Mobvoi Earbuds ANC review: cheap noise-cancelling wireless earbuds

To sum up this Mobvoi Earbuds ANC review: if you don’t want to spend too much cash on your next pair of headphones, then these are some of the best budget wireless earbuds you can buy with noise-cancelling. They are really well priced given the number of features you get, even though the sound quality won’t knock you off your feet. 

If you’re willing to spend a bit more cash and you don’t care so much about voice control or noise-cancelling, then there are some better options out there for audio quality - like the House of Marley Champion buds which sound great and the best part is that they’re made from sustainable materials. 

Not completely set on having a pair of true wireless earbuds? Take a look at T3’s guide to the best cheap headphones for more affordable options, or the best noise-cancelling headphones if you want to be able to cut the world out. 

Mobvoi Earbuds ANC review: price and availability 

You can buy the Mobvoi Earbuds ANC now for $59.99 in the US and £49.99 in the UK. Take a look at the widgets on this page to find out where you can pick up a pair. 

Mobvoi Earbuds ANC review: design and fit 

The Mobvoi Earbuds ANC are black true wireless earbuds with a rounded top and long dangling stem, kind of like Apple AirPods Pro, just a lot cheaper. They’re made from glossy black plastic and they come in a slim black charging case. While they won’t fool you into thinking they’re a pricey pair of buds, the design keeps things simple and to the point. 

The charging case is significantly slimmer than most, it’s square in shape with rounded edges and it's a great size for slipping into even your tightest jeans pocket. Similarly, the buds are super lightweight, weighing only 5g each. That bodes well for comfort, you should be able to wear them without too much fatigue caused by the weight of them in your ears. 

During my tests, I could feel them in my ears while I wore them because my ears are quite small and the main body of the bud is quite big, but the weight and three sizes of ear tips included in the box keeps them comfortable. You can use them day-to-day for your commute, and they’ll be fine for workouts because they stay securely in your ear. They also have an IPX5 water and sweat resistance rating so they’ll survive splashes of rain or an intense gym session. 

To control the music, there are touch controls on the outside of each earbud, you tap twice to pause or play the track, three times to skip forwards and if you tap three times you’ll be able to call your smartphone’s voice assistant. You do have to be quite assertive for them to register the taps, although that does stop you from accidentally activating them. 

There’s one other way to manage the buds - through voice commands. You just need to say the wake words ‘Hey Tico’ after which you can ask to adjust the volume, to play the next song or to pause the music. It’s not completely reliable and doesn’t always hear you the first time, but considering the fact that voice control isn’t something you’d expect to see on a pair of wireless earbuds this cheap, it’s still pretty impressive. 

With ANC switched on, you’ll get 4.5 hours of music from the buds, while the case provides a total of 21 hours of playback. When you plug in the case, the case will take about an hour to recharge to 100%. 

Mobvoi Earbuds ANC review: performance and features

The sound quality on the Mobvoi Earbuds ANC is good enough for the price although your music won’t quite sound as the artist intended, especially at the highest levels where it’s not as deep or rich as you’d expect and it sometimes suffers from some distortion. 

Despite that, you can hear the lyrics in each track loudly and clearly, they don’t get drowned out at all. Because of that, these will be great for listening to podcasts as well as music. If you’re not an audiophile then these will be perfectly fine to use day-to-day.

There are three noise-cancelling modes to choose from on the Mobvoi Earbuds ANC, those are Quiet, Soundpass through and ANC off. You can switch between them by holding down on the touch controls.

The Quiet mode blocks out some external noise, helping you keep your focus on the music, but it’s not quite as effective as you’d get on some pricier headphones. You can still hear a fair amount going on around you although it is definitely more dulled than when you have ANC switched off. 

Voice control is one of the most notable smart features here and it sets these earbuds apart from the cheap headphones crowd, but you’ll also get Dual-Mic Noise Cancellation (ENC) which should boost the clarity of your voice in phone calls. When I tested that out, my voice came across clearly and wasn't at all muffled. 

Mobvoi Earbuds ANC review: verdict

If you’re on the hunt for a new pair of wireless earbuds, you’re on a budget and you’d like to have noise-cancelling or voice control, the Mobvoi Earbuds ANC will tick your boxes. Granted the sound quality isn’t mind-blowing but these still match up well to the competition at the cheap end of the market. 

You can use them day-to-day on your commute or take them to the gym with you because they’re comfortable, lightweight and water-resistant. The best part is how slim the case is, you can fit it in just about any pocket. For a pair of cheap wireless earbuds, these are definitely good enough! 

Mobvoi Earbuds ANC review: also consider  

Anyone looking for cheap wireless earbuds for running should consider the JAM Audio TWS Athlete. They have ear hooks to keep them securely in place and they're splash resistant. There's no app or noise-cancelling but the sound is pretty good. 

If noise-cancelling is an absolute must-have, check out the Huawei Freebuds 4i. They're affordable, stylish and have ANC built-in.