soundcore Sport X20 by Anker, True-Wireless Workout Earbuds, Rotatable and Extendable Ear Hooks, Noise Cancelling, Deep Bass, IP68 Waterproof, Sweatproof, Dustproof, 48H Play, Sport Earbuds for Gym

Five months ago I bought the Anker Soundcore Sport X20s. I've used them every day since then, and I can definitely state that they are what I've been looking for. These are my ideal daily usage earbuds. They sound great, fit well, and don't fall out. Noise cancellation is definitely nowhere near as complete as a much higher-end earbud such as the BoseQuiet Comfort, but it's not ineffective.HISTORY: I have Bose QuietComfort earbuds from 2020, which I use in very noisy situations such as an airplane. But they are costly and not something I want to wear when I'm out walking or jogging. So I wanted to supplement them with an inexpensive Bluetooth earbud.My initial attempts were the JVC Gumy (junk: fell out easily, terrible battery life) and JVC Marshmallow (less junky, but still junk).Then I discovered the Anker Soundcore Space A40s. Sonically, these were a revelation. But they tended to fall out of my ears, despite my best efforts, and eventually I lost one of them irretrievably.That's when I got the Anker Soundcore Sport X20s.FIT AND COMFORT: The Sport X20s absolutely cannot fall out, because each earbud is held in place by a little hook that comes over the top of your ear from the front. After some practice I can get this hook into place with one hand. Once in place, I don't feel the hook at all; indeed, I find myself checking from time to time to make sure the earbuds are still there. No matter how much additional paraphernalia I'm wearing (glasses, sunglasses, hat, whatever), the hook stays in place and neither interferes nor makes itself felt.(The hook is somewhat adjustable — you can twist it a little, or slide it in or out a little — but I wouldn't set much store by that; the key point is that it's a hook.)These earbuds come with five different size ear tips. Finding the right size for your ears can be a chore; I can only suggest that you behave methodically and take your time. They are not labelled and are not trivial to distinguish visually, so start by working out which is which (not easy) and label them somehow. It took me many days of usage to settle on a choice, and even so they do not always stay fully inserted into my ear canals; still, if they do get a bit loose, the sound does not drop off appreciably (though the noise cancelling does), and they cannot possibly fall out, so I just press them back in from time to time.SOUND: Sheer delight. These babies sound just terrific. I listen to either podcasts (voice) or music (classical) and they are great for both.The key is partly the superb native sound of the earbuds themselves and partly the Soundcore app, which allows you to run a kind of hearing test that creates an equalizer geared to each of your ears separately ("HearID Sound"). You can then overlay onto this some additional equalization corresponding to your favorite music genre; it's worth experimenting to settle on one, rather than just believing the genre label (I like Acoustic more than Classical).If, in addition, you turn on 3D Surround Sound, the apparent sound stage opens further, using active audio analysis at the expense of some additional battery usage, and the music simply pours like honey through your ears.I probably appear rather foolish walking along with a big grin on my face, but that's my response to the active pleasure I take in listening through these earbuds.NOISE CANCELLATION: The noise cancellation feature definitely does something, but it's nothing to write home about, and should not be your main reason for getting these earbuds. Don't expect to use these earbuds on their own in an airplane, and even in high automobile traffic areas or near construction they can be hard to hear. But please, consider the price! Heavy duty noise cancellation is exactly what you are _not_ paying for.There are actually three settings: Noise Cancellation, Normal and Transparency. Transparency plays ambient sound through the microphone and into your ears, which is good for momentary conversation (though your own voice is still muffled). Normal means "do nothing" and I never use it.There is also a completely different approach to noise cancellation, adaptive noise cancelling mode, where the earbuds change their degree of noise cancellation depending on how noisy the environment is. I've tried it, but it doesn't seem to improve the amount of noise cancellation so I don't use it.BUTTONS: There is one button on each earbud. It is located at the front of the earbud, which makes