I received the Soundcore Life Dot 2 NC yesterday from Walmart. I think these are the same earphones as the Soundcore Life A2 NC, which are now available on Amazon, with only cosmetic differences (e.g., the color of the control button is black on mine, but grey on the A2s). Specs are otherwise identical, and both cost $79.
For the price, these are a really easy choice. They are, hands down, the most comfortable earphones I've ever worn -- it's seriously easy to forget you're wearing them. They are extremely light and rest largely outside the ear (like the Liberty 2 Pros) and are held in place with a small fin (three size choices included) -- but they're small enough so they don't protrude much. They have 11mm dynamic drivers that really pump out the bass and, overall, have a smooth consumer-oriented sound. The sound quality is not quite on par with the higher end Soundcores or the Jabra 75t (or, certainly, the 85t) -- and while these might not be the earphones I'd pick to sit in an easy chair and listen (that would be my MTWs), they have a great "walking around" sound that's also perfect for watching video.
The ANC is surprisingly good at this price point. Since I can't get on the subway or a plane at the moment, I tested via YouTube videos and compared against my APPs, Jabras and the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pros, and the ANC was broadly comparable. ANC is to a significant extent dependent on the quality of the fit and seal of the earphones, and the good thing about the Life Dot 2 NC's is that (in addition to the five sizes of tips that are supplied) many, many third party tips fit on the earphones and in the case, so most people should be able to find a good fit and seal. I can't overstate how much I appreciate that, because my ears are hard to fit and nothing is more frustrating than earphones that are otherwise terrific but just don't quite fit with the supplied tips -- and don't easily allow third party tips (and yes, I'm looking at you Jabra 85t).
Battery life is billed at 7 hours (not yet tested by me), build quality is good for the price, and the range seems terrific (I went down for coffee this morning and lost the connection only briefly on the way down the stairs at the other side of the house). Another thing that sets these apart of many other earphones in their price range is the wonderful Soundcore app, which allows changes to the control scheme, ANC and transparency settings, and firmware updates -- and also has about the best equalizer options I've seen. There's even an iOS widget that allows on the fly changes to ANC options.
Finally, the call quality seems to be superb. There are six microphones total and my guess is that the four external mics are used for noise reduction and "beamforming" (whatever that is) during calls. I haven't tested from the subway platform yet (for obvious reasons), but I'm told the connection from indoors and out was terrific and suitable for work calls.
Overall, if you're looking for an extremely comfortable, nice sounding earphones for daily use at a price that won't knock your socks off, these are a great option.
