Soundcore Anker Life P2 Earbuds: Amazon
One of the most useful accessories that I’ve used while working on cars are wireless earbuds. There are some excellent options out there for noise-cancelling earbuds these days, but even the ones that are not noise-cancelling work quite well if you want to listen to something while working.
I’ve gone through a number of different earphones and headphones over the years, but I’ve had these Soundcore Anker Life P2 Earbuds for a long time now. Anker has come out with an upgraded version from the one that I have pictured here that costs a little under $30. I wanted to share my experience with these earbuds as they’ve lasted a long time for me and have served their purpose well.
So these are my Soundcore Anker Life P2 Earbuds that are five years old, as you can tell from the wear on the case. At the time that I purchased these, there weren’t a whole lot of noise-cancelling options yet, but these were popular and well-reviewed. The earbuds come inside of this case that not only protects the earbuds, but also charges them as well.
The earbuds have tips that suction into your ear canal to help keep them in place, but also to block some outside noise as well. I do have to lift up on the top of my ear a bit to expand the ear canal, push the earbud in, and then release my ear to produce a good seal. Once it is sealed, it stays put for everyday use.
My ears usually have issues keeping earbuds in place. There are some that fit in a way that twist into your ear and those seem to be the best ones that stay in my ear no matter what. These do hold for regular use, but if I were to move around more rigorously or exercise, they would certainly come out. Luckily, the Anker Life P2’s also come with a bunch of different sized ear tips to fit different-sized ears.
The charging case can be charged using a USB-C cable, which is provided. The earphones themselves are advertised to last 7 hours, and the charging case extends that to 40 hours. I have used these more recently for work travel and they have lasted me many hours at a time without a charge. I will then return the earbuds to the case whenever I’m not using it. I then charge the charging case sparingly, so I do believe the advertised battery life.
To control the Anker Life P2’s, there is a button on each earbud. Unfortunately, because it needs to be physically pressed, it is very uncomfortable when you press the button which in-turn presses the earbud into your ear canal. And when you have to do double-presses or button holds, it is even more uncomfortable. To alleviate the discomfort, I will usually have to hold the earbud with the rest of my fingers while I press on the button itself, which is a bit annoying.
On the positive side, the Bluetooth connection to my iPhone works flawlessly. Compared to some other Bluetooth earbuds that don’t always pair properly, these just don’t have that problem. Once set up, as soon as they are powered on, they pair right away to my smartphone and stay connected without issues.
In terms of sound, music sounds pretty good with a decent amount of bass. I wasn’t able to successfully take phone calls with these earbuds; either the microphone didn’t seem to pick up my voice or I would have trouble connecting to phone calls with the earbuds.
The Soundcore Anker Life P2 Earbuds are an excellent choice for use when you’re working on your car. Since they’re not noise-cancelling, you can still hear some ambient noise which can be desirable for those who don’t want to completely block out exterior noise.
I’ve these earbuds a lot over the years and they’ve worked great. The physical buttons are bit uncomfortable to press while they’re in your ears, but this is probably the only downside. They’re pretty cheap, and will certainly last you a long time. The fit is decent as long as the ear tips fit your ear well and the Bluetooth connection rarely has connection issues. If you don’t want to spend a lot and want something that will perform and just last, I recommend the Soundcore Anker Life P2 Earbuds.
Soundcore Anker Life P2 Earbuds: Amazon
