Anker continues to expand its influence in the earbud market with its latest True Wireless entry in the Soundcore series, the Soundcore A20i. With prices going as low as RM 89 on discount, one could easily doubt the quality of these earbuds. But you are in for a pleasant surprise!
Design
Positioned as a budget-friendly model, the A20i is not the flashiest in terms of design. The charging case has the conventional cuboidal shape with rounded edge, as with most entries in the market. There is only the Soundcore logo branded on the top, a white LED charging indicator on the bottom lip of the case opening and a handy lanyard. This minimalistic design is also reflected on the earbuds themselves, with only the engraved Soundcore logo and slightly tapered edges for the button heads.
The same lightweight material is used for both the Soundcore A20i case and earbuds. It has good grip and more importantly, is not a magnet for dust or fingerprints. When using these earbuds in the gym or during brisk walking, its light weight coupled with well-fitting tips helped the earbuds stay on. The buds were still easy to grip even when handling with sweaty hands. The form factor of the buds are also on the smaller side and comes with rubber tips, which makes it very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Even through sweat and long hours, there are times where I almost forget that I’m wearing them.
Hardware and Features
The wireless sound of the Soundcore A20i works over Bluetooth 5.3, with a very stable connection. I frequently used the buds at the gym or at work and rarely ever had a disconnect. Even when moving up to 4 meters away from my connected device, I did not experience any crackling or connection drops.
Pairing the earbuds was very quick and is mediated through the Soundcore app. Simply remove the earbuds from the case and it is immediately discoverable by Bluetooth, and with one tap, its ready. Connecting with PC was also seamless, with the buds being immediately discoverable and connected on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.
As this is a budget set of earbuds, there are limitations in its features. There is no multi-point connection available, so you can only have one device connected to the A20i at any given time. There is no support for higher end audio features such as Hi-Res Audio and also, no Active Noise Cancelling. It does however, come with IPX5 waterproof rating, so no stress when caught in bad weather or hitting the gym.
Soundcore App
The Soundcore App is one of the plus points of getting the A20i, or any other Soundcore product for that matter. The landing page is streamlined, showing your connected device and a battery snapshot.
Tapping into your device brings up the device settings, allowing you to adjust the equalizer and customize the tap controls on the earbuds. At the bottom, tapping the tab with the Anker logo in the middle brings you to an Anker landing page with a few nifty features. The Discovery tab shows the latest news and products from Anker while the White Noise tab gives a selection of free, white noise channels with different subgenres to them. I spent some hours on these channels as they are quite diverse and rather relaxing to listen to while I’m at work, or even writing this article.
The Equalizer is pretty comprehensive and there are audible differences in the audio with each setting. As someone who prefers more punchier bass in their music, I find the soundcore Signature setting with BassUp turned on to be quite acceptable. I use the Podcast setting when I’m listening to podcasts, which helps improve clarity especially in noisy environments. The customization of the tap functions is simple yet covers the necessary bases. It is good enough to let me listen to music and use Google Assistant features without looking at my phone screen. One minor complaint is that when adjusting the volume via tap, there is a bit of a delay between the tap and the volume changing. However, it is no dealbreaker. I also found the user interface of the Soundcore app to be aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.
Performance
Sound Quality
Considering its price tag, the Soundcore A20i pleasantly surprised me with its sound quality. Testing was mainly done with Spotify, YouTube and Netflix. I was impressed with the volume of the earbuds. In a busy environment with the smaller ear tips, I was able to clearly listen to YouTube videos even without noise cancelling. There is very good clarity on the highs and mids; they did not sound muddled and even at full volume, I never heard any distortion. While the bass will not set your heart racing, it is audible and punchy enough to round out the music. The BassUp feature in the Soundcore Signature is definitely a must if you prefer louder punchier bass as without it, I found it pretty middling. The voice clarity, be it in music, podcasts, Netflix or YouTube videos, were always crisp and clear.
No complaints on call quality too. With testing on WhatsApp calls, Microsoft Teams and regular phone calls, I found call audio to be clear and crisp. The earbuds also come with dual mics, which resulted in the voice being clear and have good volume too. In a noisy environment however, the background noises did get picked up by the mics.
Audio quality in games is also good. There is a dedicated game mode which is claimed to enhance the sound of footsteps, voices and improves latency too. The audio quality on PUBG Mobile was good, with footsteps and gunshots ringing clear. Honestly, I did not hear a remarkable improvement in the sounds of footsteps in Game Mode. But that is mainly because I found the audio quality to be loud and clear enough even without Game Mode.
Battery life
The battery life is another impressive feature of the Soundcore A20i. With a single charge on the buds, I managed to get around 9 hours of playtime. The case holds up to two (almost) full charges and is charged with the provided USB-C cable. With a fully charged earbud and with additional charging from the case, the total playtime from the A20i was approximately 27 hours.
The Verdict – Probably the best no frills wireless earbuds of 2023!
Overall, the Soundcore A20i offers an impressive, no frills, true wireless earbuds that does the essentials really well. For a price point below RM100, it has impressive sound quality, IPX5 rating, stable connectivity, good build quality and wearing comfort. It is a great option for anyone looking for their first TWS earbuds on the cheap, as a pair of secondary earbuds or even as a pair of basic fitness buds.