Soundcore Life Q35 Review: Blocking Out Unwanted Sounds While Still Being Aware

I really hate earbuds. I hate how small they are and how easy they are to lose (or swallow, if a dog or child is so inclined). I hate how I can never tell which is the right and left, and how my ears feel when they’re in. I also don’t like noise-canceling headphones that go over the ear and put me into a full cone of silence. It makes me anxious and disoriented not to be able to hear my surroundings. So I tried the Soundcore Life Q35 Noise-Canceling Headphones, which have modes for normal headphone listening, noise cancelation, and a transparent mode, which helps you check in on your surroundings with the touch of a button.

Unboxing and first impressions

Unboxing was no big deal. The Soundcore Life Q35 came in an easy-to-open box with a holder. To store the headphones, you twist them so they fit correctly, which is a bit of a pain. The headphones are the usual size for over-the-ear headphones, so they don’t fit easily in a purse or laptop bag. The cords also fit in the carrying case. Set-up was easy and included downloading the app and pairing the headset with my devices.

Soundcore Life Q35 pros and cons

Pros

• Noise-canceling: The various options mean you can block out a lot of sound or none at all. Even turned off, they muffle sound. When on, the noise canceling blocks out most sound and it’s easy to switch to transparent mode if you need to hear or talk to someone. Normal mode works well as regular headphones, blocking out some sound but not all.
• Great sound quality: In all modes, the sound quality is great; it’s pure and crisp. I didn’t notice a difference in sound quality between transparent, normal, and noise-canceling, which is nice. I can hear more nuanced notes and sounds, including when streaming.
• Easy calling functions: Calls are easy and sound is clear on both ends. It connects to the headphones via Bluetooth without my needing to do anything ahead of time when making and receiving calls.
• Auto-pause: When you remove the headphones, your sound pauses. It resumes when you put them back on.

Cons

• Uncomfortable: I think they run a bit big. The way they hit my jaw means I don’t forget I have them on.
• Not sweat-proof: If you plan to wear these while sweating, they are not rated for water or sweat, so you’ll need to clean as needed or minimize use if there’s significant rain or sweat.
• Storage: They’re not easy to store or fit in bags due to size, which is par for the course with over-the-ear headphones.
• Not totally silent: I prefer to hear some sounds in noise-canceling mode, but if you need a complete cone of silence, these will not work for you.

Soundcore Life Q35 price

On the Soundcore website, the headphones cost $109 after a $30 discount. On Amazon, however, they are currently $99.99.

Soundcore Life Q35 key features

• Three noise-canceling modes

Not only are there three modes, but with the app, you can set the noise-canceling mode to indoor, outdoor, or transport. By snapping my fingers, I tested the three and didn’t notice a huge difference between them. My snapping was audible, but muffled.

The transparent mode can be set all the time, or you can temporarily go into transparent mode by holding down the right side of the headphones for a moment. You can revert to the previous setting by holding the earphone down a second time. This means you don’t have to take the headphones off to hear something while still using the headphones. The normal mode still blocks out some ambient sounds, but not like the noise-canceling mode.

• Bluetooth

The Bluetooth is easy to connect to any device. I tried my phone, laptop, and an iPad. All were seamless and it was easy to switch between devices.

• Auto-pause

When you take the headphones off and put them around your neck, your sound pauses, allowing you to chat with the neighbor or deal with another sound without missing anything or needing to pause on the device you’re using. So, if your phone is playing music and is left in the other room, you can take the headphones off and it will keep your spot until you put them back on.

• Calling

When your phone is connected to Bluetooth, ingoing and outgoing calls automatically route through the headphones without you needing to enable it on the phone. Sound is crisp to the headphone wearer and, when I called my dad, who sometimes wears a hearing aid, he said I sounded clear.

• App

The app lets you switch between the three main modes and, in noise-canceling, choose from indoor, outdoor, and transport. You can set it to automatically detect audio from connected devices when placed in the area. You can also disable the tap-based transparency mode.

You can also set ambient sounds for sleep or rest via the app. There are pleasant rain, bird, wind, chime, and camping sounds. There are FAQs, troubleshooting articles, and videos, along with a set up guide, the warranty, and the user manual. You can chat with an AI robot or call customer support from the app, as well.

• Customer service

You can access customer service via the app, the website, or by phone. I had trouble finding the auto-pause enabling button in the app so I asked the AI robot for help. It did not connect quickly or provide me with the answer I needed so I emailed, which involved several steps. However, once I received a response, the directions were clear and helpful.

Soundcore Life Q35 headphones: Are these a good fit for you?

I enjoy wearing these around the house while doing chores and listening to podcasts or music. My child, who screams “misophonia!” at us when we chew too loudly, wears the headset at mealtimes, usually turned off, which sufficiently muffles the offending mouth sounds. We all enjoy them as headphones as well.

I don’t wear them when dog walking because I like to listen to my surroundings. Even in transparency mode, I felt anxious about having something distracting me on my street. That is a me-issue. Because I live in a hilly neighborhood and these headphones aren’t waterproof, I was also dissuaded from wearing them while walking since I knew I’d sweat. They’re warm on the ears, even sitting still.

The other me-issue is that, even though I have a big ole Irish head, these headphones were too big. I tried messing with how they sat on my head in order to angle them better, but no matter what I did, they sunk down and hit me right on my sensitive jaw bones, which means they’re not comfortable for prolonged wear, despite the 40-hour battery life.

Soundcore Life Q35 performance

• Sound

In all modes, the sound quality is fantastic. I hear more nuance in my music than when listening through the speakers on my phone, car, laptop, or Alexa. I like how easy it is to switch into and out of transparency mode.

• Battery life

The company’s website says there are 40 hours of playtime when fully charged and that five minutes of charging gets you four hours of playtime. I didn’t listen continuously for 40 hours as part of my testing, but they never ran out of batteries during my time with them and did charge quickly and efficiently.

• Bluetooth range

According to the website’s FAQs, some areas have more connectivity issues than others due to cell phone towers, dense Wi-Fi networks, and too many other Bluetooth devices. I live in a fairly populated suburb, in a house with multiple Bluetooth devices, and didn’t have an issue.

While sitting at the back of the house, I turned on a podcast on my phone and walked into the backyard and then around to the front of the house. Once I crossed the threshold of my driveway onto the street, it started skipping. I don’t know if that’s because I was out of my Wi-Fi range or the distance was too great, but being on property is an acceptable distance for me to be away from the device.

Design and build quality

In terms of style, these are fine by me. The three colors—black, blue, and pink—are cute and not too kid-like. I don’t know much about what would look “cool,” but these were okay for my taste.

As mentioned, the comfort was not there for me. If you’re looking for a gaming headset you can wear for hours, or wireless headphones for exercise, travel, or long workdays—and if you happen to have my head shape—these are not for you.

The controls are small and on the underside of the headphones. I have a feeling it wouldn’t take long to memorize which button is which, but, as a new user, I kept hitting pause instead of the volume and power instead of mode. Power needs to be held down, so there’s no risk turning it off completely. The pushing-on-the-side transparent mode feature is great.

As with most headsets, the Life Q35 isn’t small but they are lightweight. It has a case that seems to be good quality and stable, though I wouldn’t put them in a bag that might get squished while traveling. I didn’t put a lot of stress on these headphones since we want to keep using them, but they are plastic, with not very thick padding on the ear cups or the headband. I think these would be easy to snap or break if left in a backpack too much.

Final verdict

While the sound, ease of use, and options were all great, the lack of comfort makes these headphones onerous to keep on for a long time. I would like to try other noise-canceling headphones to find a better fit that still has this price point and features.