PRODUCT REVIEW: Soundcore Life Q20 Bluetooth Headphones
(Stop This Train - John Mayer)
As the world continues to struggle through one of the most wide-spread health epidemics in recent history, people have turned to a variety of outlets for solace. One of them, as it has ever been, is music. Unfortunately, that escape has run face-first into another obstacle:
Working from home.
Gone are the days when I could crank up my stereo and listen to whatever struck my fancy. Now I have to be aware of my wife and the job she is trying to do one floor above me. For some people, that means simply not listening to music, or listening to it quietly enough that you don't disturb the other occupants within your domicile.
For me, it means finding a way to listen to music in sufficient volume and fidelity to scratch the itch that only music can. Enter: Soundcore's current generation of noise-cancelling over-the-ear cans, the Life Q20s.
As with any device in this segment, Soundcore makes a bevy of promises about how wonderful their headphones are. As an advid fan of Anker, Soundcore's parent company, I gave these cans a shot in an attempt to get closer to my music -- and perhaps to indulge in a bit of retail therapy.
Do they live up to the hype?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Shocker, Soundcore made another kick-ass audio device.
THE LONG VERSION:
Full disclosure: Typically when I post these reviews, it's after a few days' research on my own. Occasionally, I'll have the opportunity to seek feedback on a few little issues from an outside source, but I typically fly solo with my devices. Audio device reviews can list all of the numbers they want about RMS power, wattage, response time, and sound stage. In the end, much like beauty, HiFi is in the ears of the beholder.
To review the Q20, I had more than a little help from my brother in law, an avionics engineer that appreciates gadgets and music every bit as much as I do. He had a chance to review the Q20s as well, and our findings were broadly the same. Let's get into those now, starting with a visual inspection:
(Image Credit: Soundcore)
Not unattractive brutes, these. There's nothing flash or gaudy about these cans. Indeed, like much of Anker's equipment, the Q20s are more about Bang than Flash. They're not ugly by any stretch, just ... unremarkable. Slightly more visually appealing are the silver variant that you can get if you're patient enough:
(Image Credit: Amazon)
The Silvered version of the Q20s is certainly more visually striking, but there's no chrome, no gloss, no vibrant colors or branding. Both variants have a good weight in the hand and feel solidly built, if not entirely 'high quality'. An example: The information on Soundcore's Life Q20 website says the cushions on these cans are made from memory foam for extra comfort. And indeed, they are comfortable. I've spent days wearing these for hours on end, as has my BIL: "I typically listen for 8-10 hours each day while at work, these headphones remain comfortable throughout my listening time." Be warned though, anyone who wears a beard or grows one quickly is likely to put the covering over said foam to the test. To be fair, you'll have that with any over the ear cans these days.
Something else that you'll most certainly notice is the quality of the plastics that are used to construct the main housings of these headphones. I won't go so far as to suggest that it feels cheap per se, but they don't feel high quality like some other big brand manufacturers. This isn't helped at all by the many articulation points on each side of the Q20s. In practice, those articulation points help the headphones fit perfectly on your head since they can twist and bend in all the right places. I can't help but wonder which one of those joints will fail first though, either from durability or accidental breakage. While the Soundcore Life Q20s come with a soft bag for storage and transport, my BIL took the extra step of buying a sturdier case: "I carry them to and from work each day so I have access to them in the evenings [...] I was concerned about the durability of the bag. I ordered a hard case for them, a Geekria UltraShell Headphone Case, which fits well and makes carrying them much less of a concern." You can check the case out on Amazon here.
I've checked out several audio devices from Soundcore recently. In general, their build quality has just felt a little...better than the Q20s. Like I said above, these don't feel cheap, but they certainly don't feel premium either. Could this be a case of function over form? Happily, the answer is, "Yes."
Soundcore's Life Q20 headphones promise a common suite of functions including standard options for music playback and call handling. They're Bluetooth 5, so there are no wires to contend with. As an added bonus, if you run out of power, they -do- come with a headphone cord that will allow you to connect them to any device set up to accept a 3.5mm stereo mini-pin. The pin on that jack is a TRS pin, so no hands-free kit functionality when you're flying this way. You can also use the Play/Pause button to summon your device's virtual assistant. There's nothing startling there.
