Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless Headphones Review

The Anker Q30 look very similar to the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Wireless. They have a simple design with a black satin finish. With this generation, there's a small logo in gold found on both earcups, which makes it look a little more refined. They also come in 'Midnight Blue' and 'Sakura Pink' if you prefer a more colorful look.

The Anker Q30 are comfortable headphones. Like the Wyze Noise-Cancelling Headphones Wireless, they feel lightweight and don't clamp too tightly on the head. That said, the headband padding feels thin and could become uncomfortable when worn for long listening sessions.

These headphones have a good control scheme. Only the right ear cup has a touch-sensitive surface, but most of the controls are physical buttons located on the bottom of both ear cups. With the physical buttons, you can play/pause audio, adjust volume, and cycle through three noise cancelling settings: 'ANC', 'Transparency' which allows you to listen to audio while staying aware of what's going on around you, and 'Normal', which is its off mode. You can also hold the volume up button to skip to the next track or the volume down button to skip to the previous track. You can activate 'Transparency' mode by holding the touch-sensitive surface or activate voice assistant by holding the play/pause button for two seconds. While the buttons are clicky and there are voice prompts for the different ANC settings, there aren't beeps for most of the other commands.

Update 05/12/2021: We have tested 'Breathability'.

The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 have sub-par breathability. They cover the entire ear and can trap heat, which can make your ears feel warm. You can also sweat more if you're wearing them for long periods of time or during physical exercise.

Update 05/12/2021: We have updated our measurements of these headphones to match the smallest way of folding them up. As a result, the scoring of this box has changed.

The Anker Q30 have mediocre portability as they're somewhat bulky and can be difficult to take with you on the go. While the ear cups can swivel to lay flat and they come with a hard case to help protect them, they still take up some room in a bag or backpack.

Unlike the Anker Soundcore Space One Wireless, the Anker Q30 come with a good hard case. It has a zipper so that it fully closes, and there's a small section inside so that you can store its cables. It should protect your headphones from minor water exposure and accidental drops.

The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 have a decent build quality. They're mostly made of plastic and silicone-like materials, which makes them feel sturdy. There's also faux-leather padding on the headband and cups and a metal plate in the headband. They feel dense enough to survive a few accidental drops without getting damaged. However, some users have reported that their units' headbands cracked or broke over time, which points to issues with the build quality's durability. We haven't noticed this issue with our unit, though. Some of our team also use these headphones as their daily drivers, and they haven't encountered this either, so your experience may vary. However, if you have experienced this problem, please let us know in the discussions.

The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are fairly stable. While they shouldn't move if you're working at your desk, they can fall off your head with more intense head movements. On the upside, their wireless design eliminates the risk of a cable snagging on something and pulling the headphones off your head.

• Anker SoundCore Life Q30 headphones
• 1/8" TRS audio cable
• USB-C charging cable
• Hard case
• Manuals

The Anker Q30 have an excited, v-shaped sound profile. The bass delivers intense thump and rumble, while the treble adds sparkle and brightness to your mix. While some users may find this sound profile overtly bass-heavy, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help tweak their sound.

There is a noticeable difference in sound profile when using the ANC on and off. Although we tested these headphones with their ANC on, if you turn the ANC off, audio sounds a bit hollow and thin. However, it doesn't sound as bad as that of the Anker Soundcore Life Q35 Wireless when the ANC is off. To confirm this, we ran a few frequency response passes with the ANC on and off using a wired connection and Bluetooth. You can see our graph here. There's some difference in the low-bass, which is responsible for thump and rumble. There's also a dip between the low to mid-mid, which can thin as well as nudge vocals and lead instruments to the back of your mix. If you experience this issue, please let us know in the discussions.

The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 have an alright frequency response consistency. Treble delivery can vary depending on fit, positioning, and seal, so you may need to adjust them on your head slightly to get the same listening experience every time.

These headphones have poor bass accuracy. It's overemphasized across the range, resulting in heavy thump, rumble, and punch, which should please fans of EDM and hip-hop. That said, some users may find their mixes also sound boomy and muddy.

The Anker Soundcore Q30 have great mid accuracy. There's a bit of over-emphasis coming from the bass-range into the low-mids, which results in a muddy sound in your mix. However, the rest of the range is flat and neutral, so vocals and lead instruments sound present and accurate.

The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 have fair treble accuracy. Almost the entire range is over-emphasized, resulting in bright vocals and lead instruments. Sibilants such as S and T sounds are piercing. That said, treble delivery can vary depending on fit, positioning, and seal.

The peaks and dips performance is decent. There's some mismatch between the left and right driver, as a peak in the bass range affects the left driver slightly more than the right, resulting in a bit more punch and boom. A dip in between the high-bass and low-mids thins out vocals and lead instruments, while another dip between the mid to high-mids nudges these same vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. A dip in the low-treble reduces the clarity of these same instruments, while a steep peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants piercing.

