Anker Soundcore Life P2 review

Cheap true wireless earbuds are having their time in the sun, lapping up every ray that comes their way. Anker wants in on the fun with the Anker Soundcore Life P2. These may be another pair of AirPods lookalikes but they afford so much more for so much less.

Editor’s note: this Anker Soundcore Life P2 review was updated on November 30, 2021, to expand the list of buying options and update the score with results from a reader poll.

Who should get the Anker Soundcore Life P2?

These earbuds are built to do a little bit of everything, making them great for general consumers. The case and buds have a familiar aesthetic and make use of USB-C charging, rather than its dated microUSB ancestor. Battery life is above average, but if you want something more specialized—say for exercise or travel—you should look at a designated workout or noise cancelling headset instead.

What’s it like to use the Anker Soundcore Life P2?

Anker used a formulaic recipe to create the Soundcore Life P2 totally wireless earbuds: an all-plastic build with a stemmed design that mimics the Apple AirPods. It’s uninspiring but it works, and I was happy to see the company used dedicated nozzles for a better fit than the original AirPods.

Start here: Ultimate headphone buying guide

Each earbud is outfitted with a button showcasing the Soundcore logo, and these buttons are incredibly difficult to press. I initially thought just the left earbud housed a button because it required so much force to press the right button. I suspect this will loosen over time, but it creates quite a bit of pressure against the outer ear.

It isn’t a stretch to call this painful, and the workaround is to hold the base of the stem between your thumb and middle finger while pressing the button with your index finger. Doing so alleviates the pressure placed against your ear but you shouldn’t have to do this in order to skip a track or access Google Assistant. If you’re someone who relies on onboard controls, you may want to grab the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 instead.

You can workout with the earbuds, but there are better options

The earbuds stay in the ear well enough for general cardio like running but fall out of my ears with more vigorous movement like jumping jacks. What’s more, the stems frequently catch on my towel as I wipe sweat away. This causes the buds to fly out of my ears regularly. If you’re weightlifting or just taking a stroll around the block, the earbuds should stay in just fine.

Despite the cheap feel of the Anker Soundcore Life P2, they’re rather durable and can be fully submerged for up to 30 minutes. Onboard storage isn’t available, though, so the earphones can’t actually be used while swimming. For that, you’ll have to turn to something like the JBL Endurance Dive.

If you’re looking for everyday earbuds that you may work out in a few times a month, these should be fine. If, however, you want these to be your go-to pair of workout earbuds: look into something else, like the JLab JBuds Air Icon or up your budget and get the Jabra Elite Active 75t.

How do you connect the Anker Soundcore Life P2?

To initiate the pairing process, remove the Anker Soundcore Life P2 earbuds from the case and wait for the LED indicators at the bottom of the stems to flash white. Then, open the Bluetooth menu on your desired source device and scan for a new Bluetooth device. Select the “Anker Soundcore Life P2” and allow it to pair with your smartphone. Setup should take just a few seconds and you’re ready to rock and roll with the earbuds.

The Anker Soundcore Life P2 don’t support multipoint connectivity, so you have to manually switch between a smartphone, laptop, and tablet. In order to do so, manually disconnect from the primary device and manually connect to the secondary one. It’s an extra step but not a huge deal. For anyone who views multipoint connectivity as a necessity, you’ll have to look at Jabra’s totally wireless earbud lineup.

Anker supports aptX, AAC, and SBC for wireless streaming; whether you have an iPhone or Android smartphone, you’ll hear high-quality audio. While these earphones use Bluetooth 5.0 firmware, they lack True Wireless Stereo Plus technology, meaning they’re not impervious to connection stutters and lag between making a command and having it executed (e.g., skipping a song).

How good is the battery on the Anker Soundcore Life P2?

The Anker Soundcore Life P2 earbuds hold out for 6 hours, 41 minutes until the batteries tap out, outlasting the original Anker Soundcore Liberty Air. If you’re in a pinch, you can always rely on quick charging to provide an hour of playback after just 10 minutes of charging.

