The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are over-ear headphones with a fantastic noise cancelling performance. They have three different noise isolation settings, so you can find one that's best-suited for the environment around you. They also have an excited, v-shaped sound profile that delivers heavy thump and boom. If that isn't to your liking, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you customize your listening experience. They have a continuous playback time of over 44 hours, which should easily last long commutes or back-to-back days at the office.
The Anker Life Q30 are satisfactory for mixed use. They have an outstanding active noise cancelling (ANC) feature, which helps reduce the rumble of bus and plane engines as well as ambient chatter around you. Since they have over 44 hours of continuous battery life, they can last for a few workdays or a long trip before they need to be recharged. Their companion app also offers an EQ with presets so that you can customize them to your liking. Unfortunately, they're not very portable and can fall off of your head when exercising.
The Anker Life Q30 are mediocre for neutral sound. Out-of-the-box, they have an excited, v-shaped sound profile that delivers intense thump and boom, which isn't the most suitable for fans of neutral sound. Their soundstage doesn't sound very spacious and treble delivery can vary depending on fit, seal, and positioning. That said, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets so that you can adjust it to your liking.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are good for commute and travel. They have an outstanding noise cancelling feature which helps reduce the rumble of bus or plane engines around you. They're comfortable, well-built, and offer over 44 hours of continuous battery life, which is very good for long travel days. However, they're a bit bulky, which can make them more difficult to take with you on-the-go.
The Anker Q30 are alright for sports and fitness. They're bulky, which can make it hard to take them with you on-the-go, and they can fall off your head with moderately intense movement. They also don't have an IP rating for dust or water resistance, although we don't currently test for this. That said, they're comfortable and thanks to their wireless design, they don't have an audio cable that could get snagged on something and pull them off your head.
The Anker Life Q30 are decent for office use. They're comfortable and have long continuous battery life, which should last through multiple workdays before they need to be recharged. They also have a powerful active noise cancelling feature that helps reduce office chatter around you. On the downside, they leak audio, so if you're listening to music at a high volume, those around you can hear it.
The Anker Q30 aren't compatible with Xbox One or PS4. While they can be used with Bluetooth-enabled PCs, their latency is likely too high to be suitable for gaming.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are decent for wired gaming. Although they can be used wired with their 1/8" TRS video, you can only receive audio and can't use their integrated mic to chat with teammates. However, they're comfortable, and you can tweak their sound to your liking via their companion app's graphic EQ.
The Anker Life Q30 are alright for phone calls. Their integrated mic does a fair job of recording your voice, although it can sound thin and a little dull. It struggles to separate your voice from background noise though. Thankfully, they have an active noise cancelling feature that can reduce a lot of background noise around you.
The Anker Q30 look very similar to the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Wireless. They have a simple design with a black satin finish. With this generation, there's a small logo in gold found on both earcups, which makes it look a little more refined. They also come in 'Midnight Blue' and 'Sakura Pink' if you prefer a more colorful look.
These headphones have a good control scheme. Only the right ear cup has a touch-sensitive surface, but most of the controls are physical buttons located on the bottom of both ear cups. With the physical buttons, you can play/pause audio, adjust volume, and cycle through three noise cancelling settings: 'ANC', 'Transparency' which allows you to listen to audio while staying aware of what's going on around you, and 'Normal', which is its off mode. You can also hold the volume up button to skip to the next track or the volume down button to skip to the previous track. You can activate 'Transparency' mode by holding the touch-sensitive surface or activate voice assistant by holding the play/pause button for two seconds. While the buttons are clicky and there are voice prompts for the different ANC settings, there aren't beeps for most of the other commands.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 have a good build quality. They're mostly made of plastic and silicone-like materials, which makes them feel sturdy. There's also faux-leather padding on the headband and cups and a metal plate in the headband. They feel dense enough to survive a few accidental drops without getting damaged. Although we don't currently test for it, they don't have an IP rating for dust or water resistance.
The Anker Q30 have an excited, v-shaped sound profile. The bass delivers intense thump and rumble, while the treble adds sparkle and brightness to your mix. While some users may find this sound profile to be overtly bass-heavy, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help tweak their sound.
These headphones have poor bass accuracy. It's overemphasized across the range, resulting in heavy thump, rumble, and punch, which should please fans of EDM and hip-hop. That said, some users may find their mixes also sound boomy and muddy.
The Anker Soundcore Q30 have great mid accuracy. There's a bit of over-emphasis coming from the bass-range into the low-mids, which results in a muddy sound in your mix. However, the rest of the range is flat and neutral, so vocals and lead instruments sound present and accurate.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 have fair treble accuracy. Almost the entire range is over-emphasized, resulting in bright vocals and lead instruments. Sibilants such as S and T sounds are piercing. That said, treble delivery can vary depending on fit, positioning, and seal.
The peaks and dips performance is decent. There's some mismatch between the left and right driver, as a peak in the bass range affects the left driver slightly more than the right, resulting in a bit more punch and boom. A dip in between the high-bass and low-mids thins out vocals and lead instruments, while another dip between the mid to high-mids nudges these same vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. A dip in the low-treble reduces the clarity of these same instruments, while a steep peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants piercing.
The Anker Life Q30's imaging is acceptable. The GD graph shows that their group delay is almost entirely beneath the audibility threshold, ensuring a tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The L/R drivers of our unit are also well-matched in amplitude. However, there's a slight mismatch in frequency and a high mismatch in phase response, which indicates that there could be inaccuracies in the stereo image. These results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.
The Anker Q30 have a poor passive soundstage. While it's perceived as wide and natural, it still sounds like it's coming from inside your head rather than from out in front of you. Also, due to their closed-back design, they sound less spacious than open-back headphones.
