So I needed a pair of wireless noise cancelling headphones that checked all the boxes (great anc, good for music,gaming and movies).
My initial research lead me to the Airpods max and Sony's wh-1000xm4, shocker right? Then I stumbled upon a video recommending
Anker's Soundcore Life Q30. At a fraction of the price (APM $549 vs XM4 $348 vs Q30 $79) I didn't expect much.
Boy, was I wrong...
-TLDR-
Unless you need the absolute best ANC then
save your money and get the Q30.
-Sound- Winner=Q30
Tested w/ Amazon Music HD (mostly ultra HD tracks 16-24 bit, 44.1kHz) LG V40 phone + windows PC.
Side note- if you don't already have a source for HD music then Amazon Music HD is an amazing value compared to tidal and other competitors.
And the sound is night and day over something like spotify.
1. Q30 - Out the box the Q30's sound fantastic! It has an intimate energetic sound profile w/ a nice low end rumble thats controlled, clear mids, vocals are forward and sound incredible,
highs are crispy but not overhwelming. While I wouldn't call these bass heavy, they are on the bassier side. Narrowest sound stage but good seperation.
2. APM - Thinnest sound with the most detail. Widest sound stage and very good seperation. Less emphasis on the low end, mids are very clear and highs are crisp.
Music can sound too anemic at times. When switching between APM and Q30, I noticed the Q30 seemed to bring the music to life especially in the low end and the vocals were more prominent. APM's sound too analytical for my taste. They come off as boring on some tracks.
Where the Q30's have a more intimate fun sound.
3. XM4 - Out the box without LDAC these sounded horrible. Once I activated LDAC they sounded better but still behind Q30 and APM in terms of overall sound.
XM4 has a wide stage compared to the Q30, but sounded too distant at times. Nothing stood out and the overall the sound comes off very flat. Highs are a bit recessed.
I can't recommend these for music unless you wana mess with the EQ.
-ANC- Winner=APM
All tested in a small room next to a noisy AC unit.
1. APM - Even with the noisy ac and fans blaring the APM was able to get everything down to near silence. Very impressive. 95% sound reduction
2. XM4 - Not quite as good as APM, but close. I could still make out a whisper from the AC, but barely. 90% reduction
3. Q30 - Was able to get all noises down to a acceptable whisper. A step behind XM4 but not by much. 85% reduction.
-Comfort- Winner=XM4
Tbh, none of these headsets really bothered me comfort wise. I was able to use them for hours at a time without issue. But, If I had to pick a winner I would give the edge to Sony.
1.XM4 - Best combination of weight and pad feel. Pads are silky smooth and cup around your ears comfortably.
2.Q30 - Q30's have the thinnest earpads but still have a nice cushion to them. In terms of weight these are pretty light. Pads seem to be cheapest pads of the bunch.
3.APM - Tightest clamping force. APM's are noticeably heavy when you first put them on but this went away after wearing them for a bit. Pads aren't
the traditional synthetic leather material instead they opted for a cloth like material which feels rougher to the touch.
-Gaming (FPS Apex Legends)- Winner= Q30
My headset for gaming is the DT990 (amazing for gaming) and I didn't expect any of these headphones to be acceptable for Apex.
Again, the Q30's shocked me. After a game or two adjusting to the sound signature these were acceptable. Positional tracking was the best of the bunch and had
an intimate exciting sound profile. There was a welcomed thump of bass during explosions and gunshots that wasn't present with my DT990's. Enjoyable experience overall.
It didn't hold its own against the DT990 in terms of positional accuracy(sound stage much wider) but they're still perfectly usable when ANC is needed.
1. Q30 - still able to accurately detect footsteps around me. Exciting sound with a nice thump to low end during gun fights. Didn't notice much latency while using these over bluetooth
2. APM - Similar sounding to the Q30 minus the bass but positional tracking was less accurate than the Q30's. No noticeable latency via bt.
3. XM4 (unplayable) distant, muffled and veiled sound.
Features (Android)- Winner=XM4
1. XM4
2. Q30 -
3. APM - little to no features for android
Battery - Winner=Q30 - All battery life claims seemed accurate.
1. Q30 - 40hrs w/ANC
2. XM4 - 30hrs " "
3. APM - 20hrs " "
Build quality - Winner=APM
1. APM - solid, luxurious feeling build. HEAVY!
2. Q30 XM4 (tie) - both headsets have a similar plasticy feeling body. The hinges on the XM4 are loose and feel very cheap when rotating. The pads on the Q30 are on the thin side and seem on the cheaper side.
Transparency mode - Winner=APM
While this was probably the least important thing on the list to me. If I really need to hear something, i'll just take the headphones off.
But it would be remiss for me not to mention the magic of APM's transparency mode. It a...
