soundcore V20i by Anker Open-Ear Headphones, Adjustable Ear Hooks, Ultra-Comfort, Snug Fit, Powerful Sound, Clear Calls, IP55, LED Lights, 36H Playtime, Bluetooth 5.4 Earbuds, Multipoint Connection

UPDATE: I am on the lookout for new buds. I stand by my review and still use these ear pieces happily. But sometimes I lounge on my sofa and the earpiece drops slightly away from my ear. It's not held tight enough against my ear to stop it moving. That means the sound in my left ear (when lying on my left side) is slightly -but noticeably- quieter than my right ear. Vice versa for the right ear.It's become a thing for me and I can't ignore it and one night I had to tape it against my ear with micropore tape as the volume imbalance was doing my head in. Wish me luck in finding a better fitting pair.Right this is a fairly long review but if you want the short version check the title. For all the detail read on...I originally bought the Soundcore P40i buds. They were faulty so Soundcore refunded me no quibbles. Their customer service is fast and excellent.I decided to replace them with the V20i as I fancied a pair that had ear loops for when out walking or moving around. Buds do fall out after some time no matter how well fitting, as your skin releases moisture over time and the silicone pads can't grip anything so the buds just slide out of your ears.So, unpacking the V20i is a simple task as there is a small instruction manual, a USB C cable and the ear pieces themselves in a case. The case is almost a centimetre shorter in height, but over double the length of the P40i case, but yet lighter. Also the V20i case does not have the rubbery feeling on the bottom that the P40i has. Not a big issue though. I fully charged everything before using as one of the issues with the P40i was they didn't charge. No problems in charging these and when I took them out they at first appeared bulky, but that's because I'm used to buds, whereas these are the open ear, air convection type of speakers. They must have been part charged as they came out at 40% hence leaving them to charge before using them. The app tells you the state of charge of the buds but not the case which is odd as the P40i showed you the state of charge of both buds and the case. It's true that from flat,10-15 mins in the charging case is more than enough for 40% of charge, which can give you hours of use.One thing to note is that unlike the V40i which switch on as soon as you open the case, the P20i only switch on when you take them out of the case. You can tell they're switching on and checking to connect to something as the small blue led's flash a few times. You can change the brightness and function of the leds too but I didn't bother, mine are just off. I can't see them so what's the point of them flashing to the music? Also you can just use one bud if you wish, but when I tried while on the phone my friend could not hear me with the right earpiece, only the left one. It says there are 4 mics, 2 on each bud, so I may have to do some more testing on that. (It might have just been the fitting on the ears was not quite right, as the mics are all on the end which presses against your ear).For fitting everyone is going to be different but I found that for me the ear loops were best placed outside of my spectacle ear loops. The reason is my glasses have quite hard arms so they did cause discomfort fairly quickly when they were on the outside. But the Soundcore loops are covered in a soft silicone or TPU or something, so they don't cause any discomfort at all. In fact it's true what some say, you forget you have them on. They feel secure though as I shook my head violently a few times and the earpieces never moved at all. They were a snug fit on L3 (they have 4 positions for the ear loop to be in so that they fit all ears.)The minute I put them in and played Taylor Swift's All Too Well I knew these things were going to be great. These don't have HearID installed, but I had run the hearing test in the p40i set so I used the same positions on the equaliser in the V20i. I tried a few of the presets but they weren't very good, although gaming preset is indeed fabulous for gaming, which I tried for hours :) During Taylor's evermore era album I tweaked the equaliser a little and I am honestly astonished that the sound is so brilliant. The volume has to be up 1 notch higher than usual because they're air convection, so I ran them at 78% and they were brilliant and plenty loud. The bass is beautiful.While playing music at about 85% I took them off my ears and held them about 20 cm away from me and I could not hear a thing. So I doubt if even a train passenger right beside me would hear them.I set all the button presses so that 1 touch in the left (1L) reduced volume and 1 touch on the right (1R) increased volume. Then 2L for rewind and 2R for fast forward. Press and hold for the left one for voice assistant but while there are buttons mentioned in the manual to control your phone answering and hanging up, in the app there is no feature for that. Again, not a massive issue, but slightly confusing.When I did make a call my friend assured me the audio was spot on, and while my microwave was beeping in the background she said she could hear it but it was not intrusive, unlike with my Jabra phone headset. When the microwave beeped I was pleased because with buds in you could very easily miss it, and definitely miss it if you were actively listening to music through them. With these on the audio was just as good (possibly better) but I heard the microwave clearly, so situational awareness is not altered at all even with these on high volume. I believe it would be easy to hold a conversation with someone near to me even while playing music. I might have imagined it but I also think the sound from my friends phone (who only ever uses speaker phone) was clearer and easier to understand. Perhaps that's because of the equaliser being set so carefully?I put the ear pieces in at 8am today, and was listening to news, podcasts and a film, and then music for most of the afternoon. Apart from a couple of hours when they were left on my desk out of the case, the batteries lasted right til 8pm. So they do indeed last a minimum of 9 hours possibly more. Lithium batteries often take 6 charge cycles before coming up to their true capacity. But tbh 9 hours is more than enough for me. I haven't tested the case for charge capacity yet but I'll add that info at a later date.One of the other issues with the P40i was the lag. It was very noticeable especially when watching music videos and films. I didn't enjoy one film and had to take them out to finish watching as the lag was about a half a second which doesn't sound much, but it's a lot of time to be out of sync. I was pleased to see that the V20i has almost imperceptible lag. There is a lag there (obviously, they're using wireless technology) but I did have to struggle to see it, so it's not enough to spoil a music video or a film.It would have been nice to have the really handy phone stand in the case of the V20i, and there is also no case reset button in the case for the V20i. Neither of those is a deal breaker or maker though. They're dust and sweat proof to IP55, so going to the gym with them is fine but not in the shower!They also have a find your device but of course if they are in the case, or have auto shut down due to non use, the find my device won't work. I also loved the fact that it is lightning fast in connecting. If I pause my video and answer my phone, it switches almost instantly between the two devices. And the time it takes to hang up and restart the video, it has reconnected again with the video. Sweet.It says in the blurb it has ANC. Yet elsewhere it says no noise cancellation. I don't think it can have noise cancellation due to being open ear, but whether it does or does not is irrelevant, because you want to be able to hear your environment anyway, that's mostly the point of the open ear design.All I can say is they are excellent, great quality sound, easy to wear and operate, last bloomin ages and are small enough to put in a purse to carry with you.Very, very well worth the money, I can't say enough highly about them. Highly recommended.

