Soundcore by Anker Life A2 NC Multi-Mode Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds, ANC Bluetooth Earbuds with 6-Mic Clear Calls, 35-Hr Playtime, and Deep Bass, Fast Charging, Transparency, and App

Comfortable, Great Sound, Affordable
I personally was looking for solely comfort and audio quality, everything else is an extra.First, the comfort is great. I tend to wear headphones for 8-10 hours at work, most of my day is at a computer and music goes a long way. The small fittings work for my ears and aren’t really bothered even after a few hours. They have an interesting way of fastening into your ear that seems to spread the load out a bit better than just shoving them in there.Secondly, I’m no audiophile but they exceed what I would hope for at this price range. Audio feels clear and, if I set for higher bass, it doesn’t muddy other tones that I can tell. The fact that they have a simple equalizer through the app is great. In my personal experience the ability to set an equalizer will always improve my experience far more over more expensive products without one.Onto my “extra” features, active noise cancellation is actually new to me. From what I can tell, it does an incredible job at completely cancelling low frequencies (like engines, ac, etc.) It actually astonished me how unaware I was that my workspace has a LOT of this low frequency noise. It shocks me every time I remove my headphones when I remember just how loud the low tones are.It does a decent job in at least reducing other noises and voices, but never quite cancelling the sound outright like it does low tones. I wish the indoor setting (targets voice and mid tones) and outdoor setting (targets ambient noise?) would block low tones just as well as the transport mode (explicitly low tones). Those low tones actually seem to make up a ton of background noise everywhere. Again, this is extra to me anyway and I can’t speak on how it compares to other products.The battery life is pretty decent, from a full charge of constant use I get maybe 6-7 hours, which lasts me a full day since I tend to charge them when away from the desk. Charge time also does seem surprisingly fast. Would top my chart if it had 9-10 hour life but its decent as is.Microphone quality also seems pretty good. Quite honestly, these headphones are the first wireless ones I’ve used where the microphone could actually be heard decently by the other line. The quality will never be great considering the distance from your mouth, but it still seems to make up for it well.The app also lets you configure the touch controls on the buds, which is nice. Options are pretty simple but its nice they even have them and I made use of it. Personally I only ever want to pause/play by touching the buds so those are now the only controls enabled.My one other small caveat is that most wireless earbud cases seem to be Qi wireless charging compatible, and I would have loved if this case was the same. Fortunately I only need to charge the case once or twice a week, but I love being able to skip the cord entirely.

This is the first pair of wireless earbuds I’ve owned and I wasn’t disappointed. I own quite a few Anker products and have always been pleased by the quality of their electronics.The earbuds come with different sized inserts to fit your ear canal snugly. This ensure they are comfortable to wear for extended periods. After downloading the Soundcore App, the earbuds updated the firmware whilst in the open case. Once this is done, you’d can customize the earbuds in terms of controls and sound.The noise cancellation has 3 different settings and works very well depending upon the environment you’re in. There are several default EQ presets to choose from via the app, as well as the ability to customize to your taste. I found the sound quality to be very good and you can almost feel the bass as if you were standing next to a large speaker.The controls are relatively straight forward once you memorize them and are customizable too. The default to holding your finger on them was to enable/disable the noise cancellation, but I changed this to volume control instead, as it was more practical, rather than adjusting via your device itself.The buds automatically turn on when you open the case. Took me a while to figure out that’s how you turn them on/off, so make sure you put them back and close the lid, rather than leaving them on a bedside table or headboard.Battery life isn’t bad on the buds themselves and the case will recharge up to 30hrs if I remember rightly, before that needs plugging in too. Very handy if you’re heading out for a day trip.All-in-all, there’s nothing that I can fault about the buds. Ergonomics and sound quality are both great and is quite liberating not having annoying wires any more. Definitely recommend them as they’re excellent value.

So starting with the most important category sound..The life A2’s default ‘Soundcore signature’ equalisation is V shaped with recessed mids so vocals are less clear than they should be. Happily the buds work with the Soundcore app that allows customisation of EQ, ANC modes and controls, more about which later and I chose a custom flat EQ for the recordings on my Amazon profile YouTube channel over the EQ preset that is labelled flat but actually boosts mids. For listening I also liked the Acoustic preset.The sound then after EQ is clear with a strong extended and impactful bass, natural mids and an energetic and detailed but not sibilant or harsh treble. Vocals are not quite as clear and detailed as the very best but still very pleasing. At 2:41 of Peter Gabriel’s version of Heroes his vocals do not stand proud of the synth and string sounds so much as I would like but are still moving.Moving on to comfort and security of fit the Life’s entire body sits inside your outer ear. The physical earbud design is a slug style like the Sony WF-1000XM3 and Anker Liberty 2 Pro though significantly less bulky and heavy with a smaller body and rubber pinna stabiliser and hence has better fit and stability than either of those two.They weigh around 6g per side so not too noticeable and the life a2 has security of fit which is confidence inspiring.The life a2 might make you look like an uber driver but has a much more premium look and feel that innovates its own style rather than doing a bad job trying to imitate something else.The Anker’s controls are limited to a 2s hold and double tap. There’s no single tap which I would like to have had so only 4 controls in total from play/pause, skip, volume and ANC mode cycling, though one can configure what they do through the app and they work reliability. I changed my hold to control volume up and down and double tap to control skip forward and back, foregoing a touch play/pause and ANC control, which are then available just from the connected device or Soundcore app.With the Life A2 NC there is a reassuring IPX5 sweat and rain proof rating. I’m not a fan of the life a2 clamshell case however which allows you to put the right bud into the left pocket when fumbling to put them away in bed at night for example, which you’ll only realise when they don’t charge and a low battery warning on your phone wakes you up. When in the right way round discrete white lights appear on the buds themselves and the case also has lights to indicate the remaining charge on both it and the buds.Now the Anker’s charging case is big but it’s also slim so more pocket friendly though I’m not a fan of the cover over the usb port which for me is just extra hassle removing it when charging.Connectivity was quick and reliable with both with dropouts only starting through a wall and single bud mode working with either left or right earbud and latency not noticeable on YouTube.Battery life is good with 7h from a charge, 35 hours total and quick charge via a sealed USB C socket on the Life. Neither have wireless charging.The mic is also very good on both with both isolating your voice well in a noisy environment.Moving on to Features there is ANC and ambient or transparency mode so you can hear your surroundings with the earbuds in plus their own app for customising controls. The Anker benefits from Anker’s Soundcore app which allows you to bake in a frequency equalisation that remains whichever device you then connect to.ANC is good for earphones on both, particularly with low frequencies and on a similar par to the leading ANC earphones and much more effective than some like the EarFun Free Pro. Happily unlike the more expensive Liberty Air 2 Pro ANC does not affect frequency response.In a nutshell then with the Life A2 NC a good clear bass driven sound, once equalised, and good low frequency ANC in a fairly practical and well featured package.Now if you really do want AirPods Pro then another option is to buy refurbished from around £80 however even at that price the £60 Anker Life A2 NC looks like a good alternative especially for Android users and thise who like a fuller bass in their music.If you appreciated this review please mark it as helpful – and if not please click unhelpful twice 🙂