The chunky USB-C case provides an extra 4.7 charge cycles for on-the-go listening. With this great capacity, it would have been neat to see dual-charging capabilities like the JLab Epic Air Sport. This omission makes sense, though, as a means of keeping costs down.

Does the Anker Soundcore Life P2 block out noise?

Isolation isn’t great: the earbuds hardly do anything to filter out external noise. I was diligent about finding a proper fit with these earbuds because bass notes quickly fell to the wayside once background noise made its way through the earbud barrier. If you plan to take these on your commute, you’ll benefit from a pair of memory foam ear tips. Anker doesn’t include that here as it does with the Soundcore Liberty Air, though, so you’ll have to buy your own.

What does the Anker Soundcore Life P2 sound like?

The Anker Soundcore Life P2 reproduces surprisingly accurate audio given the economical price. Bass notes are lightly boosted, and the high frequency reproduction makes it easier to pick out some detail. Generally speaking, this is a great headset to get if you want to transition from something like Beats to more neutral-leaning headphones.

Lows, mids, and highs

Virginia to Vegas’ song Just Friends Derik Baker’s vocals are rendered accurately and are easy to parse apart from the accompanying bassline and riffs. The chorus, when the greatest number of instruments contribute to the song, sounds clear through the earbuds and rivals slightly more expensive sub-$100 options.

That said, the treble emphasis is detrimental to the song: finger snaps are incredibly clear but made it difficult for me to focus on Baker’s vocals during the choruses. Skip ahead to 0:40, and you’ll hear snaps that are more accurately rendered with the Master & Dynamic MW07 Go or even the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus. This isn’t necessarily bad and I enjoyed it at first, but eventually wanted to be able to concentrate on more important parts of my music, even within the song Just Friends.

Can you use the Soundcore Life P2 for phone calls?

Despite the impressive jargon surrounding the four-microphone array, mic quality isn’t very good. Low-frequency notes are de-emphasized to the detriment of clarity. We’ve seen other more adept mic systems do this in order to combat the proximity effect, but in the case of the Anker Soundcore Life P2 it just results in poor voice quality. Nearly anyone who uses the headset will sound “off.” I wouldn’t recommend it for professional use unless it’s a very brief call, but you can decide for yourself if it will suit your needs.

Anker Soundcore Life P2 microphone demo:

As of November 30, 2021, a total of 597 readers have rated the above mic sample as somewhere between “okay” and “good.” This is below average, but what you should expect for earbuds that cost less than $50 USD.

Should you buy the Anker Soundcore Life P2?

The Anker Soundcore Life P2 is an interesting headset and would be such an easy pick to recommend if not for the painful button controls. If you’re someone who never uses onboard controls anyway, you can get away with the Anker Soundcore Life P2 and really enjoy it. For the rest of us, we’re better off avoiding the hurt and getting one of the company’s alternative models, or looking outside the Anker Soundcore family altogether. Fortunately, we’re at a true wireless apex and it seems there are fine options everywhere you look.

What should you get instead of the Anker Soundcore Life P2?

A much cheaper alternative to the Life P2 is the Anker Soundcore Liberty Neo; this follows Anker’s high-value, low-cost philosophy without causing ear pain when operating the tactile controls. The Liberty Neo forgoes the stemmed look, instead opting for a more traditional true wireless earbud shape. Just like the Life P2, the Neo earbuds support just AAC and SBC. The Anker Soundcore Life A1 has a similar standard earbud shape but with a more ergonomic, secure fit.

Must read: The best true wireless earbuds under $50

Listeners looking to stay within the $60 range should consider the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2. This retails for $79 and retain the same stemmed design with touch controls, rather than buttons. This means, you just have to tap, rather than push, to skip a track.  Plus, sound and microphone quality are great for the price.

See: The best true wireless earbuds under $100

Frequently asked questions about the Anker Soundcore Life P2