Our Verdict
The Anker SoundBuds Sport are decent everyday headphones. They're compact, wireless, and have good passive noise isolation. However, their sound quality is a bit uneven and maybe a deal breaker for some. They also have a short battery life and their in-ear fit is not as comfortable as that of the SoundBuds Curve.
- Good passive noise isolation.
- Stable fit.
- Minimal leakage.
- Poor, uneven audio reproduction.
- In-ear fit is uncomfortable for some.
Mediocre-at-best for neutral listening. They have a poorly balanced sound quality and an overpowering bass that drowns most of the instruments and vocal, making them sound muddy and boomy. They also have a closed back design that limits their soundstage so they won't be a great choice for more neutral listeners. On the upside, the overemphasized bass could be ok when working out.
Above-average for commuting. They're compact, comfortable easy-to-carry around on your person. They also have great passive isolation which should be good enough to block the noise of most commutes especially if you're playing a little music.
The Anker SoundSport are good headphones for sports use. They have a stable in-ear fit, and their passive isolation will block the ambient noise of a gym. They're wireless and small enough to carry around on your person wherever you go.
Average for office use. The Anker SoundBuds Sport block a lot of noise and barely leak. However, they're not the most comfortable headphones to wear for long periods of time, they have a poor sound quality, and they're Bluetooth-only which may be a bit limiting for some.
Below-average for gaming. They have a mediocre-at-best microphone, and a bit too much latency to be suitable for gaming. They also have no companion app so they won't be as customizable as most gaming headsets and their Bluetooth connection is not compatible with consoles.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Sep 28, 2017: The microphone has been tested with our new methodology, as explained here
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Compared To Other Headphones
The Anker SoundBuds Sport are average in-ear headphones that deliver a stable wireless fit that's great for sports. They don't easily fall out of the ears and maintain their position during physical activities. Their in-ear fit also blocks a surprising level of ambient noise, which makes them well-suited for the noise of an office, a gym or a regular commute. Unfortunately, the in-ear fit can get uncomfortable, their control scheme is cramped, and their sound quality is poor and uneven, which may be a dealbreaker for some listeners, especially when compared to similarly priced models below. See also our recommendations for the best cheap earbuds, the best budget wireless headphones, and the best wireless earbuds under $50.
The Samsung Level U Pro Wireless are better in-ear headphones than the Anker SoundBuds Sport. The Samsung sound better, have a more comfortable in-ear fit and have a lot more customizable features. The Samsung also have a better wireless range and battery life. On the other hand, the Anker have better isolation and will be more suitable to use in noisy environments. The Anker also have a slightly lower default latency performance, although the Samsung do have aptX-LL, which will be better for watching movies if you have the right dongle.
The Anker SoundBuds Curve 2017 are a much better headset than the Anker SoundBuds Sport. The Curve have an ear-hook design that's a bit more stable for the gym and working out. The Curve also have a much better sound quality, a longer battery life, and a more comfortable fit that does not enter the ear canal as deeply as the Sport. On the other hand, the more in-ear fit of the Sport makes them a bit more suitable for noisy environments. The Sport are also a bit more compact than the Curve since they do not have ear hooks.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport are much better headphones than the SENSO ActivBuds S-250. The SENSO have a more stable ear-hook design and much longer battery life than the Anker. The SENSO are also a bit more comfortable than the Ankers, but not by much. On the other hand, the Ankers have a better sound quality, even if they sound dark and poorly balanced. The Anker also isolate much better in noisy conditions, which makes them a bit more suitable for commute and travel, and are a bit more portable, although they come with a pouch instead of a case like the SENSO.
The Anker SoundCore Spirit X Wireless are better in-ear headphones overall when compared to the Anker SoundBuds Sport. The Spirit X have better sound quality, a more stable and durable design for sports, and they're a lot more sweatproof than the Sports. The Spirit X also have a better control scheme and a much longer battery life that lasts more than twice as long as the Sport. On the other hand, the Sport are a bit more portable and have a better noise-isolating in-ear fit, so they're more suitable for noisy environments and commuting.
Test Results
The Anker SoundBuds Sport are decent-looking in-ear headphones but don't stick out of the ordinary. They have an all-black color scheme that's accentuated by the dark gray earbud and stability tips. They also have magnetized backplates that connect the two earbuds for storage or transport.
The Anker SoundBuds have a typical in-ear fit that may not be comfortable for everyone. They offer a variety of tips to improve comfort and a better fit, but if the in-ear design causes you discomfort, then these headphones will most likely do the same. If you prefer something with an earbud design that doesn't enter the ear canal as deeply, consider the JBL TUNE 220TWS Truly Wireless.
The button layout and functionality are average at best. These headphones offer call/music, track-skipping, and volume controls but the corresponding buttons have dual functionality and are cramped on the earbuds. They also feel a little flat and don't have good tactile feedback, which is disappointing.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport are very breathable headphones. They do not cover the ears, so they won't make you sweat more than usual. The stability wings cause a slightly higher temperature difference since they have more points of contact with the notch of your ear than typical in-ear designs but it's not a very noticeable difference and shouldn't change much to your work out routine.
