Soundcoreby Anker Life A1 True Wireless Earbuds, Powerful Customized Sound, 40H Playtime, Wireless Charging, USB-C Fast Charge, IPX7 Waterproof, Button Control, Bluetooth Earbuds, Commute, Sports

I bought these to replace my Bose Sport earbuds. While I wanted something that would give me great audio, I didn't want to spend what I paid for those previous earbuds; these Soundcore Life A1do not disappoint, in fact, they are exceeding my expectations.Bluetooth Pairing: Open the case, go to bluetooth settings on the device and select the Life A1 buds. Done. Literally took me less than 15 seconds. Once my devices were paired, as soon as I take a bud out of its case it's already connecting to the last device I used, and by the time I have it popped in my ear, it's ready to go.Comfort and Fit: These buds come with several sizes of plugs, and three sizes of wings. After a little trial and error to get the right fit for my ears, these are so comfortable, I forget I have them in after a while. They are lightweight, they don't pinch anywhere, and I can easily wear these for an entire day at my desk without any discomfort whatsoever.Controls: Like many earbuds these days, you can control several common functions by pressing the earbuds (play/pause, volume up/down, answer/reject calls, Siri, etc.). One thing that surprised me is that these are actual buttons, and not just a touch-control like some other buds have.Build Quality and Design: Both the case and the earbuds are light, but at the same time, feel like they are made to last. Nothing feels "cheap" or "flimsy". The case has a solid magnetic closure design, there is no play in the hinges of the case lid. The buds themselves are riding that fine line between lightweight and feeling substantial enough to feel like a quality earbud.Battery Life and Charging: I can easily go all day long with these buds. I used them continuously for 9 hours on one single charge. The case and the buds themselves charge quickly. And as an added bonus, not only can you charge the case via the USB-C charging port, you can also use a wireless charger. The App: There is a Soundcore app you can download that offers some additional options. It allows you to customize the button controls although your only options of functions to assign to button presses are volume, play/pause, next/previous, Siri, or no action. The app also offers equalizer settings, but you are limited to their 21 presets; 20 equalizer configuration presets and a "Soundcore Signature BassUp". While these presets will most definitely do the trick, I was slightly disappointed there was no option for a custom EQ preset the user can make on their own.Overall, I am incredibly impressed by the value, less than $40 for all of this? And to be honest, these sound at least as good as my previous Bose earbuds.

If you’re on the fence with these because of the price compared to other perceived high-end options, go check my review of the JBL Live Beam 3 which I just returned. I’ve had a pair of Soundcore for about 5 years and the batteries just started getting weak. I went for the JBL Live Beam because of all the good reviews and my experiences with JBL Bluetooth speakers. They just didn’t offer good sound quality or bass response for the price point. And the extra bells n whistles were more of a nuisance than anything else because the display on the case drained the battery way too fast and they would shut off and stop playing randomly. No thanks. Sent them back after one listen and committed to buying what I know works - Anker Soundcore. These pair easily and quickly. They fit perfect and stay in during strenuous exercise. The sound quality is on par with JBL and the base response feels better because they actually fit snug in the ear. You can’t beat them for anything under $200. Get em.

I bought these in March of 2023 and used them 1-2 times per day since then. Today they finally "broke" (really, the button on the side of the right earbud just came undone and I have no way to repair that, and it's broken the waterproof seal).The sound quality was good enough while they lasted, though the equalizer feature threw a bit of a wrench in that (EQ inherently decreases sound quality, just by nature of what an EQ is).I never ran into any trouble with battery life, although I only used them for 1 hour at a time at most. The base stayed charged for days or sometimes weeks, as well.I never had any trouble with them feeling too heavy or falling out of my ears, after choosing the proper rubber pieces for my specific ear shape.The buttons on the earbuds were a little disconcerting to operate - I kept worrying that I was damaging my hearing by clicking something that was directly attached to my ear. But the buttons operated very well (until one of them broke after one year, of course) and the control scheme was as intuitive as you could expect for something that only uses two buttons in total.Overall I think that 2 years of decent-quality sound and minimal hassle with charging was worth $50 to me, so these were a good value in my opinion.