They also promise 30 hours of playback time -- 40, depending on where you look on their website! -- crystal clear call audio, a whopping 90% reduction in ambient audio through their noise cancellation, and "100% stronger bass!" Let's address those each in turn:
- The playback time is startling. My BIL runs them hard during the weekdays at work and only charges them on the weekend, which easily accounts for 35-40 hours of listening time. My own experiences mirror that.
- As with the rest of the Soundcore offerings I've checked out, I'm happy to report that the bass is present and accounted for, and without compromising the rest of the audio in the process! With Active Noise Reduction on, the bass loses a little something, but these headphones are so bassy anyway that I really don't find myself missing it. Plus, Soundcore's BassUp! functionality can be found here too for added OOMPH if you still need to pump up the jam while ANR is active. Start with low volume, kiddies.
- Hands-free calling is easily managed and very, very clear. One of the advantages of this form factor is more room for higher quality calling electronics and better microphone placement. If you want better call audio than these bad boys offer, you'll need to get something with a boom mic on it.
- The website claims 90% ambient noise reduction when ANR is active, and this is probably the single most startling thing about these cans. The noise reduction works really, REALLY well. It's startling how well it works. Each time I put these headphones on, there's a certain amount of white noise that both comes through the cans and exists inside of them with the air trapped there. Turn them on though -- ANR is on by default when you power these on -- and ... it all vanishes. Everything just goes away, and you're greeted with something much, much closer to real, honest-to-God silence. It is DIVINE. Once you turn your music on, outside noise is going to have to be -loud- to penetrate the cocoon of sound that you'll find yourself wrapped in. True story: I wore these into a bathroom to wash my hands and blow my nose. Not only could I hear very little of my nose being blown, but when I flushed the remains down the toilet, I couldn't hear the toilet flush at all. And that was with my music PAUSED. The ANR on these things is insanely good. The BIL reports much the same:
"The active noise reduction (ANR) does a good job of canceling out 90% of the HVAC noise as well as the various machine shop noises of my office. Some of the higher frequency fan noises come through slightly, but overall, when you put them on, it turns the outside world off. The SCL20s do allow some voice frequencies in, but at a greatly reduced level. This makes it possible to hear when someone is trying to get my attention, or when I need to be aware of something going on around me."
All of this is well and good, but we buy headphones for one primary reason: Music.
When I vet a device for sound quality, I'm looking for some very key things that are specific without being driven by sheer numbers:
- Clear, crisp highs
- Resonant mids that don't get lost in the bass
- Deep, quickly responding bass
- The ability to balance and EQ those sounds if the defaults to not please me
I've mentioned before that I have a small selection of music that I hold my devices up against. I've had the very good fortune to listen to those songs on very high fidelity equipment so I have a fairly decent idea of what I'm listening for.
Here's the bottom line where these headphones are concerned. Are they the best audio devices I've ever had on my head? No, probably not. Do the plastics feel a little cheap? Yes. Are they insanely high quality for their price point of $60? Yeeeeah. They're stupid good for that price. STUPID good. Again, the BIL's thoughts are similar:
"It has good highs and it loses a bit of bass with the ANR turned on, but with the extra bass setting you can get that back. It does have a wider sound field [...] I think it's probably just a fact of the over ear design."
Let's go back to that price point again. $60. In order to get into something from a 'major' audio brand, you need to look at cans from people like JBL, and those start at $100. Want to get into 'serious' BT noise-cancelling headphones? Be prepared to pay $300. Would those sound better? Yeah. Would they sound five times better? I think not. Not at all. Three times? No. Twice as good? I sort of doubt it. And hey, I'd be willing to pay $120 for really good headphones. I just can't figure out why I ever would when I can get these for $60. Sorry. The math just isn't there.
Once again, Soundcore has cranked out another product that excels in its price bracket and forces you to re-examine why you're spending all of that money on a badge.
