i don’t think i care. The ‘silent note’ at the 1:00 mark of that song came through so clearly, without even the slightest hiss or noise, that i was madly in love with them immediately. The dynamic range is exceptional, there was no need for me to play with the super-duper-bass-button-doodad, i just let it play.

The highs are crisp without tinny tones, the lows are deep without rattling the 40mm drivers (i’d love a set like this with 50mm drivers), just a very clean, direct, simple, uncomplicated sound quality that rivals the at 500’s i have and is absolutely on-par with the sonys.

So i tested the anr. I turned on the a/c in my office, reset sacrilege, and played the beginning again. The a/c, as expected, kinda dampened the experience, but not any worse than the sonys. I reset the song again, with the a/c on, and activated anr (it’s called anc on the sonys). This is where the two headphones differ dramatically.

With noise cancellation on, the ankers outperform the sonys. Period. It’s a night and day difference, so if this is why you’re considering these headphones, waste no more time and go get yourself a pair.

In terms of tonal quality, i put these at the top of the list of any wireless earphones anywhere. I mean it. They’re better than any earbud type i’ve listened with, they’re better than every other ote without anr/anc, and they’re as good as the sonys, but with better anr. They’re better than any wired earbud, too, including the sony iems i used to use back when everything had an 1/8′ jack.

Sound is, as you would expect, not ‘quite’ as good as the higher-end wired ats and sennies. I don’t think anker would mind me saying that, because they’re a completely different application. If you play mp3s and don’t think they sound worse than lossless files, you wouldn’t appreciate the higher-end phones, so go buy these right away. If you can’t hear compression noise in your satellite radio, then you won’t appreciate the compression of bluetooth and you should go buy these right away.

That’s quite a lot of good stuff to say about a pair of headphones that cost less than a decent dinner.

There are 3 reasons for the 4 star review.

1. The ear pads are uncomfortable for my ears. Not very uncomfortable, but enough that i have to adjust the phones several times during a 3 hour flight. It might be that they’re new and i just need to break them in. If that turns out to be true, i’ll adjust the review up a star.

2. The battery life isn’t that great. To be fair, i only need about 12 hours of battery life and i’ll just recharge them. However, the advertised battery life is estimated at 40 hours with anr and 60 hours without. My experience is that with anr i get about 22-24 hours, and without i get about 48. Now, i have not had these very long, so i’ve only timed my first recharges, so if it turns out the battery life goes up with proper use, i’ll add the 5th star.

3. They don’t fold up as small as the sonys or even my ats. This one alone is not worth docking a whole star, but it’s the only other complaint i have. Carry-on space is so limited, and there’s a pocket in my bag that the sonys fit in, and these don’t (not by much though).

Hope that helps you make a decision. I’m very happy with these, and i just might give them some airtime at sea level just for giggles.

Let me start off by explaining my use-case for these headphones.

I was in the market looking for something to be a good accompaniment to my brand new oculus quest 2. I planned on sharing the play experience with some friends, so earbuds were out of the question for sanitary reasons. I wasn’t looking for stupidly-expensive headphones to have to play some vr games, but wanted something decent so beat saber would sound better haha. Previously, i had bought these $15 panasonic headphones that had banger reviews, but once they arrived, i put them on, turned on some music, and instantly boxed it back up. Trash. So back to amazon i went to look for something that’s more bang-for-your-buck. I stumbled upon a bunch of non-mainstream headphones and then eventually to these. I have some anker chargers and stuff but i never knew anker made audio hardware, so i thought i’d read some reviews and try them out since they were on sale for $45 vs. Their $60 msrp. I knew now that if i wanted even the slightest decency in quality, i’d have to spend more than $15 haha.

Next, let me explain my experience in audio hardware.

