Soundcore has launched a new generation of its Space active noise cancelling headphones, the Space One, in the US. With three color options, a low price tag and improved ANC, the new Space One could be a good choice for commuters who can't or won't spend three times the cash on Sony's superb WH-1000XM5. They might even rival some of the best noise-cancelling headphones around at the moment.
We've been very impressed with Anker's audio division. An older model, the Soundcore Life Q30, was good enough for us to spend our own money on and the brand has often released some very interesting headphones – Anker's Liberty 4 earbuds offered a feature even the AirPods Pro can't. So we'd expect these headphones to deliver surprisingly good ANC for the money.
Soundcore Space One: price and specifications
The Space One comes in Jet Black, Latte Cream or Sky Blue and they have a price of $99 in the US, £89 in the UK and €99 in Europe. They'll ship from August 28 in the US, and from August 31 in other markets.
So what do yo get for your money? Soundcore promises up to 40 hours of listening time with ANC on, which is pretty impressive, and 55 hours with ANC switched off – a five-minute recharge can deliver up to four hours of additional listening. The drivers are 40mm dynamic drivers with what Soundcore says is improved sound quality, and you can tune them to your personal profile using the HearID function in the accompanying app. There's LDAC support for higher quality streaming on Android phones as well as Hi-Res audio certification in both wired and wireless operation.
Soundcore says these headphones deliver its best ever noise canceling, blocking out high and mid frequencies where the human voice tends to live; the firm says it's particularly effective at reducing sounds including babies crying, people talking and co-workers on the phone in the next cubicle. So if you work in an open plan office with a bunch of babies, they're going to be brilliant.
