Neckband Bluetooth earbuds don’t get enough praise for their convenience in my opinion! I have now owned three pairs of neckband earbuds: LG Tone Pro; Samsung Level U Pro ANC, and these Anker SoundBuds Life. I paid $69.99 for the LG’s, $129.99 for the Samsung, and by comparison, these SoundBuds are only $48-50 at the time of my writing, both on Amazon and BestBuy. It is in my informed opinion as someone who listens to a lot of music, tests a lot of audio products, and have bought A LOT of bluetooth earbuds, that the SoundBuds Life are the best offering from these three choices.
BUILD QUALITY
The SoundBuds life are made from plastic and rubber construction. The main part of the device is mostly plastic, but it is not cheap feeling in any way. The plastic has a smooth feel to it and is intended to give the appearance of an aluminum-like finish, like what you might find on an Apple product or similar device. The neckband itself is made from a rubber material and has a fair amount of flex. Because the Soundbuds are made from plastic, they are incredibly lightweight. I wear these all day and they don’t add any noticeable weight at all; honestly, I forget I’m wearing them sometimes. The buds themselves are also plastic, but use the same type as the rest of the main part of the neckband. The construction gets a thumbs up from me, there are a lot of cheaper earbuds at this $50 price point, so it’s nice that corners have not been cut to save money. Despite costing much less than the two competitors previously mentioned, the build quality is nearly identical across all three of them.
SOUND QUALITY
The audio quality on these buds are not bad, but not mind blowing either. It is very bass heavy and that causes some of the mids to be muddled a little bit, but it doesn’t make the experience terrible or anything like that. The high frequencies come over very well. Instruments and voices soar with these earbuds and that is very good considering the primary use for these buds in my opinion. These are not intended for quiet, contemplative listening sessions. These are no audiophile headphones, these are earbuds for everyday ‘Life’ if you will. I use these all day, every day when I’m out and about, working, and just hanging out too. It’s the convenience of having decent sounding music at your disposal no matter where you are, as is the goal of most neckband earbuds. With all of that in mind, I am not disappointed in the least bit. Compared to the LG and Samsung offerings, I would say the audio on the Soundbuds is much better than the LG Tone Pro, and right in line with the Samsung Level U Pro ANC, albeit without the ANC functionality of course – a feature which does not deserve a value added of $60-$70. I’d pick the audio quality of the SoundBuds every day of the week.
BATTERY LIFE
This is something that needs its own section. Anker advertises 20 hours of playtime and I’m here to validate that claim. I have been using these earbuds literally ALL-DAY EVERYDAY and I have charged them one time over the course of more than a week. Most of that time is with the SoundBuds Life in standby, without music playing which does not automatically turn-off like many other offerings do. During this period of time I have to suppose that it was on for 60+ hours combined with playing music, listening to podcasts, talking on the phone, and being in standby. This is IMRPESSIVE! This is roughly double the battery life of the LG and Samsung neckband earbuds. I am excited to put these on every morning and lament setting them down on the nightstand each evening. The battery life in these earbuds are the winning feature in my opinion, which is something Anker does very well being the world leader in mobile power. I confidently take these earbuds with me as a part of my regularly daily life activities and will continue to sing their praises!
SUMMARY
Are these earbuds worth $50? ABSOLUTELY! There is just so much to love with these. Good audio, good build quality, excellent battery life, easy connectivity that automatically reconnects if you out range your phone. The always connectedness of these ‘buds give you a life-companion so it’s a win all around for me. These check all the boxes for me in a pair of earbuds to take with me every step all day long. No fooling about with a case and taking them in and out all day long like airpods and other true-wireless earbuds with superior battery life to boot. Stop reading and buy these things!