I wouldn’t consider myself a professional audiophile, but i know good sound when i hear it. My most expensive pair of headphones are my sennheiser hd 650 for when i dabble in music production or want listen to music at the highest quality pair with my fiio portable amp interface, my pair of sony mdr-v6 (my favorite pair of headphones/ studio monitors and ol’ faithful), sennheiser cx 5.00i (hands-down best-sounding and most-balanced earbuds), 2 pairs of sennheiser cx 300 (best-sounding alternative to the 5.00i), beats studio (trash), beats solo hd (even more trash), airpods 1st gen, and various pairs of earpods lying around. Hopefully that gives you a small glimpse of how much high-quality audio means to me…or how stupid i am for owning a couple pairs of beats…

Now for the breakdown ——

sound quality —- 8/10
these are actually quite above decent! The price is just a bonus. I’d say the quality as normal headphones for listening to music and gaming, they’re perfect. Crisp highs and good lows (with a bit of a default bass-enhancement). The mids could use a bit of work but to be honest, for $45 this is prob some of the best sound you can get at this price-point. Pretty much what a lot of these reviews say. Heck, these may be better than/ as good as most name-brand $100-200. I’ve used various bose quiet comfort series headphones ($300+) and haven’t been impressed with their sound quality. I would say these sound just as good, if not better, than bose qc headphones, as controversial as that may be to say haha. Another comparison is against my airpods, which i consider pretty good-sounding. I would say these are about the same as airpods, but with added bass and optional added bass on top of that. Beats muddle everything else with their added bass, while these don’t imo. Overall, sound quality on these is solid and for under $60, i would say is a steal.

Do not use for music production or as studio monitors
i only say this because there are reasons that these are just meant for listening. There are drivers in these that may not sit well with production hardware, such as an amplified audio interface, preamps, or other equipment. When i plugged this into my fiio via the provided aux cable, the sound became unbalanced. It’s probably because it wasn’t meant to take in more power than it was built with, so better to leave these headphones vanilla than add anything else to them. Use them for listening or gaming and you should experience optimal sound quality. Oh and also, don’t ever buy beats. These headphones sound eons better than any of the beats products that i’ve owned/ tried, including the discontinued $400 beats pro.

Comfort —- 10/10
these are also quite comfortable. I’ve worn it as long as 3-hour time period so far and the sides of my head/ ears weren’t sore like after long wears of my sennheiser hd 650s. Just like my sony mdr-v6s they are foldable, so that may have something to do with the flexibility of its entirety. My sennheiser hd 650s are non-foldable, and that’s a big drawback for those :'(. The memory foam pads covered with faux leather allows the headphones to comfortably conform to your head shape. The only thing i can really compare the comfort to is the beats studio, which surprisingly, despite their build quality, are pretty comfortable. Overall, i feel like these would fit most heads and provide almost universal comfort.

Features —- meh, not much to talk about
really the only added features are the optional bass-boost and active noise canceling (anc). The optional bass-boost isn’t bad, it just doesn’t do much for me because bass is already enhanced right outta the box. So if you’re into bass-boosted and bass-heavy music, these will be quite pleasant for sure! The anc also doesn’t really do much for me since i listen to my music loud enough to drown out pretty much everything anyway. But, when i turn it on without music playing, it does do something. It’s not quite as effective as the bose qc headphones, but i think it works pretty well in most loud situations. I just haven’t used it on a plane yet haha. The volume control buttons have an annoying beep every time you press + or – , but whatever. This actually sucks- you can’t use the headphones while they’re charging, even wired. Ridiculous, i know. But hey, can’t have everything, right? Big oof on anker’s end on that.

Aesthetics —- 6/10
not gonna lie, these are pretty generic looking headphones. They don’t have some revolutionary design to it, but they look like your average good-looking generic headphones. They aren’t flashy like beats or airpods (or probably the upcoming airpods studio) but they don’t look bad at all. They’re just…normal. But, i did only get the black pair, so maybe the gray one looks better in different settings. Don’t let this be a deal-breaker, though.

