The Indoor profile works great, too. Granted, it's tuned for less naturally noisy environments, but it does feel like the most successful at silencing ambient noises. Walking through a store with this mode and no music playing felt almost eerily quiet. When dealing with voices on a train they’re on a similar footing, and on the Northern Line tube the Anker did a good job of suppressing the noise of the carriage, though again the EarFun is a touch more convincing. I think this is to do with the EarFun’s tighter fit. There are areas the Anker matches the EarFun, but none in which it beats it hands down. Then again, their flaws are not completely ruinous. It's better to have a capable pair of headphones that look lame than a stylish pair that sound awful, and if you're willing to spend a minute or so tweaking the app, the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro punch above their weight again and again. Anker claims 10 hours per charge and 50 hours with the case, though that’s not the whole picture. The headline figure refers to listening without ANC. With ANC it falls to 8 hours (40 overall), and with LDAC and ANC Anker says it’s 5 hours (25 in total). From the tests I carried out, the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC falls short.

The sound sparkles with detail, energy and clarity, while punchy bass produces a lovely full sound, just edging out the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2. We've replaced the Anker SoundCore Life P3 Truly Wireless with the Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless. We've also replaced the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless with the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Wireless. We've added brand comparisons as well, in addition to expanding the lineup information.If you’re clamouring for more bass, you can toggle on the BassUp feature, which boosts low-end frequencies even further. I didn’t feel the need for it very often but it did successfully add weight and depth to dancier, bass-heavy playlists. Anker headphones generally have high latency on PC. You may notice your audio and visuals fall out of sync, which can be frustrating if you like to stream video on your laptop.

The Apple AirPods Pro Truly Wireless are the predecessor to the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Truly Wireless. While both earbuds have the same premium build quality, the original model doesn't have as good an ANC performance as their successor. They don't have as long-lasting a battery as the second-generation model and can't reproduce as much low-bass. However, the first generation have a more neutral sound profile out of the box, which some users may prefer since you can't adjust the EQ settings. There are plenty of true wireless earbuds out there these days, flooding every price point, from budget buds to high-end portable audio – as established players and newcomers alike try to make a name for themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Something else completely missing from the app is Find My Buds. Hopefully, this is something Anker considers adding in a future update, if it doesn't add Google Find My Devicesupport as an alternative. Anker Soundcore Life A2 NC review: Battery life and charging caseWith the ANC on, they last well over eight hours continuously, and their case holds a couple of extra charges if needed. Out of the box, their warm sound profile adds a touch of extra boom to mixes without overwhelming vocals and instruments. You can also finetune their sound using their app's graphic EQ and presets. These buds support LDAC, too, which is Sony's proprietary codec for streaming hi-res audio. Unfortunately, not everyone will find their fit comfortable, especially if you have small ear canals. One of the few downsides is that they don’t support seamless switching, meaning you have to manually disconnect them from one device before connecting to another. There’s one last thing I’d have liked to have seen Anker incorporate: wear detection. The Life P3 don’t automatically pause when taken out of your ears, which is a feature that’s becoming increasingly common on budget earbuds.

The Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Truly Wireless are a great option if you're looking for premium buds at a slightly lower price point. While they don't have sound customization features like the Sony WF-1000XM5 Truly Wireless, they offer a few features for iOS that you might appreciate if you're an iPhone or MacBook user. Their H2 chip helps with easy pairing to Apple devices, and they support Spatial Audio, a surround sound feature meant to create a more immersive listening experience with compatible content. The indicator light on the dongle will display a constant purple which indicates the pairing was successful. As I noted in my 1MORE Aero review, I’d also appreciate the option to have one of the controls toggle the spatial audio on and off, to save having to dive into the app so frequently. The control scheme is missing a touch and hold function, so that would be a neat place for the spatial audio to slot in, and I would have liked to have seen Anker make volume adjustable by sliding a finger up or down either stem, too. BassUp is only available when using the Signature profile, which you may not find yourself using given there are 20 other EQ presets to choose from in the Soundcore app. There’s something for just about every genre, including Latin, Jazz, Pop and Piano. The earbuds are even rated a seven out of 10 by repair-specialists iFixit for repairability, including the ability to replace the battery, which makes the Buds+ far less disposable than rivals.Apple's iPhone notably does not support Bluetooth codecs higher than AAC, but many Android smartphones and newer Bluetooth headphones support at least aptX. They have the best combination of brilliant sound, excellent noise cancelling, long battery life, competition-beating connectivity, a comfortable fit and a compact case. On the upside, their continuous battery life of just under 28 hours is enough to get you through long days on the go, and you can use them passively in a pinch. They're well-built and have a comfortable fit suitable for long listening sessions. Their default sound profile also delivers extra thump, rumble, and boom while vocals and instruments are crisp. Most headphones that only support SBC will have lipsync issues, while AAC and higher can help negate the problem. The Buds+ sound really good producing detailed, balanced audio with a good amount of low-end punch. They can be cranked up to be uncomfortably loud, and come with a basic preset equaliser. They sound far better than most rivals at this price, but can’t match the most expensive earbuds for pure sonic quality.