The Anker Life Q30's imaging is acceptable. The GD graph shows that their group delay is almost entirely beneath the audibility threshold, ensuring a tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The L/R drivers of our unit are also well-matched in amplitude. However, there's a slight mismatch in frequency response. Unlike the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Wireless, there's also a high mismatch in phase response, which indicates that there could be inaccuracies in the stereo image. These results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

The Anker Q30 have a poor passive soundstage. While it's perceived as wide and natural, it still sounds like it's coming from inside your head rather than from out in front of you. Also, due to their closed-back design, they sound less spacious than open-back headphones.

These headphones don't have a virtual soundstage feature.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. All ranges fall within good limits, producing clean and pure audio at moderate volumes. At max volume, there's some distortion present in the right driver, and it's more noticeable with ANC on than off. However, we don't expect most users to encounter this issue, as listening to audio at such a high volume is very uncommon. It's also worth noting that most headphones have some distortion at max volume; we don't recommend using any headphones at max volume either, as it can negatively impact your hearing over time.

Update 01/29/2021: We originally reported that we tested these headphones using the 'Outdoor' ANC mode. However, this was an inputting error as we tested them using their 'Transport' ANC mode. Our results have not changed.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when listening using these settings.

The Anker Life Q30 have fantastic noise isolation. With their active noise (ANC) feature set to the 'Transport' mode setting, they perform better than the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Wireless. They can reduce a significant amount of bass-range noise like bus or plane engines. They also cut down a lot of mid-range noise like office chatter, as well as higher-pitched sounds like the hum of an AC unit. These headphones also offer two other kinds of ANC. 'Outdoor' mode is advertised to help cut down traffic and wind noise, while 'Indoor' mode is more focused on reducing mid and treble-range noise like office chatter and the hum of fans.

Note: Some users have reported that the ANC system doesn't work when the headphones are wired due to a firmware update or the feature being removed in a newer batch of headphones. Using firmware 02.10, the ANC was usable while wired, so long as the unit had battery life remaining. However, you may not be able to do the same with your unit. We don't know how to differentiate batches for these headphones, but you can see our model's serial number here.

The Anker Life Q30's leakage performance is mediocre. Their leakage is concentrated in the mid-range, so it sounds somewhat full. If you're listening to your audio at a high volume, people at the office may be able to hear it.

The Anker Q30 have an integrated microphone.

The recording quality of the Anker Soundcore Q30's integrated mic is fair. It sounds thin and a bit dull, but your voice should still sound clear and be easy to understand.

The integrated microphone's noise handling performance is just mediocre. It struggles to separate your voice from moderate background noise and is best-suited for calls taken from a more quiet environment.

The battery performance is excellent. They have over 44 hours of continuous playback time with their ANC on. If you need even more playback time, the manufacturer advertises them as lasting up to 60 hours with their ANC off. You can use them passively, thanks to their TRS audio cable, but you can't use them while they're charging. Depending on your unit's batch, you may not be able to use the ANC system while wired either. While they have an auto-off timer, it only turns off the headphones if they're not connected to a Bluetooth source. If you're still connected to your Bluetooth device, they won't power off, even if you're not listening to anything.

The Anker Soundcore app is great. You can adjust the sound of these headphones using their graphic EQ or presets. You can also adjust their ANC with three different levels: 'Transport' mode, 'Outdoor' mode, and 'Indoor' mode. There are also sleep features available. You can make a mix of calming ambient sounds like birds tweeting or chimes, and also set a timer for them.

The Anker Soundcore Q30 have outstanding Bluetooth connectivity. Unlike the Skullcandy Hesh Evo Wireless, they can be paired with up to two devices at a time and support NFC pairing. They also have a fantastic line of sight range, which is good if you like to move around without your audio device in hand. However, they have high latency on PCs. Their latency is much lower on iOS and Android. That said, some devices and apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary. If you're looking for similar Anker headphones that also support LDAC codec, try the Anker Soundcore Life Q35 Wireless.

These headphones are Bluetooth-only.

Update 02/17/2022: Thanks to user questions regarding a batch or update to these headphones that removes the ANC feature when used wired, they've been retested. Using firmware 02.10, the ANC was usable while wired as long as there was battery life remaining. However, this may be unique to our unit's batch, and you may not be able to use this feature wired. We don't know how to differentiate the batch, but you can see our unit's serial number here. There hasn't been a change in our review.

While the Anker Soundcore Q30 use Bluetooth for their wireless connection, they also come with a 1/8" TRS cable that you can use to passively listen to audio. However, you can't use their mic while wired. They also come with a USB-C to USB-A charging cable.

The Anker Q30 are only compatible with the Xbox One when you plug their 1/8" TRS cable into the AUX port of a controller. You can only receive audio as they don't have mic support.

The Anker Q30 don't have a base or dock.