Soundcoreby Anker Life Q35 Multi Mode Active Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones with LDAC for Hi Res Wireless Audio, 40H Playtime, Comfortable Fit, Clear Calls, for Home, Work, Travel

I've been shopping around for some decent LDAC enabled headphones to pair with my Fiio M6 audio device. I previously bought the Edifier W820NB and they sounded quite decent for a lower-mid priced pair of headphones. I had only heard of Edifier because I own a pair of their speakers, which I'm pretty happy with. These were almost a keeper, but I decided to spend a bit more on something with more separation and crispness.I don't consider myself an audiophile by any means, but I'm all for spending a bit more for a clearer, more defined sound in my audio devices. I have a friend who has a degree in audio engineering that always asks me why I spend more than I need to on my audio choices and I always ask him why he's so cheap with his. I just always thought it was weird, considering his previously chosen profession.Anyway, I obviously had heard about the WF-1000XM4 and XM3 Sonys, but I wasn't sure I needed to drop that much money on headphones that I would only occasionally use. Don't get me wrong, I love music, but generally, I'm listening to it on my turntable or in my car. I just haven't found a pair of headphones that I'm comfortable wearing for hours at a time, these included.I read some other reviews about the comfort factor on these, and on that note, I was slightly disappointed, but not that surprised. Maybe I have Elven ears and they just aren't made to house headphones for too long, I don't know. Having said that, they're comfortable enough. I didn't find myself fidgeting with the cups as much as I have others in the past.The box was well packaged and actually looked pretty fancy with a little sticker seal over some wax type looking paper to cover everything. It comes with a USB-C charging cable, an airplane airline headphone adapter and a 3.5mm audio cable with volume control. The 3.5mm cable seemed to be a little bit on the cheap side if I had to nitpick, but otherwise, it was fine. I'd mostly be using it for the Bluetooth capabilities. The case was pretty decent as well, although the plastic insert was kind of odd. It looked like it was meant to stay in with the case, but it was so thin and cheaply made, that I have to think it was meant to be tossed. It basically shows you how the headphone sits in the case and the reason why I think it was meant to be tossed is because under it, there's an etched drawing of how the headphones should sit in the case. I'm getting the feeling people have tried to cram these headphones into their case in weird ways and end up complaining that they snap. :)Primarily, I listen to metal and all sub-genres of metal. I almost bought some headphones called "Heavys" that were supposedly designed specifically for metal, but it was on a Kickstarter and I'm hesitant to go that route. I'd rather wait to read reviews of it later after release and pay a little more if it's something I can't live without. In the meantime, I wanted to try these as my brother bought me some Anker Liberty Neo earbuds a while back and I liked the quality of sound I was getting from them. I'm not typically a fan of earbuds, though, so I use them sparingly.After charging the headphones to a full charge, I promptly booted them up, holding the power for 5 seconds to pair them with my Fiio. It paired quickly with no issues and sounded an audible "boop." I started playing a song. I didn't have as much of an issue with the default preset sound as much as some others did, but I can also see how it wasn't everyone's cup of tea.After unsuccessfully trying to sideload the Soundcore app by copying the APK file to my Fiio (didn't seem to do anything when I tried to run it from the file manager), I decided to test out the multi-pair capabilities by pairing it with my phone to tweak the default preset. While my test song was still playing, I double-tapped the power and successfully paired to my phone. Unfortunately, as I was fiddling around, I bumped my hand on the headphones and it stopped the music. I already knew that I would more than likely find the whole "pause your music detection" feature annoying. I fidget and adjust the cups too much for this to be practical. After the music stopped, I wasn't able to resume it and hear it playing for some reason. It was paired to both my phone and the Fiio, it showed as playing, but no sound came out.I was fairly annoyed for the first few minutes of owning this thing, but I calmed myself, switched off the bluetooth on my devices, switched off the headphones and started over. Then it worked fine. I was able to load the "rock" preset and it stayed loaded after I unpaired with my phone.Even though my preferred genre of music is metal, I also listen to others, so I ran it through a battery of FLAC files ranging from Halsey/Clairo/Eilish/Adele/Juice WRLD/Led Zeppelin/Rush/As I Lay Dying/Heaven Shall Burn/Behemoth, etc. Everything sounded excellent. There was enough instrument separation, crispness and clarity for all of the different genres for me to consider this an acceptable pair of headphones for my every day use. Will I eventually "upgrade" to the XM4's? Maybe some day, but these were plenty suitable for my mildly discerning ears for now.Except for the weird little glitch where I didn't hear anything the first few minutes I messed with it, it's been perfect. Honestly, it may not have been a good idea to still have a song playing while pairing another device and then accidentally activating the "headset off detection" feature. About that... I read a few reviews stating that the same feature on the XM4's was a little sensitive as well. Maybe this feature is not ready for prime-time just yet. Not until we have a better way to adjust it? I was thinking that if you can have the app adjust it, maybe you put on the headphones and tap something that shows it's firmly on your head. Then, if there were a way that it would measure the distance between the cups and enable the pause when a certain measurement goes beyond that distance, MAYBE that would work. Not just when it shifts on your head, but when it detects both cups being pulled away from the ears.I'm more annoyed having my music be constantly interrupted than I am with having to press the pause button from time to time. I mean, I'm as lazy as the next person, but c'mon.. do we really need this weird feature?

