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Soundcore Sport X10 Review ANC Workout Buds With Rotating Ear Hooks

Thursday, September 29, 2022

 
Get a secure fit to workout with Soundcore's new Sport X10 - a set of sports earbuds with rotating ear hooks for maximum comfort!


The Sport X10 hook earbuds come with the same flip up charging case design as the Space A40 with the exception of the X10 case lid, which has a tinted semi transparent finish to it. The bath-style docking area makes taking the earbuds out of the case a lot easier. Dimensions of the Sport X10 case are 7cm long, 4.5cm wide and 3cm high and 40 grams in weight. The earbuds weigh 7 grams each.
 

The Sport X10 hook earbuds are made of hard plastic (body+front panel) with soft siliconized rubber around, including the flexible ear hooks. The nozzle body and swivel hinge are made of red anodized aluminum, while the controls are physical push buttons (no touch controls). 
 
The physical buttons respond well and have a silent actuation but feel a little mushy. On the side of the earbud, there is a metal grille mesh containing an external microphone for ANC, transparency mode and noise cancelling calls.
 
As far as battery performance, the Sport X10 case takes 2 hours to charge, while the earbuds take 1.5 hours to charge from 0% to 100%. With ANC ON and 60% volume, you can achieve 6 hours of playback (and 8 hours with ANC OFF). The Sport X10 case holds up to 31 hours (ANC OFF) and 23 hours (ANC ON). 


The on-board button supports 3 gesture controls: single press, double press and long press, giving you three controls per earbud + calls (answer/end/reject). Controls to choose from include play/pause, volume up, volume down, skip forward, skip backward, ambient sound modes (Normal mode, ANC mode and transparency mode). 
 
There is button remapping available for the double press and long press via the Soundcore app. You can switch the order of the ambient sound modes and select only two options if you don't want all three.


Connection is straightforward, triggering automatic bluetooth pairing when the lid is open. You can switch between earbuds for mono or stereo listening and keep the second earbud inside the case without losing connection (as long as you don't close the lid). Closing the lid powers off the earbuds automatically, taking 4 seconds to re-connect again.


The Sport X10 hook earbuds are also supported by the Soundcore app, which gives you access to 20 preset sound modes, bass boost mode and custom mode to create your own sound signature using the app's built-in 8-band graphic EQ. The Sport X10 drivers have a V shaped sound tuning with clear bass heavy performance and good treble out of the box. 
 
The bass (and sound) can be further tweaked via the app. Speaking of noise, the earbud ANC works well at blocking ambient noises but not quite the same during calls. For casual calls, the mic work well in quite and busy places as long as you don't mind noise leaking into your call.


Potential deal breakers
  • Bulkier than regular buds - an inherent drawback of all ear hook designs
  • Uses physical buttons - no touch controls
  • ANC does not work in mono mode
  • The Soundcore app does not show battery level for the charging case 
  • Limited button remapping - you can only disable the single press functionality and the single press gesture control cannot be remapped
  • The buttons are responsive but non-clicky so, they don't feel very tactile
  • The active noise cancellation is not adjustable like on Space A40 buds and Space Q45 headphones
  • 4 second bluetooth re-connection, which is a bit long delay compared to some earbuds which re connect instantaneously from power off. 
  • No quick charge support
  • Case does not support wireless charging 
  • No multipoint connection
  • No on-ear detection
  • No voice assistant function
  • They pick up quite a bit of background noise - mic quality is comparable to the Liberty 3 Pro
  • Same price point as the Space A40 but the X10 app is not as feature rich
     
 

Selling points for the Sport X10
  • IPX7 waterproof resistance
  • Reassuring earhook fit
  • Built-in reset button to restore the earbuds to factory settings
  • Equipped with active noise cancelling - not all hook earbuds have ANC
  • Backed by the trusted Anker brand 
  • Sleak bud design for workouts
  • Nature sounds built-in to the Soundcore app
  • Physical buttons prevents accidental touches.
  • Perfect for drowning clanking weight noises at the gym
  • Compact earhook design
  • Comfortable for a workout session (~2 hours) before ear fatigue kicks in
  • ANC and transparency modes can be disabled
  • They stick out of the ears, which is a good safety feature for sport earbuds
  • Spring loaded charging case lid 
  • The earbuds remain connected whilst in the case with the lid open
  • Supports SBC and AAC 
  • Battery level for each bud via the Soundcore app
  • Top mounted on-board button allows you to pinch the bud with the index and thumb and prevent the earbud from jamming your ear canal 
  • Available in 3 colorways

 

Accessories included with the Sport X10 earbuds are thick bore silicone tips (5 sets) with thin flange and branded charging cable. You can buy the Soundcore Sport X10 from amazon. 


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