The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 headset is used as a comparison candidate for the listening test. It has a slightly lower battery life specification, but is generally regarded as a solid solution with a very effective ANC function. It also relies on a conventional sound profile with an emphasis on bass and treble in the standard tuning.
As usual for these tests, a broad selection of music tracks was chosen in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the models and not just cover one genre. We used the app of a well-known music streaming service and a smartphone without an external amplifier or DAC. After all, both models should score points in mobile use.
We installed the app according to the enclosed instructions and selected what we thought was the best possible EQ setting for each song. However, it should be noted that the assessment of music is subjective. It is interesting to be able to connect two devices to the headset at the same time.
Comfort, operation and feel …
As soon as you pick it up, you notice how light the Tozo model is compared to the Anker version. This makes the Q30 feel a little more valuable, although a light weight can be an advantage in terms of mobility. Although the human ear is more oval than round, the more rounded Q30 offers significantly more space, especially at the sides, which is clearly too tight in the HA1. The ears constantly bump against the ear pads on the left and right in an annoying way. The HA1 is therefore more suitable for narrow ears. The headband also presses a little harder on the head from above.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 and the Tozo HA1 indicate when they are successfully charging via USB-C with a red light and show a white light during operation. Both are visually very inconspicuous, although the Q30 stands out with its slightly more striking lettering on the sides.
Battery performance …
Both models charge quickly, especially as the energy consumption of headsets is low. We were able to test the Tozo HA1 over two weekends without any visible loss of capacity in the 400mAh battery. If you only use the HA1 for a short bus ride to work, you could undoubtedly use it for an entire working week without having to charge it.
Noise cancellation (ANC vs ENC) …
With the app or the buttons, we did not find any options for modifying noise cancellation in any way. This is because the Tozo HA1 does not have ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) to suppress ambient noise when listening to music, but ENC (Environmental Noise Cancellation), which filters out ambient noise in the background during conversations and thus improves the quality of the conversation. Even if the abbreviations are confusingly similar, ANC vs ENC have completely different functions in comparison.
In principle, the closed design prevents massive bleeding, but the person sitting next to you can still identify the listener’s taste in music.
Gaming mode …
Gaming mode can be activated by pressing the power button twice. A noticeable difference in latency is only felt when you are talking or when PC gaming audio and visual effects are almost synchronized despite Bluetooth transmission. This is because there is generally a slight delay with Bluetooth with the license-free SBC basic codec, which is of course not noticeable when listening to normal music, but the synchronicity is almost completely adjusted with the low-latency gaming mode. However, the last mode is not automatically selected when the headset is switched off, so you have to reactivate it first.
Within the app, the interesting community aspect of sharing EQ settings with other users is striking. The battery status is displayed and the sound pressure level in the EQ section can be moved individually using your fingers.
Sound check …
| Music playback title 1 | |
| Title and band/musician | Lacuna – Phaeleh |
| Tozo HA1 – without equalizer | less spatial and dynamic than the Q30, more neutral tuning |
| Tozo HA1 – with equalizer type “Bass+” | overdominant, but overall similar bass to the Anker Q30 |
| Anchor Soundcore Life Q30 | Good (also spatial) contrast between high and low frequencies, somewhat flat mids |
Lacuna follows on from the old style of DJ Phaeleh and comes with digitally mixed sounds and deep bass. The artist plays with artificial reverberation here, which creates a punctual spatiality without depicting a concert hall. The flowing and repetitive sound sequences should benefit the characteristics of both headsets.
The booming basses are very voluminous on the Anker Q30, while the higher tones of the hihats are placed a little further back in the room and finely resolved. Other elements, such as the very digital-sounding snare drum, bring some dynamics into the mix at the moment of impact, but appear somewhat dull in their short decay, which speaks for thinned-out mids in the frequency spectrum.
In the standard setting, the Tozo HA1s initially appear less dynamic in their overall presentation, as the bass and hi-hat hits are less penetrating. We have increased the volume slightly, as the driver has an impedance of 32 ohms compared to 16 ohms for the Anker Q30. This factor can also influence the listening impression and tuning is by no means easy. Due to the less dominant bass, however, the snare drum comes through a little more all-encompassing on the Tozo. The sound elements are less clearly sorted spatially. Overall, the point therefore goes to the Anker Q30.
However, the disadvantage of the Tozo’s shy bass can be counteracted with “Bass+”, whereby too much of the mid-range is then swallowed up.
| Music playback title 2 | |
| Title and band/musician | Modul 22 – Nik Baertsch |
| Tozo HA1 – without equalizer | Rightly balanced sound with sufficient dynamics |
| Tozo HA1 – with equalizer type “Jazz” | No significant difference/td> |
| Anchor Soundcore Life Q30 | Punctually very strong attacks, life characteristic of the music piece is lost |
If you want to be mean, give bass-strong headsets a sound that is very focused on the mids. The self-proclaimed “Zenfunk” of Nik Baertsch, which roughly speaking covers the three main criteria of jazz around polyrhythmic polyphony, dirty tones and improvisation, is suitable for this. Zenfunk is about playing yourself into a trance in certain dimensions and thus achieving active meditation. The repetitive electric guitar riffs play a major role here.
Some strikes are emphasized by the Anker Q30 extremely strongly and thus “vividly”, but the remaining instruments such as the electric guitar sound extremely spatially set back and flat. The Tozo reproduces the electric guitar much more credibly and the live dynamics are given in some dimensions. The less one-sidedness in the representation of the entire stage therefore speaks in favor of Tozo. Apparently, Tozo reaches its maximum with this, as practically nothing is changed by the “Jazz” EQ profile.
| Music playback title 3 | |
| Title and band/musician | Anti-Hero – Taylor Swift |
| Tozo HA1 – without equalizer | Female voice seems a little spatially constricted |
| Tozo HA1 – with equalizer type “Pop” | Female voice is emphasized more clearly |
| Anchor Soundcore Life Q30 | Significantly more voluminous female voice |
The female voice as the focal point of the pop piece can clearly be heard that it is confined to a small space in Tozo’s work. Nevertheless, it is the strongest element of the song. The bassline remains clearly in the background. Here, the Anker Q30 reproduces Taylor Swift with a little more contrast and makes the voice appear significantly larger on stage. EQ has a positive effect on Tozo’s voice here, although we can’t get rid of the impression that she no longer sounds like Taylor Swift. Without knowing exactly, part of the voice seems more artificial.
Tozo HA1 Bluetooth Headset Result and general impression …