The Soundcore Spirit X (Spirit X from this point forward) is one of the newest offerings in wireless earphones from Anker’s Soundcore line of audio products. It’s geared toward the “Sport” type of earphones which typically include ear hooks and some sort of waterproofing/sweatproofing since they are prone to lots of moisture in their use. The Spirit X includes an IPX7 rating (they can be submerged) as well as something called SweatGuard Technology which consists of a “Submarine-Inspired Structure” along with a “Hydrophobic Nano-Coating”. Basically, these technologies protect the earphones from moisture as well as from the corrosive properties of sweat, making them impermeable to damage from both.
The Soundcore Spirit X came well packaged in typical Anker fashion…sturdy box with all accessories packaged well; XS/S/M/L/XL EarTips, S/M/L EarWings, 2 x Cable Clips, Shirt Clip, Micro USB Cable, Travel Pouch, Carabiner, user manual & Anker’s worry-free 18-month warranty. The travel pouch is now Soundcore branded (rather than Anker) but is the same useful zipper closured, sturdy travel case included with some of the past Anker earphone products.
The manufacturing fit and finish of the Spirit X earphones are outstanding and the included EarTips and EarWings should fit nearly any ear configuration with the wide variety of sizes that are included.
Out of the box with the already fitted EarTips and EarWings, the Spirit X fit me just fine so I saw no reason to try any of the other EarTips or EarWings. The “Hook” style of earphones is new to me and I initially thought they would be uncomfortable but once they’re in/on your ears, they sort of “disappear” and you don’t really notice them very much. There’s initially more to putting them on; wrapping the hook on your ear, but with practice and some on-off cycles, it gets easier to do. The fit was simply outstanding…solid with no fear of them falling off no matter what you’ll be doing. The EarTips work well blocking out the majority of ambient sound so pretty much all you hear is the great sound that the 10mm drivers produce…excellent sound with well defined bass and nice clear mids and highs. In my opinion, any more bass than these earphones produce would be a bit much for my own personal taste (I have been an electric bassist for 35 years so I know what I feel is the right amount).
Maybe 2-3” below the right-side earbud is the inline remote which houses three buttons: volume up, volume down, Power/Bluetooth/answer call/play & pause button. Also contained within the inline remote is the microphone for calls as well as the microUSB port for charging with the included charge cable. Charging specs are: up to 12 hours of play time from a single 1.5 hour charge. Another way to look at this is 5 minutes of charge time will get you 1 hour of play time. The three buttons on the inline remote are all shaped the same…not a big deal to me but some may find it to be confusing until the button configuration is learned or gotten used to.
The Bluetooth version of the Spirit X are version 5.0 which should increase range and connectivity stability but I have no Bluetooth v5.0 devices to actually test this with. Bluetooth connectivity between my 13” MacBook Pro (late 2011), iPhone 5s and iPad mini 4 was rock solid with no pairing issues whatsoever. Straying too far away from the paired device will of course cause drops in the connection but this distance will vary greatly depending on your environment (outdoors, indoors, plaster walls, etc.).
The cable management worked well and was simple to adjust using the newer type, round cable clips that loop the cable into an “S” shape making adjustments easier than ever.
To end, the Soundcore Spirit X is a fantastic set of wireless Bluetooth earphones geared towards the “Sport” aspect of use…but don’t let that deter you from using them anywhere you want to hear fantastic, well balanced sound.
Addendum:
Using the Spirit X with my iPad mini 4 and I am hearing no discernible Bluetooth audio delay. I play digital pinball games on this iPad and there has always been an issue in the past where the audio is delayed about .5 second. Another way to hear this delay is to simply type something on the iPad’s keyboard…if there is a delay now, it’s very negligible. Maybe Bluetooth 5 has something to do with this (even though none of my devices support it) but whatever it is, it’s great to finally get rid that pesky audio delay.
