Anker Soundcore P25i/P20i True Wireless Headphones Review

The Anker Soundcore P20i look a lot like the Anker SoundCore Life P3 Truly Wireless, with a sleek and glossy plastic design. You can find the manufacturer's logo on the top of the stem. They only come in this black colorway though.

The Anker Souncore P25i have a comfortable fit. They're quite lightweight and fit nicely into your concha. That said, the stem sticks out a bit and can be uncomfortable if you're lying on your side or if you're wearing a hat since it can rub up against your head.

These buds have okay controls. The commands available are quite simple out of the box, and if you want volume control, you'll need to add it via the companion app. They also lack a warning for reaching minimum or maximum volume, and there aren't any voice confirmations beyond the voice assistant prompt. On the upside, the controls are responsive when touched, and the small touch surface helps prevent accidentally registering a command.

On the left earbud:

• Double press: Activates voice assistant.
• Press and hold: Skips to the previous track.

On the right earbud:

• Double press: Plays and pauses audio.
• Press and hold: Skips to the next track.

On either earbud:

• Double press: Answers a call. This command will also disconnect the call you're on.
• Press and hold: Rejects a call.

These buds are very portable, which is to be expected by their design. They're lightweight and can easily fit into most pockets or bags without an issue.

The carrying case is good. It's made of lightweight plastic and has a detachable braided cable loop, so you can attach it to your bag. There's a single LED to let you know the case's battery level and charge status. The lid hinge also feels snappy and will keep the buds safe when you're on the go.

These buds have a good build quality. They're mostly plastic and certified IPX5 for resistance against direct water contact like rain. The ear tips are made from silicone but can rip if you're not careful.

These buds have a stable in-ear fit. If you're wearing them during a jog in the park, they won't fall out of your ears, but their fit can loosen if you're moving your head a lot.

• Anker P25i
• Case
• 3x ear tip sizes
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable
• Manuals

The Anker P20i have a bassy sound out of the box. They deliver a lot of thump, rumble, and punch, which is great for heavy basslines in EDM and hip-hop songs. Though still, vocals and instruments continue to sound present in mixes. However, they're a bit dull due to a dip in the low-treble. Luckily, if you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers 22 EQ presets to help you find the best settings.

The frequency response consistency of these buds is outstanding. Once you get a good fit, you'll achieve consistent audio delivery each time you use them.

The bass accuracy of these buds is okay. The response is overemphasized, meaning the buds deliver intense thump, rumble, and punch.

These buds have outstanding mid accuracy. The response in this range is very flat and neutral, ensuring the accurate reproduction of vocals and instruments.

The treble accuracy is good. The response here is a bit uneven but, as a whole, underemphasized. Vocals and instruments sound a bit thin while sibilants like the hi-hats in songs like Roxanne by The Police, sound veiled and lacking their edge.

The peaks and dips performance of the Anker P25i is good. There aren't many significant peaks and dips, which means the headphones are able to control their sound profile well. A peak in the low to mid-bass adds extra thump and punch to audio, while a shallow dip in the high-bass to mid-mid thins out the mix a bit. Another peak affects the right driver in between the mid to high-mid, making vocals and instruments forward and a little harsh. That said, both drivers have a similarly uneven low-treble, which makes vocals and instruments in this range sound either harsh or veiled, depending on their frequency. A large peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants piercing.

The imaging performance of these buds is excellent. Anker generally has good quality control and ergonomics, which helps ensure a solid imaging performance. Keep in mind that imaging varies across units. Our unit's L/R drivers are well-matched in group delay, which ensures tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. Our unit's drivers are also well-matched in amplitude, frequency, and phase response, which helps ensure that sound objects like voices are accurately placed in the stereo image.

These buds have a bad passive soundstage performance. However, that's to be expected by their design. They bypass your outer ear, which needs to interact with sound in order to create a more immersive sound. As a result, their soundstage feels like it's coming from inside your head and is closed off.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance of the Anker P25i is good. While there's a peak in the low to mid-treble at moderate volumes, it's difficult to spot with real-life content unless you're a discerning listener. Most frequencies otherwise fall within good limits, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

The noise isolation performance of these buds is sub-par. They lack noise cancelling (ANC) and rely on these passive capabilities to reduce ambient sound around you. That said, they really struggle to cut down the low rumble of bus engines, which can be annoying if you want to use them during your commute. On the upside, the buds are able to block out ambient chatter and the high-pitched hum of AC units much better.

The leakage performance is excellent. Leakage is mostly concentrated in the treble range and sounds thin. That said, the overall leakage is low, so even if you crank up your tunes, others around you won't hear it.

The integrated mic's recording quality is decent. Your voice is easy to understand, but lacks depth.

The noise handling performance is fair. If you're talking in an area with consistent noise, like a busy office, your voice will sound clear alongside static. However, if you're calling from a train station, irregular and loud noises, such as a train pulling into the station, can completely drown out your voice, and the overall volume becomes slightly elevated.

The Anker P20i have a fair battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to last 10 hours continuously, and we measured just under that. Battery life can vary depending on factors like volume and use. Luckily, their carrying case holds an extra two charges if you need it. You can also charge the buds for 10 minutes and gain up to two hours of playtime.

The Anker Soundcore app is great and you can see a video of how it works here. It offers a slew of EQ presets to help you customize their sound as well as 'BassUp', a feature to add even more bass to your music. You can also adjust the controls and audio feedback, as well as access features like Find Device, Gaming Mode, and firmware updates.

These buds can't be used wired. They come with a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging their carrying case.

These buds are pretty simple in terms of Bluetooth connectivity. They don't support multi-device pairing or quick pairing, which is to be expected for their price point. That said, they support a Game Mode feature to help lower latency. Using this mode, you can expect low audio lag. While it may not be low enough for competitive gaming, it'll ensure that your audio and visuals are better in sync for streaming video. If you turn this feature off, however, you can expect very high latency, and you'll experience lip sync mismatch. That said, some devices compensate for latency.

These headphones can only connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs, but they'll have full audio and mic compatibility via this connection.

These buds come with a carrying case that holds two additional charges and has a USB-C port for recharging it. It doesn't support wireless charging though.