Working out, whether it be in a gym or outdoors, can get a little monotonous without a bit of stimulation or digital entertainment. Long gone are the days where people carry around a Sony Walkman with overhead wired headphones as they jog around the park trying to look fashionable. Now it is quite the norm to exercise with headphones plugged in, but as the market for wireless headphones has grown, the distinction between what makes a good set of earphones has grown even wider. Are the Anker Soundcore Spirt X2 headphones any good for gym use? Read on to find out.
As with any new product, first impressions count, and no second chances are needed with the Anker Soundcore Spirit X2. The earphones are packaged in a thick, durable and sturdy box which folds open with the earphones on display and a protective charging case. The charging case is much larger than something like Apple’s Airpods or Anker’s own Soundcore Liberty Air, and understandably so, as the Spirit X2 are much larger to accommodate for the extra-flex eartips which hook over the ear to help secure the earphones during movement or a rigorous work out.
They are fitted with the default tips, wings and hooks but offer a few options inside the box such as various sizes to get a desired comfort. This design is suitable for those people that find standard earphones unfit-for-purpose while exercising, such as those that can regularly fall out, either causing damage to the earphones on hard impact or a distraction to the workout. The Spirit X2 prevents this from happening and even comes with a touted feature, SweatGuard Technology, which is a coating on the earphones to protect them from sweat related damage.
Testing them daily for over a month has seen the battery last up to 8-9 hours per each. Enough to get any person through a standard workout and even a full day’s work. The charging case has a capacity of 545mAh which packs in a further 30+ hours of extra charge and itself uses USB-C to charge the unit. A slight design choice error is that the finish on the charge case leaves it susceptible to fingerprints and smudges, which, considering they are for use in a sweaty environment, can make the case look a little unappealing. The sound quality delivered is to a good standard, with strong bass and clear uninterrupted audio with no sound drops. The Sprit X2 can also be used to answer calls and have a conversation, which is where they had varying results, for example on a busy street the background noise was still filtering through to the phone call, something that most modern smartphones and Bluetooth headsets get around with directional mics and technology that reduces ambient noise. Nonetheless, in other circumstances the audio on phone calls performed well, for both incoming and outgoing calls with no issues.
