Soundcore may be a newer, if not relatively unfamiliar, name in the audio space, but Anker’s sub-brand is building quite a reputation. The quality and price of its lineup make it compelling to consumers as an alternative to more established names.
Another serious entry for Soundcore is the Q30 wireless headphones. We’ve been testing these for the last month and came away impressed.
Design
Soundcore has left little on the cutting room floor with the Q30 over-ear wireless earphones. You will immediately be taken back by the solid manufacturing of this headset. The fit and finish in the Q30 hardware are really good.
You’d have no problem matching this up with more expensive headphones from companies like Sony, Jabra, or JBL. The Soundcore Q30 isn’t breaking the mold at the same time. You have large, foam covered cups on each side with a sliding headband bridging the two.
All the controls and ports are on the bottom outside of each earpiece. The left can has dedicated volume buttons, play/pause key, and a traditional 3.5mm headphones jack. Yes, a headphone jack.
On the right side you have the USB-C power, On/Off button, and a dedicated button to cycle through the active noise cancellation profiles. The right earcup also houses an NFC tag to utilize Android quick pairing.
Hybrid modes
Let’s talk about the ANC profiles. There are three options to choose from: Transport, Outdoor, and Indoor. Each offers a unique tweak to mask out certain noise while enjoying your audio.
Transport mode tries to identify and isolate noise from things like cars, buses, and airplanes. While honestly, I haven’t done a ton of traveling in the pandemic, this did seem to make a difference just sitting on my front steps while cars went by.
The same is true for Outdoor mode. While walking our two dogs, I could tell a difference in the amount of wind I could hear while listening to music and especially with something more muted like podcasts.
Indoor isolation focuses on voices. This works great while living the cubicle life. The Q30 headphones dampen out the noisy office environment very well by taking away others talking.
40mm drivers and sound
I am very impressed with the audio quality of the Q30 earphones. With 40mm drivers, you can have a treble of up to 40kHz. This gives your music a rich sound full of punch.
The default balance is good as well. The mid, hi, and bass are all able to come through with no distortion or one drowning out the other.
Comfort
I can’t say enough about how comfortable these canned headphones are. I usually don’t care for this style of audio device. Eventually, they all get too heavy for me. I didn’t have this issue with the Soundcore Q30s.
The Q30s stayed positioned on my head well and the cups are very soft. This led to a well seated, comfortable listening experience. I’ve used these headphones for up to 6 hours in one sitting with no issues.
The battery life of 40/60 hours with ANC on/off
Battery life is always a key positive of larger, over-ear headphones. You will usually find that they can last up to 24 hours per charge, but Soundcore blows this out of the water with the Q30 headphones.
I consistently see over 30 hours with them turned up past medium volume and at lesser volume can squeeze the rated 40 hours of active noise cancellation audio. Turning off the ANC feature pushes this up to 60 hours.
Both of these estimates are very accurate. I used the Q30 wireless headphones for a full 40-hour work-week without having to reach for a charger.
USB-C quick charge
When you do have to recharge the Q30 earphones you have some modern options that are worth the upgrade from the previous generation. USB-C charging is on board and supports Anker’s great PowerIQ quick charge technology.
It’s worth noting there isn’t a charging brick in the included case. You will only get a USB-C to USB standard and a 3.5mm auxiliary cable.
Just buy them
Even with all the other things mentioned, the price might be the best feature for the Q30 headphones. At $80 you’d be hard-pressed to find better value for what Soundcore has built. The quality punches well above the competition at this price point.
You can snag these headphones from Soundcore’s website or from Amazon.