I bought these to use at work, so being able to hear the world around me was vital. I didn't have high audio quality expectations, but I'm pleased to say that these really do sound great! The build is solid, they are comfortable to wear. I'm 4 hours into use and I've used 30% of the battery, so the 10 hour claim looks to be about right. Connectivity with my iPhone has been hassle free, the app seems good. And the best thing? I got these for just £29.99! If you are looking for some cheap and cheerful open ear earbuds you should definitely give these a look, I've had more expensive in ear buds that genuinely don't sound as good!If I was to loose or break these I would definitely buy another set.

These work surprisingly well. I needed a replacement for my wire linked bluetooth open ear buds as the controller unit failed. I really wanted the same thing, but couldn't find one, so I ended up with these. I like the wired ones, as you don't lose one if it falls out while you are out in the countryside. These latch over your ears, and they seem to stay in place while exercising. The sound is also a lot better, with more bass than I expected. The controls are a bit sensitive, but as you generally have to double-tap to get them to do anything, a single knock just causes them to bleep at you. The output volume is fairly low, so you have to crank it up pretty high in the gym just to get past the background radio and activity noise. But the big advantage of the wire-linked buds is that they have a jump/fast forward/volume control on the mike, whereas on these, you have to control the volume from your phone. Why??? It is just such a pain having to get the phone out every time you want to adjust the volume. It loses a star for that.UPDATEHaving downloaded the app, it tells you how to set up the number of taps for particular functions, so now I have 3 taps on the left to lower the volume, and three on the right to increase it. Not my preferred option, but it sort of works - if you tap the right place each time. Otherwise is stops, jumps, or whatever. Now 4 and a half stars...

I’m not a 5 star reviewer. For me to get 5 you really need to impress. That’s what those earbuds did, they impressed me. Now first thing first, these are bone conductor earbuds. They are not immersive sound, so if you want total noise cancelling these are not for you. They sits on your ears resting against the cartilage so you will carry on hearing ambiant noise. That is what they are for, that is what they deliver. They fit really well against my small ears and I can adjust them easily for a tighter fit. The 4 microphones really deliver a quality sound. The app enables you to customise your taps and it works really well. The EQ functions is very good too. Soundcore is a reputable audio company that also do recording studio grade earphones. Overall I’m mega super delighted with my purchase. I got them with a 50% discount. Best earbuds I ever bought. I tried JBL, Bose etc and for the price you won’t find better.

I seem to have peculiar ears. In-ear buds fall out, and the ones that clip onto the ear just don't fit (Yes, my ears must be peculiar!) However these that loop over the ear like a traditional hearing aid stay in place and I can listen to classical music and podcasts perfectly.Putting on my glases doesn't disturb them.The quality of sound is very good indeed, am enjoying Chopin nocturns as I write this. Lovely.

Did some research and decided to purchase these when I got paid. Delighted to find that by then they were on special offer. Absolutely delighted with them. Easy to use straight out of the box. Comfortable to wear even whilst wearing glasses and I can walk around without them falling out. Tap controls easy to set up and use. No noise leakage. Really pleased with my purchase.