it easy to press by using a pinch gesture, thumb on the back of the earbud, finger on the front where the button is. In my opinion this is much better than, say, having to press from the outer flat surface towards your head. It might take a little practice to learn to find the button, but now I can do it immediately.Each button can make three gestures: single press, double press, and long press. Using the app, you can configure the meaning of each gesture. I have mine set up as follows: single press on either button, toggle play/pause; long press on either button, toggle between Noise Cancellation and Transparency; double press left, volume down; double press right, volume up. Other options (which I don't use) are next, previous, and (on iPhone) Siri; also, if a phone call comes in, single press on either button means answer, while long press on either button means decline (but the microphone is not very good, so I don't advise answering the phone with the earbuds). It's a pity that you can't configure a button gesture to toggle 3D Surround Sound on and off.FEEDBACK: The earbuds make sounds when you perform certain actions; I find these very nice, cleverly designed to be distinct and suggestive of what they mean. Sounds that I've learned to identify over time include "You've taken me out of the case," "I'm looking for a Bluetooth connection," "I've paired with a Bluetooth connection," "You pressed the earbud button once/twice", "Switched to Transparency mode" (sounds like a doorbell chime), "Switch to Noise Cancellation mode" (sort of a "buttoned up" chime). Using the app, you can turn off some of these sounds, but I like having them.BATTERY AND CHARGING CASE: The case is where you store the earbuds when not in use. It contains the primary battery, and keeps the earbuds charged up. The case itself has a USB-C port. Those who claim there is no indication of battery level are just mistaken; in the app, you can read the battery level of each earbud and the case, and a light on the front of the case, which comes on when you put the earbuds into it and close the case, also tells you how much charge remains in the case: if it glows white, but feebly, charging the case might be a good idea; if it glows red, or doesn't glow at all, you need to charge it right now.I've never come close to running out of power in the earbuds while using them, but if I did, I'd just put them in the case for a while, where they charge very quickly. The case itself has enough charge to keep my daily usage going (three or four hours a day) for a couple of weeks between charges, and takes several hours to charge fully if it empties; I recommend charging overnight.The form factor of the case is excellent. It's remarkably flat, so it's easy to carry in a trouser pocket. (Contrast the Bose case, which is immense.) It's a pity that it is not chargeable wirelessly, but no big deal.THE APP: I have an iPhone so that's the version of the app I'll describe. It's not perfect; there are some bugs, and it can be confusing. Still it's pretty good. It shows you the battery levels in each earbud and the case. It lets you switch between Noise Cancellation, Normal, and Transparency modes, or change to adaptive noise cancelling. You can turn on Wind Noise Reduction, which adds even more noise cancellation. You can turn on 3D Surround Sound. You can set the equalization to a built-in EQ, or (as I've already explained) set up your personalized HearID Sound curve and then, if desired, modify it by adding custom equalization or a built-in EQ on top of it. You can configure the earbud button actions.In addition, you can run a fit test, which uses the earbuds' microphone to detect how much speaker sound is leaking out (this doesn't work very reliably). You can set up multiple Bluetooth connections. You can make your earbuds emit a sound, useful if you can't locate them. And you can apply an update to the firmware when one is released (unfortunately, you won't know when that happens unless you actively use the app).Unfortunately, there's also a lot of irrelevant fluff attached to the app, such as built-in breathing exercises, and a bunch of ambient noise options. Plus it seems like Soundcore is trying to turn itself into a sort of social platform (good luck with that).CONCLUSIONS: These earbuds are terrific. If you have hard-to-fit ear canals, like me, or if you've ever lost an earbud because it fell out, like me, or if you just want earbuds with great fit and great sound for a moderate amount of money, like me, these are an excellent choice. They do sometimes go on sale here at Amazon but even at full price they are worth every penny.

