Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsQ20i is now the better (and perhaps best) buy of the Q lineup.
Reviewed in Canada on March 14, 2024
Although the Q30s get loud, despite messing with the EQ and ensuring I had the latest firmware, they seemed muddy sounding and lacked a certain brightness I was hoping for.
They are comfortable and build quality seems to be acceptable for the price. The case is an added bonus.
The ANC is not why I bought them, rather, I wanted all around good headphones with a wide soundstage. For those who don't know what soundstage is, it's how distinguishable the instruments are from eachother, basically. The wider the soundstage, the wider the music sounds. This may be interpreted as sound detail as well. Anyway, although it's not terrible, these don't bring music to life like I was hoping for.
19k + reviews amongst many positive online reviews prompted me to try these out. I'm a casual audiophile, I appreciate good sound. I wasn't expecting them to be perfect, but they lacked a certain "presence" I was looking for.
Fast forward 1 day...
I returned rhe Q30s and purchased the Q20i; the latest of the Q20 lineup. Previous complaints were that there's no USB C charging. There is now. There wasn't any app support, there is now. There's also a better battery and transparency mode. The ear pads are pretty well identical to the Q30s.
What Anker/Soundcore did is made a great pair of headphones, such as the Q20s, and brought them up to speed to be a budget friendly alternative to the Q30s or higher, with the features and details that would have otherwise deterred people from still buying them if not for the improvements.
I can say that after testing both the Q20i and the Q30s, the Q20i have better, punchier bass. They get just as loud, without a doubt. They feel more solid, have a crisper sound, and have more presence without having to crank treble to the max or up the higher mids.
Alright, so the Q20is don't have a case nor bag. You can get a case on Amazon.
I feel, based on my experience and preference, the Q20 look better (no tacky gold logo), the cup styling is less button-like and more traditional, the build quality is better, the bass is better, the sound is clearer and overall more pleasant. The ANC, in my limited experience, is extremely close! Despite that the Q30s have a case, I don't see them being a better buy (any more) due to the improvements on the Q20i. Even before the improvements, some reported that the bass was better on the Q20 or Q20 Plus, this still seems to be the case. None of what I mentioned is obvious unless someone took the risk of downgrading, but don't let the numbers 20 and 30 fool you, thinking that newer is always better. To further prove that point, people will still pick the Q30 over the Q35 and the Q45. I assure you, there's no downgrading with the Q20i.