Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST Anker Soundcore Life Q30 review for those who are wondering whether they are WORTH IT in 2025. I’ll also be comparing the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 vs Space Q45, Space One, JBL Tune 770NC, Sony WH-CH720N, Skullcandy Hesh ANC, Sennheiser Accentum, Sony ULT Wear, and more!
I’m going to do my best to share whether these headphones are worth it, and ideally who these headphones are for. I’ve owned these headphones for a while now and have quite a few thoughts.
I’ll be sharing my critical opinion with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, audio engineer, and tech journalist.
Let’s dive right in!
Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Headphones Review in Short
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 is impressive for its price, being one of the most affordable headphones in the wireless, over-ear, ANC headphone class. The build quality is great, but has fairly average sound quality and noise cancelling performance. Competes very well in the budget class with Anker Soundcore Space Q45, JBL Tune 770NC, Skullcandy Hesh ANC, Sony WH-CH720N, Sony ULT Wear, Sennheiser Accentum, and Anker Soundcore Space One.
Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Pros and Cons
- Best build quality under $100
- 70 hour battery life
- Incredible value at under $80
- Comfy
- Sound quality is average
- Weaker noise cancelling performance
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Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Sound Quality
Testing the budget Life Q30 back to back with Anker Soundcore’s Space Q45, I’m much less impressed by the Q30.
The Q30 has a darker, softer, and less detailed sound signature compared to the brighter and more treble-forward Q45.
Look, I get it. These are cheaper headphones and underneath the Space Q45 in Soundcore’s product lineup for a reason, BUT… I walk away feeling better about the Q45’s sound quality for the money.
The Q30 is a noticeable step down in resolution, separation, and layering.
The loose bass on the Q45 is even looser on the Q30, which can sound a bit bloated in the low-end frequencies.
Overall, it just seems like the Q30 struggles a bit when pushed and when tracks get busy. They start to sound a bit compressed and lose clarity.
Everything is just a step below the Q45, which itself is not even that special of a headphone.
That said, I think most casual listeners would be okay with the Q30.
Not blown away, but satisfactory, especially considering its price.
Sound Quality Score: 7.0 out of 10
Comfort
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 is about average weight for the over-ear, wireless noise cancelling headphones as weighed on my scale:
- Sony WH-CH720N – 186.4 grams
- JBL Tune 720BT – 223.2 grams
- JBL Tune 770NC – 227.1 grams
- Bose QuietComfort – 236.1 grams
- Sony WH 1000XM5 – 245.9 grams
- Sony WH 1000XM4 – 251.6 grams
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra – 254.4 grams
- Anker Soundcore Life Q30 – 264.6 grams
- Beats Studio Pro – 268.6 grams
- Sennheiser Momentum 4 – 292.9 grams
- Anker Soundcore Space Q45 – 297.5 grams
- Sonos Ace – 318.1 grams
- Apple AirPods Max – 387.8 grams
I find the Q30 to be fairly comfortable, but not perfect.
The design is nearly identical to the Q45, but weighing about 30 grams lighter.
Even with the lighter weight, I’m still getting a bit of top of head pressure due to a pretty weak cushioning and not being as light as some of the other budget models below 230 grams.
The tips of my ears are slightly touching the inside of the earcups, but it’s not egregious.
Overall, I could wear these for a couple hours at a time without issue.
Comfort Score: 4.0 out of 5
Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling
Features
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 was originally released in November 2021, so they’re a fairly modern headphone with most of the modern features:
- Built-in microphones for taking calls
- Smartphone app with customizable EQ
- Multi-point connection between 2 devices at once
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Adaptive Noise Cancelling (choose from 3 modes: Transport, Indoor, Outdoor)
- Transparency Mode
- Ability to turn OFF both Active Noise Cancelling and Transparency Modes
- Includes Compact Hardshell Case
- Foldable and Collapsable
It’s great to see the more updated Bluetooth 5.3, which I’ve had much more reliable connectivity with than the older Bluetooth 5.1 on other headphones.
These also don’t have Spatial Audio or Dolby Atmos support, for those that care.
Also nice that these include a fairly premium compact hardshell case, something you definitely don’t see often in the budget class.
These headphones do fold and collapse, fitting nicely into the smaller case.
The included case reminds me of Bose’s size and design, perhaps ever so slightly cheaper-feeling.
Build Quality
Similar to the Q45 and Space One, the Life Q30 has some of the best build quality for the money in the budget class.
The Q30 has a metal headband and feels much more premium to the touch than their pricetag suggests.
I would say the Q30 feels and looks closer to a $200 headphone.
Most budget headphones in this class are the cheapest of plastics and feel like they could break at anytime.