These headphones don't have a virtual soundstage feature.
Update 01/29/2021: We originally reported that we tested these headphones using the 'Outdoor' ANC mode. However, this was an inputting error as we tested them using their 'Transport' ANC mode. Our results have not changed.
These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when listening using these settings.
The Anker Life Q30 have fantastic noise isolation. With their active noise (ANC) feature set to the 'Transport' mode setting, they perform better than the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Wireless. They can reduce a significant amount of bass-range noise like bus or plane engines. They also cut down a lot of mid-range noise like office chatter, as well as higher-pitched sounds like the hum of an AC unit.
These headphones also offer two other kinds of ANC, but we don't currently test them. 'Outdoor' mode is advertised to help cut down traffic and wind noise, while 'Indoor' mode is more focused on reducing mid and treble-range noise like office chatter and the hum of fans.
The Anker Q30 have an integrated microphone.
The battery performance is very good. With their ANC on, they have over 44 hours of continuous playback time. If you need even more playback time, they're advertised as lasting up to 60 hours with their ANC off, but this isn't currently how we test for battery performance. You can also use them passively thanks to their TRS audio cable, but you can't use them while they're charging.
The Anker Soundcore app is great. You can adjust the sound of these headphones using their graphic EQ or presets. You can also adjust their ANC with three different levels: 'Transport' mode, 'Outdoor' mode, and 'Indoor' mode. There are also sleep features available. You can make a mix of calming ambient sounds like birds tweeting or chimes, and also set a timer for them.
The Anker Soundcore Q30 have outstanding Bluetooth connectivity. Unlike the Skullcandy Hesh Evo Wireless, they can be paired with up to two devices at a time and support NFC pairing. They also have a fantastic line of sight range, which is good if you like to move around without your audio device in hand. However, they have high latency on PCs. Their latency is much lower on iOS and Android. That said, some devices and apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary.
These headphones are Bluetooth-only.
While the Anker Soundcore Q30 use Bluetooth for their wireless connection, they also come with a 1/8" TRS cable that you can use to passively listen to audio. However, you can't use their mic while wired. They also come with a USB-C to USB-A charging cable.
These headphones can be used wired on PCs and PS4s with their 1/8" TRS cable. However, you can only receive audio as they don't have microphone support. That said, you can use them wirelessly on Bluetooth-enabled PCs.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are available in three color variants: 'Black', 'Midnight Blue', and 'Sakura Pink'. We tested the Black variant, and you can see their label here. We expect all color variants to perform similarly to our model. If you come across another variant, please let us know in the discussions and we'll update our review.
Update 02/04/2021: Thanks to user feedback, we have updated the color variants available for these headphones.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are the next generation of the Anker Soundcore life Q20 Wireless. Compared to their processor, they have a better build quality and come with a hard pouch. Their active noise cancelling performance is outstanding, and they have over 44 hours of continuous playback time as well as a companion app with features like a graphic EQ and presets to help tweak their sound. Check out our recommendations for the best noise cancelling headphones, the best noise cancelling headphones under $100, and the best travel headphones.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are the next generation of the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Wireless and are slightly better than their predecessor. The Q30 come with a hard case and feel better-built. They have a significantly better noise isolation performance and longer-lasting battery life. They're also compatible with the Anker Soundcore app, which allows you to customize their sound profile with a graphic EQ and presets. However, the Q20 are more stable and have a better-balanced sound profile out-of-the-box.
The Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless are better headphones than the Anker Soundcore Life Q30. The Sony are more comfortable, feel better-built, and have a better-balanced sound profile right out-of-the-box. Their active noise cancelling (ANC) feature can reduce more noise around you, and they have an auto-off timer to help conserve their battery life when not in use. That said, the Anker have longer continuous battery life.
The Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless are better headphones than the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless. The Sony are more comfortable and feel better-built. They also have a more neutral sound profile right out-of-the-box, and a better companion app. However, the Anker have longer-lasting continuous battery life and three different ANC modes to better-isolate the kind of ambient noise around you.
The Razer Opus Wireless are better headphones than the Anker Soundcore Life Q30. The Razer are more comfortable, feel better-built, and have a more neutral sound profile right out-of-the-box. They can also isolate more noise around you and have an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life when they're not in use. However, the Anker offer different settings for their ANC and can be paired with up to two devices at a time.
The AnkerSoundcore Life Q30 and the Plantronics BackBeat Go 810 Wireless have different strengths and depending on your usage, you may prefer one over the other. The Anker are more comfortable and feel better-built. Their active noise cancelling (ANC) feature does a significantly better job of reducing background noise around you and they have longer-lasting continuous battery life. Their companion app also offers a graphic EQ on top of presets. However, the Plantronics have a more stable fit and a neutral sound profile right out-of-the-box. They also leak less audio.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless are better over-ear headphones for commuting or traveling than the Wyze Noise-Cancelling Headphones Wireless. The Anker come with a hard case and their adjustable ANC feature can cut down a superior amount of ambient noise around you. They also have a better integrated mic performance and a longer continuous battery life. However, the Wyze have an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless are better headphones for commuting than the Skullcandy Hesh ANC Wireless. The Anker are better-built, more comfortable, and their active noise cancelling feature has a significantly better performance. They also have a longer continuous battery life, can be paired with up to two devices at a time, and have a companion app with a graphic EQ and presets to help you tweak their sound. However, the Skullcandy have a more stable fit.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless are better headphones than the Skullcandy Hesh Evo Wireless. The Anker are more comfortable, better-built, and have an outstanding active noise cancelling feature. They also have a companion app that offers a graphic EQ and presets, and support multi-device pairing as well as NFC pairing.
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Sakura Pink |
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Midnight Blue |
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