I still haven't figured that part out.
As the world continues to struggle through one of the most wide-spread health epidemics in recent history, people have turned to a variety of outlets for solace. One of them, as it has ever been, is music. Unfortunately, that escape has run face-first into another obstacle:
Working from home.
Gone are the days when I could crank up my stereo and listen to whatever struck my fancy. Now I have to be aware of my wife and the job she is trying to do one floor above me. For some people, that means simply not listening to music, or listening to it quietly enough that you don't disturb the other occupants within your domicile.
For me, it means finding a way to listen to music in sufficient volume and fidelity to scratch the itch that only music can. Enter: Soundcore's current generation of noise-cancelling over-the-ear cans, the Life Q20s.
As with any device in this segment, Soundcore makes a bevy of promises about how wonderful their headphones are. As an advid fan of Anker, Soundcore's parent company, I gave these cans a shot in an attempt to get closer to my music -- and perhaps to indulge in a bit of retail therapy.
Do they live up to the hype?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Shocker, Soundcore made another kick-ass audio device.
THE LONG VERSION:
Full disclosure: Typically when I post these reviews, it's after a few days' research on my own. Occasionally, I'll have the opportunity to seek feedback on a few little issues from an outside source, but I typically fly solo with my devices. Audio device reviews can list all of the numbers they want about RMS power, wattage, response time, and sound stage. In the end, much like beauty, HiFi is in the ears of the beholder.
To review the Q20, I had more than a little help from my brother in law, an avionics engineer that appreciates gadgets and music every bit as much as I do. He had a chance to review the Q20s as well, and our findings were broadly the same. Let's get into those now, starting with a visual inspection:
 |
(Image Credit: Soundcore)
Not unattractive brutes, these. There's nothing flash or gaudy about these cans. Indeed, like much of Anker's equipment, the Q20s are more about Bang than Flash. They're not ugly by any stretch, just ... unremarkable. Slightly more visually appealing are the silver variant that you can get if you're patient enough:
(Image Credit: Amazon)
The Silvered version of the Q20s is certainly more visually striking, but there's no chrome, no gloss, no vibrant colors or branding. Both variants have a good weight in the hand and feel solidly built, if not entirely 'high quality'. An example: The information on Soundcore's Life Q20 website says the cushions on these cans are made from memory foam for extra comfort. And indeed, they are comfortable. I've spent days wearing these for hours on end, as has my BIL: "I typically listen for 8-10 hours each day while at work, these headphones remain comfortable throughout my listening time." Be warned though, anyone who wears a beard or grows one quickly is likely to put the covering over said foam to the test. To be fair, you'll have that with any over the ear cans these days.
Something else that you'll most certainly notice is the quality of the plastics that are used to construct the main housings of these headphones. I won't go so far as to suggest that it feels cheap per se, but they don't feel high quality like some other big brand manufacturers. This isn't helped at all by the many articulation points on each side of the Q20s. In practice, those articulation points help the headphones fit perfectly on your head since they can twist and bend in all the right places. I can't help but wonder which one of those joints will fail first though, either from durability or accidental breakage. While the Soundcore Life Q20s come with a soft bag for storage and transport, my BIL took the extra step of buying a sturdier case: "I carry them to and from work each day so I have access to them in the evenings [...] I was concerned about the durability of the bag. I ordered a hard case for them, a Geekria UltraShell Headphone Case, which fits well and makes carrying them much less of a concern." You can check the case out on Amazon here.
I've checked out several audio devices from Soundcore recently. In general, their build quality has just felt a little...better than the Q20s. Like I said above, these don't feel cheap, but they certainly don't feel premium either. Could this be a case of function over form? Happily, the answer is, "Yes."
Soundcore's Life Q20 headphones promise a common suite of functions including standard options for music playback and call handling. They're Bluetooth 5, so there are no wires to contend with. As an added bonus, if you run out of power, they -do- come with a headphone cord that will allow you to connect them to any device set up to accept a 3.5mm stereo mini-pin. The pin on that jack is a TRS pin, so no hands-free kit functionality when you're flying this way. You can also use the Play/Pause button to summon your device's virtual assistant. There's nothing startling there.
