Open-ear headphones occupy a specific niche that’s grown like crazy over the past couple of years. But, like many hot niche tech products, they tend to live in the upper echelons of the price bracket. Soundcore by Anker’s V20i open-ear buds pushed back hard against that trend when they debuted in 2024 at just $50, and now they’re really making a statement at Amazon during a fast-moving sale that’s taking them all the way down to just $27.
The V20i buds aren’t going to go toe-to-toe with open-ear buds from Bose or early open-ear innovator Shokz, but they were already dramatically undercutting them in price even before this Amazon deal took that price down by nearly half. Those brands occupy the $150 and up bracket, a full five times higher than the V20i while not delivering five times superior quality. As budget open-ear buds go, the V20i are possibly the best on the market.
Safety and Convenience
Like most if not all open-ear buds, the Soundcore by Anker V20i rest just outside your ear on an adjustable hook, leaving your ears open to the world. And that’s the entire point: You hear your music and your surroundings at the same time. For runners, cyclists, and anyone who needs to stay aware of traffic, or for office workers who want to catch a colleague without pulling a bud out, the open design solves a problem that noise-isolating earbuds create.
One of the main thrusts of the V20i’s pitch is all-day comfort. Because nothing goes inside your ear, the fatigue and pressure that build up over hours of in-ear wear simply don’t happen. The four adjustable hook positions let you rotate the buds to find a secure fit for your ear shape, which addresses the one real weakness of open-ear designs — staying put during movement. Dialed in correctly, they hold through a run or a workout without the constant readjusting that cheaper open-ear models require.
Drivers to the Rescue
The main shortcoming of open-ear buds is the weaker bass that comes from not having the buds sealed within your ear canal, but the V20i punch back with 16mm drivers, titanium-coated domes, and Soundcore’s BassUp processing, which pushes more low end than the open form factor would normally allow. Four microphones with AI noise reduction handle calls clearly, and Bluetooth 5.4 with multipoint connection lets the headphones pair to two devices at once for switching between a phone and a laptop.
With Amazon dropping the price to just $27 for the black model — blue and white run slightly higher at $29 — the V20i is an easy entry point into open-ear audio for anyone curious about the format without wanting to spend $150-plus on premium options. The deal is moving quickly, so the black price in particular is worth grabbing before it’s gone.