Connectivity —- 6/10
wired, these things are perfect. The provided cable could be longer, but that’s nothing against the headphones themselves. Just buy an extender or a longer cable online for like $10 or less. The only reason i’m knocking off a star is because of what a lot of people are complaining about: the choppiness and clicking of the bluetooth connectivity. Every now and then the headphones will click or have that split-second static noise while i’m listening via bluetooth. It’s not often, but happens enough to dock a start off. Now, i could just return these and try to get another pair, but i’m too lazy and don’t really care too much about the clipping every now and then, so that’s on me. But, it’s a problem a lot of other reviewers are complaining about so it’s a legitimate issue. The range is fine so far. I’ve been able to walk 30 ft. Away without any clipping issues. I’ve also used these for video calls and they work just fine with no clipping.

Conclusion —- overall grade: 9/10
you may or may not find headphones this great-sounding at this price-point or even a step up in price-point, but then again i haven’t tried every single pair of headphones on the market. But i can say with confidence that these stack up pretty well against my studio headphones that i own and i would recommend these to anyone looking for decent-sounding headphones, because with these, you’ll get way more than what you’re looking for. These will definitely be a pleasure to play vr games with and even moreso just listening to music while at home or traveling!

Now if you’re looking for decent earbuds, i recommend the sennheiser cx 5.00i! (if you haven’t noticed, i’m definitely biased towards sennheiser, but they’re industry-standard and the have the best sounding audio products i’ve ever experience, hands-down)

Update, 2/29/20: anker customer service has provided me an updated pair of the headphones for reevaluation. I have not experienced the popping issue at all with the new pair, so i am updating my rating to 4 stars. I still really enjoy the sound from these while anc is on; strong, fun bass, and not at the expense of the mids and treble. Also, customer service also sent me replacement earpads in the event that they fail over time.

Once again, i cannot say enough about how amazing anker’s customer service is. Many companies out there could learn a lot from how much they want their customers to be satisfied!

Update, 1/31/20: unfortunately these are being returned, for 2 reasons:

1) i’m getting the popping noise whenever i take off the headphones while playing in anc mode (which is always). This simply cannot happen for headphones at any price point, much less $60.

2) i can see already that the earpad leatherette covering is beginning to pull away from the housing. Since receiving the headphones, i have treated them with kid gloves, so in less than 2 weeks time i’m already beginning to see potential for long term build quality issues.

So, as with other reviewers, bummed that these just don’t live up to anker quality. Leaving them at 2 stars as they are serviceable, but not a long term gamble i’m willing to take.

Original review, 1/25/20:

we live in a world of excess. Headphones are a prime example of this. Not only are there many ‘name brand’ manufacturers of headphones out there (sony, bose, beats. Et. Al.), there are now endless ‘no-name’ brands peddling junk. There are a handful of companies trying to find some middle ground, taotronics, mpow, and, of course, anker soundcore. When it comes to headphones, at least for me, is value for price paid. Without a doubt, the more expensive headphones by sony & bose offer the best quality across the board, but they’re not such a great value, at least for my needs. And to go super cheap with no name brands is a waste of time, as you’ll make major sacrifices. Anker is trying to establish itself as the sweet spot for solid value without making too many sacrifices.

Like other reviewers, i have used other anker products, some good, some not so good. Their charging products are nothing short of spectacular. Their audio products, on the other hand, have always been hit or miss. I decided to take a chance on the q20 headphones because a) they are a few generations in, so hopefully anker has made improvements over time, and; b) they sit at a great price point (between $40-60 depending on timing). Not cheap, but not astronomical either.

So after using them for a week, and making the decision not to return them (i have returned countless headphones), i wanted to share my first impressions. Maybe these will change over time as the build quality ages, or sound quality evolves with burn-in, but i wanted to try and help those on the fence with some honesty rather than the endless one line five star reviews.

Pros

comfort. While these are in no way portable, they are fairly light and not overly bulky. Most of the cheaper over-ears are simply too much like earmuffs in an attempt to maximize comfort and/or improve sound quality.

Sound quality. This one is both a pro and a con, so i will come back to this below. For the most part, i enjoy the sound quality on these. Admittedly, i like extra oomph in the bass, and these are definitely bass headphones.

Battery life. Gave them a full charge when i received them, and probably won’t need to charge them again for likely…weeks. Since i only use them at work and occasionally around the house, i expect the battery to last quite a while.

