With the outdoors in mind, the Soundcore AeroFit and AeroFit Pro prioritise comfort, excellent battery life, and an awareness of your surroundings over high-fidelity sound. They may not be the best value for money if you're looking for all-rounders, however.
- Long battery life
- Included neckband (Pro)
- Great pairing and handoff
- Limited use case
- Bulky cases
- Fiddly touch buttons on the base model
Open-ear earbuds like Anker’s Soundcore AeroFit and AeroFit Pros are an interesting proposition in the context of today’s earbud market.
Typically earbuds are designed to block noise out, with features like noise cancelling held in high regard. These earbuds are designed to let sound in. This is primarily so that runners and other kinds of athletes can tune in to what's going on around them.
Naturally, there’s a compromise on sound quality to achieve this although the Soundcore AeroFit and AeroFit Pro have some other benefits that help them stand out.
These earbuds go the distance
Whether you’re a runner, cyclist, or just enjoy getting outdoors the chances are you want your earbuds to last. I can’t imagine anything worse than being halfway through a 10km run and losing your jam track.
A novice runner myself, I am typically an all-day earbud wearer. So whether I’m outdoors or inside I want the battery on my earbuds to last a long time. The AeroFit and AeroFit Pro earbuds have incredible battery life.
The promise on the box is 11 hours sans case for the base model and 42 hours total with recharges. The Pro pushes slightly past that with 14 hours without the case and 46 hours with it. They certainly live up to that expectation. With each pair, I was able to get through several days on a single charge of the case.
Plus, if you do run our of charge you can get back to your tracks quite quickly with fast charging. Just 10 minutes in the case on either device covers your next four hours of listening. The only not-so-obvious issue is remembering to put the case on charge somewhere around day two or three. They aren’t actually infinitely powered though they often felt like it.
As with most electronic personal goods these days each set of earbuds comes with a USB-C charging cable without a power brick. Although they’re only half USB-C, you’ll need a USB-A-compatible power brick to get started.
What about that bass?
While it’s fair to call these products earbuds, nothing about them is bud-like. The open-ear design traces the curvature of the ear and loops down to hang over the ear canal - not unlike an earpiece you might see a security guard wearing. Because of this, you’re not going to find booming bass on buds like these. That’s not to say there’s no bass at all, it’s just a reality of the design of these types of earbuds.
The drivers (or transducers) sit outside your ear rather than in it affecting the experience. The best way I could describe is it’s like holding your phone speakers up to your ear but done, much, much better. The Pro model comes with 16.2mm drivers compared to the 14mm on base model making them just that much better. Overall, the sound quality more than passes for what it is.
But these earbuds are about letting sound in, so how do they hold up? Whether it’s outside or walking into a busy cafe to grab a post-run treat you can hear everything around you thanks to the open-ear design. Again, think of being close to a speaker rather than putting a tiny speaker in your ear. This is the sole flaw for these earbuds if you want to use them in any other context. Like say, public transport. Even with adjustments to the headphone safety settings on my phone, I wasn’t able to listen to my music in peace without the noise of other people’s conversations on the bus or train. A podcast? Forget about it.
The microphone on neither model is particularly amazing either. But again, you’re not really taking Zoom calls when you’re cycling down a bike path. The use context is really important here. What’s important is you can hear enough of your music on a run to find your rhythm and be aware enough of what’s going around on you.
Pro is better in just about every way that matters
There’s a lot both AeroFit models do, battery life is one, but multipoint is another. They quickly pair when removed from their cases and disconnect when put away. It’s super easy to transition between listening on my laptop from my phone when moving between exercise and work.
Each model is also fairly compact and sleek-looking (as much as over-ear earbuds can be) although they do both come with bigger cases than most earbuds. Each is about the width of the palm of my hand but whereas the base model is pill shaped the Pro model case is more a clam. It’s around a centimetre longer measured from top to bottom.
This is just the start of where things begin to diverge. The AeroFit Pro case has a button on the front that pops the case open with a satisfying *thwick*. The AeroFit on the other hand isn’t as easily accessible. It opens with more of a “prying apart” movement with two hands. More akin to opening a clasp compared to a one-finger “push” style you get with most other earbuds.
Both models fit comfortably around my ears. The Pro model is slightly bigger (necessitated by the larger battery) but each model is lightweight enough to not pose a problem with hours of use. However, where the Pro model has physical buttons, the base model uses touch controls.
With the Pro, you simply “pinch the earbud” and press the button at the top of each device to perform a myriad of functions. On the base model this interaction can be slightly awkward. The touch “button” here is on the side. This means pressing the bud in, towards your ear. It feels kind of clumsy, especially if you’re amping up the volume from low to high.
I wear glasses and didn’t have any trouble fitting both my frames and earbuds on my ears but they can shift slightly when you’re taking your glasses on or off. Handily the Pro model comes with an adjustable neckband that can be clipped on. This provides some degree of security. I found this created a better listening experience by ensuring a more snug fit, plus it's nice to be able to just hand the buds around your neck when you pause to talk to someone. Neither model has auto pause.
One area where the base model does come out on top is a slightly better IPX7 compared to IPX 5 on the Pros. This makes both models at least rain and sweat-proof although the base model is closer to true "water-proof". With an IPX7 rating, they should survive immersion in up to a metre of water for 30 minutes.
Soundcore AeroFit & AeroFit Pro Earbuds - Final Thoughts
The AeroFit and AeroFit Pro earbuds are designed with exercise enthusiasts in mind rather than trying to be all-around everyday buds, and they achieve that goal admirably.
While you could use them as all-round earbuds - other than in noisy areas like public transport - it's more a matter of price. Both sets of AeroFit earbuds come in at over $200 with the Pro model just shy of $300. You can find earbuds for less that have noise cancelling and higher sound quality.
For example, Soundcore's own A40 earbuds are half the price and come with noise cancelling and a similarly amazing battery life. Alternatively, there's no shortage of high-end earbuds at around the $300 mark, like the Beats Fit Pro. We've even seen AirPods Pro discounted to around $330.
You really need to want the open fit to make the AeroFit the right choice for you. If you’re looking at Soundcore’s AeroFit range it’s worth shelling out the extra $40 or so dollars for the Pro model. Overall, they’re a better fit, and easier to use with the neckband and physical buttons.
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