Anker’s top budget noise-canceling headphones are only $60 today

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As I’ve said in earlier posts, I’m not a fan of cheap noise-canceling headphones. I struggled a bit to put together a list of best noise-canceling headphones under $100, because there are so few that I’d recommend buying. But Anker’s Soundcore Life Q30 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones are one of the exceptions. Normally around $80, today they’re $20 off or $60 as an Amazon Deal of the Day. That’s their lowest price to date by $5. 

The $60 Anker Soundcore Life Q20 is also on sale — it’s down to $45 with a travel case (its low was $40 sans case) — along with the Soundcore Life Q35 ($97.49 or $32.50 off). Those two models are also listed as Amazon Deals of the Day. The newer Soundcore Life Q35 is also quite good for the money and this is the first time that it’s been on sale. It’s virtually identical to the Q30 but adds support for Sony’s LDAC codec audio codec for high-resolution audio streaming with music services that support it.

Read: Best noise-canceling headphones under $100  

I do suspect that Anker will update the Q30 in the not-so-distant future, but it’s still worth considering at $60. As far as sound, comfort level and build quality go, you’d be hard-pressed to do better than the Q30 for the money. It doesn’t have quite the clarity or bass definition as some of the top premium models, but it’s less than a third of the price and gets you about 75% of the way there in terms of sound. It’s well balanced overall, with punchy bass, and there’s an app that allows you to tweak the sound. Noise canceling is good for the price, though not up to the level of the Sony WH-1000XM4 or Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700. Battery life is rated at an impressive 40 hours with USB-C charging.

The only area where the Q30 falls a little short is for voice calls. It picks up your voice fine in quieter environments but it just doesn’t reduce background noise all that well. 

Compared to the Q20, the Q30 does offer improved sound (it’s not a huge difference, but it definitely is a notch up) and a more premium design.

Read more: Best noise-canceling true wireless earbuds for 2021