They also promise 30 hours of playback time -- 40, depending on where you look on their website! -- crystal clear call audio, a whopping 90% reduction in ambient audio through their noise cancellation, and "100% stronger bass!" Let's address those each in turn:
- The playback time is startling. My BIL runs them hard during the weekdays at work and only charges them on the weekend, which easily accounts for 35-40 hours of listening time. My own experiences mirror that.
- As with the rest of the Soundcore offerings I've checked out, I'm happy to report that the bass is present and accounted for, and without compromising the rest of the audio in the process! With Active Noise Reduction on, the bass loses a little something, but these headphones are so bassy anyway that I really don't find myself missing it. Plus, Soundcore's BassUp! functionality can be found here too for added OOMPH if you still need to pump up the jam while ANR is active. Start with low volume, kiddies.
- Hands-free calling is easily managed and very, very clear. One of the advantages of this form factor is more room for higher quality calling electronics and better microphone placement. If you want better call audio than these bad boys offer, you'll need to get something with a boom mic on it.
- The website claims 90% ambient noise reduction when ANR is active, and this is probably the single most startling thing about these cans. The noise reduction works really, REALLY well. It's startling how well it works. Each time I put these headphones on, there's a certain amount of white noise that both comes through the cans and exists inside of them with the air trapped there. Turn them on though -- ANR is on by default when you power these on -- and ... it all vanishes. Everything just goes away, and you're greeted with something much, much closer to real, honest-to-God silence. It is DIVINE. Once you turn your music on, outside noise is going to have to be -loud- to penetrate the cocoon of sound that you'll find yourself wrapped in. True story: I wore these into a bathroom to wash my hands and blow my nose. Not only could I hear very little of my nose being blown, but when I flushed the remains down the toilet, I couldn't hear the toilet flush at all. And that was with my music PAUSED. The ANR on these things is insanely good. The BIL reports much the same:
"The active noise reduction (ANR) does a good job of canceling out 90% of the HVAC noise as well as the various machine shop noises of my office. Some of the higher frequency fan noises come through slightly, but overall, when you put them on, it turns the outside world off. The SCL20s do allow some voice frequencies in, but at a greatly reduced level. This makes it possible to hear when someone is trying to get my attention, or when I need to be aware of something going on around me."
All of this is well and good, but we buy headphones for one primary reason: Music.
When I vet a device for sound quality, I'm looking for some very key things that are specific without being driven by sheer numbers:
- Clear, crisp highs
- Resonant mids that don't get lost in the bass
- Deep, quickly responding bass
- The ability to balance and EQ those sounds if the defaults to not please me
I've mentioned before that I have a small selection of music that I hold my devices up against. I've had the very good fortune to listen to those songs on very high fidelity equipment so I have a fairly decent idea of what I'm listening for.
Here's the bottom line where these headphones are concerned. Are they the best audio devices I've ever had on my head? No, probably not. Do the plastics feel a little cheap? Yes. Are they insanely high quality for their price point of $60? Yeeeeah. They're stupid good for that price. STUPID good. Again, the BIL's thoughts are similar:
"It has good highs and it loses a bit of bass with the ANR turned on, but with the extra bass setting you can get that back. It does have a wider sound field [...] I think it's probably just a fact of the over ear design."
Let's go back to that price point again. $60. In order to get into something from a 'major' audio brand, you need to look at cans from people like JBL, and those start at $100. Want to get into 'serious' BT noise-cancelling headphones? Be prepared to pay $300. Would those sound better? Yeah. Would they sound five times better? I think not. Not at all. Three times? No. Twice as good? I sort of doubt it. And hey, I'd be willing to pay $120 for really good headphones. I just can't figure out why I ever would when I can get these for $60. Sorry. The math just isn't there.
Once again, Soundcore has cranked out another product that excels in its price bracket and forces you to re-examine why you're spending all of that money on a badge.
I still haven't figured that part out.
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