Own a set of P40s bought here also… and have some meaningful comparisons to make with this A40.
Bought the P40s for their frankly amazing battery life claims (which in the field have proven to be accurate and not just plausibly-deniable marketing). A40 has two hrs less life on full charge, which drove me to the P40s — which also wowed with its *amazing* sound vs. my old inferior pair of Jabra Elite 7 Pros at dbl the retail price. So far so good…
But over time the one flaw (at least for this user) P40 had, became an issue: fitment is dirt-poor — meaning they fall out of ears or need adjustment constantly, in my ears at least. The Jabras were already bad due to how heavy they are vs. the 2024 crop of Li-powered earbuds… but P40 despite feeling half the weight of the Jabras in-hand… fell out like I'd used too-small an earcup. Wrong, as the only size that wouldn't fail the Fit Test on the Soundcore app, did feel initially to seal correctly. The problem is the oblong design of the cups themselves — you cannot get an oval cup to fit in a round canal and seal, again at least in my ears.
So when resting on the sofa, they need minding and readjusting about once every 10m or so, just to preserve their great sound… which is a showstopper.
So saw these A40s did not use an oval earcup, but a round one. Not surprisingly taking them out of the box this morning, fit *perfectly* with the same earcup size Fit Test suggested in the app for P40. To boot, the shape of the A40 differs from the Jabras (similar form factor) in that they are a bit shorter, thus stay in contact with the skin of the outer ear more closely — leading to better retention. I can shake my head as hard as I can, and the fit stays the same — the Jabras would be in the gutter on a run, which was frustrating as they retailed for $129, more than dbl the cost of these A40s.
So were curious about 1) sound, and 2) battery life. Battery will need a few days to figure out, so will update later with more field exps… but the sound? Tbh the only difference I hear P40 vs A40… is the dynamic rage of the A40 is ever-so-slightly muddier. But the P40 won't resolve bass as well, and will clip, again ever-so-slightly, as long as you haven't cranked preamp settings thru the roof. So for the bulk of my listening (80% YT and calls, 20% music) the A40 is the better buy — unless of course you want them to last a flight from NZ <–> HI, or UK <–> TH — which 90% of earbuds will tap out long before the landing sequence.
So far, having tuned A40 with the app… the only things I find the P40s do better, is respond to touch controls (takes a half-sec vs. virtually instantly), which is offset by the P40 touch 'area' on the earbud body being way too sensitive — much easier to adjust the A40s in your ear w/o activating touch controls — which to me is preferable. The case holds just as much charge in hrs-playtime, so really for my use case the A40s have it.
Still like the P40s, and will defo take them on long roadtrips or flights, granted no running w/ bags in the airport's a given (which tbh it never is 100% 😅). So P40 will serve bedtime duty and A40s will be for the road and office (job requires lots of moving around and lots of head articulation away from eyes-horizon… which the P40s have dropped out of ears more times than I can count). Reviews for these, pls believe them when they say, it's a great buy not to be missed if you like snug fitment *and* awesome sound.
Five stars; will update if any showstoppers or concerns pop up ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
UPDATE 10 FEB 25:
Having tried both the P40i and A40 now a couple of weeks… I can without any reservation whatsoever endorse getting the A40 between the two.
Not only is it less expensive, but the difference in ear tip design + more secure fit in my particular ears make both a secure fit when in different body positions, and doesn't sacrifice any quality of sound I can detect (P40i still feel as if it's a hybrid betw. the no-eartip, non-sealed designs, and true round-section ear-canal-sealing earbuds — without a clear advantage over each). The only advantage P40i offers for its price tbh, is a slightly more feature-full options list in the Soundcore app, and better advertised battery life on one charge and in the case — that's it. 10H in my use case is plenty of life, and both take less than 15m on a 2A charger to go from the 'recharge battery' warning, to 100%.
Anker has a winner in the A40, by balancing the features I want, with cost. Both the fancy Liberty and P40i both seem to be less so in this regard, given the considerable premiums over A40. I'll be keeping my P40i around, as it's still a better-than-average earbuds…, but they'll be more on backup / loss duty, than daily / sports use.
TL;DR:
Pros: Amazing bass response for the price; nearly all the bells and whistles available in the P40i for much less cash; nearly identical and very brief charging times vs. P40i; better fit in my ear canals in all situations — did I mention it's less cash upfront?
Cons: 2H less battery life on a single charge; some options like control of normal/transparency/noise cancellation aren't customisable for each earbud, selections apply to both earbuds
Get the A40. Or get two, as I'll be doing soon, so you're never interrupted on the road 😀
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