Gamers know better than others, currently there is a great delay in sound in any Bluetooth headphones. Yes, they are suitable for watching movies and listening to music. But for games – not always, especially for multiplayer.
There is no point in looking for BT-ears with low latency, because you can’t jump above physics. The “lag” will be on average only slightly less than a second pause between an event on the screen and the sound being played, often even more.
The solution to the problem was thought out more than 25 years ago – radio channel. He has long been considered by professionals in other fields, mainly musicians. One problem: the choice of models on the market used to be scanty, and almost no one really produced modern models adapted to the entertainment industry of the 21st century. Especially in TWS format.
Only in the last few years have “plugs” on the radio channel appeared on the market. Among them, I want to highlight a model for restoring price-quality. This is the Anker VR P10 soundcore, and for their money they are almost perfect. I bought it for the Quest 3 VR helmet six months ago, and in the end I used it with a bunch of other devices. I recommend it not only to gamers, but also to ordinary PC users. It is even suitable for the iPhone 15 and iPad.
What is Anker Soundcore VR P10
The cases are slightly larger than those of the AirPods Pro, and slightly thicker – but still compact. And the headphones themselves fit well, no complaints.
These are completely wireless hybrid headphones. They are hybrid because they have both a radio channel and Bluetooth at the same time.
The signal is transmitted via a 2.4 Hz radio channel through a small transmitter with a USB-C plug, which is identified on PCs, smartphones and Apple gadgets as an audio output device. The transmitter does not need to be charged, and consumes a small amount of energy from the connected device.
Anker soundcore VR P10 connects simultaneously with two channels: one device via the transmitter and the other via Bluetooth. For example, you can play games on your PC and make calls from your smartphone without distractions. In this case, game sounds will be muffled, but not turned off – convenient.
In a minimalistic small case with a USB-C port on a magnetic lid, it fits radio transmitter. The keys are equipped with an LED indicator: it lights up blue in Bluetooth mode, purple in radio channel mode, and red when the battery is low. There are 3 purple indicators on each earphone. They show how much charge is left.
The headphones use the Japanese LC3 codec in radio mode and SBC/AAC in Bluetooth mode. In any case, the operating time is up to 6 hours, the case gives up to 4 full charges.
Playback, calls and volume can be controlled by tapping the touch panels of the headphones. Actions are reassigned in the branded application Soundcore Anchor for Android and iOS.
Pros and features of Anker soundcore VR P10 headphones
Everything except the Xbox fits the transmitter. Also, the iPhone with Lightning ports is out of the question, nothing surprising there.
▸ Suitable for any device! There is Bluetooth, so the VR P10 can be used as the most common wireless headphones. In this capacity, they are functionally no different from any budget TWS.
The radio signal transmitter gradually picks up and correctly recognizes that, apparently, on almost any device, support outputs audio through the USB port. Any PC, as well as Mac, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck and Asus ROG portable PCs, iPad and iPhone with a USB-C port, Android smartphones and tablets can transmit audio via the dongle without any problems. The exception is all Xbox, where this option is fundamentally blocked, all questions to Microsoft.
My favorite use case is on an iMac. Works equally well on Windows (Bootcamp) and macOS.
▸ No drivers or settings. You inserted the transmitter into the device – the sound started. We stopped playing on the PC and went outside with our smartphone – the sound switched on its own. If there is silence on the PC and music is playing on the smartphone, then the sound will come from the smartphone. And vice versa. It is very easy to understand the principle and use it.
▸ The sensor has pass-through power. For this purpose, it has a USB-C port. It is assumed that the portable device can be charged via the transmitter. In the example, not everything will be charged this way. For example, the iPhone 15 completely refused to see the charger. But the Android smartphone and Quest 3 – go ahead and sing.
If I were Anker, I would remove the mention of VR from the model name altogether, it confuses people – the headphones go with everything.
▸ Sound without delays over the radio channel. No “choking”, delays or other problems. Purely theoretically, there is a delay, it is physically impossible. It is simply completely unnoticeable in reality and much less than with AirPods Pro 2 and any Bluetooth headphones. A separate advantage is that on a Windows PC, because of these headphones, you will not have to deal with the classic terrible Bluetooth audio drivers.
▸ Have a microphone. He is so-so, good for games and talking on the phone. The quality of voice transmission does not even come close to that of any wired microphone, and you can’t say that it is better than that of AirPods – but it will do.
▸ Wireless headphones for women – top. You can stand up during a cutscene and move away from the sofa/table to do other things without taking anything off your head. And we will continue to communicate via voice chat with other players. Because the microphone also works via a radio channel. Just remember to turn it on in the application, it is turned off by default.
When you first connect the transmitter, iOS asks whether it is headphones or another device. In Bluetooth mode, they naturally immediately develop as headphones.
▹ Sound quality – OK. Earbuds with a gaming focus, especially at this price, will not sound brilliant, this is obvious. The bass is not very strong, but it is there. Positioning in space is not bad. The ears do not wither from the sound. You will not get any musicality from them, this is the level of earbuds for 5 thousand rubles. There is sound insulation, although incomplete, you can hear speech at a distance of 3 meters and closer. Active noise cancellation would not hurt here, but then the price tag would be completely different.
▹ Low maximum volume. It may be limited to save battery power. I’ve seen this complaint online enough to warrant mentioning it here. Personally, it’s enough for me with a large margin, especially on a PC, where it’s above 35%; I’ve never turned them up. But I won’t speak for everyone.
▹ Short range of radio channel operation. Somewhere two rooms maximum or 15-18 meters in the line of sight. You can also catch interference from some electrical appliances and household appliances if they work between the headphones and the sound source. There is nothing to be done about this; these are features of the radio channel as a standard.
They rarely have to be charged, since they are not used on the road – although this is possible. I repeat, these omnivorous headphones do not need to be used with a transmitter.
I have no complaints about the battery life, or about the performance of the headphones in general. Highlight the wishes and quibbles, like the Marked case of the Case, which makes no sense to me in the only sense – the thing costs as much as a case for an iPhone or 1 (one) AirPods Pro headphones.
I bought Anker Soundcore VR P10 behind 6500 rubles six months ago, and now they can still be found for that money. I haven’t regretted a single ruble for a second, now these are my main headphones at home.
In general, pay attention to the segment of “plugs” with a radio channel undeservedly underdeveloped and insufficiently developed public attention. After all, VR P10 came out two years ago and still has no alternative in price/quality – well, what is this? A useful thing.
Maybe you’ve been looking for headphones for your PC or Mac that are as fast as wired ones. Not necessarily for gaming, just to Not Bluetooth. And not “tumors”, but a compact, plug-in version. Here is the solution in front of you.
📸 All photos in the article:
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