The drawback to this build quality and feel is the heavier weight than its competitors, but this bodes well for its long-term durability.
Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Battery Life
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 has 70 hours of battery life with ANC set to OFF, and 50 hours with ANC on.
This is definitely above average battery life and towards the higher end of the wireless over-ear ANC headphone class.
There is also a “Rapid Charging” feature that provides 4 hours of listening time with 5 minutes of charging.
Thankfully, these also feature the modern standard USB-C charging port.
Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Noise Cancelling Performance
Sadly when it comes to Anker Soundcore, I wasn’t that impressed by the Q45’s noise cancelling, and the Q30 is slightly worse than that.
There are 3 modes to choose from here depending on your environment: Indoor, Outdoor, and Transport.
Honestly, I just find that the Q30 allows too many other frequencies through their filter, and just don’t find the ANC to be nearly as effective as the premium ANC headphones in the class.
“You get what you pay for”, essentially.
On the bright side, the Transparency mode is decent, as it seems to slightly amplify your surroundings to a good degree.
I was a bit disappointed by the Q45’s noise cancelling performance, which means the Q30 is also equally disappointing.
Overall, it’s still certainly better than not having ANC at all.
Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling Performance Score: 3.5 out of 5
Value
At the time of this writing, the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 retails at $79.99, but can be found on sale for as low as $63.99.
Honestly, it’s actually kinda hard to beat the Q30 for the money, especially on sale.
If we’re looking at full retail, the Q30 is almost half the price of the Q45, while providing at least 80-90% of the same experience.
There’s a few competitive standouts under $100 like the Sony WH-CH720N and JBL Tune 770NC, but the Q30 offers its own compelling package that is superior in some ways.
Where the Q30 really shines is its build quality, which is much sturdier than its competition for the price.
Overall, very hard to argue with the Q30’s price, especially on sale.
Value Score: 5 out of 5
Overall Scoring Breakdown
Sound Quality: 7.0 / 10
Comfort: 4.0 / 5
Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling: 3.5 / 5
Value: 5 / 5
Total: 19.5 / 25
Is the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Worth it?
Although I feel like I spent a good amount of this review critiquing the Q30 and comparing it unfavorably to the Space Q45, that all goes out the window when we consider its price.
At almost half the price of the Q45 at full retail, the Q30 is simply an incredible value for the money.
It’s certainly not a perfect headphone, but no headphone under $100 (or even $1,000 for that matter) is.
Personally, I would still pay the extra to upgrade to the Q45 and get that better sound quality and slightly better ANC.
But if you’re on a budget, these are definitely “good enough” and a solid pick for under $100, along with the Sony WH-CH720N, and JBL Tune 770NC (on sale).
Some very strong alternatives in this class of wireless headphones are:
- Anker Soundcore Space Q45
- Sony ULT Wear
- JBL Tune 770NC
- Skullcandy Hesh ANC
- Sennheiser Accentum
- Sony WH-CH720N
- Anker Soundcore Space One
- Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
- JBL Tune 720BT
- Sony WH-1000XM4
- Sony WH-1000XM5
- Bose QuietComfort (2023 model)
- Beats Studio Pro
- Bose QuietComfort 45
- Sennheiser Momentum 4
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra
- Apple AirPods Max
Some Relevant Comparisons in this class of wireless headphones are:
- Sony WH-1000XM4 vs Sony WH-1000XM5
- Bose QuietComfort 45 vs Sony WH-1000XM4
- Beats Studio Pro vs Sony WH-1000XM4
- Beats Studio Pro vs Sony WH-1000XM5
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra vs Sony WH-1000XM5
I highly recommend you check those out next!
Lastly, if you’d like to save some money and keep supporting RecordingNOW.com’s 100% independent, unbiased reviews, do consider using some of our affiliate links below to shop and even just compare prices. We purchase all products we review with our own money to maintain the highest level of integrity, and your support goes into that plus a continuously improving site experience.
Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Want to save up to $20 or more?
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Soundcore better than JBL?
Having tested multiple pairs of both Anker Soundcore and JBL headphones, I would say the two brands are firmly competitive with each other, with Soundcore typically having the better build quality, and JBL having the better sound quality and noise cancelling.
Which is better, Soundcore or Bose?
Between Anker Soundcore and Bose headphones, I find that Bose headphones are more premium with much better sound quality and noise cancelling performance over the more budget-friendly Soundcore headphones.
Is Soundcore Q30 noise cancelling?
Yes, the Anker Soundcore Q30 has 3 active noise cancelling modes between Indoor, Outdoor, and Transport, along with a Transparency Mode.
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, tech journalist, and audiophile.
Read Next
Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Review
Anker Soundcore Space One Review
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Review
Bose QuietComfort Review (2023 Model)
Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Review
