Soundcoreby Anker Space Q45 Adaptive Active Noise Cancelling Headphones, Reduce Noise by Up to 98%, 50H Playtime, App Control, LDAC Hi-Res Wireless Audio, Comfortable Fit, Clear Calls, Bluetooth 5.3TCO CertifiedTCO CertifiedTCO CertifiedTCO Certified

Nowadays, I wouldn't buy a pair of bluetooth headphones blindly (or deafly?) online unless it comes with an app that allows you to tweak the sound/EQ. There's no point in spending money on a pair of headphones, only to not like the sound when they arrive. There are 3rd-party EQ phone apps, but those are sometimes dubious, plus they only work with the phone/tablet device being used at the time. It's best to have the native headphone's app do it within the headphones themselves, in which the custom EQ settings travel with the headphones to whatever device/system is being used -- even those without the possibility of EQ apps. So with built-in EQ, you don't have to worry as much about whether the headphones match your preferred sound profile -- at least, to a point, since some things like soundstage and the "feel" of open vs. closed headphones can't be customized, although the "Transparency" app settings sort of emulate the latter a bit, albeit via noise cancellation.These headphones come with a really good app for configuring most things (with one feature request down below*), including the EQ, noise cancelation, volume limiter, firmware updates, etc. You can also configure the headphones to auto-power-off if not in-use after 30/60/90/120 minutes or "never" (default is 60 minutes). The 8-band EQ has a 21 presets (or 22 if you count the "BassUP" on/off toggle on their "sound core Signature" preset), along with allowing to create/save multiple custom EQ profiles. The app finds and connects to the headphones immediately with both my Pixel 7 and Pixel 3 (which I now use as just a tiny tablet, since it only has WiFi). I only have Android phones, so I can't speak for the iPhone app, but I'd guess that it is the same, other than the LDAC stuff (which Apple devices don't support, and will default to AAC). Note that these headphones don't support any aptX protocols, so your options are LDAC/AAC/SBC for Android devices and AAC/SBC for Apple devices (both phones and computers). My computer is an Apple MacBook Air M1, so I can vouch for the AAC connection on that, although when sitting at my computer, I prefer using my wired headphones (Beyerdynamic 880's). But overall, I am liking these Q45's more than my Sennheiser HD 350BT bluetooth headphones.I don't really use noise cancelation, so I can't speak to that in subjective terms, and so keep in mind that my rating does not take into account noise cancellation. But in terms of features, it has a lot of customization, with both traditional NC modes (with five custom levels plus adaptive/automated) as well as separate transparency modes (with five custom levels plus "talk" mode). But even with the NC turned off ("Normal" setting), the headphones actually block-out quite a bit of noise naturally, since they seem to form an almost air-tight suction.The battery seems to last long too. I'm a person that re-charges any device before it goes below 60%, so I can't say how long a full battery drain lasts, but I go quite awhile between charges nonetheless, even using LDAC (which uses more battery). In AAC/SBS mode (not LDAC), probably slightly better than my Sennheiser HD 350BT's, while in LDAC mode, probably a bit worse (but only a bit).For comfort, I find these very comfortable with prolonged use.I just bought a new Pixel 7 phone (w/Android 13), and the bluetooth w/LDAC works extremely well with this phone/headphone combo, with no connectivity issues under reasonable use, even when LDAC is forced to 990kbps. The headphones also connect to the phones fairly quickly. In terms of holding the connection w/LDAC, I live in a two-bedroom apt with each bedroom on opposite ends of the apt, separated by ~20 feet. I put the phone in the furthest corner of one bedroom, shut the door, and walked around the apt:--LDAC @990kbps: It worked fine without any skips up to ~30 feet away and through one wall (including door closed). I didn't start to have skips until going into the other bedroom with its door also closed -- so not until over 30 feet away and through two walls.--LDAC @660kbps: I couldn't break it within my apt. No skips, even in the second bedroom with both bedroom doors closed -- so it still worked at ~35 feet away and through two walls (including both doors closed).--I didn't bother checking 330kbps, since 660kbps worked so well in all my scenarios.--LDAC Best Effort (Adaptive): Same behavior as @660kbps (never breaks/skips), which tells me that Android isn't actually operating at @990kbps (either part of the time or never), even though the Android ADB logs always say @990kbps at initial connection with no subsequent changes. So at least partially, it is operating @660kbps or @330kpbs. But the vagueness of Adaptive LDAC mode isn't the fault of these (or any) headphones -- this is an Android issue. However, the choice to use Adaptive LDAC mode in the first place is controllable, which brings me to my one gripe below...*My one complaint/request for the app is that it could force-customize the LDAC settings. All it allows you to do is enable LDAC (Preferred auto quality) or disable LDAC (Combine audio and connection, which then defaults to AAC). In the Android Developer settings, it always defaults to "Best Effort/Adaptive", which doesn't tell you what it's doing, even in the ADB logs, which only logs 990kbps at first connection, but never logs subsequent adaptive changes.There's a Sony Music Center app that works for some people in forcing the LDAC bit rate mode, but when I tried it, it only worked around 50% of the time on both my Pixel 7 w/Android 13 and Pixel 3 w/Android 12, so I ended-up removing the app. But it apparently works for others, and if Sony can apparently force the LDAC settings within their app, why shouldn't the SoundCore app be able to do it too? I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like the SoundCore app to force-customize the LDAC settings. Ideally, I'd like it to control the actual bit rate mode (ie, explicitly set it to 990kbps or 660kbps), as well as set the sample rate and bit size, since I don't listen to music beyond 44.1kHz/16-bit anyway, and so I also like to down-tune the sample rate/bit size to 44.1kHz/16-bit, to save a bit of phone battery. But at the very least, the app should be able to force-set the main LDAC bit rate setting (990/660/330/adaptive), so we don't have to go into the Android Developer settings every time the headphones re-connect. It's a minor nuisance, but considering that LDAC is a major selling point of the headphones -- you'd think they'd want to allow people to ensure ideal LDAC settings? Regardless, I'd still give these headphones five stars for the price range.

