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Updated April 11, 2024·
If you’re on a budget and mainly use earbuds for music and calls in quiet environments, the Creative Labs Zen Air is a cost-effective choice; they're lighter and more portable, making them ideal for on-the-go use, and they support wireless charging. However, if you prioritize longer battery life, over-ear comfort, and better noise isolation for environments like air travel, the Soundcore Life Q20 might be worth the extra cost. The Q20s also offer a foldable design with active noise canceling, which the Zen Air lacks, but they are bulkier and might not be as suitable for exercise. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Creative Labs Zen Air
The Creative Labs Zen Air has no clear advantages over the Soundcore Life Q20.
Advantages of the Soundcore Life Q20
Good for music
Excellent for air travel
Key differences
Podcasts and Audiobooks
5.4/10
4.7/10
The Creative Labs Zen Air and Soundcore Life Q20 are both poor for podcasts and audiobooks, though the Creative Labs Zen Air is somewhat better.
Noise Reduction
7.0/10
8.7/10
The Soundcore Life Q20 is very good for noise reduction, while the Creative Labs Zen Air is good.
Battery
5.0 Hours
32.3 Hours
The Creative Labs Zen Air has 5 hours of battery life. The Soundcore Life Q20 has 32.3 hours of battery life.
Cost
$30
$60
$0
$20
$40
$60
$80
$100
The Creative Labs Zen Air has a price of $30 and the Soundcore Life Q20 costs $60.
Build Quality
9.0/10
8.0/10
The Creative Labs Zen Air has excellent build quality, while the Soundcore Life Q20 has very good build quality.
"The Creative Zen Air’s weak points are its low battery life and rather short Bluetooth range. On the other hand, the strengths of these weatherproof True Wireless in-Ears are the sound and the wide attenuation of the Active Noise Cancellation. Considering the price range, the speech intelligibility during calls is also exceptionally good."
"As far as headphones that cost under $100 go, the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 is a really solid option. Like any good tool, it does the job well without much guff, and it’s affordable to boot. Sure: it’s not going toe to toe with any of the higher-end models of ANC headphones out there—but the headphones do well enough for commuters that it’s a good stand-in if you were never planning on spending a bunch of money anyway."
Get a great deal on the Creative Labs Zen Air or the Soundcore Life Q20
About Creative Labs
Creative Labs is a Singaporean technology company specialized in the manufacture of multimedia products. They created the world-famous Soundblaster soundcard back in 1989 which was a staple of the gaming community for a long time. Nowadays, besides still marketing their discrete audio systems, they offer a wide array of headphones, gaming headsets and speakers that still preserve that same heritage.
About Soundcore
Soundcore is a sub-brand belonging to Anker Innovations. Starting in 2014, initially marketing wireless, Bluetooth, speakers, Anker now offers an array of, budget-friendly, wireless earbuds and headphones that directly compete, especially in the Active Noise Canceling field, with other brands several times as expensive.
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.
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