Value. So far, i feel like i am getting every cent out of my investment in these. Sure, they are not perfect (as you will see below), but for the price paid, they are meeting my expectations.

Cons

noise canceling. Yeah, anker threw in noise canceling as that feature is hot right now. It’s there, but it’s mediocre. Would i trust it if i was a frequent traveler? No. That would be worth an investment in bose or sony. But at work and around the house, it’s fine. I haven’t encountered the popping issues other reviewers have experienced, so i will have to wait and see on that.

Build quality. This is where anker was able to keep the price point low. These aren’t the most solidly built, but they are passable so long as they are handled decently. A case would have mitigated this, but again, cost. The buttons are not the best, and over time i can tell that these will likely be the first things to fail.

Sound quality. Here is where i will contradict myself. There is a discernible difference in the bass level between noise canceling being off vs. On. When off, the cans really thump with bass, which is great when listening to pop, hip hop, or edm. It’s too overpowering for most rock songs, as it drowns out pretty much everything else. It’s still listenable, but gets exhausting after awhile. With noise canceling on, it’s better, but it seems like the sound quality degrades somewhat with the added layer of processing. Not a steep decline, but it does mean that i leave the noise cancellation on all the time, which will result in the battery dying quicker. Not a deal breaker.

Tl;dr: so overall, i recommend these headphones if you are looking for a solid pair of cans at a reasonable price, knowing what you are buying. These are not going to give you superior performance on any feature, except for battery life. They are definitely acceptable for what you’re paying for, and so long as the build quality holds up, should meet your needs for a couple of years. And if not, anker has an 18-month warranty on defects, and their customer service is a+.

Normally, anker products are really good, but these are dissapointing.

If these where just headphones, they would be fine, they are comfortable, sound good (not audiophile good, but good enough), look kinda good (if a tad cluncky). But these are supposed to be noise cancelling headphones. And they do not cancel noise at all.

The only discernible effect when you enable noise cancelling is that the headphones pump up the volume of what you are listening, but, once you compensate for that, the external sound dampening you get is the same that you would get by just the cushions of the headphones.

Mind you, i tested with a punny nokia e71 playing tmbg’s call_connected_through_the_nsa.mp3 not some hollywood explosion fest. I do not want ‘world around dissapears’ kinds of noise cancelling, but if these can’t cancel a punny e71… Well, disappointed/dissapointing

edit #1:
the reason i hold anker in high regard, i because of their customer service, and this is no exception. I posted the review in about july 18, 2020, and today july 21, 2020 they contacted me. At least we know they still have top notch customer support, even during a pandemic.

Nonetheless, their sugestions were not very usefull:

«- make sure the nc button is turned on(the nc indicator would turn green) when you want them to cancel noise outside.»
yes, i know very well how to press the button to get the green light, and also, a very nice lady voice says ‘noice cancelling’, so yes, i was 110% (one hundred and ten percent) sure noice cancelling was active.

«- try the headphones in different noisy places with nc on and off and see any difference.»
well, we are under lockdown. When i am able to move out, i have more important thing to do than test noise cancelling headphones. Nonetheless, i’ll try to do it and report back to anker customer support, and to you guys. I’ll also try to get the 10 min silent mp3s from samir mezrahito really test this out.

Edit #2:

i was ‘finally’ able to actuate on anker product support’s sugestion and ‘- try the headphones in different noisy places with nc on and off and see any difference.’.

For testing purposes i used the headphones in bluethooth mode (to eliminate any electrical intereference noise). And used the song ‘a a a a a a a a a very good song’ by artist samir mezrahi, which, as you perhaps know, consists of almost 10 min of silence.

I tested in various scenarios:
1.) in my car, windows down.
2.) in my car windows up.
3.) reving up my car to 2500rpm (in the parking lot).
4.) in a bus stop (with buses comming in and out).
5.) in the electric stairs of a ghostly empty shopping mall.
6.) in a queue to pay for medicines (with ambient music and people talking at moderate volume).
7.) near the air extractor of my home kitchen.

