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HD600
Company ProductName Specs




Life Q20
Company ProductName Specs




What we think

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The PerfectRec Earbuds or Headphones team Learn more
Updated January 10, 2024·

For superior music listening, the Sennheiser HD600 excels with high sound quality, but it's not ideal for exercise or travel due to its open-back design and lack of portability. If you're on a budget and need versatile headphones for noise-sensitive environments like travel, the Soundcore Life Q20 with active noise cancelling is a strong choice, despite having lower overall sound quality. The Soundcore also offers a significant advantage in battery life and comes with a microphone, making it more suitable for calls and long sessions away from a power source. 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 Sennheiser HD600
  • Excellent for music
  • Good for gaming
  • Very good for TV and video
  • Good for podcasts and audiobooks
Advantages of the Soundcore Life Q20
  • Excellent for air travel

Key differences

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Music

9.3
HD600
Life Q20
7.0
The Sennheiser HD600 is excellent for music, while the Soundcore Life Q20 is good.

Gaming

7.0
HD600
Life Q20
5.2
The Sennheiser HD600 is good for gaming, while the Soundcore Life Q20 is poor.

Podcasts and Audiobooks

7.9
HD600
Life Q20
4.7
The Sennheiser HD600 is good for podcasts and audiobooks, while the Soundcore Life Q20 is poor.

TV and Video

8.9
HD600
Life Q20
5.3
The Sennheiser HD600 is very good for TV and video, while the Soundcore Life Q20 is poor.

Noise Reduction

2.5
HD600
Life Q20
8.7
The Soundcore Life Q20 is very good for noise reduction, while the Sennheiser HD600 is poor.

Battery

N/A
HD600
Life Q20
32.3 Hours
The Sennheiser HD600 does not have a battery. The Soundcore Life Q20 has 32.3 hours of battery life.

Cost

$350
HD600
Life Q20
$50
Product image
Product image

$0

$100

$200

$300

$400

The Sennheiser HD600 has a price of $350 and the Soundcore Life Q20 costs $50.

Build Quality

9.0
HD600
Life Q20
8.0
The Sennheiser HD600 has excellent build quality, while the Soundcore Life Q20 has very good build quality.
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Key similarities

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Phone Calls

5.0
HD600
Life Q20
4.9
The Sennheiser HD600 and Soundcore Life Q20 are both poor for phone calls.

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How the Sennheiser HD600 and the Soundcore Life Q20 compare to other earbuds and headphones

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Spec Comparison

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Sennheiser HD600Soundcore Life Q20
Sennheiser HD600Soundcore Life Q20

GENERAL

Price
$350
$50
Brand
SennheiserSoundcore
Release Date
January 1, 1997November 1, 2020
Form Factor
HeadphonesHeadphones
Connectivity
WiredWired + Wireless

SOUND

Music Score
9.3/107/10
Phone Calls Score
5/104.9/10
Gaming Score
7/105.2/10
TV and Video Score
8.9/105.3/10
Exercise Score
4.5/105.3/10

PERFORMANCE

Battery life
N/A32.3 Hours
Wireless charging
N/ANo
Charging time
N/A1.8 Hours
Bluetooth version
N/A5

FEATURES

Active Noise Cancelling
NoYes
Noise Reduction Score
2.5/108.8/10
Android App
N/ANo
iOS App
N/ANo
Mic Quality
N/A6.8/10

BUILD AND DESIGN

Build Quality
9/108/10
Comfort score
8.4/107.6/10
Weight (headset or single earbud)
258.5 Grams258.5 Grams
Microphone style
N/AIntegrated
Waterproof Rating
00

Shopping

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Sennheiser HD600

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Dig into reviews and images

Headphonesty

Jean Mouchet | September 2021
"The HD600 are state-of-the-art headphones with high sound quality and remarkable value, among most of the offerings in today’s time."

Soundcore Life Q20

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Sound Guys

Christian Thomas | January 2022
"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 Sennheiser HD600 or the Soundcore Life Q20

About Sennheiser

A family-owned company, Sennheiser is a German, high fidelity, audio equipment manufacturer founded in 1945. Their consumer audio division is now owned by the Swiss hearing aid and cochlear implant manufacturer Sonova. Sennheiser offers a wide variety of, very high quality, audio equipment solutions, from headphones to earbuds, full sets of monitoring speakers, amplifiers and microphones. They also make what is widely regarded as the best, and most expensive, headphones in existence, the HE-1 Orpheus, costing a whopping $59,000 dollars.

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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Why trust us

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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.

By the numbers

108
Earbuds and headphones evaluated
11,340
Earbuds and headphones stats compiled
15
Proprietary Earbuds and headphones ratings developed
94,700
Recommendations made
14,205
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.

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