Been looking for a set of bluetooth earbuds and both seem like they’re exactly what I’m looking for, just need to pick. I’m particularly wondering in terms of sound and call/microphone quality.
Which would be recommended, the standard SoundBuds or the SoundBuds slim?
“standard Soundbuds” can you be more precise please.
Happy to help. Ideally you should wait for a review from someone who has both, as their advice will be probably better than mine.
I have the “Slim” and I like them, they replaced the older IE20 I lost in travel. The sound quality I like, the in-ear fit is comfortable, it does a good job of noise isolation (I spend a lot of time inside an aircraft). My only bug bear is battery isn’t that amazing, but heck “slim” must cause some trade-offs. The feature I liked from the older IE20 (I think replaced with what is now called the Tag) model is turning on/off when you pull the magnets apart / together, i.e. the magnetic function did something, with the Slim they are only magnets, I must still press and hold the power button to turn on or off. Relative to the IE20 they do a better job sticking in the ears - I think that is the slimness, so lighter and narrower to keep inside the ear.
I am on work conference calls (Webex) a lot, say 4 hours / day average, and from others’ comments they say the audio is excellent. I used two mobiles to call myself and alternate the muting to be able to hear myself, and when the cord is behind the neck I would say the microphone is muffled so when I want to use to speak I have the cord over the front of neck.
I own plenty of BT devices, the Slim particularly does a good BT over distance job, I can get quite some feet from my phone before I detect any drops. That was the biggest positive surprise.
I pretty much continuously when moving have the Slims around my neck (magnets!) and my phone in my pocket and combined makes a good system. Having got used to magnets to make a necklace with the IE20, I’m never going back.
Ideally, wait for someone who has both to give feedback before your decision. The “non slim” (whatever that is) may be better but I have no experience.
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Hi Nigel, I was referring to these ones here when I meant “standard SoundBuds”:
https://www.amazon.ca/Anker-SoundBuds-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B016Y8XJCW/
Sorry for not being more specific, they were the only ones referred to as just ‘SoundBuds’, so I assumed they were the base version.
Thank you for that detailed feedback, that really helps a lot! I’ll hopefully wait for someone to chime in regarding the other ones, but thanks again!
Ahh (from comparing photos) I think you meant
Which is the Soundbuds Sport.
Ideally you want to find someone who owns the Sports and get a point of view. Does a search give any review in this forum? I only can see what you can see online, being physically larger they can house more of a battery so likely better battery life than the Slim. I see Sport 8 hours vs Slim 7 hours. Concern is the weight and falling out just from the photos.
Now I know you’re meaning the Sports… a quick search found this, probably the thread you should enquire within.
Yep, those are the ones!
And thanks for the suggestion, I just found an older topic where somoene reviewed the slim models and also mentioned that they’d used the Sport versions referred to here, so I dropped in a comment there.
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I own these.
I really like them. At that price point, the sound is good, the mic is good, and battery life is good. They are lacking bass (obviously), but the BT connection so far has been solid. They are a little awkward to fit, but once you get them dialed they are pretty secure. That said, I wouldn’t do anything too active in them; get a sport oriented set if you want to really go crazy while jamming out.
The magnetic connection is a cool idea but they don’t hold together as well as I had hoped.
The purported noise-cancelling is nothing to write home about. I’ve tried out the Bose QC series models a few times, and you wouldn’t even notice these have noise cancellation if you are familiar with QC at all.
All in all, though, these are my go-to earbuds. I use them all day at work, on planes, and on walks across town. They’re worth the price, though. The next BT headset I’ll buy is that Bose QC, but that’s like $300 price jump. Worth it, but too rich for my blood right now 
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Personally i own every one of Ankers sound buds…and the Sound Bud Slims…are still my go to. They just seem to fit well, have great sound, and probably the least busy. By this i mean, they do not get in they way while working out, fit in the ears very well, and honestly the control buttons are pretty well positioned. After spending almost 150.00 on Beats and 150 on Jay Birds… Seriously these are well worth the price.
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So I’m wondering if I got the right Anker product in my response earlier. I went back and looked into it, and it appears that these aren’t noise cancelling at the earbud at all (that would explain my not noticing it). Apparently this refers to noise cancelling with the mic ONLY. Here’s what the amazon description said:
Can anyone offer some clarity on this? This product (which is labelled confusingly in Amazon, obviously) does not have active noise cancelling - am I correct?
Also, this product is the soundbud sport, not the slim or some other product?
I do not think any Anker product is active noise cancelling (like say Bose). Some have logic to cancel noises which are not voice in the mic for the other person hearing you. Each has a variable noise isolation (passive). I find the Slims have good noise isolation and they seem to do a decent background noise removal from the mic, so good all-rounders for (when I bought) $20.
Oh I know about isolation vs. cancellation.
Hence my confusion when the description lists these as noise cancelling. Why put that up there?
To your point, if you drill down it says “CVC 6.0 noise cancellation technology ensures that perfect sound is delivered to your ears each time.” if you look this up it is
That appears to me to be active noise cancellation.
There are technologies which only apply to what the other person hears.
Correct - which means that I misled myself?
I just think the description implies something that’s not there. Technically, it’s correct, but we know what people are actually looking for when you read noise cancellation right?
Go read deeper, reviews, etc, to find more is my advice.
It’s all marketing claims anyway til there is a review.
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Sounds like it but also if you mention to the average Joe on the street noise cancelling or isolating, they would think it’s the same thing, it’s not but that’s how some perceive…
That’s why we’re here I guess 
That’s what gets me here - I’m not the average joe, I was searching for active noise cancelling headphones and this flew in under my radar. It’s not a big deal (I like the soundbuds), but i feel little dumb commenting on it when it’s not an actual feature like I did earlier.
So I’m a cyclist and to me these are different in a way related to safety.
Noise isolation blocks all noises. That in some situations like on an aircraft or sat on a bus is preferred.
Noise cancellation which blocks specific frequencies can be safer if it lets you hear the dangerous things.
I use the Bose QC35 for a combination of noise isolation (over ears so physical blocking) and active noise cancellation which blocks the lower frequencies from the engine noise but I can still hear voices (crew, pilot, announcements). I have the Slim which are just noise isolation. I do not have these non-Slim version to have specific experience. On a bike I do not use anything, when someone phones me I put one earbud in and pull over.
Sorry just had to re-read the thread. While the description is accurate as to noise cancelling (which I think is being used as a generic phrase, hence my earlier comment), what is not made clear is that the CVC 6.0 relates to the mic only and that the earpiece noise cancelling is via isolation. At least that’s my take on it… 
It says noise cancelling for near end, i.e. your ears, i.e. what most people view as noise cancelling.
Decibel reduction?