My results:
1.) if wind blows in the headphones you actually get much more noise with nc on than with nc off, so forget using the noise cancelling in a ferry boat, or in a bus with no air conditioning, or in your car with windows/roof open, or in your bike.
2.) the nc was able to diminish humming noises (like the engine), but not clacking noises, or noises derived from potholes and such.
3.) the nc was very effective at mitiganting the reeving.
4.) the engine noise from the buses was mitigated, but not the clacking or the chatter from the people waiting.
5.) again, the humm of the motor of the staris was mitigated, but not the clacking noises.
6.) in the queue, the souund of the air conditioner or the store was somewhat mitigated by the nc, but not the ambient music or the chatter, and that actually ended up being worse, because it made more noticeable the music and chatter.
7.) the nc was decent with the air extractor of my kitchen.

But, in scenarios 5, 6 & 7, i noticed that the nc tends to cancel the low frequencies, but the high ones are not mitigated at all (currently at my 47yo, i can hear up to 15khz, so for younger peiople is probably worse), so, actually enabling nc will make any high pitch noice more noticeable (i.e. The frequency responce of the nc is not flat).

Finally, if one bought these headphones with nc because the noise made by rain, the ac fan or compressor, or some other noise like that was disturbing, it it will diminish it a little (but not much), but if one bought noise cancelling headphones because one wanted to evade the sound of coworkers talking, or kids playing in the garden or your so watching tv in the other room, these headphones will do nothing more than what headphones with no nc (and therefore less expensive) would have.

Edit #3 (and final):

anker contacted me, and offered two options, return the item (as a very special consideration, since i am a few months completely outside of the return window), or get a refund for 20% of the cost, to get a more suitable item. Since i order to the usoa and then have my items forwarded to venezuela, it is a hassle to return items, so i opted for the refund, and it went smoothly.

That is the good thing of going with anker. The litmus test of a good company comes when things go wrong, and anker has a stellar reputation for making things right. Upgraded the review from one star to 4, but not on the account of the product itself, but rahter, due to the excellent customer service.

For the price and quality i’ve experienced, i definitely recommend giving them a try! I’m a voice over actor and music producer. While i use professional grade studio headphones for recording, sometimes they get heavy while i’m mixing. So after mixing critical components of sound, i find myself going to the anker soundcore headphones for playback. The ear cushions definitely stand toe to toe with my studio headphones for comfort. And the playback quality is very good. I will still use my professional grade headphones for recording though for various technical reasons. One of the things i’m surprisingly happy with is the noise cancelling feature these headphones have. I enjoy cigars and i have some artists that i produce that like to smoke cigarettes. So during playback is usually a smoke break. I run a couple fans to exhaust smoke from my studio, and when i first starting using the anker soundcore headphones for playback, i found myself lifting off one of the ear cuffs to see if the fans were still on. Wow. They excel at external noise cancellation. I imagine this is great for activities that are loud like mowing the grass, etc. I would seriously hesitate to drive with them in. I’m not sure i would hear sirens. Lol. I recommend them 100% i’ve spent money on headphones many times. These are worth every penny and more!

I was looking for a lower priced set of over-the-ear bluetooth headphones to replace an older set that i had from kicker that started peeling. This is the 3rd set of headphones that i have had that the faux leather padding wants to peel off and it gets everywhere. These have a different type of material, i don’t know how to describe but it does not look like leather and it is very soft and comfy. They default to nc when you first turn them. You can tell because a little green light comes on that at first i thought was just a power light. They are dead silent with nc on but it muffles and tones the music down so i prefer it off. The sound is very good, without the bass boost these sound very good, clean and crisp. I could not get the bass boost to work properly. The directions show you how to do it but every time i pushed the button for bass boost it just paused my music so i gave up. These are very light, sound great but the one thing that keeps them from being 5-stars is that they limit the volume to 95db so they max out just a tad under where i like them to be on some songs. I think it depends on the source volume but i could not figure out why these would not go loud enough and then read in the instructions that they limit the volume to protect me from myself. I have not tried listening with the supplied cord so do not know if that alters the volume limited or not. I really don’t need big brother to decide how loud i want to listen to my music. That’s the main reason for 4-stars instead of 5.

