Soundcore AeroFit 2 review: the best open-ear earbuds for most people

Soundcore has a reputation for creating audio products that deliver 90% of the performance you’ll get from big brands like Sony, Bose, and Apple, for around half the price. Soundcore’s latest open-ear model, the $100 AeroFit 2, shows that its reputation is still intact — these are fabulous open-ear earbuds for the price.

Despite the name, it’s hard to see the AeroFit 2 as a true second-gen device. Compared to the first AeroFit, it feels like Soundcore has started from scratch, with a totally different design approach.

What’s changed?

• All-new shape with multi-position speaker modules
• Larger drivers for better bass
• Wireless charging
• Hi-res audio support via Sony’s LDAC codec
• Slightly less battery life
• More dust protection, but less water protection

Soundcore AeroFit 2 specs

Design and comfort

By now, I’m assuming most folks know the difference between traditional semi-open and closed earbuds that sit inside the ear, versus open-ear, which sit outside (or wrap around the side) of the ear, but just in case: Unlike semi-open or closed models, open-ear earbuds provide no isolation between your ears and outside sounds. Depending on your needs, this can be a huge benefit or a potential disadvantage. However, most folks agree that when it comes to comfort, open-ears are hard to beat.

This is the area that is most improved on the AeroFit 2.

The silicone-wrapped wire that connects the rear battery module to the front speaker module is a hair thicker than on the AeroFit, but it’s more flexible and has a larger, more oval arc. The real innovation, however, is the four-position hidden hinge inside the speaker module.

It helps to customize the fit. The first-gen’s shape seemed to work best with smaller ears, while the second-gen can accommodate a greater variety of sizes. But I’d argue that the biggest benefit is the ability to reposition the speaker for maximum sound quality. With open-ear earbuds (much more so than traditional designs), speaker placement is critical. A millimeter here or there can make the difference between bass you can hear and bass that’s barely there.

With some earhook models, comfort and sound quality are mutually exclusive. Soundcore’s design increases the chance that you can have both.

I had no problem wearing them all day, even with glasses. They aren’t quite as secure as the Shokz OpenFit 2, but they stayed put during a gym workout, including when I was lying on my back.

With an IP55 rating, these earbuds can handle almost any casual meeting with water or sweat. Just make sure you don’t fully immerse them and always dry them off before putting them back in the case.

Speaking of the case, I love that Soundcore built it to accommodate the AeroFit 2 in any of the four positions, and the addition of wireless charging is a welcome improvement.

The case is a bit bigger than the first AeroFit, so it won’t be quite as pocketable. Still, it’s about the same size as many competitors like the Shokz OpenFit 2 and Earfun OpenJump.

Controls and connections

The AeroFit 2 don’t support Google Fast Pair, but they’re quick and easy to pair to a smartphone — just open the case lid and look for the earbuds in your device’s Bluetooth menu. You can pair additional devices with the pairing button on the back of the case, or, if you want to pair two devices simultaneously (multipoint), the dual connection menu in the Soundcore app lets you see previously paired devices, select which ones should be active, or add new devices. Shokz uses a similar interface on the OpenFit 2, and they both work well.

Unfortunately, Soundcore and Shokz are also alike in their lack of support for LE Audio and Auracast, which will become increasingly important in the next two years.

The AeroFit 2 use touch controls instead of physical buttons. This keeps things clean and streamlined (and likely helps with water resistance) but they aren’t as precise.

Most of the time, I had no problem tapping the correct area, marked by the Soundcore “d” logos on the speaker modules, but there were a few inadvertent taps now and then, especially when placing the earbuds back in their case. Tip: grab them by the earhook wire, not the speaker modules.

The Soundcore app provides plenty of control customization and there are four gestures per side: single-, double-, and triple-tap, plus tap-and-hold. Playback, call answer/end, track skipping, volume, and voice assistant access are all available. The one omission that would be handy for calls is a mute function.

Sound quality

Open-ear earbuds aren’t generally known for their awesome sound quality. They have to overcome a larger distance between the speaker and your eardrum and as I mentioned earlier, there’s no seal to block out noise like traffic, wind, or conversations. In these scenarios, loudness is your best friend, and I found the AeroFit 2 loud enough for all but the noisiest places. If you need something louder, check out the excellent Shokz OpenFit 2.

Still, the AeroFit 2 manage to deliver solid, enjoyable sound in most conditions. In quiet, indoor locations, you’ll even get a surprising amount of bass — the Achilles heel of open-ear earbuds.

There’s a bit of negotiation to be done with the 4-position hinge. For my ears, I found I got the best sound when I “opened” the hinge to its maximum position, which placed the speaker directly in front of my ear canal. But that’s also the loosest position, and it let the earbuds jiggle around a lot when I moved my head. I’m OK with that — when sound really matters to me, I’m likely sitting fairly still — and even in the closed position, I was able to get acceptable sound at the cost of some bass response.

Soundcore’s app has a huge number of EQ presets and you can mix your own with the optional 8-band equalizer. Some of the presets, like bass booster and volume booster, do exactly what they describe — your mileage may vary with others like Jazz, Latin, or Lounge.

There’s also a 3D Surround Sound setting, which tries to create an immersive, spatial audio effect. Soundcore says it works best with movies and games, and I agree — action flicks like Edge Of Tomorrow sounded great. On the other hand, I didn’t like what it did to music, so Soundcore was right about that too.

If you have an Android phone, you can try out Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth hi-res codec (sorry iPhone owners), but don’t expect miracles.

In very quiet locations, when listening to lossless sources of music, you may be able to hear small improvements in detail and a more neutral sound signature that doesn’t boost the lows and highs quite as much as SBC/AAC. Or, you may not hear a difference at all. The open-ear design doesn’t lend itself to critical listening as well as closed earbuds.

One thing’s for sure: if you enable LDAC, you’ll be giving up Multipoint connectivity and battery life will take a hit. Most earbuds lose between 20-30% of their playtime when they run LDAC.

Call quality

I’ve noticed that non-active-noise-canceling earbuds (which account for almost every open-ear model) tend to offer much better call quality than their ANC counterparts. This holds true for the AeroFit 2, which are great for calls, even in relatively noisy environments.

They had no problem keeping my voice clear and distinct, and there was substantially less compression than on flagship wireless earbuds like the Apple AirPods Pro 2.

The only weakness is wind noise. Likely due to the placement of the microphones and their lack of shielding, windy conditions will affect how you sound to callers.

As with most open-ears, the AeroFit 2 are superb for medium to long calls. The comfort means you aren’t dying to pull them off, and the fact that you can hear yourself speak naturally (instead of having your voice piped back into your ears via the mics) greatly reduces fatigue.

Battery life

Soundcore claims 10 hours of listening on a single charge for the AeroFit 2, with a total of 42 hours when you include the charging case’s capacity. That’s very good for a set of open-ears, and way more than you can expect from regular wireless earbuds, which tend to provide between 6-8 hours per charge.

Still, it’s not quite as impressive as the Shokz OpenFit 2 (11/48 hours). On the other hand, with a claimed quick charge giving an extra four hours for just 10 minutes of charging, the AeroFit 2’s shorter lifespan may not matter.

Conclusion

While I still prefer the Shokz OpenFit 2 overall, for their fit, sound quality, and call quality, the truth is they’re not 80% better than the AeroFit 2 (even though that’s the price premium Shokz commands).

That should make the AeroFit 2 very appealing to anyone who wants a great set of open-ear earbuds at a price that will fit many more budgets.

The fact that they include wireless charging and come in four different colors, which we can’t say about the OpenFit 2, is the icing on the cake. Soundcore still knows how to give people more for less.