Great Sound, Comfort, and Noise CancellationI've been using the Anker Space Q45 headphones for a while now, and I have to say they're some of the best I've tried in this price range. First off, they're extremely comfortable – the ear cushions are soft and don’t press against my ears, even during long listening sessions.The sound quality is excellent. Anker offers a dedicated app that lets you customize the EQ to your liking, which is a great bonus. Battery life is one of the standout features – I’ve been using them for about 5 hours a day, and they lasted me nearly two weeks on a single charge. That’s seriously impressive.Noise cancellation is also very good for the price. I’ve tried other headphones that cost more and don’t block out sound as well as these. They’re especially effective at reducing constant background noises like chatter, street noise, TV sounds, or engine hums. Sudden, sharp noises like car horns or hammering can still be heard a bit, but that’s expected.Another nice bonus: they come with a 3.5mm jack and support Hi-Fi over Bluetooth. With LDAC enabled, the audio becomes even clearer and more detailed, which is amazing at this price point.Overall, these are a great buy – super comfortable, great sound, long battery life, and impressive noise cancellation. Highly recommended!

I have been on a search for new over the ear earphones since I tried listening to my Soundcode Q20's and found they sounded really good while wearing my hearing aids. The one drawback I found with the Q20's was the ear pad size was a little bit smaller than I liked. I ordered several different over the ear earphones, Soundcode, Edifier, and More1, returned them all. I found the sound on all of these was very, very good and they had great features, but the ear pads were still just a little smaller that I was hoping to find. When I read the comments on the Q45's some people said the ear pads were big and even that they worked well with hearing aids. I ordered the Q45's and thought I had found what I had been looking for. The ear pads were about 25% larger than the others I had tried, very comfortable the sound was great, app was terrific, lots of great features. Then I tried listening to some music I had that the song went on for about 7 minutes, lots of bass, lots of treble sounded great. About a minute and a half into the song lots of the treble and midrange just went away from the song. Tried listening to the song again, and the same thing happened. I thought it might be the song I picked I tried another couple of songs. This time I tried a couple of Barry Manilow songs, again lots of bass lots of midrange and treble, and again the treble and midrange dropped off. I tried some country songs again with lots of bass and treble and midrange and the drop-off happened again. I also tried the eq app at different settings, and no change.I thought it might be a problem with my hearing aids, checked them out, cleaned them, tried the songs previously mentioned on the Q45"s and the drop-off happened again. Tried the same songs with my trusty old Q20's, and they sounded great.Oh well. looks like I will have to live with my Q20's and get great sound with slight ear discomfort.Actually, I am thinking I just got a pair of Q45's with an issue, and I might reorder them hoping that a different pair would not have the issue in ran into, as I really liked them otherwise. I wonder if other hearing aid wearers have ordered the Q45"s and had no problems. or searched and found over the ear earphones that fit comfortably and sound great.