Someone else wrote a great review, so i’ll just piggy back on some minor details:
‘1. The ear pads are uncomfortable for my ears.(…)’
– agreed. To add: if you’re moving around you might start sweating where the pad touches your skin. And to capitalize on other reviews as well, the internal sounds of the cup do exist, like if you have your head rest on something and then turn it to the side you’ll hear the plastic sounds.

‘2. The battery life isn’t that great.(…)’
– agreed, but it does the job if you need specific things, like a flight, or studying in a noisy place for a day. You just need to be aware of recharging it when you need it. I also wish that it wouldn’t turn on with the anr on. I always turn it off if not really needed to save battery.

‘3. They don’t fold up as small as the sonys or even my ats.’
– yep, that’s a bummer.

The performance of the microphone on calls is good though, no complaints.

First the audio quality is great. They have deep bass and clear highs. The range on them is pretty im impressive also. I can set my phone down in one spot at the gym and get around to all the equipment i’m using. The reservoirs are large and go completely over my ears, which i like better than the small ones that just rest right on your ear. Controls are basic single and double touches of buttons. Takes a while to remember what’s what, but after that they respond appropriately.

The downside is that they aren’t very tight on their fit. So they are difficult to keep in place when working out in anything but a full upright position. If you incline, decline, bend at the waist, go prone, or even lay back on a bench they feel like they are sliding further off your head with each rep. Not what you want to feel when your holding up weight. Haven’t found a way to adjust that. I’m back to ear buds for weights, these are now relegated to elliptical duty, and use around the house.

Much as i like and use a lot of anker products, these don’t make the cut, and sadly for a lot of aesthetic and clunky design reasons that don’t have much to do with their intended functionality. At their core, they provide good anc, and pleasant – if a tad bassy – sound quality. That said, i’ll outline the pros and cons i’ve observed in using them on the first day:

pros:
– as noted, nice sound quality, with some reinforcement in the mid-bass frequencies, but the bass is tight, and the mids and highs are mellow
– almost inaudible difference to sound quality with noise cancellation enabled, and no notable hiss with anc on
– anc is not ‘make the world go away’ levels, and lets some higher frequency sound through; this is great, as i am looking to cancel out midrange and bass sounds like an air conditioner, nearby dogs, and the wearing rumble of airplane engines during long flights
– aside from the slightly too small earcups (for my tastes), they are comfortable to wear – neither too loose nor too tight
– the various audible and voice prompts are pleasant and at a reasonable volume

cons:
– big problem: can’t charge and listen at the same time
– big problem: no ability to use as a phone headset in wired mode (these are headphones only when used with the cable, with no mic available)
– the earcup material is too insulative, resulting in unpleasant warmth and sweating under fairly normal circumstances (74f / 45% rh, just sitting at computer doing work, so these would suck for truly warm, humid, and and/or strenuous activity)
– when switching anc on and off, the enhanced bass enables momentarily, which is just sloppy design, and rather jarring
– they have stiff creaky hinges and pivots, which is emblematic of inexpensive plastic-on-plastic construction
– they have a light but unpleasant chemical smell, which i suspect is from the earcup material, and it’s not dissipating any too quickly
– a general lack of build refinement – they’re nice enough, but the point where the earcup cushions meet the body was wrinkled and unevenly finished

all this said, i can’t really recommend these, since i think refinement and solid build quality should be reasonable expectations at a $70 price point. If i could give them 3.5 stars, i would, but since their core functionality is great, i’ll go with 4 stars instead of 3.

Since i own a pair of the q10, which are actually cheaper this review will be skewed. The q10 is a better value and i would buy those again instead of these. However, if you were to buy these cold they are a great value sound excellent and would work perfectly for anyone who just wants to listen to mp3 music. Volume drops by approximately 30% when using the noise canceling. I don’t use the noise canceling, and the bass boost is not even necessary if you use an eq in your phone.