The Soundcore Life Q35s are an insanely good deal for the price point. I was looking for a set of Bluetooth cans that support LDAC without having to shell out some serious cash on the Sony WH-1000s.The sound quality is fantastic. I've noticed some reviews mentioning the loud bass. The default EQ is indeed quite bass heavy but the Soundcore app features a large selection of EQ presets as well as custom capability. After some browsing and tinkering I created a custom EQ that sounds exactly right, with some of the sub bass rolled off and 100-200 Hz boosted for some good punch. The thing is the Q35s are capable of reproducing bass at many different frequencies, instead of just that generic muddy boom bass that you hear in Beats or cheap brands. The key is to find an EQ that balances those bass frequencies to your liking. Beyond that the mids have wonderful presence and an immersive soundstage. They remain wonderfully distinct from the bass frequencies. Treble is clear and detailed without fatiguing the ears. The high frequencies are pushed behind the mids to create the perfect balance of clarity and softness. I think Boss does this slightly better but Boss doesn't feature LDAC as a Bluetooth option. When LDAC is engaged on the Q35s the sound is hard to believe for wireless.I don't take my Q35s out of my apartment but for inside use the ANC works perfect. The hum of my swamp cooler, fans, or any low ambient sound is almost totally muted. I've heard the ANC falls short when used out in public and that the Sony WH-1000s are better. That wouldn't surprise me, they're nearly three times the price of the Q35s. But for normal indoor use the ANC is great.Battery life is insane. I charge them a few times a week (I'm neurotic about having full charged batteries, total OCD) but everything I do they're already at 70-80%. I basically top them off every couple days for an hour or so and literally never worry about running out of battery. I could be lost in the woods for a week and these things would last the whole time, probably outlive me. The build quality is awesome too. I'm not worried about these things snapping or cracking and the lack of a cord means I also don't have to worry about snagging the cord on a doorknob and having them violently hurled across the room right before the best part of the song hits. That was the absolute worst.If you're phone supports LDAC I can't recommend these enough, some of the best money I've ever spent.

Amazing headphones, really comfortable, good ear space and padding, good natural noice canceling for the padding, battery is amazingly good, I’ve been using every day from Monday to Saturday for the last 2 weeks and I’ve charged only 2 times, including the first time when they arrived, active noise cancelling is great, works amazingly and transparency also works good, personally I don’t listen the difference between the noice cancellation modes (maybe because I only use them inside my work office) but works great, sound quality is really great, HiFi is really good, my only complaint about the sound is that this headphones are naturally with higher bass, but the his could be fixed with som eq.I also use this for my teams/google meetings and mic works great, the sound of my voice is clear to other people even when I have some people speaking around myself, this headphones worth every dollar.