Ok ill start by saying i love love these! I have purchased many over the ear buds including the expensive Beats ones. The beats lasted about a yr and started to get glitchy and not connect or wouldnt ring when i had the left one in. So i got these and boy im glad i did. If you’re on the fence just get them. I got the sport x20. They are super lightweight and the handle over the ear is adjustable so you can customize the length if you want it longer or shorter. I make it shorter when i wear my glasses because the curve on my glasses around the ear fits better. This in itself is worth it. I dont know of any others that do this. The handle is super soft and flexible. And alot thinner not bulky. The ear piece is made so it fits in your ear but doesnt push on the surrounding areas so its comfortable and doesnt hurt after a few hrs like the others. It comes with several size ear attachments so you get the right fit. The button on the top is customizable so you decide what you need it to do. This is done in the app. Once you download the app you can do so many amazing things. I would start by doing the fit/sound test. This customizes the way YOU hear music. It will take you through a series of tests to make sure you have them in correctly and then onto how they sound. It plays a series of high and low pitch sounds and you choose when you can hear the sound based on adjusting the volume. Then it moves on to the sound quality and plays a song and you choose which sound you like better A or B. Kinda like going to the eye dr. After you go through all the choices youre left with your version of the song based on your perfect preference. So its not only customizing the equalizer but its perfectly set for YOUR preference and hearing ability. No others do this either that i know of. When its done it gives you your result and the original so you can compare the difference. And its amazing. They also have another feature i love. The noise canceling and “static” sounds. You can adjust this. I have a weird aversion to repetitive annoying noises so this is perfect if i need to block out noise and have pure quiet. Like when my son plays his games and is yelling at them. I just block him out with these. And it is deafening. Almost too quiet. Would be perfect for people who need to sleep in total quiet. There is a normal mode which allows you to hear some noise but mostly the ear buds. Then there is another mode that allows you to basically turn them off and hear all environment noise. And you can customize each ear bud to do different things. So they dont both have to do the same thing. Also another feature unique to these. There is a feature in the app called breath. It will take you through a series of breathing patterns with different types of music and count you down based on if you want to relax recharge meditation whatever. And you can customize this as well how many second you hold or breath in or out. You can also just play various types of relaxing sounds if you just need noise. Like rain or crickets or a rooster with birds chirping there are a few to pick from. This would be good if you’re flying and want to take a nap and drown out noise on the plane. You can see the battery level in the app too. The case is small and not bulky. Uses a ctype charger. I plug my case into my laptop with USB end and let the case charge while i work. The case is easy to open too and has a push button instead of just a slit that you have to pull apart. My boyfriend says he can hear me really good on these too and they dont sound muffled like some can. And i hear him good too. You can also change the sound versus calls or music playing if the music version makes the calls too “basey” i like base in my music so i switch this up at times if he is in an environment that makes him too deep or muffled and it blocks out his background noise. Kinda like a reverse voice isolation. But im controlling it on my end. I cant say enough about these. They are so many things in one. For the price what it is im shocked. There is also a website with all of their products on it. I will be getting several more of these babies for xmas gifts. My mom will love them for her tv and ipad. Get them. You wont regret it.

I'll start with sound since that's the most important part of any earbud/headphone. To me, as someone who's only started to delve into the world of audiophiles, it has a VERY minor echoy effect with vocals. Like they're singing in a tunnel. It's more prominent in rap music but not as big an issue with music like reggaton or alt rock/metal. If you're not too sensitive to sound & think Sony XM4s are AMAZING, then you will also think these sound great. To me, far from amazing, but not mediocre either. The most important part of it for me was the ear hook for working out. I don't really like wearing headphones & I own a pair of galaxy buds 2 which are terrible when I start sweating. They fall out ALL THE TIME. That's why I sprung for these. Hooks are fantastic! Just did a two hour workout doing a mix of cardio & calisthenics & I never once had an issue with them falling out of my ear. The hook is adjustable so if it's too short you can pull it out a bit to extend it. It does come preset at the shortest length so if that's too long, tough luck unfortunately. Haven't tried anything with call audio or to test the mic so can't comment on that. Easy to connect, you can do a custom EQ through their app which I may fiddle around with to see if I can fix the echo. Again, far from an issue. It's not so bad where I can't stand the sound & will return. If that's the biggest issue I have with these earbuds, for less than $100, I'm a happy camper. Would recommend.