Anker SoundBuds Curve 2019  Headphones Review

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 look nearly identical to the previous version, the Anker SoundBuds Curve Wireless. These ear-hook headphones have a sporty aesthetic that looks a bit more premium than their price-point would suggest. The only visible difference from the previous version is the inline remote which is smaller but has larger buttons and feels slightly less cheap.

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 are quite comfortable for in-ear headphones. Like the previous version, they don't enter the ear canal as deep as most other in-ear options, meaning they likely will stay comfortable even for longer listening sessions. They also include five different tip sizes and three sizes of stability fins, to help you find the best possible fit.

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 adopt the same inline remote as the Anker SoundCore Spirit X Wireless, which is slightly smaller but with bigger buttons than the Anker SoundBuds Curve Wireless. It's fairly easy-to-use and allows you to skip tracks, pause/play or answer calls, and adjust volume.

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 breath extremely well. Like most in-ears, they don't sit on or around the outer ear which remains cool while exercising or working out. While their ear-hook does cover a bit more surface area than typical in-ears, the difference should be negligible, and you shouldn't sweat more like you would with on-ear or over-ear headphones.

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 are extremely small, portable, and lightweight. Due to their ear-hook design, they are slightly larger than typical in-ears, but you should still be able to easily toss them in a pocket, bag, or purse.

These headphones come with a hard case that feels fairly nice and should help protect them from small drops, scratches, and light water contact. While it's not quite as hard as some other hard cases we've tested, it's quite compact and should be able to fit into most pockets.

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 feel decently well-built and now have the same IPX7 rating for water resistance as the Soundcore Spirit X, though we don't currently test for this. While the ear-hooks and earbuds themselves are made of dense plastic and feel quite sturdy, unfortunately, their cable is quite thin, and they don't feel as premium as other headphones like the Tranya T10 Truly Wireless.

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 feel quite stable in the ear thanks to their ear-hook design, making them a great option for sports. There are 3 sizes of stability fins included in the box, which should help them stay in your ears even during more intense workout sessions. Unfortunately, the earbuds may slip out of your ear canal from time to time, and while they won't fall right out of your ear, the change in the seal may alter the sound. If you prefer a truly wireless design within the same price range then check out the SoundPeats TrueFree, or the Mpow Flame Pro which feature a similar ear-hook design.

• Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 Headphones
• Earbud tips (x5)
• Stability fins (x3)
• Micro USB charging cable
• Hard carrying case
• Manual

The sound profile of the Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 is fairly bass-heavy, with a recessed mid-range, but decently well-balanced treble. Overall, as long as you achieve a good seal with the provided tips, these headphones should provide a bit of extra thump which will likely please fans of bass-heavy genres like EDM or hip-hop, though they should be well-balanced enough for most genres.

The frequency response consistency of the Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 is outstanding. If you're able to achieve a proper fit and seal using the various assorted tip options, you should be able to get consistent bass and treble every time you use the headphones.

The bass accuracy of the Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 is good. While the bass is slightly overemphasized, it's fairly flat throughout the entire range. Overall, their bass should be thumpy and punchy without sounding too muddy or boomy.

The mid accuracy of the Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 is good. While both low-mid and mid-mid are slightly recessed, which will push lead instruments to the back of the mix slightly, they even out a bit more in high-mid, which should help vocals from sounding too thin and distant.

The treble accuracy of the Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 is very good. Low-treble is almost perfectly well-balanced, which will help instruments sound detailed and present. While mid-treble is slightly overemphasized, it likely won't be too noticeable, but may cause some sounds to appear slightly piercing or sharp. There is a large recess starting in the high mid-treble range which may cause some higher frequency sounds like cymbals or vocals to sound slightly dull and lifeless.

The peaks and dips performance of these headphones is decent. While both the bass and mid ranges are decently flat, there are some peaks and dips in the treble range, though these peaks were more prevalent in our left driver and the right driver didn't always match it. Overall it shouldn't be too noticeable, though the peaks in mid-treble may make cymbals and some vocals sound bright. The large dip starting in the high mid-treble range may also cause some sounds to come across dull and lifeless.

While our unit did have a slight mismatch between the L/R drivers, this likely won't be noticeable in everyday use. Driver mismatch is also specific to individual units, and yours may perform differently. The GD graph also shows that the entire group delay response is below the audibility threshold, which should result in a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction.

Like all in-ear headphones, the soundstage of these headphones is bad. This is because creating an out-of-head and speaker-like soundstage is largely dependent on activating the resonances of the pinna (outer ear). The design of in-ears and earbuds is in such a way that fully bypasses the pinna and doesn't interact with it.

The weighted harmonic distortion of these headphones is very good. All frequencies fall within good limits, which should result in a clear and pure audio reproduction, even under heavy loads.

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 don't have ANC, but do an alright job at passively isolating background noise. While they don't do much to block out the low rumbles of bus or plane engines, they do a fairly good job at blocking out background speech. Like most in-ears, they'll also do a great job at helping to block out high frequency sounds, like AC units.

These headphones have remarkable leakage performance. Assuming you get a good seal with the included tips, they'll leak very little audio and shouldn't bother those around you.

The microphone on the Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 has decent recording quality. Like most Bluetooth headphones, your voice will sound noticeably thin, though it should still be quite intelligible and bright.

The microphone of the Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 is only mediocre at noise-handling. If you're in even a relatively noisy environment, it'll likely be difficult for the person on the other end of the line to hear you.

The battery performance of these headphones is decent. While their 18.4-hour battery life isn't as long as most over-ear headphones, it's a big upgrade over the previous model and is among the longest we've ever tested for Bluetooth in-ear headphones. They also charge slightly quicker than the previous model, which is great.

These headphones do not have a dedicated companion app.

The Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019 are Bluetooth-only headphones. They don't support any low latency codecs and aren't recommended for watching videos or gaming due to their high latency, though some apps may compensate for this.

These headphones are Bluetooth-only.

These headphones are Bluetooth-only and cannot be used wired. They charge via micro USB, and a 1.5ft cable is included.

These headphones can only be used via Bluetooth on PCs and aren't compatible with the PS4. Due to their high latency, they aren't recommended for gaming.

These Bluetooth-only headphones aren't compatible with the Xbox One.

These headphones don't have a base or dock.