BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 review: Decent sounding, affordable wireless active noise cancelling earphones

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TA-ratings-93

Traditionally, the more expensive a pair of headphones, the better the sound. That’s not always the case, however, and there are more companies that are offering decent sounding, yet affordable, solutions. Our BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 review takes a look at a pair of active noise cancelling wireless earphones that sound surprisingly decent given the cost.

Specifications

The BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 Active Noise Cancelling Earphone Wireless has the following features and specifications:

  • Model: BW-ANC1
  • Wearing Type: In-ear
  • Line length: 50cm
  • Microphone: Yes
  • Bluetooth Version: V4.1
  • Transmission Distance: 10m
  • Noise reduction range(200-800Hz): -20±5dB
  • S/N: 80dB
  • Sensitivity: 105dB
  • Impedance: 32Ω
  • Frequency Response: 20-20kHz
  • Battery Capacity: 120mAh, 3.7V
  • Battery Life: 5-7h
  • Charging Time: 2h
  • Standby Time: 240h
  • Color: Black

What’s in the box

  • BlitzWolf® BW-ANC1 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Bluetooth Earphone
  • USB Charging Cable
  • EVA Storage Box
  • 3 pairs of eartips
  • Cable Clip
  • Manual
BlitzWolf-BW-ANC1-review-01
What’s in the box…

Design

While traditional wireless earbuds usually consist of a pair of earbuds attached to a thicker control/battery unit, the BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 earphones, at a glance, almost look like a pair of wired earbuds. The battery/control unit is about 1-inch square and half-an-inch thick with a clip on the back. On one side is the covered Micro-USB charging port and a button to toggle active noise cancelling on or off.

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The main control unit with Micro-USB charging port and ANC button toggle.

The front side is soft and rubbery and has three slightly raised symbols on it: a small circle (volume down/previous track), infinity symbol (multi-function button) in the middle, and a larger circle (volume up/next track) on the other side. From the control unit is a braided cable roughly 10-inches long which then splits into the right and left earbud. To the right of the cable is an LED light to indicate if the ANC is on or off.

Each earbud cable is also about 10-inches in length. Instead of being braided, however, they are the classic rubber coated cables. On the right cable about 3-inches up is a solid aluminum microphone enclosure. Each cable attaches to the earbuds which are housed in a flattened cone-type aluminum enclosure. At the base of this cylinder is an L or an R to indicate which ear the earbud goes in. The eartips themselves attach to the earbuds on a metal piece that is angled slightly forward.

BlitzWolf-BW-ANC1-review-05
The BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 earbuds.

The design and fit is pretty comfortable and given the number of eartip sizes included, it should be easy to get the correct fit rather easily. It is odd though that the earphones are a mix of aluminum, braided cable,  and coated cables.

The include case is semi-hard shelled, oval in shape, and features a zipper around the middle. When opened, there is a small mesh ouch for your extra eartips and charging cable while the other side is fully open and the earbuds fit nicely inside.

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The headphones come with a carrying case.

Ease of Use

As with most wireless Bluetooth earphones these days, the BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 are pretty easy to use. When first turned on by pressing the MFB for two seconds, the earphones will enter Bluetooth mode. Search for BW-ANC1 on your smartphone and press it to pair with your device.

The controls are equally easy to use. The MFB lets you play/pause the current track, answer, hang up, or ignore a call, toggle mute while in a call, as well as the previously mentioned powering on/off and pairing. The large and small circle buttons allow you to adjust volume or skip tracks. To toggle ANC, simply tap the button. When toggled on, the LED will shine white, when off the LED will not be lit.

Sound Quality

When testing more affordable earphones, there’s always a bit of apprehension when it comes to first trying them out as far as sound quality is concerned. I have to admit, I was impressed with the sound quality the BW-ANC1 produced — both with ANC enabled and disabled. Highs, mids, and lows are nicely balanced without needing to rely on your smartphone’s equalizer.  In fact, this is one rare case where I found enabling the equalizer on the Pixel 2 XL made the audio sound more muddied. I love a bit more bass and with these, and I found the bass line was almost perfect without being overpowering.

Reception/Call Quality

As the design mirrors traditionally wired earbuds, with the wires hanging down in front of you, the placement of the microphone is in an optimum position in front of your mouth as opposed to the side or slightly behind as with some other designs. During our test calls, the microphone and call quality on the BW-ANC1 earphones was clear and crisp.

On the reception side of things, I was able to walk anywhere at home and still be able to hear the music streaming to the earphones. In a more open setting, I was able to get around 60 feet from my phone before the signal started to degrade which is pretty great as far as wireless headphones go.

Battery Life

One area where wireless earbuds are still striving to improve upon is battery life. BlitzWolf claims between 5-7 hours of battery life depending on if ANC is active or not. During testing, we were able to get around 5 hours of battery with ANC active, which is pretty decent as far as wireless earbuds go. When tested with ANC disabled, we did get closer to the 7 hour mark.

When depleted, the earbuds take about an hour-and-a-half to fully recharge.

Price/Value

With an MSRP of $49.99USD, the BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 earphones are a very good deal considering the sound quality and the fact that they come with active noise cancelling.

Wrap-up

Odd design and material mix aside, the BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 offer excellent sound with ANC and decent battery life for the price.

*We were sent a sample of the BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 for the purposes of this review.
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