Soundcore A30i by Anker, Smart Noise Cancelling Earbuds, Lipstick-Shaped Stylish Design, Tiny, Lightweight Comfort, Clear Sound, IP54, 15H Playtime in ANC Mode, Wireless Earbuds, Bluetooth 5.4

UPDATE: I realized there is an app. You can customize what taps and long press control for each earbud, and you can play with the levels of ANC. Wonderful addition to a wonderful product.I had been on the hunt for a while for good earbuds. Most of the main ones on the market hurt my ears after a while. I try the smallest tip but it's just uncomfortable. Especially the ones with a stalk sticking out. Other brands were small ear specific, but a plastic seam irritated my ear where it sat. Unrelated to my earbud search, I was thinking how much I love my Ankr charger brick. I came to Amazon to confirm I bought it 8 years ago and it still works amazingly. Charges 2 phones at once in around 30 min or less. Takes overnight to charge but has never let me down. Always has extra juice, always gets me back full in no time. Anyone I share it with is impressed for the size and quality. So when i saw soundcore was made by Ankr, I was intrigued.I am not a person who works out a lot but the sweating I have done, they stayed in place. Usually if I smile or huff and puff the bud moves and I have to readjust. These stay still if they are clean. I got some hearing aid wipes and clean them from time to time, it helps.I think the sound quality is great but I'm not a music theory expert. I can hear bass and high notes clearly. The noise canceling is ok, but even with it off I can only hear my music unless it's very low. One earbud at a time works great: I can still hear around me and the other stays charged. I haven't had a bud die on me yet. They connect well to my android phone and turn off/on when removed from case.Now, as far as on-device controls. Do I know what I'm doing? No, of course not. I beleive 1 tap does nothing, long press changes between anc and not, hold for 10s....turns them off? Not sure. Typically I would accidentally press a button with other earbuds when I didn't mean to. Doesn't happen with these. If you want to control volume and ANC I think you can, I don't think you can advance to next track or skip. I don't really need on device tap features so that's probably user error. 1 tap= nothing is my favorite. That way I don't skip or pause with my ear accidentallyWhen I bought these, it was like $20. Freaking amazing quality for that price. It fits so snugly in my small ear and gives good sound. The active noise canceling seems to cancel noise when on or off so I can't really tell when I'm listening to music but works great with nothing playing.The case is adorable???? I saw someone call it a lipstick case and that's pretty close to how it feels. Slides open and close easy, pieces go in and come out fine, stands up better than a rounded or bulky case. Fits in my bag and is easy to find by touch. I really love these. I have had them 2 months and have needed to charge the case 0 times. I'll report back if anything goes wrong but now I'm wondering if Ankr makes other stuff. Kitchen gadgets? Spouses?? I mean this quality would be welcome almost anywhere

I have tried a good number of earbuds in this price range, and these are worlds better than JBL, Skullcandy, or similar competitors. One big issue I tend to have is that with other headphones, the earbuds are so heavy and the tip spine(?, the thing that the soft tip connects to) tends to be so large that they fall out of my tiny ear canals. These are slim and dare I say comfortable. Second, the sound quality is amazing for the price. Yes, these don't have the most amazing bass, they aren't super punchy, but they're well balanced and work great for both music and spoken word like audiobooks. Third, as with all Anker products, the battery life can't be beat! Even when not in use, my Skullcandy and JBL buds and cases would lose charge in about a week with no real use. These I have been able to leave them in my bag for a month without using or charging them, and they come out at 95% for the buds, and the case is barely touched. I can wear these to bed for 9 hours, then wake up and still have 40-60% the next morning. Fourth, the variable noise cancellation and multipoint is a no brainer. The noise cancellation is nearly perfect in the highest mode, but it also supports passive and passthrough as well as accounts for wind. All in all, for around $25 normally, and they go on sale for less than that often? Can't be beat!

There are pros and cons to this, both have what I think are some odd things happenPros. I like how small these are and the ANC is really good and just as impressive is how good they are with passive noise canceling; being on normal and nothing play. The medium tips were uncomfortable at first during battery life testing but now they seem to be ok. I don't know if my ears got use to them or the tips more pliable. I do like that I care pair these to two devices at the same time, and it's kind of funny what happens when you play audio from both at the same time. The battery life for these in the app are percentage instead of a bar with notches like with the A20i.Cons. Let's start with the battery life. They claim: ANC Off (normal mode) 7 hours for the buds and 24 for the case. ANC On is 4 hours for the buds and 15 for the case. As with all my testing I pair to a bluetooth transmitter and watch TV and play games on my PC. With ANC On in any more I got around 3hrs 20min for the buds and 10 hrs for the case. With ANC Off I got around 5hr 20-30mins for the buds and 20hrs for the case. The left was usually the first to go, even thought the right was taking out first, and it would be 5-30 mins before the right would die. Very strange.The charging is also very strange. Some times I would put both in at the same time and if the case was on it's last leg for a charge the right got charged either fully or partly while the left didn't get much of anything.Speaking of the case I don't really care for the design and luckily there are magnets that hold the ear buds in because I've had a few times where I opened the case upside down. I have the Soundcore A20i as well (as I've mentioned) and I never have that issue since it's obvious which way is up. I also don't like the light on the case. For how much better these are compared to the A20i, why is there no indication that the case battery is low. With the A20i there is a red light when case is low so you know the moment you put the buds in there's not enough of a charge. I've also noticed that after being charged and unplugged and for no reason at all the light will come on randomly.Quickly about the different tips. With the A20i I didn't like the medium tips and used the small. With these, as I've said, the medium had some issues but got comfortable over time. But I did try the small for a bit and for me the noise canceling didn't work at all. I tried pushing them in a bit more with no real change. I then had some troubles trying to take them out, so much so I had a slight panic attack that I wouldn't be able to get them out.For the price that I got them at they are well worth the money.The app is very good and easy to use. There are more touch controls compared to the A20i. The EQ options are very good, same standards as the A20i, but also a custom option.Update: Sept. 7, 2025Twice now I've had the ear tips came off of the buds leaving the tip in my ear. The first time wasn't too bad I was able to get out on my own. The second time I had to get a family member with some tweezers get it out.Also I had a strange moment when the mic didn't work. I normally use this just to listen to music on my phone. I was on a call one day and switched to the ear buds and the caller could not hear me. I later tested with Siri and still nothing. I had to remove them from the phone's list and pair them again to fix the issue.On many occasions while my phone is in my pants/shorts pocket one or the other bud will cut out. I even moved the phone to a pocket on my t-shirt and sometimes that's better while other times there's no change. Adjust the angle of the buds can help.The last thing (for now?) is, without me doing anything, the screen on my right ear bud just disappeared.