Thanks to Anker for allowing a late submission, but I thought some tests on a commercial plane would be the ideal place to check out Anker’s active noise cancellation and battery life.
First off, just prior to receiving these Q20’s I had just purchased some Brand X $60 ANC headphones, so I had some expectation of what wireless ANC headphones should be at this price point - I wasn’t coming into this completely blind. While the packaging and travel case for Brand X was nicer, the actual product couldn’t compare to the looks or feel of the Life Q20.
Having used the Brand X for a several days, the ANC was not nearly what I had expected. I had to double-check several times to see if the ANC was off or on.
When the Life Q20s showed up, they were pre-charged to about the 70% level, which was nice, since I was able to play with them immediately and didn’t have to wait. When firing up, ANC automatically comes on - a nice feature. It was shocking how well it cut out background noise. I could still hear conversations, but everything else was quiet - again, this was with nothing playing through the speakers, other than the destructive frequency as part of ANC.
The ear cups were comfortable, as was the band and it was very easy to get a good, solid fit. Playing music sounded clear and the bass was good. My only complaint was the max volume was a bit too safe in my opinion. It seemed like this could be just a notch or two louder.
Finally, for the plane ride. I packed both sets of headphones in my carry-on bag (I’m that dork doing side-by-side comparisons on the plane). On the flight from my home in Minneapolis, to my destination in Las Vegas, I started off with Brand X. I lasted about 3 minutes before I switched to the Life Q20s and I never switched back again. The ANC in Soundcore’s headphones was far superior to the offbrand. ANC is not created equally! The only area where the Q20s struggled was on the landing when the plane’s engines go into full reverse. There was some noticeable popping, as I’m sure between the jostling and extra noise, it was just too much for the software to keep up with.
The headphones stayed packed until my return flight to Minneapolis and I didn’t even bother bringing the others - there was no reason to subject myself to sub-standard ANC on a nearly 3 hour flight. While waiting to board, I threw on the headphones and started watching a show I had downloaded on Prime Video. Audio to video sync seemed to be perfect - I never noticed any issue in that regard, which I was thankful for. I’m assuming that’s because of Bluetooth 5.0.
While watching the video, my wife called to get the lastest on my flight delay, and it gave me the final test of these headphones, making phone calls.
To my surprise, they worked brilliantly. I didn’t feel like I needed to yell, even though I was in a crowded airport boarding area. My wife could hear everything I was saying, and again, I didn’t feel like my speaking volume was disruptive to the people around me.
To sum it up, there’s a big difference in the entry level ANC wireless headphone market, and the Soundcore Life Q20 flies high above the competition.
It’s great to know that Anker rised to the occassion. 
