A comparison of specs, key information, reviews, and best pricing from top retailers
Last updated -- hours ago | Report incorrect information
Zen Air
Company ProductName Specs




Life Q30
Company ProductName Specs




What we think

Chevron down
PerfectRec Logo
The PerfectRec Earbuds or Headphones team Learn more
Updated April 10, 2024·

Choosing between the Creative Labs Zen Air and Soundcore Life Q30 depends on your preferences and needs. If you're on a budget and need earbuds for casual music listening or air travel, the Zen Air are a great choice with good comfort and included active noise cancelling. However, if you prefer over-ear headphones with better overall sound quality, longer battery life, the option to use them wired, and virtual surround sound for an immersive experience, the Soundcore Life Q30 might be worth the extra cost. Both support AAC codec for better sound quality on Apple devices, but if you need low latency for gaming or watching TV, neither of these may be ideal. The Q30 also has a dedicated app with equalizer settings for sound customization, which the Zen Air lacks. 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 Q30.
Advantages of the Soundcore Life Q30
  • Good for music

Key differences

Chevron down

Podcasts and Audiobooks

5.4
Zen Air
Life Q30
4.8
The Creative Labs Zen Air and Soundcore Life Q30 are both poor for podcasts and audiobooks, though the Creative Labs Zen Air is somewhat better.

Noise Reduction

7.0
Zen Air
Life Q30
8.7
The Soundcore Life Q30 is very good for noise reduction, while the Creative Labs Zen Air is good.

Battery

5.0 Hours
Zen Air
Life Q30
44.0 Hours
The Creative Labs Zen Air has 5 hours of battery life. The Soundcore Life Q30 has 44 hours of battery life.

Cost

$30
Zen Air
Life Q30
$80
Product image
Product image

$0

$20

$40

$60

$80

$100

The Creative Labs Zen Air has a price of $30 and the Soundcore Life Q30 costs $80.

Build Quality

9.0
Zen Air
Life Q30
8.0
The Creative Labs Zen Air has excellent build quality, while the Soundcore Life Q30 has very good build quality.
Image of Earbuds & Headphones
Let Us Help Find Your Perfect Headphones
Find your new headphones

Key similarities

Chevron down

Music

6.8
Zen Air
Life Q30
7.1
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Soundcore Life Q30 to be good for music, while the Creative Labs Zen Air is only fair.

Gaming

5.1
Zen Air
Life Q30
5.3
The Soundcore Life Q30 and Creative Labs Zen Air are both poor for gaming.

Phone Calls

5.1
Zen Air
Life Q30
5.1
The Soundcore Life Q30 and Creative Labs Zen Air are both poor for phone calls.

TV and Video

5.6
Zen Air
Life Q30
5.4
The Creative Labs Zen Air and Soundcore Life Q30 are both poor for TV and video.

Give feedback

We’re constantly working to improve.

How the Creative Labs Zen Air and the Soundcore Life Q30 compare to other earbuds and headphones

Chevron down

Spec Comparison

Chevron down
Creative Labs Zen AirSoundcore Life Q30
Creative Labs Zen AirSoundcore Life Q30

GENERAL

Price
$30
$80
Brand
Creative LabsSoundcore
Release Date
December 1, 2022August 1, 2020
Form Factor
EarbudsHeadphones
Connectivity
WirelessWired + Wireless

SOUND

Music Score
6.9/107.2/10
Phone Calls Score
5.1/105.2/10
Gaming Score
5.1/105.3/10
TV and Video Score
5.7/105.4/10
Exercise Score
6.9/105.3/10

PERFORMANCE

Battery life
5 Hours44 Hours
Wireless charging
YesNo
Charging time
2 Hours1.7 Hours
Bluetooth version
55
Case Battery Life
12N/A

FEATURES

Active Noise Cancelling
YesYes
Noise Reduction Score
7/108.8/10
Virtual Surround
YesN/A
Android App
YesYes
iOS App
YesYes
Mic Quality
7/108/10

BUILD AND DESIGN

Build Quality
9/108/10
Comfort score
7/107.6/10
Size
MediumN/A
Weight (headset or single earbud)
5 Grams263 Grams
Microphone style
IntegratedIntegrated

Shopping

Chevron down

Creative Labs Zen Air

See more

Dig into reviews and images

Headphone Check

Maike Paeßens | February 2023
"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."

Soundcore Life Q30

See more

Dig into reviews and images

Headphones Addict

Peter Susic | December 2021
"Every once in a while, headphones with an excellent price/performance ratio arrive that truly deserves all attention. Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are one of those headphones. Of course, they aren’t perfect, but they do most things better than their competition. Or they give you the option to make them better."

Get a great deal on the Creative Labs Zen Air or the Soundcore Life Q30

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.

Give feedback

We're constantly perfecting our model

Earbuds or Headphones guides you might be interested in

Chevron down

FAQs

Chevron down

FAQs about earbuds and headphones

Questions about PerfectRec >

Why trust us

Chevron down
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.

By the numbers

108
Earbuds and headphones evaluated
11,340
Earbuds and headphones stats compiled
15
Proprietary Earbuds and headphones ratings developed
123,500
Recommendations made
18,525
Consumer hours saved

About the Earbuds or Headphones team

Joe Golden, Ph.D

CEO and Earbuds and Headphones Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jason Lew

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.

Chandradeep Chowdhury

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.

Luis Torres

Earbuds and Headphones Expert
Luis is a Mexico-based headphones expert. He’s been making headphone recommendations for five years and has close to 100 pairs in his personal collection.

Featured in

Color LTT LogoGeekwire logo9to5 Mac logoPhone Arena LogoColor Daring Fireball logo