These headphones are incredibly portable. The in-ear buds are not much larger than typical in-ear buds for a wireless design. They also fold up into a very compact format. They can be easily stored and carried in a pocket, purse or bag.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport come with a soft, fabric, squeeze-to-open pouch. It doesn't deliver that much protection but can easily fit into a pocket.
The build quality is decent. The earbuds are sufficiently dense and lightweight to not get damaged by a couple falls. The linking audio cable is also rubberized. They're well-built in-ear headphones, but the exposed audio cable could get damaged through regular wear and tear, and could be a little thicker. Also, the earbuds will crack under moderate-to-heavy physical stress because of their mostly plastic build.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport are designed to be used during sports and physical activity. They successfully maintain their position even while running or jumping and are ideal for use at the gym. They also offer a few stability tips that help improve their in-ear fit, and the wireless design ensures that they will rarely get hooked on something and be pulled out of your ears.
- Anker SoundBuds Sport Headphones
- Earbud tips (x2 sizes)
- Stability tips (x2 sizes)
- USB charging cable
- Carrying pouch
- Manual
The frequency response consistency is excellent. If the user is able to achieve a proper fit and an air-tight seal using the assortment of tips that come with the headphones, then they should be able to get consistent bass and treble delivery every time they use the headphones. However, if a proper seal is not achieve with these in-ears, then the user will experience a drop in bass. It should be noted that this headphone wasn't measured five times, in order to reduce the wear and tear on our dummy head.
The bass of the Anker SoundBuds Sport is sub-par. LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 44Hz, and low-bass is underemphasized by almost 11dB. This indicates a lack of thump and rumble in the reproduction. Conversely, mid-bass, responsible for body and punch, and high-bass, responsible for warmth, are over our neutral target by 5dB and 9dB respectively. This results in a bass that lacks thump, but is excessively heavy and muddy sounding.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport have an average mid-range response. Low-mid shows about 7dB of overemphasis, which is actually the continuation of the high-bass bump. This significantly thickens the vocals and gives a cluttered quality to the overall mix. However, mid-mid and high-mid, occupied by the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments, are flat and well-balanced.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport have a very good treble performance. The overall response is even and decently balanced. But, low-treble shows more than 2.5dB of underemphasis, which has a subtle negative effect on the detail and articulation of vocals and lead instruments. The narrow 5dB around 8KHz, could make these headphones a tad sharp on sibilances (S and T sounds), which will be especially noticeable on vocals and cymbals.
The imaging performance is excellent. The weighted group delay is at 0.58, which is average. The GD graph also shows a dramatic rise in group delay around 25Hz, but since the Anker doesn't produce much bass in the region, this won't be very audible. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were very well-matched, which is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects (instruments, voice, footsteps), in the stereo image.
The soundstage is poor. This is because creating an out-of-head and speaker-like soundstage is largely dependent on activating the resonances of the pinna (outer ear). The design of in-ears and earbuds is in such a way that fully bypasses the pinna and doesn't interact with it. Also, because these headphones have a closed-back enclosure, their soundstage won't be perceived to be as open as that of open-back earbuds like the Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless or the Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport have very good isolation. In the bass range, where the rumble of airplane and bus engines sits, they isolate by about 8dB, which is average. In the mid-range, important for blocking out speech, they achieved more than 20dB of isolation, which is very good. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts, they reduce outside noise by more than 47dB, which is excellent.
The leakage performance of the SoundBuds Sport is great. The significant portion of the leakage is concentrated in a narrow range around 2KHz, resulting in a leakage that sound sharp and thin. The overall level of the leakage is very quiet too. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at 1 foot away, averages at 28dB and peaks at 47dB SPL. This is noticeably lower than the noise floor of most offices.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport have a sub-par integrated microphone. In quiet environments, speech recorded or transmitted with this mic will sound noticeably thin and muffled. In noisy situations, it will struggle to fully separate speech from background noise even in moderately loud environments, like a busy street.
The microphone has a mediocre recording quality. LFE (low-frequency extension) of 501Hz indicates a recorded/transmitted speech that sounds noticeably thin. The HFE (high-frequency extension) is at 3.2KHz resulting in a speech that sounds muffled and lacks detail. The response between the LFE and HFE points is also rather uneven.
The noise handling of the integrated microphone is sub-par. In our SpNR test, they achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of about 10dB. This suggests that the Anker SoundBuds Sport are best suited for use in quiet environments, as they will struggle to fully separate speech from ambient noise even in moderately loud places.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport have a below average battery life. They only have last about 3 hours when playing audio continuously. However, on the upside, they charge pretty fast and can also continue streaming audio when plugged into to a power outlet which could be practical if you're at your desk at the office. Unfortunately, the short battery life and lack of power saving features makes the overall battery performance subpar.
These headphones have no compatible app.
These headphones do not have multi-device pairing or NFC support. On the upside, their hold-to-pair procedure is not difficult to use.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport have lower latency than most typical Bluetooth headphones especially when connected to an aptX device but it won't be suitable for gaming and movies.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport have no wired option. If you want a decent sounding, wired design with a universal in-line remote, then check out the 1More Triple Driver In-Ear.
These wireless in-ears do not have a dock. If you want a headphone that's versatile and has a dock, try the SteelSeries Arctis 7. However, it won't be as compact and easy-to-carry around on your person.
